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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Semantics and Pragmatics

Deixis

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

/ˈdaɪksɪs/nounAdvanced term

In linguistics & grammar, deixis means: The use of words whose meaning depends on who is speaking, where and when, such as I, you, here, there, now, this and yesterday.

In Turkish: gösterim, gösterme

How it is used

Linguists distinguish person deixis (I, you), place deixis (here, there) and time deixis (now, tomorrow). Deictic words often change in reported speech: here can become there, and tomorrow can become the next day.

Example sentences

  1. A note that says 'Back in ten minutes' is useless if you don't know when it was written; that is deixis at work.

  2. Turkish has a three-way system of place deixis: bu, şu and o.

Common collocations

  • person deixis
  • time deixis
  • place deixis
  • deictic expression
  • pragmaticsThe study of how context affects meaning: how speakers mean more than they actually say, and how listeners work out intended meanings, politeness and hints.
  • contextThe situation, surrounding text and shared knowledge in which something is said or written, which help listeners and readers understand the intended meaning.
  • pronounA word used in place of a noun or noun phrase so that it does not have to be repeated, such as she, it, them, mine, who or myself.
  • discourseLanguage in use beyond the single sentence, such as conversations, lectures or newspaper articles, and the way these stretches of language are organized and connected.

More terms: Semantics and Pragmatics

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