Deixis and Reference

Deixis (from the Greek word for "pointing" or "showing") is one of the most important concepts in pragmatics. Deictic expressions are words and phrases whose meaning depends entirely on the context of utterance — specifically, on who is speaking, where they are, and when they are speaking. Without knowledge of this context, deictic expressions are meaningless or ambiguous.

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What Is Deixis?

Consider the sentence: "I will meet you here tomorrow."

This sentence cannot be fully understood without knowing:

• Who is speaking ("I") and who is being addressed ("you")
• Where the speaker is ("here")
• When the sentence is being uttered ("tomorrow" — tomorrow relative to when?)

The words "I," "you," "here," and "tomorrow" are all deictic expressions — they "point to" aspects of the context and can only be interpreted relative to that context.

Key Definition: Deixis — the phenomenon in which certain expressions derive their meaning from the context of utterance, "pointing to" the participants, location, or time of the speech event. Deictic expressions include pronouns, demonstratives, temporal adverbs, and certain verbs.