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Deixis
Words requiring context to understand their meaning / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In linguistics, deixis (/ˈdaɪksɪs/, /ˈdeɪksɪs/)[1] is the use of words or phrases to refer to a particular time (e.g. then), place (e.g. here), or person (e.g. you) relative to the context of the utterance.[2] Deixis exists in all known natural languages[3][4] and is closely related to anaphora, with a sometimes unclear distinction between the two.[5] In linguistic anthropology, deixis is seen as the same as, or a subclass of, indexicality.[6]
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The term's origin is Ancient Greek: δεῖξις, romanized: deixis, lit. 'display, demonstration, or reference'. To this, Chrysippus (c. 279 – c. 206 BCE) added the specialized meaning point of reference, which is the sense in which the term is used in contemporary linguistics.[7]