Deixis is the linguistic mechanism that anchors utterance to context through indexical terms — here/there (space), now/then (time), I/you (person) — enabling speakers to locate themselves and their addressees in a shared situation. Its parameters are the deictic center (the speaker's position in space, time, and social perspective), the set of indexical expressions (pronominal, adverbial, demonstrative), and the interpretive rule that resolves each expression relative to context. It persists through language itself, which reproduces deictic anchoring in every act of speaking. [formal: deixis | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
deixis
Deixis is the linguistic mechanism that anchors utterance to context through indexical terms — here/there (space), now/then (time), I/you (person) — enabling speakers to locate themselves and their addressees in a shared situation. Its par…
Definition
Why it is in scope
Deixis is a human-made linguistic construct: the system of context-dependent reference (here/there, now/then, I/you) encoded in language. It is a map for anchoring utterance to situation — a tool for orienting speakers and listeners in shared space, time, and personhood.
Names and aliases
- deixisen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDEPENDS_ON →
Deixis requires language to operate — the indexical terms (here, now, I, you) are linguistic constructs that only function within a language system. Remove language right now and deixis ceases to exist. Constitutive dependency.
- cmrrebpth01d0q89dnq5yzsu4INSTANCE_OF →
Deixis IS a specific kind of reference: linguistic reference whose meaning depends on context (here/now/this/you). A competent linguist would call deixis 'a type of reference.' Files against nearest kind. Direction tested: deixis (specific) → reference (general). Sense pinned as context-dependent linguistic reference.
- cmrc6dopv00jba9g4op1ivbb1SERVES →
Deixis SERVES communication: deixis is maintained for the sake of enabling context-dependent reference in discourse — here/now/this/you allow speakers to point without naming. Its designed purpose is to further communication's operation by anchoring language to shared context. Law 8d: servant (deixis) points at master (communication).
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 19, 2026, 3:29 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 3f037dc143a1070cd3203b4d63b681ab6930781364e32813bb6e49c2e00cf9c6