deictic

IPA/ˈdaɪktɪk/
IPA/ˈdaɪktɪk/

deictic — adjective

  • deicticpositive
  • more deicticcomparative
  • most deicticsuperlative

1. Describes a word whose real-world reference shifts according to the speaker, the

1.形容詞C1
釋義

Describes a word whose real-world reference shifts according to the speaker, the listener, the time, or the place of the utterance — typical examples are pronouns like 'I' and 'you', place words like 'here', and time words like 'now'.

例句

The word 'here' is deictic because its location depends on where the speaker stands.

deictic location words depend on speaker position

Students of linguistics learn that 'this' and 'that' are deictic — they mark the speaker's distance from an object.

demonstrative deictic terms mark near/far distance

同義詞
  • indexical

    Preferred in philosophy of language; deictic is the standard term in linguistics, though the concepts overlap.

用法筆記

Frequently describes pronouns (I, you), demonstratives (this, that), place adverbs (here, there), and time adverbs (now, then) whose reference depends entirely on the speech situation.

常見錯誤

❌Deictic words like "tree" or "ocean" have shifting meanings.
✅Deictic words like "here" or "I" shift meaning based on who is speaking and where.
💡Only words whose reference depends on the utterance context are deictic; most nouns have a fixed referent regardless of situation.