Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
deictic word

deictic word

8.6
A word that shows person, place and time compared to the speaker or listener
  • noun
  • /ˈdaɪktɪk wɜrd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : palabra deíctica
  • In the sentence 'I will go there tomorrow', both 'there' and 'tomorrow' are deictic words.

Examples

  • Pronouns like 'I', 'you', and 'they' are examples of deictic words in English.

  • The meaning of a deictic word often depends on the specific context of the conversation.

  • Can you give me an example of a deictic word?

  • A deictic word helps clarify meaning in conversation.

  • In the sentence 'I will go there tomorrow', both 'there' and 'tomorrow' are deictic words that indicate place and time.

  • Pronouns like 'I', 'you', and 'they' are commonly used as deictic words that refer to different speakers in English.

  • The meaning of a deictic word varies based on who is speaking and the context of the conversation.

Synonyms

deictic
vsdeictic word
  • Specialized
9.9

A word that shows time, place, or person relative to people speaking

has the same meaning but is expressed as a two-word noun phrase

How Context-Dependent

deictic word
  • Specialized
8.6
demonstrative
  • Specialized
4.1
indexical
  • Specialized
1 9.6

Surface Forms

deictic word singular
deictic words plural

Morphology

deictic + word

The phrase is a straightforward noun phrase combining 'deictic' (context-dependent regarding speaker/place/time) with 'word' (a lexical item). If a learner knows both constituent meanings, the compound meaning — a word whose reference depends on speaker/time/place (e.g., this, here, now) — is directly derivable and cross-linguistically familiar, so it is transparent.

Etymology

Deictic word comes from the idea of words that act like a pointing finger; words such as this, that, here, now point to 'who', 'where', or 'when' in a sentence. That's why a deictic word needs a speaker or situation to be clear and is used to show 'who', 'where', or 'when'.