1. Definition

 Deixis is a word originally from Greek. It means pointing via language. An expression used by a speaker/writer to identify something is called deictic expression.

 Out of context, we cannot understand sentences containing deictic expressions, because we do not know what these expressions refer to respectively.

 According to referential content, deixis can be put into person deixis, place deixis, time deixis and discourse deixis.

2. Types of deixis 

 Person deixis in English mainly comprises personal pronouns, which refer to participant roles in speech acts. E.g. I, we, you, me, he, etc. 

 Place deixis specifies the locations relatives to the speech event. E.g. here, there, above, over, this, that…

Proximal terms are used when something is close to the speaker, while distal terms when something is away from the speaker. 

 Time deixis in English refer to words and phrases like now, then, today, tomorrow, next week, last year, in three days, etc.

 Discourse deixis is an expression that has its reference within the discourse or text.

Anaphora: Backward reference. The initial expression is called antecedent.

Cataphora: forward reference

 Social deixis indicates the social status of the interlocutors. Social deixis mainly concerns person indexicals. Expression which indicate higher status are termed honorifics.

3. The deictic center

The deictic center– ego-centric center.

Deictic expressions have basic distinctions between being “near the speaker” and “distant from the speaker” or “away from the speaker”. Deixis needs to be interpreted in terms of the personal location or the deictic center, which means that the speaker organizes messages from his/her personal point of view.

Pragmatic empathy: speakers do not speak around themselves; rather, they “push” the distance a little bit far from them. E.g. (a doctor coming into the ward to examine a patient) how are we feeling this morning?