Linguistics & Language · Semantics & Pragmatics
A topic within Semantics & Pragmatics, itself one of 9 topics in that field and part of Linguistics & Language.
2 works
Stephen C. Levinson
Argues that person, place and time deixis are best analysed together as a single system for anchoring an utterance to its speaker, surveying how far idealised deictic categories break down against usage across languages.
Keith Donnellan
Distinguishes two uses of a definite description — picking out whoever fits it, versus picking out one specific individual the speaker has in mind — arguing reference is not fixed by the description's content alone.
link checked 17 Sept 2026