What term describes a reference in language whose interpretation depends on the surrounding context?

• A. Deictics
• B. Denotation
• C. Homophones
• D. Frequency

Answer: (A)

Deixis is the concept here. Deictic expressions are words or phrases whose reference changes based on the surrounding context—who is speaking, who is being addressed, where the speaker is, and when the utterance occurs. For example, this and that point to different things depending on which object is near the speaker, here and there depend on the speaker’s location, and now and then depend on the time of the utterance. Because their meaning shifts with context, deixis best describes a reference whose interpretation relies on situational information.

Denotation is the fixed, dictionary-like meaning of a word. Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. Frequency is about how often something occurs, not how its reference depends on context.