indexicality

Indexicality is the property of linguistic signs and utterances whose interpretation depends on context beyond the proposition they express. It encompasses how meaning shifts with who is speaking, where and when something is spoken, and the social relations involved. The concept is central to disciplines such as linguistics, semiotics, philosophy of language, and anthropology, where scholars investigate how language both conveys content and signals contextual information about participants and situations.

In linguistics and pragmatics, indexicality covers deictic elements such as pronouns I, you, this, that, and adverbs like here and now, whose reference changes with context. It also extends to social-indexical features, including dialect, intonation, and discourse markers, which listeners use to infer aspects of the speaker’s identity, stance, mood, or social positioning. The interpretation of indexical forms is thus inherently variable and context-sensitive.

In semiotics, indexical signs are those whose connection to their object is causal or physical (for example, smoke as an index of fire). The broader notion of indexicality also describes how linguistic forms index social meaning—how particular speech patterns or linguistic choices signify membership in a social group, authority, intimacy, or alignment with certain values. This cross-cutting signaling allows language to convey both informational content and social nuance.

Key concepts in the study of indexicality include the idea of an indexical field—the range of social meanings a given form can index across different contexts—and the analysis of how these meanings shift in discourse. Studying indexicality helps explain language variation, identity construction, and the dynamics of social interaction.