In linguistics, exophora is reference to something extralinguistic, and contrasts with endophora. Exophora can be deixis, in which special words or grammatical markings are used to make reference to something in the context of the utterance or speaker. For example, pronouns are exophoric, with words such as "this", "that", "here", "there".

Homophoric references, which are a kind of exophora, are not a feature of grammar, but rather is a generic phrase given a particular interpretation in a particular social context. For example, in the United Kingdom, "the Queen" is a homophoric reference to the Queen of the United Kingdom, whereas in the Netherlands "the Queen" is a homophoric reference to the Queen of the Netherlands.

See also

• Endophora

Semantics | Pragmatics | Rhetoric