exophora

This term is primarily used in linguistics and discourse analysis to describe a specific type of reference. It occurs when a speaker uses a word, such as a pronoun or a demonstrative, to point to something in the immediate physical environment that is not mentioned in the spoken text. For example, saying "Put that over there" while pointing is an act of exophora because the meaning of "that" and "there" depends entirely on the shared physical space between the speakers.

It stands in direct contrast to endophora, where the reference is found within the text itself (divided into anaphora and cataphora). Because exophora relies on situational context, it is often associated with deixis, where the meaning shifts depending on who is speaking, where they are, and when they are speaking.