Surface- and interface-related spectra, obtained either directly by techniques such as reflectance-difference (-anisotropy) spectroscopy or indirectly by subtracting pseudodielectric function spectra obtained ellipsometrically on surfaces with different chemical termination, exhibit features related to energy derivatives of the bulk dielectric function. We argue that these spectra provide direct evidence that the excitations involved are localized both in space and time. These data unequivocally indicate that critical point energies obtained from above-band-gap ellipsometric or reflectrometric optical spectra are not necessarily equal to bulk values, and that surface chemical and structural termination is at least one contributing factor. Present surface-optical calculations do not include these effects, which may explain, in part, remaining discrepancies between theory and experiment.