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39 views

Lesson 2

Uploaded by

Kim Anh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REFERENCE AND INFERENCE

REFERENCE

1. Definition

• Reference is an act in which a speaker, or


writer, uses linguistic forms to enable a listener,
or reader, to identify something. (Yule)

• Linguistic forms = Referring Expressions


II. REFERENCE AND INFERENCE

REFERENCE
• Referring expression is any expression used in
utterance to refer to something or someone.

• The choice of referring expression depends on what


the speaker assumes the listener already knows.
(Yule)

• Reference is clearly tied to the speaker’s goals and


beliefs in the use of language.
Example:

- The monitor of your class


- Your university
The Categories of Referring Expressions
1. Proper nouns

London Obama
The Categories of Referring Expressions
1. Definite nouns

The capital city of the The president of the


United Kingdom United States
The Categories of Referring Expressions
1. Indefinite nouns

A place A man
The Categories of Referring Expressions
1. Pronouns

It He/his/him
Reference Vs. Referent
Reference (Referring expression) is the word/
words we use to identify things.

Referent is the concrete thing or person that the


word/ words refer to.

Example:
This is a comfortable chair.

Reference/ referring expression


Referent
Attributive use/ referential use

Example:
Speaker: “There was no sign of the killer.”

=> attributive use if the speaker assumes that a


referent must exist (whoever did the killing)

This is sometimes called an attributive use,


meaning “whoever/ whatever fits the description”.
Attributive use/ referential use
Example:
There was no sign of the killer.

 referential use if the speaker assumes that a


referent does exist ( a particular individual had been
identified as having done the killing but escaped.)

Referential use: a specific person is referred to,


although his/ her name or some other description is
not used.
Attributive use/ referential use

Attributive use Referential use


The referent: The referent:
-is physically present - is a specific person in
-exists, but unknow the mind of the speaker
-doesn’t exist
Example:
a. There is a man waiting for you
A physically present entity
b. He wants to marry a woman with lots of money
exist but unknown
c. We’d love to find a nine-foot-tall basketball player
doesn’t exist
INFERENCE
1. Definition

• An inference is any additional information


used by listener to connect what is said to
what must be meant (Yule)

• The role of inference in communication is to


allow the listener to identify correctly which
particular entity the speaker referring to.
Reference and Inference

Example:
A: Where is Chomsky?
B: It’s on the shelf

▪ Reference: Chomsky/ a person

▪ Inference: a book/ not a person

Why? The context determines that.

Both speakers are studying in a library.


Names and Referents

Names (proper nouns) can be used to identify one


specific person, and or a specific thing.

Name = Word = Reference Referent = Entity = Object

Example:
A: Can I borrow your Shakespeare?
B: Yeah it’s over there on the table.
Names and Referents

✓ Pragmatic connection between proper names and


objects that will be conventionally associated
within a socio culturally defined community with
those names.
✓ It is convention between all members of a
community who share common language/
culture.
✓ Conventions may differ from one social group
to another.
CO-TEXT

The ability to identify intended referents


depend on two environments:

➢ The linguistic material of the environment


(Co-text)

➢ The physical environment (Context)


CO-TEXT

Definition
The co-text is a linguistic part of the environment
in which a referring expression is used.
Example:
a. Cheese sandwich is made with white bread.
b. The cheese sandwich left without paying

• Co-text => is made with white bread/ left


without paying
• Context is the physical environment.
• Example: in a restaurant.
THE ROLE OF CO-TEXT
1. Definition

Identifying intended referents has been aided by the


linguistic material, or co-text, accompanying the
referring expression. The referring expression
actually provides a range of reference, that is, a
number of possible referents.
Example:
“Brazil wins World Cup.”
Brazil => a government/ a country/ a football team
=> Limit the range of possible interpretations.
Anaphoric reference (Anaphora)
In talking and writing we have to keep track of
who or what we are talking about for more than
one sentence at a time.
Example:
A man and a woman were trying to wash a cat. The man
was holding the cat while the woman poured water on
it. He said something to her and they started laughing.
Initial/ introductory reference (antencedent) is often
indefinite
• A man, a woman, a cat

Anaphoric reference/ anaphora with definite NPs or


with pronouns
• The man, the woman, the cat/ it, he, her, they
Cataphoric Reference (Cataphora)
Example:

I turned the corner and almost stepped on IT.


There was a large snake in the middle of the path.

The reversal of antecedent-anaphora pattern

But Cataphora is much less common than


Anaphora
PRESUPPOSITION AND ENTAILMENT
1. Definition
Presupposition is what the speaker assumes to be
the case prior to making an utterance.
TYPES OF PRESUPPOSITION
ENTAILMENT
1. Definition
Entailment, which is not a pragmatic concept, is
what logically follows from what is asserted in the
utterance.
Example:
“Mary’s brother bought three horses.”
- Mary’s brother bought something.
- He bought three animals.
- He bought several horses.
THANK YOU

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