UNIT 3: Reference and Sense
Distinction between referent, reference and sense
• A referent is an object or an entity in the real world or in
the world of your imagination, that is talked about.
• (………………………………….)
• The reference of a word or a linguistic expression is the
relationship between that word or expression and the
thing, the action, the event, the quality, etc. it refers to.
• (…………………………………..)
E.g.:
Peter’s house -------------
(in the English REFERENCE
language) (in the real world)
referent
Semiotic triangle
MINDS/
INTENTIONS
(inside ourselves)
referent
LANGUAGE THE WORLD
(outside of
Peter’s house reference
ourselves)
Sense: the general meaning or the concept underlying the word.
(……………………………..)
A word’s referent is the object which it stands for on a specific
occasion of use.
E.g.: The queen has fallen off the table.
Situation 1: at Buckingham Palace in 2009- the queen Elizabeth II,
and the referent of the word table is a particular piece of English
royal furniture.
Situation 2: in Denmark – the queen Queen Margrethe of Denmark
and the referent of the word table is the Danish one.
Situation 3: in a game of chess …
Situation 4: in a game of playing cards …
The queen:
Sense 1: female reigning monarch
Sense 2: second highest ranking piece in a game of chess
Sense 3: third highest card in a suit, behind ace and king
A word’s referent changes each time the word is
applied to a different object or situation. By
contrast, a word’s sense does not change
every time the word takes on a new referent.
‘table’ has the single sense ‘piece of furniture
with raised flat surface used for putting things
on, eating at, etc.’
2. Types of reference
REFERENCE
Examples:
1. a. The present Prime Minister of Vietnam
b. “My mother”
c. Orange
2. a. Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon
b. the Morning Star and the Evening Star
c. Tony Blair and the Prime Minister of the UK in 2000.
3. a. Vietnam
b. Angelina Jolie
c. the moon
2. Types of reference
REFERENCE
a. Variable Reference: the same expression may refer to
different objects.
Example 1:
a. The present Prime Minister of Vietnam : 2020? 2014? 2000?
1992?
- In 2020: ……………………………..
- In 2014: ……………………………..
- In 2000: ……………………………..
- In 1992: ……………………………..
b. “My mother” (the mother of the speaker) may refer to
……………………………...
c. Orange may refer to ……………………….. or ……………………………...
REFERENCE
2. Types of reference
a. Variable Reference can be:
-Possessive adjectives: my, your, the government’s.
Exception: John’s.
-Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns: this, that,
these, those, mine…
-Personal pronouns: I, you, he, him,…
-Adverb of place/time: here, there, today, yesterday,
at the station…
-Article: the, a, an
2. Types of reference
REFERENCE
b) Co-Reference: different expressions refer to the
same object.
Example 2:
a. HCM City and Saigon:
both refer to ……………………………..
b. The Morning Star and the Evening Star:
both refer to ……………………………...
c. Tony Blair and the Prime Minister of the UK in 2000:
both refer to ……………………………...
2. Types of reference
REFERENCE
c) Constant Reference: one expression always
refers to the same object, (regardless who is the
speaker).
Example 3:
• Proper names, especially geographical names:
Angelina Jolie, Smith, David, Vietnam, Laos,…
• Unique things: the sun, the moon, the earth,
the east, the west,…
Distinction between variable reference, constant
reference and co-reference.
1/ When the same linguistic expression refers to different
referents, it has variable reference.
E.g.: There are people with high cheek in the world.
2/ When one linguistic expression refers to one and the same
referent, it has constant reference: the sun, the moon, the
People’s Republic of China, Angola, the United Nations, FIFA,
UNESCO, etc.
3/ When two or more linguistic expressions share the same
referent, they have co-reference.
The morning star and the evening star both refer to the planet
called Venus.
In a conversation about Britain in 1982, the Prime Minister and
the leader of the Conservative Party share the same referent:
Mrs Thatcher.
Practice (p28)
(1) What would be the referent of the phrase the present
President of the United States used:
(a) in 2014?
(b) in 2007?
(2) Therefore we can say that the phrase the present President of
the United States has
A. variable reference
B. constant reference
C. co-reference
(3) Does The People’s Republic of China normally have constant
reference?
(4) In a conversation about the United States of America in 2007
can the President and the Leader of the Republican Party have
the same referent?
Practice (p29)
Write down two sentences bringing out clearly the two different
meanings of
1/ The chicken is ready to eat.
2/ He greeted the girl with a smile.
3/ He turned over the field.
Rule: Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every
expression has reference.
`
Practice (p34)
MINDS/
INTENTIONS
(inside ourselves)
LANGUAGE THE WORLD referent
reference (outside of
ourselves)
