1. 3.1 Referential and attributive uses
REFERENCE & INFERENCE
3.1 Referential and attributive uses
3.2 Names and referents
3.3 The role of co-text
3.4 Anaphoric reference

2. Introduction Yule: “Words themselves do not refer to , people ”
Reference: is an act in which a speaker, or writer, uses linguistic forms to enable a listener, or reader, to something
Linguistic forms = expressions.
Three dimensional diagram
Speaker – Reference – Intention
Listener – Inference – Interpretation
: Sense – reference – referent
: Word – meaning – entity/object

3. The categories of referring expressions:
Proper nouns : Indonesia, Ms. Ive
Pronouns: it, she
Definite nouns: the country, the lecturer
Indefinite nouns: a place, a woman
Succesful reference:
Speaker’s goal
Inference
«Mister Aftershave is late today»
There was one man who delivered a packages to our office whose real name I didn’t know, but whose identity I could when the secretary to him

4. 3.1 Referential and attributive uses
Yule: "not all referring expressions have identifiable physical referents. ".
Examples:
 a) There's a man waiting for you.
 b) He wants to marry a woman with lots of money.
 c) We'd love to find a nine-foot-tall basketball player

5. Attributive use and referential use
attributive use: ‘ /whatever fits the  description'.
E.g. There's a man waiting for you (=any man)
referential use: a specific person is referred to, although his/her name or some other description is not used.
E.g.
He wants to marry a woman with lots of money.
(=more interested a woman with lots of money than a name)
There was no sign of the killer.
(=in a news, a person’s identified to murder, chased into a building, but )
We'd love to find a nine-foot-tall basketball player.
We’d love to meet Santa Claus
(= everyone knows they )

6. 3.2 Names and Referents
convention between all members of a cultural/language community: of the intention-to-identify and the recognition-of-intention
E,g
'Shakespeare' does not refer only to a specific person:
A: Can I borrow your Shakespeare?
B: Yeah it's over there on the table

7. conventional set of entities (e.g. things the writer produced)
Shakespeare takes up the whole bottom shelf
We're going to see Shakespeare in London
I hated Shakespeare at school
'the cheese sandwich' can refer to a person
A: Where's the cheese sandwich sitting?
B: He's over there by the window
between proper names and objects conventionally associated within a socio-culturally defined community

8. 3.3 The Role of Co-text The ability to intended referents depend on :
the understanding of the referring expression
aided by the linguistic material (co-text)
Brazil wins World Cup
('wins World Cup' limits the range of possible interpretations)
the referring expression provides a range of reference: a number of :
- The cheese sandwich is made with white bread (= food)
- The cheese sandwich left without paying (=person)

9. co-text: of the environment in which a referring expression is used
context: and (speech) conventions
- The heart-attack mustn't be moved (hospital)
- Your ten-thirty just cancelled (dentist)
A couple of rooms have complained about the heat (hotel)
conventions may differ from one social group to another
reference is a social act in which:
assumes interprets
(NOT simply a relationship between the meaning of a word and an object in the world)

10. 3.4 Anaphoric Reference
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
E.g
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/ is often indefinite ('a man', 'a woman', 'a cat')
subsequent reference with definite NPs ('the man, 'the cat', 'the woman') or with ('it', 'he', 'she')

11. -antecedent: the initial expression
anaphoric reference ( ): reference to already introduced referents. It consists of:
-antecedent: the initial expression
- anaphor: the second or subsequent expression
anaphoric reference need not be exactly identical to antecedent:
E.g Peel and slice six potatoes. Put them in cold salted water.
('them' now refers to 'the six peeled and sliced potatoes')
: reversal of antecedent-anaphor order.
I turned the corner and almost stepped on it.
There was a large snake in the middle of the path.
Cataphora is than anaphora

12. Zero anaphora or ellipsis
(zero anaphor): while definite nouns and pronouns can act as anaphors
Peel an onion and slice it.
Drop the slices into hot oil.
Cook for three minutes.
The last utterance 'Cook for three minutes' works with the expectation that the listener can infer that the speaker intends to identify the peeled onion slices
make inferences is possible when are not linguistically connected to their antecedents.
I just rented a house. The kitchen is really big. We had Chardonnay with dinner. The wine was the best part. The bus came on time, but he didn't stop

13. the social dimension of reference is tied to the effect of collaboration - conversation partners must share social closeness.
“Picasso’s on the far wall”
“My Rolling Stones is missing”
: an intention was recognized, via inference, indicating a shared knowledge and social connection.
Don’t forget:
Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said.

14. PLEASE USE THE TRASH CONTAINER FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN TOILET PAPER
Exercise
1. The following text was found on the back wall of an airline toilet (in an American Airlines plane):
PLEASE USE THE TRASH CONTAINER FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN TOILET PAPER
What are possible interpretations of this?
What is the most likely interpretation and what is necessary to arrive at it?

15. 2. The following notice was found on the back wall of the men’s toilet in the Universidade Federal de Brasilia
SEA EDUCADO, JOGUE O PAPEL NO LIXO
(Be educated, throw the paper in the waste basket)
What is the most likely interpretation here? Is the note ambiguous?
How is understanding of these contradictory messages dependent on the context?
What does ‘anything other’ in the English notice refer to?
What is the paper referred to in the Brazilian notice?