Referring Expressions

Referring Expressions

1. It is any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or someone

   • Ex.: Fred hit me. The speaker has a particular person in mind.

2. Condition of expressions

   • The speaker and the hearer have the same perception of what is being talked about

3. Remarks about referring expressions

   • Can only be used as referring expressions
   • Some of them can never be used as referring expresions
   • Can be used to refer or not, depending on the kind of sentence they occur in

4. Function

   • They are used with a particular referent in mind but sometimes these expressions are not clear

5. Types of referring expressions

   • Definite noun phrases
     • Proper names, personal pronouns & longer descriptive expressions
   • Indefinite noun phrases
     • Use on indefinite articles

6. Equative sentences

   • Sentences used to assert that 2 referring expressions have the same referent

7. Reversibility in equatives

   • The order of the 2 referring expressions can be reversed without loss of acceptability