“My advisors were concerned Miss Everdeen would be difficult, but Miss Everdeen is not planning on being difficult, isn‟t she?” The President asks.
“No,” I answer.
“The President has a problem, Miss Everdeen. A problem that began back then when Miss Everdeen pulled out those poisonous berries in the arena.”
Below is a conversation between Katniss Everdeen and a President. Please analyze to which deixis does it belong and interpret distance between Katniss Everdeen and the President.
3.1 Referential and attributive uses
3.2 Names and referents
3.3 The role of co-text
3.4 Anaphoric reference
Reference: is an act in which a speaker, or writer,
uses linguistic forms to enable a listener, or
reader, to identify something. It is not simply a
relationship between the meaning of a word and
an object in the world
Linguistic forms = referring expressions.
Introduction
Proper nouns : Indonesia, George Yule
Pronouns: it, he
Noun phrase:
Definite: the country, the lecturer
Indefinite: a place, a woman
Referring expressions
Speaker – Reference – Intention
Three dimensional diagram
Listener – Inference – Interpretation
Collaborative
words/phrases
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
Yule: "not all referring expressions have identifiable physical referents. ".
3.1 Referential and attributive uses
a physically present entity
exist but unknown
doesn‟t exist
attributive use:
„whoever/whatever fits the description‟
in indefinite noun phrase in which „a‟ can be replaced by „any‟
e.g. There's a man waiting for you (=any man)
In definite noun phrase in which „the‟ is assumed to exist, but cannot be ensure yet.
e.g. There was no sign of the killer
(A reporter is reporting a mysterious death)
Attributive use and referential use
referential use:
In indefinite noun phrase a specific person is referred to, although his/her name or some other description is not used. It‟s a choice the speaker makes.
e.g.He wants to marry a woman with lots of money.
(more interested to hear a woman with lots of money than a name)
In definite noun phrase „the‟ shows that a referent does exist.
e.g. There was no sign of the killer.
(in a news, a person‟s identified to murder, chased into a building, but escaped)
convention between all members of a community who
share common language/culture which needs collaboration of „intention-to-identify‟ and „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
3.2 Names and Referents
Shakespeare „things the writer produced‟
conventional and culture specific set of entities
Shakespeare takes up the whole bottom shelf
We're going to see Shakespeare in London
I hated Shakespeare at school
Shakespeare is over there on the table
'the cheese sandwich' can refer to a person
A: Where's the cheese sandwich sitting?
B: He's over there by the window
(Conversation between waiters in a restaurant)
pragmatic connection:
proper names and objects conventionally associated with those names within a socio-culturally defined community.
conventions may differ from one social group to another
The ability to identify intended referents depend on :
- the listener‟s 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 possible referents-
The cheese sandwich is made with white bread (= food)
The cheese sandwich left without paying (=person)
3.3 The Role of Co-text
co-text: linguistic part of the environment in which a
referring expression is used
context: physical environment 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)
co-text & context
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
3.4 Anaphoric Reference
initial/introductory reference = antecedent
is often indefinite
subsequent reference = anaphor
is often definite and/or pronouns
anaphoric reference (anaphora)
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
anaphoric reference (anaphora):
reference to already introduced referents.
need not be exactly identical to antecedent.
e.g Peel and slice six potatoes. Put them in cold water.
Cataphora:
reversal of antecedent-anaphor pattern.
Cataphora is less common than anaphora
e.g. I turned the corner and almost stepped on it.
There was a large snake in the middle of the path.
Anaphora & Cataphora
When the interpretation require us to identify an
entity but no linguistic expression is present.
Peel an onion and slice it.Drop them into hot oil.Cook for three minutes.
It is expected that the listener can infer that the speaker intends to identify the peeled onion slices.
Zero anaphora /ellipsis
make inferences is possible when anaphoric expressions
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
Doesn‟t depend on some strictly literal, or grammatically
„correct‟ relationship between referent and referring expression chosen.
The key to making sense of reference is that an intention was recognized, via inference, indicating a shared knowledge and social connection.
Social dimension of reference is tied to the effect of collaboration - social closeness that they share.
Don‟t forget:
Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said.
Successful reference