Words themselves do not refer to anything, people refer.
PRAGMATICS: REFERENCE AND INFERENCE By: Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com
1
The words we use to identify things are in some direct relationship to those things. In discussing deixis, we assumed that the use of words to refer to people and things was a simple matter. However, words themselves don’t refer to anything. People refer. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
2
Reference is an act in which a speaker, or writer, uses linguistic forms to enable a listener, or reader, to identify something. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
3
Linguistic forms
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
referring expressions
4
The categories of referring expressions (4) pronouns
(1) proper nouns referring expressions
(2) definite nouns
(3) indefinite nouns Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
5
These linguistic forms are called : referring expressions. They can be:
(a)proper nouns:
‘Cairo’ Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
‘HillaryClinton’
6
referring expressions can be:
(b) noun phrases (definite):
‘The city’
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
‘the Secretary of State’
7
referring expressions can be:
(c) noun phrases (indefinite):
‘A place’ Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
‘A woman’ 8
referring expressions can be:
(d) pronouns:
‘It’ Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
‘She, her’ 9
• The choice of one type of referring expression rather than another seems to be based, to a large extent, on what the speaker assumes the listener already knows. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
10
•Reference is clearly tied to the speaker’s goals and beliefs in the use of language. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
11
It is important to recognize that not all referring expressions have identifiable physical referents. Indefinite noun phrases can be used to identify a physically present entity, but they can also be used to describe entities that are assumed to exist, but are unknown, or entities that, as far as we know, do not exist.
Yule Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
12
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
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
13
Attributive use / referential use a man waiting for you a woman with lots of money a nine-foot-tall basketball player This is sometimes called an attributive use, meaning 'whoever/whatever fits the description'. • It would be distinct from a referential use: a specific person is referred to, although his/her name or some other description is not used. • • • •
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
14
For successful reference to occur, we must also recognize the role of inference.. inference
What are inferences inferences?? Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
15
Inferring is connecting prior knowledge to text based information to create meaning beyond what is directly stated. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
16
The role of inference in communication is to allow the listener to identify correctly which particular entity the speaker is referring to. We can even use vague expressions relying on the listener’s ability to infer what is the referent that we have in mind. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
17
• Listeners make inferences about what is said in order to arrive at an interpretation of the speaker’s intended meaning. The choice of one type of referring expression rather than another seems to be based on what the speaker assumes the listener already knows. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
18
• Words themselves don’t refer to anything. People refer. • Because there is no direct relationship between entities and words, the listener’s task is to infer which entity the speaker intends to identify by using a particular expression:
Mister Aftershave is late today. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
19
Reference & Inference • “Mr. Kawasaki.” Used to refer to a man who always rode loud and fast in his motorcycle. A brand name is used to refer to a person here. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
• “Can I look at your
Chomsky?” “I enjoy listening to Mozart.” This process, where additional information is needed to connect what is said to what is meant, is inference. 20
• "In reference there is a basic collaboration at work: • ‘intention-to-identify’ and • 'recognition-of-intention’. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
21
Collaboration • This process needs not only work between one speaker and one listener; it appears to work, in terms of convention, between all members of a community who share a common language and culture. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
22
The Role of Co-text
“Our ability to identify intended referents has actually depended on more than our understanding of the referring expression". Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
23
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. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
24
• In the examples below, the referring expression 'cheese sandwich‘ provides a number of possible referents. However, the different cotexts lead to a different type of interpretation in each case. a)Cheese sandwich is made with white bread. b)The cheese sandwich left without paying. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
25
The co-text is just a linguistic part of the environment in which a referring expression is used. The physical environment, or context, is perhaps more easily recognized as having a powerful impact on how referring expressions are to be interpreted. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
26
Reference, then, is not simply a relationship between the meaning of a word or phrase and an object or a person in the world. It is a social act, in which the speaker assumes that the word or phrase chosen to identify an object or a person will be interpreted as the speaker intended. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
27
In English, initial reference is often indefinite. The definite noun phrases and the pronouns are examples of subsequent reference to already introduced referents, generally known as anaphoric reference, or anaphora. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
28
Example:
Peel and slice six potatoes. Put them in cold salted water. • The initial referring expression 'six potatoes' identifies something different from the anaphoric pronoun 'them', which must be interpreted as 'the six peeled and sliced potatoes�.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
29
Anaphoric reference After the initial introduction of some entity, speakers will use various expressions to maintain reference: “In the film, 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�. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
30
Anaphor and antecedent • In English, initial reference,, or introductory mention, is often indefinite (a man, a woman, a cat). In the example the definite noun phrases (the man, the cat, the woman) and the pronouns (it, he, her, they) are examples of subsequent reference to already introduced referents, generally known as anaphoric reference, or anaphora. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
31
In technical terms, the second or subsequent expression is the anaphor and the initial is the antecedent: antecedent • a man → the man → he • a woman → the woman →she • he + she → they Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
32
When the interpretation requires us to identify an entity, and no linguistic expression is presented, it is called zero anaphora, or ellipsis. “Peel an onion and slice it. Drop the slices into hot oil. Cook for three minutes.� Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
33
Zero anaphora, or ellipsis
Cook for three minutes.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
34
Zero anaphora or ellipsis • The use of zero anaphora clearly creates an expectation that the listener will be able to infer who or what the speaker intends to identify: • 1. Peel an onion and slice it. • 2. Drop the slices into hot oil. • 3. Cook ∅ for three minutes. • ∅ = ‘slices’, ‘them’. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
35
"the key to making sense of reference is that pragmatic process whereby speakers select linguistic expressions with the intention of identifying certain entities and with the assumption that listeners will collaborate and interpret those expressions as the speaker intended". Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
36
“Successful reference means that an intention was recognized, via inference, indicating a kind of shared knowledge and hence social connection�
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
37
Successful reference is necessarily collaborative (‘shared knowledge’). It allows us to make sense of the following sentences: Picasso’s on the far wall. My Rolling Stones is missing. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
38
Any observation of normal conversational behavior makes it immediately clear that people never say exactly what they mean, and people always infer more than what was said. The question becomes, how are we able to accomplish this? How do we manage to say so little yet communicate so much? How do we communicate in spite of a language’s limitations? Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
39
Example: A: Have you seen my Yule? B: Yeah, it is on the desk. Inference – any additional information use by the listener to connect what is said to what must be meant . Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
40
Inference • The key process here is called Inference, it is an additional information used by the listeners to connect what is said to what must be meant . In the previous example, the listener has to infer that name of the writer of a book can be used to identify a book by that writer. Similar type of inferences are necessary t to understand some who says that Picasso is in the museum or I saw Shakespeare in London or I enjoy listening to Mozart. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
41
The examples of inference • (1) a. Where is the fresh salad sitting? • b. He’s sitting by the door. • (2) a. Can I look at your Shakespeare? • b. Sure, it’s on the shelf over there.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
42
Three-dimensional diagram • • • •
Speakers------ reference------ intention Listeners------ inference------ interpretation Sense---reference---referent Word---meaning---entity
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
43
Logical understanding between reference and inference • These examples make it clear that we can use names associated with things (salad) to refer to people and names of people (Shakespeare) to refer to things. The key process here is called inference. An inference is any additional information used by the hearer to connect what is said to what must be meant. In example (2), the hearer has to infer that the name of the writer of a book can be used to identify a book by that writer. In pragmatics, the act by which a speaker or writer uses language to enable a hearer or reader to identify something is called reference. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
44
Examples of referential and attributive uses
a. There’s a man waiting for you. b. He wants to marry a woman with lots of money.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
45
Anaphora • Anaphora is a subsequent reference to an already introduced entity. Mostly we use anaphora in a text to maintain reference. When we establish a referent( e.g. can I borrow your book?) and subsequently referee to the same object( yeah, it’s on the table) , we have particular kind of referential relationship between book and it. The Second ( and any subsequent ) referring expression is an example of anaphora and the first mentioned is called the “ antecedent” Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
46
• As with other types of reference, the connection between referent and anaphora may not always be direct. For example, In a complaint” I was waiting for the bus, but he just drove by without stopping” Notice that antecedent is bus and he anaphoric expression is “ he” we would normally expect it to be used for a bus. Obviously there is an inference involved here: if someone is taking about a bus in motion , assume that there is a drive. That assumed driver is inferred referent for “ he” .The term “ inference ‘ has been used here to describe what the listener or reader) does.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
47
Anaphora (Anaphoric reference) • In most of our talk and writing, we have to keep track of who or what we are talking about for more than one sentence at a time, we use .
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
48
A: Can I borrow your dictionary? B: Yean, it’s on the table.
• Here, word refers back to the word dictionary. The previous word is called the antecedent ,and the second word is called the anaphor or anaphoric expression. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
49
Antecedent & Anaphora A:“Can I borrow
your book?” B:“Yes, it’s on the table.”
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
and have a referential relationship. The first mention is called the antecedent. The second and any subsequent reference is called the anaphora. 50
I turned the corner and almost stepped on it. There was a large snake in the middle of the path.
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
51
Indirect anaphora or bridging reference I walked into the room. The windows looked out to the bay.
︱ ︱ Antecedent anaphor ︱ Indirect anaphora or bridging reference
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
52
Successful reference means that an intention was recognized, via inference, indicating a kind of shared knowledge and hence social connection. Remember that: • Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
53
HAVE A NICE DAY!
Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar
54