REFERENCES AND

INFERENCES
Nguyen Thi Kim Anh
 References
Definition of reference

Referring expression & its types

Characteristics of reference

Reasons to use reference in Language

Types of reference

Referential and attribute use of referring expressions

 Definition

Reference: an act in which

a speaker/ writer uses
linguistic forms to enable
listeners/ readers to
identify something (Yule,
2010:131)
The categories of referring expressions

(1)
Proper
nouns

(2)
(4)
Referring
Definite
Pronouns expressions noun
phrases
(3)
Indefinite
noun
phrases
 Cohesion consists in continuity of referential
meaning (relatedness of reference) ;

Personal (communication goal of referent)

Demonstrative (proximity of referent)

REFERENCE

Comparative ( similarity to preceding referent)

 Types of reference

a. Personal reference:

Personal pronouns (e.g., I, he, she)

Possesive pronouns (e.g., mine, hers, his)

Possesive determiners (e.g., my, your, her)

English is considered an international language. It is a spoken

by more than 260 million people all over the world.
I have met some friends this morning. They told me you had
gone by her car
 b. Demonstrative reference: essentially a form of verbal pointing

the speaker identifies the referent by locating it on a scale of proximity.

this, these and here imply proximity to the speaker

that, those and there imply distance from the speaker.

Like personals, the demonstratives regularly refer exophorically to

something within the context of situation.

E.g. How do you like a cruise in that yacht?

c. Comparative reference: contributes to textual cohesion by
setting up a relation of contrast

adjectives as same, identical, equal

adjectives in a comparative degree such as bigger, faster

adverbs such as identically, likewise, so, such

E.g. She has a similarly furnished room to mine.

The little dog barked as noisily as the big one.

 REFERENCE

(Situational) (Textual)
{EXO}{PHORA} { ENDO}{PHORA}

IN(SIDE)

OUT(SIDE)
{ANA}{PHORA} {CATA}{PHORA }
 Endophora vs exophora

Endophora: referring to something inside the text

E.g. Wash and core six cooking apples. Put them into
a fireproof dish.

An example of an endophoric reference when them

referred back to apples.

them, therefore, signals to the reader that he or she

needs to look back in the text to find its meaning.
 Endophora

Anaphora Cataphora
to preceding text to following text
 Anaphoric 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.

a man, a woman, a cat → initial references

the man, the woman, the cat, it, he, her, they
→ the second or subsequent references.
 In technical term,

the first/ initial references are antecedents

Ex: a man, a woman, a cat → indefinite NP

the second/subsequent references are anaphoras

Ex: the man, the woman, the cat, it, he, her, they → definite
noun phrases, pronouns
 Anaphoric reference
Anaphoric reference can change
Peel and slice six potatoes
Put them in cold water
the anaphoric pronoun them
not → six potatoes
but→ six peeled and sliced potatoes.
 Zero anaphora/ ellipsis
Peel an onion and slice it. Drop the slices into
hot oil. Cook for 3 minutes

In “Cook (?) for 3 minutes”, no linguistic

expression is referent, it is called zero anaphora
or ellipsis.

The use of zero anaphora to maintain reference

creates an expectation that the listeners are
able to infer what/ who the speaker intends to
 Associative anaphora/ bridging
• Instead of referring back to an entity, we refer
back to something associated with it.
Ex: I walked into a room. The windows looked
out to the bay.

Associative
antecedent
anaphora
 Anaphoric reference

The key to making sense of reference is

that pragmatic process whereby the
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 speakers
intended.
 Cataphoric reference

E.g: I turned the corner and almost stepped on it.

There was a large snake in the middle of the path.

In this case, we refer forward, instead of

backward.

This case is called cataphoric reference.

 Referring expressions can be
pronouns or definite noun phrases

Ex: He walked into his room and

was frightened by the woman. She
is his mother.
 Exophora: referring to something outside the text

E.g. For he's a jolly good fellow. And so say all of us.

As readers outside of this environment, we are unfamiliar with

who the he is that is being referred to

But, most likely, the people involved are aware of the he.

When the meaning is not explicit from the text itself, but is
obvious to those in a particular situation, this is called exophoric
reference.
 Characteristics of reference

Reference as an action.

Reference is tied to the speaker’s goals

and beliefs in the use of language.

Reference needn’t be precise.

 Reference as an action
• The speaker intend the • The listener needs to:
listener to be able to  understand that the
pick out a reference in a speaker intend him to
particular context. identify an entity
 identify that entity
Eg: Can you see the according to the
tall man in the red referring expression the
shirt? I don’t like speaker produced
him.
 Speaker’s goals and belief

Reference components:

Speaker’s belief
Speaker’s goals Listener is capable of
to identify something identifying the thing due to
mutual knowledge
 Speakers and listeners still manage to understand
each other in the absence of the precise
information

We often use vague expressions, or expression that

aren’t literally of the referent

Eg: Mr. Whoever knows is over there

 Referential and attributive use
“It is important to recognize that not all referring expressions
have identifiable physical referents” (Yule:2010)
NPs used by a speaker who is able to identify a referent or has
one specific entity in mind

E.g. The man I live next door to has some very strange habits.

Even if the description content is wrong, they may still refer

successfully

(The listener can still manage to infer what referent is intended)

 Imagine that somebody called Smith has just been murdered. Jones
has been charged with the murder and he’s on trial. He behaves
oddly. Afterwards, you tell a friend: “The man who murdered Smith is
insane”

The description suggests a referential use.

The speaker intend to refer the murder is Jones, a particular man,

regardless of whether or not he is actually responsible for the death
of Smith
 Attributive use

NPs used by a speaker who assumes the existence

of a referent that satisfies some descriptive content

Meaning: “Whoever/ Whatever fits the description”

An “invitation” to the listener to assume that such a

referent exists (even it can’t be identified)
 Imagine that somebody called Smith has just been murdered. You
come across the murdered body of Smith. You’ve no idea who did it.
You turn to your friend and say: “The man who murdered Smith is
insane”

The description is not a particular person; “The man who murdered

Smith” isn’t really referring to someone identifiable

The description has an “Attributive use”, equivalent to Whoever

murdered Smith
 Remember: the descriptive properities of speaker decide
whether a NP is a referential use or attributive use.

E.g. He wants to marry a woman with a lot of money

Referential use: when speaker has a person in mind without

having a name
Attributive use: when speaker want to infer any woman who
has a lot of money

the word “a” could be replaced by “any”

 Inferences
• Definitions
 1. Definition of inference
Inference is connecting prior knowledge to text based information to
create meaning beyond what is directly stated.

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.

Eg: I just rented a house. The kitchen is really big

 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.

Inference: as there is no direct relationship between entities and words,

the listener's task is to infer correctly which entity the speaker intends
to identify by using a particular referring expression.
 The role of co-text
The ability to identify intended referents does not just
depend on the understanding of the referring expression,
but is aided by the co-text and context, accompanying it.

co-text: linguistic part of the environment in which a

referring expression is used (văn cảnh)

context: physical environment and (speech) conventions

(cảnh huống)
 Examples of co-text

The heart-attack mustn't be moved

(hospital)
Your ten-thirty just cancelled
(dentist)
A couple of rooms have complained
about the heat (hotel)
 Types of inferences

Coreference: A referential relation between

expressions where they both refer to the
same entity

Bridging inferences: Links the nominals to

the preceding sentences and creates
coherence based on the basic of
background knowledge
 Coreference
Repetition of nominal

E.g: I saw a beggar. The beggar looked curiously at me.

An independent nominal used as an epithet

E.g: Ann is a daughter of Mary. I met this beautiful girl in the bus yesterday.

An anaphoric pronoun

E.g: Susan dropped the plate. It shattered loudly.

 Bridging inferences

John owned a house. The plumbing was blocked.

John owned a house. The ceilings were sagging.

John owned a house. The valuation was too low.

The speaker assumes that referent is accessible

to the listener
 Exercise
Conversation 1:
A: Can I borrow your Shakespeare?
B: Yeah, it’s over there on the table
Conversation 2:
A: Where’s the cheese sandwich sitting?
B: He’s over there by the window.
Shakespeare takes up the whole bottom shelf.

We are going to see Shakepeare in London

I hate Shakepeare at school.

=> things the writer produced

 References
• Cruse, A. 2002. Meaning in Language: An introduction to Semantics and
Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Diệp Quang Ban. (2004), Ngữ pháp tiếng Việt, Nxb Giáo dục, Hà Nội.
• Hanks, W. (2009) Fieldwork on deixis. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 1: 10-24.
• Levinson, S. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Newman, P. and Ratliff, M. (2001). Linguistic Fieldwork. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
• Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2010). Longman Dictionary of Language
Teaching and Applied Linguistics (4th ed.). London: Longman (Pearson
Education).
• Yule, G. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Yule, G. 2010. The study of language (4th). New York: Cambridge
University Press