reference and inference by dr. shadia

Words

themselves do

not refer to

anything,

people refer.

PRAGMATICS: REFERENCE AND INFERENCEREFERENCE AND INFERENCE

By:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

http://www.kau.edu.sa/SBANJER

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 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 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 forms to enable a

listener, or reader, to

identify something.Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 3

Linguistic forms

referring expressions


referring

expressions

(1)

proper

nouns

(2)

definite (4)

pronouns

The

categories

of referring

expressions


expressions definite

nouns

(3)

indefinite

nouns

pronouns

These linguistic forms are called :

referring expressions.

They can be:

(a)proper nouns:


‘HillaryClinton’‘Cairo’

(b) noun phrases (definite):

referring expressions can be:


‘The city’ ‘the Secretary of State’


(c) noun phrases (indefinite):


‘A woman’‘A place’


(d) pronouns:


‘She, her’‘It’

• The choice of one type of

referring expression rather

than another seems to be

based, to a large extent, on based, to a large extent, on

what the speaker assumes

the listener already knows.


•Reference is clearly

tied to the speaker’s

goals and beliefs in goals and beliefs in

the use of language.


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,


Yule

unknown, or entities that, as far as we know,

do not exist.

Examples:

a) There's a man waiting for you.

b) He wants to marry a woman with lots b) He wants to marry a woman with lots

of money.

c) We'd love to find a nine-foot-tall

basketball player


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 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.


For successful referencereference to

occur, we must also

recognize the role of

inferenceinference..

What are What are inferencesinferences??


Inferring is connecting

prior knowledge to text

based information to

create meaning beyond 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 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.


• Listeners make inferencesinferences

about what is said in order

to arrive at an interpretation

of the speaker’s intended

meaning. The choice of one 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. PeoplePeople refer.

• Because there is no direct

relationship between entities and

words, the listener’s task is to inferwords, 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

• “Mr. Kawasaki.”Used to refer to a

man who alwaysrode loud and

• “Can I look at your Chomsky?”

“I enjoy listening to Mozart.”

This process, where

Reference & Inference

rode loud andfast in hismotorcycle. Abrand name isused torefer to aperson here.

This process, whereadditional information is needed to connect what is said to what is meant, is inference.


• "In reference there is a

basic collaboration at work:

• ‘intention-to-identify’ and • ‘intention-to-identify’ and

• 'recognition-of-intention’.


Collaboration

• This process needs not only work

between one speaker and one

listener; it appears to work, in

terms of convention, between all terms of convention, between all

members of a community

who share a common language

and culture.


“Our ability to identify

intended referents has

actually depended on

The Role of Co-text

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. 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 co-

texts lead to a different type of

interpretation in each case. interpretation in each case.


a)Cheese sandwich is made with

white bread.

b)The cheese sandwich left without

paying.

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 is perhaps more easily recognized

as having a powerful impact on

how referring expressions are to

be interpreted.


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 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.


In English, initial reference is

often indefinite. The definite

noun phrases and the pronouns

are examples of subsequent

reference to already introduced reference to already introduced

referents, generally known as

anaphoric reference, or

anaphora. Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar 28

• The initial referring expression 'six

potatoes' identifies something different

Example:

Peel and slice six potatoes.

Put them in cold salted water.

potatoes' identifies something different

from the anaphoric pronoun 'them', which

must be interpreted as 'the six peeled and

sliced potatoes”.


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 “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”.


Anaphor and antecedent

• In English, initial reference,, orintroductory mention, is often indefinite(a man, a woman, a cat). In the examplethe definite noun phrases (the man, thecat, the woman) and the pronouns (it,cat, the woman) and the pronouns (it,he, her, they) are examples ofsubsequent reference to alreadyintroduced referents, generally knownas anaphoric reference, or anaphora.


In technical terms, the second

or subsequent expression is the

anaphor anaphor and the initial is the

antecedentantecedent:

•• a a man man →→→→→→→→ the man the man →→→→→→→→ hehe

•• a woman a woman →→→→→→→→ the woman the woman →→→→→→→→sheshe

•• he + she he + she →→→→→→→→ theythey


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.”


Zero anaphora, or ellipsis

Cook for three minutes.


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:intends to identify:

• 1. Peel an onion and slice it.

• 2. Drop the slices into hot oil.

• 3. Cook ∅∅∅∅ for three minutes.

• ∅∅∅∅ = ‘slices’, ‘them’.


"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 assumption that listeners will

collaborate and interpret those

expressions as the speaker

intended".


“Successful reference means that

an intention was recognized, via

inference, indicating a kind of inference, indicating a kind of

shared knowledge and hence

social connection”


Successful reference is necessarily

collaborative (‘shared knowledge’).

It allows us to make sense of the

following sentences:following sentences:


Picasso’s on the far wall.

My Rolling Stones is missing.

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 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?


Example:

A: Have you seen my Yule?

B: Yeah, it is on the desk.

Inference – any additional Inference – any additional

information use by the listener

to connect what is said to

what must be meant .


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 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 Londonor I enjoy listening to Mozart.


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.• b. Sure, it’s on the shelf over there.


Three-dimensional diagram

• Speakers------ reference------ intention

• Listeners------ inference------ interpretation

• Sense---reference---referent

• Word---meaning---entity• Word---meaning---entity


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 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.


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.with lots of money.


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 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”


• 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 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.


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 .we use .


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 word is called the

antecedent ,and the second

word is called the anaphor or

anaphoric expression.


Antecedent & Anaphora

A:“Can I borrow your book?”B:“Yes, it’s on the

and have a referential relationship. The first mention is called the

table.”mention is called the antecedent.The second and any subsequent reference is called the anaphora.


I turned the corner and almost stepped on it.

There was a large snake in the middle of the

path.


Indirect anaphora or bridging reference

I walked into the room. The windows looked out to the bay.

︱︱Antecedent anaphor

︱︱Indirect anaphora or bridging reference


Successful reference means that an

intention was recognized, via

inference, indicating a kind of shared

knowledge and hence social

connection.connection.

Remember that:

• Pragmatics is the study of how moremore

gets communicated than is said.


HAVE A NICE DAY!


reference and inference by dr. shadia

Documents

use of words

use of language

vague expressions

indefinite noun phrases

c noun phrases indefinite

lots b

whoeverwhatever fits

large extent