Unit 3 - Reference and Sense

Question 1

Where are the relationships according to sense & reference ?

Answer 1

In talking of SENSE, we deal with relationships INSIDE THE LANGUAGE

In talking of REFERENCE, we deal with relationships BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND THE WORLD

Question 2

What is the goal of a reference?

Answer 2

By means of reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world (including persons) are being talked about

Question 3

example : “this page”

Answer 3

The page your holding between your fingers, the sheet of paper = part of the world

The actual page , is not part of the English language

VS

English expression “this page” = part of language

==> relationship between the = REFERENCE

Question 4

So basically which one is about meaning ?

Answer 4

Meaning = about language = SENSE

If I show you a tulip I’m showing according to the refeent = REFERENCE.

Question 5

Deixis?

Answer 5

Un mot ou une expression est déictique si son interprétation varie en fonction du contexte, comme c’est le cas des pronoms par exemple.

Yours = part of language that points to sth out of language

Question 6

=> some expression can be used to refer to more than 1 thing

Answer 6

variable reference

Question 7

Variable reference

Answer 7

→ The same expression can, in some cases, be used to refer to different things.

There are as any potential referents for the phrase “this page” as there are pages in the world

Question 8

What is the name of the other reference

Answer 8

Constant reference

Question 9

Constant reference def

Answer 9

There are cases of expressions which in normal everyday conversation never refer to different things i.e in most everyday situations that one can envisage

ex : the moon

Question 10

What referent in everyday life ?

Answer 10

In everyday discourse, almost all of the fixing of reference comes from the context in which expressions are used. 2 diff expressions can have the same referent.

Question 11

2 diff expression with the same referent ?

Answer 11

2 diff expressions can have the same referent
→ my uncle
→ my mother’s brother
> the same thing

→ the last president of the US
→ D. Trump

Question 12

Homonymy & polysemy hwo to differentiate them ?

Answer 12

The same word has power to refer to both element
Or just coincidence of phonetic letters etc no more combination possible

→ because related = key = polysemy

Question 13

Analogy of form

Answer 13

sole : la forme de la chaussure reminds fish

Question 14

Sentences, utterances… which one refer ?

Answer 14

Sentences don’t refer only utterances do

The door is closed : sentence, door depends on where you say it.
But if this sentence has no context : which door ? you’ll know it only when used in a real situation : so it’s in an utterance

Question 15

Sense def

Answer 15

the sense of an expression is its place in a system of semantic relationship with others expressions in the language.

→ sameness of meaning

we can talk of sense not only of words bu also phrases & sentences

In some cases, the same word can have more than one sense

Question 16

example : In some cases, the same word can have more than one sense

Answer 16

bank : an account
bank : bank of the river

Question 17

word

Answer 17

in the example of the bank, “word” is used in the sense of “word-form”

→ treat aanythingspelled with the same sequnce of letters & pronounced with the same sequence of phonemes in a standard dialect as being the same word.

Bank before = 1 word treated with several senses

VS others would consider bank as several different words. like in dictionnaries, thereare several entries

→ HOMONYMY VS POLYSEMY