KEY TO REFERENCE EXERCISES- AUG 25

EXERCISES

1. Circle the referring expressions in the following utterance:
“Neil Armstrong was the first man on the Moon and became a hero.”


2. Who does “I” refer to in the following utterance?
“I will never speak to you again.”

ANSWER: “I” REFERS TO THE SPEAKER OF THE UTTERANCE (THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UTTERANCE)


3. When Ben says “I´ve lost the contract”, the word I refers to BEN.
When Penny says “I´ll send you another one”, the I here refers to PENNY.


4. If a television news reporter, speaking in Fresno, California, says, “This town was shaken by a major earth tremor at 5 a.m. today”, what does this town refer to?

ANSWER: FRESNO

5. In general, what clue to the identity of the referent of a referring expression is given by the inclusion of the demonstrative word this?

IT PRECEDS A NOUN PHRASE. A REFERRING EXPRESSION MODIFIED BY “THIS” REFERS TO AN ENTITY (PLACE, PERSON, THING) AT OR NEAR THE ACTUAL PLACE OF THE UTTERANCE IN WHICH IT IS USED.

6. If, on November 3rd 2005, I say, “Everything seemed to go wrong yesterday”, what day am I picking out by the word yesterday?

2nd of November

7. If, on May 4th 2004, my sister says to me, “Yesterday wasn´t my birthday”, what day is being picked out by the word yesterday?

MAY 3RD

8. To summarize in a general statement, what does yesterday refer to?

ANSWER: “YESTERDAY” REFERS TO THE DAY BEFORE THE ONE THE UTTERANCE IS PRODUCED. IT IS A DEICTIC (A WORD WHICH TAKES SOME ELEMENT OF ITS MEANING FROM THE SITUATION OF THE UTTERANCE IN WHICH IT IS USED (PRONOUNS, HERE, THERE, TODAY, YESTERDAY, ETC.)

These exercises show that the words this and yesterday are deitic. Deitic terms (such as you, here and today, or modifiers which can be used with referring expressions, like the demonstrative this) help the hearer to identify the referent of a referring expression through its spatial or temporal relationship with the situation of utterance.



EXERCISES - REFERENCE

1. Imagine that you and I are in a room with a man and a woman, and, making no visual signal of any sort, I say to you, “The man stole my wallet”. In this situation, how would you know the referent of the subject referring expression?

FROM THE CONTEXTM AS THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN BEING REFERRED TO.

2. If in the situation described above I had said, “A man stole my wallet”, would you automatically know the referent of the subject expression a man?
NO, IT COULD BE REFERRING TO A SITATION OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT.

3. So does the definite article, the, prompt the hearer to (try to) identify the referent of a referring expression?

YES, AS IT WOULD INDICATE ONLY ONE ITEM.

4. Does the indefinite article, a, prompt the hearer to (try to) identify the referent of a referring expression?
NO.

5. Is the phrase the man who is in the corner a referring expression?

YES, THE HEAD OF THE NOUN PHRASE IS “MAN”.

6. Does the phrase in the corner help to identify the referent of the referring expression in (5) above?

YES, AS THEE COULD BE OTHER MEN AROUND AT THE TIME OF SPEAKING.

7. In The whale is the largest mammal (interpreted in the most usual way) does the whale pick out some particular object in the world (a whale)?

NOT ONE IN PARTICULAR, BUT A SET OF ANIMALS CLASSIFIED AS WHALES.

8. Is the whale here a referring expression?
YES, A GENERIC REFERENCE.

9. Is That whale over there is a mammal a generic expression?
NO, AS IT IS SPECIFYING THE ANIMAL.

10. Are these generic sentences?

a) Gentlemen prefer blondes. YES

b) A wasp makes its nest in a hole in a tree. YES

c) A wasp has just stung me on the neck. NO



We reproduce below a passage from Alice in Wonderland. Pick out by underlining all the expressions which clearly refer to something the reader is supposed to be aware of at the point in the passage where they occur, i.e. all the expressions referring to things which must be assumed to be already present in the context of the passage. You should find 15 such definite expressions altogether.

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it; a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. “Very uncomfortable for the dormouse”, thought Alice; “only, as it´s asleep, I suppose it doesn´t mind.”

1. the house
2. the March Hare
3. the Hatter
4. it (table, anaphoric)
5. them (the March Hare and the Hatter)
6. the other two
7. it (the Dormouse)
8. their elbows
9. it (the first Dormouse)
10. its head (the first Dormouse´s head)
11. the dormouse
12. Alice (the story – already known)
13. it (the Dormouse)
14. I (Alice)
15. it (dormouse)

1) The word it occurs 5 times in this passage. To which different things does it refer?
Table, the Dormouse

2) Is there ever any doubt in this passage about the referent of any occurrence of it?
No.

3) Who does them in line 3 refer to?

The March Hare and The Hatter.