UNIT 2: REFERENCE & SENSE

Exercise 1: What is intended by the word mean, meaning, etc. in the following
examples, reference (R) or sense (S)?
1. When Helen mentioned “the fruit cake”, she meant that rock-hard object in the
middle of the table.
2. When Albert talks about “his former friend” he means me.
3. Daddy, what does unique mean?
4. Purchase has the same meaning as buy.
5. Look up the meaning of democracy in your dictionary. S
6. If you look out the window now, you’ll see who I mean. R

Exercise 2: Which of the following could possibly be used as variable, constant

reference, or co-reference?
Mary, his brother, and, the Prime Minister, the man standing over there, for, a
girl, so, my parents, in, give, under, send, teacher, student, computer, the General
Secretary of the Party and the President of the country, John is standing alone in
the corner and the person in the corner, the Prime Minister of Britain and the
Leader of the Conservative Party, Abraham Lincoln, this hen, the little dog with the
floppy ears, her sister, below.

Variable Reference Constant Reference Co-reference

Mary, his brother, the
Prime Minister, the man
standing over there, a girl,
teacher, student, computer,
this hen, the little dog with
the floppy ears, her sister
my parents, Abraham the General Secretary of
Lincoln the Party and the President
of the country, John - the
person in the corner, the
Prime Minister of Britain
and the Leader of the
Conservative Party

Exercise 3: Pick out all the referring expressions in the following passage.

Many people have read about the adventures of Sherlock Homes, the brilliant
amateur detective and his friend Dr. Watson. They both “lived” in Baker street in
London, where they solved some of the most daring and dastardly crimes and
saved the world from evil Moriaty.
Exercise 4: Choose the correct answer
1. In a conversation about the United States of America in 2007 can the Yes/No
President and the Leader of the Republican Party have the same
referent?
2. If we are talking about a situation in which John is standing alone in Yes/No
the corner, can John have the same referent as the person in the
corner?
3. Does Angola normally have constant reference? Yes/No
4. Do pavement in British English and sidewalk in American English Yes/No
have the same sense?
5. When a speaker says, ‘A man was in here looking for you last night’ is Yes/No
a man a referent? A referring expression?

Exercise 5: Answer the questions below.

1. What would be the referent of the phrase the present President of the United
States used:
(a) In 2007? ……………………………………………………………………..
(b) In 1996? ……………………………………………………………………..
2. Therefore, we can say that the phrases the present President of the United States
has ……………………………………………………………………………….
3. What would be the referent of the phrase the President of the United States used
in a conversation about:
(a) United States politics in 2007? ………………………………………………
(b) United States politics in 1996? ………………………………………………
4. In the light of the preceding questions, does the reference of an expression vary
according to
(a) the circumstances (time, place, etc.) in which the expression is used
(b) the topic of the conversation in which the expression is used
(c) both (a) and (b)?