Reference, Sense and Referring Expression in SEMANTICSBy : Ersa Dewana

113-11-074

Student of English Department of STAIN

Salatiga

Semantics

‘’Semantics is the study of meaning in language.’’‘’Linguistic semantics is the study of meaning that is used by humans to express themselves through language.’’(Hurford, Heasley & Smith, 2007)

REFERENCE

SENSE

Reference

Reference deals with the relationship between language and the world.Reference is a relationship between parts of language and things outside the language (in the world).

Types of Reference

Variable Referencea. One wordb. Many expressionsc. Refer to different type 0f

that objectConstant Reference

a. One wordb. Many expressionsc. Refer to the same thing

Example of Variable Reference Book

The word book has a real object or appearance in the world.

Example of Constant Reference.

AmericaAmerica has a real appearance and also can be defined in other words or expressions.

The Expressions of America

Sense

Sense deals with relationships inside the language.Sense of an expression is its place in a system of semantic relationships with other expressions in the language.

Example of Sense1. The example of sense in word-form

GUILT Blame, Culpability, Guiltiness, Iniquity,

Wrong, etc. Feeling of shame for having done wrong,

Fact that somebody has done something illegal, Blame or responsibility for wrongdoing.

Example of Sense

2. The example of sense in phrase or sentenceA prisoner escaped from jail yesterday.

A prisoner ran away from the jail yesterday. A prisoner got free from the jail yesterday.

The Relationship between Reference and Sense

Reference ConcreteIt can be proved by the thing in the real world and only one step to prove it.

Sense AbstractIt does not have a real object and we have to imagine and compare to our experience.

Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every expression has reference!

Referring Expression

A referring expression is any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or someone.The same expression can be a referring expression or not depending on the context.The condition which makes an expression can be mentioned as a referring expression when the speaker and the hearer have the same perception of what is being talked about.

Types of Referring Expression

Indefinite Noun Phrase uses articles in its expression.e.g. -A girl who wore a black sweater is friendly.

-Some apples are bought by my grandmother.

-Five boys are playing guitar.

Definite Noun Phrase uses proper name, personal pronoun and longer descriptive expression.e.g. -Rania is friendly.

-She is studying Semantics.-The person who stole my bag is my friend.

More Notions of Referring Expression

An opaque context is a part of a sentence which could be made into a complete sentence by the addition of a referring expression.Opaque context typically involve a certain kind of verb like: want, believe, think and wonder about in the form complete sentence, but we also can find opaque context in shorter expression. Because of those kinds of verb, it was often in the context that indefinite noun phrase could be ambiguous between a referring and a non referring expression.

More Notions of Referring Expression

An equative sentence is a part of a sentence which could be made into a complete sentence by the addition of referring expression, but it is different from opaque context, an equative sentence is one which is used to make sure the identity of the referents.

References…Anonymous. Reference and Sense. Retrieved February

18, 2011, from http://www.phil.muni.cz/~materna/sense.html

Hurford, James R. Heasley, Brendan. and Smith, Michael B. (2007). Semantics a Coursebook. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Sundayana, Wachyu. and Aziz, E. Aminudin. (2000). Semantik. Jakarta: Universitas Terbuka.

Wahab, Abdul. (1995). Teori Semantik. Surabaya: Airlangga University Press.

Thanks for your attention..