particular language. Can you think of other characteristics of utterances?

UNIT 3 REFERENCE AND SENSE
Entry requirements SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, and PROPOSITIONS (Unit 2). If you feel you
understand these notions, take the entry test below.
Entry test Answer the following:
(1) State which of the following represents an utterance (U) and which a
sentence S):
John sang wonderfully last night
S / U
‘John sang wonderfully last night’
S / U
(2) Can a sentence be true or false?
Yes / No
(3) Is an utterance tied to a particular time and place?
Yes / No
(4) Is a sentence tied to a particular time and place?
Yes / No
(5) Can a proposition be said to be in any particular language?
Yes / No
(6) Can an utterance be true or false?
Yes / No
Feedback
(1) S, U (2) Yes (3) Yes (4) No (5) No (6) Yes
If you have scored less than 5 correct out of 6, you should review Unit 2.
If you have scored at least 5 correct out of 6, continue to the introduction.
Introduction This unit explains some further basic notions in semantics. It is important
that you master these notions from the outset as they will keep recurring
throughout the course.
Comment On this page and the following ones, you will learn the di
fference between
two quite distinct ways of talking about the meaning of words and other
expressions. In talking of sense, we deal with relationships inside the language;
in talking of reference we deal with the relationships between language and
the world.
Definition By means of reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world
(including persons) are being talked about.
Example ‘My son is in the beech tree’
identi
fies
identi
fies
person
thing
26

As a further example, the second and third words of the ‘comment’
paragraph above form the phrase this page. The phrase this page is a part of
the English language. The phrase, when it was used in the ‘comment’
paragraph above, actually identi
fied a particular sheet of paper, something
that you could take between your 
finger and thumb, a little part of the world.
The actual page, the sheet of paper, is not a part of the English language,
since languages are not made of pieces of paper.
Comment So we have two things: the English expression this page (part of the language)
and the thing you could hold between your 
finger and thumb (part of the
world). We call the relationship between them ‘reference’. That is, in the
previous ‘comment’ paragraph, this page refers to the physical sheet of paper
numbered 26.
Practice Before answering these questions you should carry out the following simple
instruction:
touch your left ear.
(1) Write down the last three words in the above instruction.
..........................................................................................................................
(2) Is the thing you touched a part of the world or a part of the 
language?
..........................................................................................................................
(3) Is your answer to (1) a part of the language?
Yes / No
(4) If you say to your mother ‘There’s a wasp on your left ear’,
does ‘your left ear’ here refer to the thing you touched in 
response to a previous question?
Yes / No
Feedback
(1) your left ear (2) A part of the world, languages do not have ears.
(3) Yes (4) No, it refers to your mother’s left ear.
Comment In the present circumstances, your left ear refers to the thing you touched in
response to (1) above. We say that your left ear is the referent of the phrase
your left ear: reference is a relationship between parts of a language and
things outside the language (in the world).
The same expression can, in some cases, be used to refer to di
fferent
things. There are as many potential referents for the phrase your left ear as
there are people in the world with left ears. Likewise there are as many
potential referents for the phrase this page as there are pages in the world.
Thus some (in fact very many) expressions in a language can have variable
reference.
U N I T   3
Reference and sense
27

Practice (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 phrase 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, or (b) the topic of the conversation in
which the expression is used, or (c) both (a) and (b)? Circle your choice.
Feedback
(1) (a) George W. Bush (b) Bill Clinton (2) variable reference (3)(a) 
George W. Bush (b) Bill Clinton (4) (c)
Comment There are cases of expressions which in normal everyday conversation never
refer to di
fferent things, i.e. in most everyday situations that one can
envisage, have constant reference.
Practice Imagine two di
fferent everyday situations in which separate couples are
having separate conversations about what they refer to with the phrase the
moon.
(1) Would they be talking about the same object 
(i.e. does the moon normally have constant reference)?
Yes / No
(2) Does The People’s Republic of China normally have 
constant reference?
Yes / No
(3) Does Angola normally have constant reference?
Yes / No
(4) Does Halley’s Comet normally have constant reference?
Yes / No
Feedback
(1) Yes (2) Yes (3) Yes (4) Yes
Comment In fact, there is very little constancy of reference in language. In everyday
discourse almost all of the 
fixing of reference comes from the context in
which expressions are used. Two di
fferent expressions can have the same
referent. The classic example is the Morning Star and the Evening Star, both of
which normally refer to the planet Venus.
PA RT   O N E
Basic ideas in semantics
28

Practice (1) In a conversation about the United States of America in 
2007 can the President and the Leader of the Republican 

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