Can the Same Expression Have Different Referents?
One of the Characteristic Features of Human Language Is the Absence, in General, of a One-to-One Relation Between Noun Phrases and Referents. .. . Conversely...
One of the characteristic features of human language is the absence, in general, of a one-to-one relation between noun phrases and referents. ... Conversely, the same noun phrase can have different referents.
What is an example of a referent?
A referent (/ˈrɛfərənt/) is a person or thing to which a name – a linguistic expression or other symbol – refers. For example, in the sentence Mary saw me, the referent of the word Mary is the particular person called Mary who is being spoken of, while the referent of the word me is the person uttering the sentence.
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How many types of referring expressions are there?
Definite noun phrases of various kinds, proper names (e.g. John), personal pronouns (e.g. he, it), and longer descriptive expressions can all be used as referring expressions. Definite noun phrases are usually referring expressions.
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