Reference and Deixis
This area studies how linguistic expressions pick out things in the world, including context-dependent reference through deictic and indexical expressions.
Definition
Reference is the relation by which expressions designate objects in the world; deixis is the encoding of features of the utterance context (speaker, addressee, time, place) into the meaning of expressions.
Scope
The area covers the relation of reference between language and the world: the Fregean distinction between sense and reference, the behaviour of referring expressions such as proper names, definite descriptions, and pronouns, and the theory of deixis and indexicality, where expressions like 'I', 'here', and 'this' depend on the context of utterance for their reference. It includes definiteness and anaphora and the philosophy-of-language debates over how names and natural-kind terms secure their reference.
Sub-topics
Core questions
- How do words and phrases come to refer to objects in the world?
- What is the difference between the sense and the reference of an expression?
- How do context-dependent (deictic, indexical) expressions get their reference?
- How do proper names and natural-kind terms refer?
Key concepts
- sense and reference
- deictic centre / origo
- indexical and demonstrative
- person, spatial, and temporal deixis
- definite description
- anaphora
- rigid designation
Key theories
- Fregean sense and reference
- Expressions have both a reference (the object designated) and a sense (the mode of presentation), explaining how identity statements can be informative and how reference can fail.
- Kaplan's logic of demonstratives
- Indexicals have a stable linguistic meaning (character) that, given a context, yields a content; the character of 'I' always picks out the speaker, so indexicals are directly referential.
- Deictic systems
- Languages grammaticalize person, spatial, temporal, discourse, and social deixis, anchoring interpretation to the deictic centre of the utterance.
History
The modern study of reference begins with Frege's sense/reference distinction and Russell's theory of descriptions. Deixis, long treated under the rubric of indexicality in philosophy, was given systematic linguistic treatment by Buhler's deictic field and later by Lyons and Levinson. Kaplan's 'Demonstratives' provided an influential formal logic of indexicals, while Kripke's work reshaped theories of how names refer.
Debates
- Descriptivist vs. direct-reference theories
- Whether the reference of names and indexicals is fixed by associated descriptions (descriptivism) or directly, via causal chains or the rules of character, without descriptive mediation.
Key figures
- Gottlob Frege
- Bertrand Russell
- David Kaplan
- Saul Kripke
- Stephen Levinson
Related topics
Seminal works
- levinson1983
- kaplan1989
- lyons1977
Frequently asked questions
- What does 'deictic' mean?
- A deictic expression is one whose interpretation depends on the context of utterance, especially the speaker, addressee, time, and place; examples include 'I', 'you', 'now', 'here', and 'this'.