1/ Reference and referent:

=> Reference is the relationship between a word or an expression and the

object it is used to refer to (referent).
1.1/ Variable reference:
-> one expression is used to refer to different things or persons.
e.g: computer, classroom, Huong, Thang, Prime Minister…
1.2/ Constant reference:
-> one expression is used to refer to only one thing or person.
e.g: The Sun, the Moon, Vietnam, Halley’s comet…
1.3/ Same referent:
-> different expressions refer to same thing or person.
e.g: General Secretary of the party and President of the country.
=> Referent of a referring expression is the thing, person picked out by the
use of that expression on a particular occasion of utterance. 1
2/ Referring expressions:
-> a referring expression is any expression used in an utterance to refer to
something or someone (or a clearly delimited collection of things or people)
i.e. used with a particular referent in mind.
eg: 1/ I saw some of you gamble in a café.
(a café in this utterance is a referring expression because the speaker has a
particular place in mind).
2/ Many students often sit in a café instead of in their classroom.
(a café in this utterance is not a referring expression because in this case the
speaker would not have a particular place in mind).
Note: The same expression can be a referring expression or not depends on the
linguistic context and on circumstances of utterance.
The following types of words can be used as referring expressions:
=> proper nouns. (e.g: John, Mary, Huong, Thang ....)
=> pronouns. (e.g: I, you, he, she .....)
=> definite noun phrases. (e.g: the writer, the island, the cat .....)
=> indefinite noun phrases. ( e.g: a man, a woman, a house .......)
=> descriptive noun phrases. ( e.g: the blue book, the man with a ...)2
 REFERENCE & DEFINITENESS
DEFINITENESS is a feature of a NP selected by a speaker to convey
his assumption that the hearer will be able to identify the referent of the
NP, usually because it is the only thing of its kind in the context of the
utterance (THAT BOOK), or because it is unique in the universe of
discourse (THE EARTH).
The 3 main types of definite NP in English are : (1) proper names,
personal pronouns, (2) the only thing in a normal universe of discourse
known by this name (THE EARTH), (3) phrases introduced by a
definite determiner (THIS, THAT +N/NP).
All definite NPs are referring expressions. But we don’t assume that
every NP using the so-called definite article THE is necessarily
semantically definite. For example : in generic sentences (The whale is a
mammal.) or in other cases( If anyone makes too much noise, you have
my permission to strangle him; Every man who owns a donkey beats it…)
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 Utterances (containing definite or indefinite referring
expressions) do not differ in truth value.
(a) I’ve just stuck the fork through my foot;
(b) I’ve just stuck a fork through my foot.)

The definiteness of a referring expression tells us nothing

about the referent itself, but rather relates to the question of
whether the referent has been mentioned in the preceding
discourse. The definiteness of a referring expression gives the
hearer a clue in identifying its referent.

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3/ Extension:
-> The extension of a noun/ an adjective is the complete set of all things
which could potentially be the referent of a referring expression whose head
constituent is that noun/ adjective.
e.g: the extension of house is the set of all houses.
the extension of red is the set of all red things.
4/ Prototype:
-> the prototype is a typical member of its extension.
e.g: + a double-decker bus is a prototype of bus in British cities.
+ a thatch-roofed house can be a prototype for house for a
Vietnamese living in the countryside.
5/ Stereotype:
-> the stereotype of a noun is a list of the typical characteristics of things
to which the noun may be applied.
e.g: cat  stereotype -> quadruped, domesticated, either black or white or
gray or combination of these colours....

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6/ Deictic expressions:
-> A deictic word is one which takes some element of ít meaning from the
situation (i.e. the speaker, the addressee, the time and the place) of the
utterance in which it is used.
-> Deixis is a term from Greek meaning pointing via language.
6.1/ Person deixis (I, he, me, you): used to indicate people.
6.2/ Spatial deixis ( here, there, this): used to indicate location.
6.3/ Temporal deixis ( today, yesterday, now, then): used to indicate
time.
7/ Sense:
-> Sense is the additional meaning and is like connotation.
-> Meaning is like denotation.

-> REFERENCE AND SENSE

Trong giao tiếp thông thường, các từ như meaning, means, mean có khi
được dùng để chỉ định sự định danh (reference) và có khi lại được dùng để
chỉ định ý nghĩa (sense).
Lưu ý quan hệ giữa sense và reference: referent (biểu vật) của một từ ngữ là
một người hoặc một vật trong khi sense của nó không phải là vật chất cụ
thể

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The referent of an expression is often a thing or a person in the world;
whereas the sense of an expression is not a thing at all.
 Rule: Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every
expression has reference (not refer to any thing).
E.g: The words almost, probable, and, if do not refer to things in the world, but
they have meanings; thus they have some sense.
8/ Sense relations involving words
8.1/ Synonymy => Synonyms
Synonyms are words of the same part of speech having
the same or nearly the same meanings.
There are many types of synonyms ( absolute, territorial,
semantic, stylistic synonyms, euphemisms, synonymous set
expression.)
e.g: also - too (absolute); Autumn - Fall (territorial); to
look - to glance - to glare (semantic); mother - mummy
(colloquial); valley - dale (poetic); to die - to be no more
(euphemism); after all - in the long run (set expression)
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 8.2/ Antonymy => Antonyms
Antonyms are the words of the same part of speech but they are
opposite in meaning.
a/ Gradable antonyms:
Two words are gradable antonyms if they are at opposite ends of a
continuous scale of values. (e.g: hot - cold; rich - poor; tall – short; good – bad;
easy - difficult)
b/ Complementary/binary antonyms:
are words which come in pairs and between them exhaust all the
relevant possibilities. If the one word is applicable, then the other cannot be,
and vice-versa.
e.g: true - false; same - different; dead - alive; male – female; pass –
fail; urban – rural; deciduous – evergreen)
c/ Converses/relational opposites:
If a word describes a relationship between two things (or people) and
some other word describes the same relationship when the two things (or
people) are mentioned in the opposite order, then the two words are
converses of each other.
e.g: parent - child; below - above; buy - sell; borrow – lend; better
than – worse than.

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 d/ Multiple incompatibles:
There are many systems of words in which the meanings of the words are
opposite in the manner.
e.g: system of cards, of seasons, of directions.
- System of physical state: liquid, solid, gas, earth, fire, water, air.
- System of weekdays: Monday, Tuesday,..., Sunday.
- System of months: January, February, March,...., December.
- System of color: blue, green, red,
- System of plants: holly, daffodil, oak,...
- System of metals: brass, copper, iron, tin, ...
- System of vehicles: car, bus, train,....
- System of animals: cat, dog, tiger,....
- System of furniture: table, chair, bed,....

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8.3/ Hyponymy => Hyponyms
Hyponymy is a paradigmatic relation between words which
refer to the inclusion of the meaning of one word in that of another.
e.g: scarlet is the hyponym of red => red is the superordinate
tulip, daffodil, rose are co-hyponyms of flower => flower:
superordinate.
sadness, anger, happiness are co-hyponym of mood (superordinate).
cottage, bungalow, hut are co-hyponyms of house (superordinate).
cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage are co-hyponyms of vegetable
(superordinate).
dizziness, nausea, chill are co-hyponyms of discomfort
(superordinate).
honesty, fair play, self-respect are co-hyponyms of virtue
(superordinate).

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8.4/ Polysemy
Polysemy occurs when a word has two or more related
senses.
e.g: bright = shinning/intelligent
a deposit = minerals in the earth/ money in the bank
red = colour/ lucky/ revolution.
8.5/ Homophony => Homophones
are words which sound alike but are written differently
and often have different meanings.
e.g: sew - sow; dear - deer; night - knight
8.6/ Homograph
a word that is spelt like another word but has a different
meaning from it, and may have a different pronunciation.
e.g: bow /baʊ/, bow /bəʊ/
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8.7/ Homonymy => Homonyms
Homonyms are words which sound alike, written in the same way,
but have different meanings.
e.g: bank (the edge of a river) - bank (a financial institution)
sole (fish) - sole (bottom of foot)
Note: The difference between Homonymy and Polysemy.
Homonyms: different senses are far apart from each other and not
obviously related to each other in any way.
e.g: rock ( stone vs. kind of music).
mug ( drinking vessel vs. gullible person).
bark ( of a dog vs. of a tree).
grass, hard, file, punch, steer, ...
Polysemy: a word has several very closely related senses.
e.g: mouth ( of a river vs. of an animal).
fork ( in a road vs. instrument for eating).
tail ( of a coat vs. of an animal).
lip ( of a jug vs. of a person).
chimney, cup, guard, ceiling, Earth/earth, drive...
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8.8/ Ambiguity
a word is ambiguous when it has more than one sense.
e.g: The captain corrected the list.
The ball is colorful.
a sentence is ambiguous if it has two or more paraphrases.
e.g: The chicken is ready to eat.
Old men and women are loving people.
8.9/ Part - Whole relationships/Meronymy
is the relationship between words in pairs of words in which one
word is a part of the other word.
e.g: hand is a part of arm -> part - whole relationship
mouse is a part of a computer -> part - whole relationship

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8.9/ Semantic/Lexical field
Semantic/Lexical field is a set of related words and expressions
organized into a system which shows their relationship to one another.
e.g: cook = bake, steam, boil, fry, roast, French fry, grill, stew...
8.10/ Collocation
refers to the restrictions on how words can be used together
e.g: white snow, blue sky, do a favour, make an effort...

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