Referential Use Research Articles

The Case for Referential Quantifier Phrases

AbstractIn this paper, I argue that the referential/attributive distinction that Donnellan introduced for definite descriptions applies to other quantifiers phrases as well. Furthermore, I argue that the referential use of some quantifier phrases is as standard and conventional as the referential use of definite descriptions. This supports the idea that the referential use of some quantifier phrases is a semantic rather than a pragmatic phenomenon.

Каплан и Марти об определенных дескрипциях: нестандартные случаи референтного употребления

Donnellan’s distinction between referential and attributive uses of definite descriptions has two explanations — the semantic and the pragmatic one. A version of semantic explanations was outlined by Kaplan and elaborated in detail by Marti. They construe a referentially used definite description as a proper name in the Millian sense. In a recent paper, I showed that the evidence Kaplan–Marti theory relies on is inappropriate with respect to the standard case of referential use, which makes the pragmatic theory preferable. This paper is a continuation of the cited one. Here I examine a number of non-standard cases of referential use and demonstrate that, with respect to them, Kaplan–Marti theory has no advantage over the pragmatic account either.

Developing Defences for Fashion Upcycling in EU Trademark Law

Abstract Trademarked fashion items pose a particular obstacle to reuse projects in the circular economy. By granting broad exclusive rights, EU trademark law exposes sustainable reuse practices, such as upcycling, to allegations of infringement ranging from (post-sale) confusion to blurring, tarnishment and unfair freeriding. Against that background, this analysis explores strategies to assure fashion re-users that, as long as they do not specifically aim to mislead consumers or damage and exploit protected brand insignia, they can rework trademarked fashion items without risking the verdict of infringement. Two options for enhancing legal certainty will be explored: the first consists in adopting a strict test for ‘use as a trademark’ that could immunise sustainable fashion reuse against allegations of trademark infringement on the ground that consumers understand the specific reuse context and perceive third-party trademarks on circular economy products as mere decorative elements. The second option involves strengthening defences, in particular the referential use defence, by developing labelling guidelines that allow fashion re-users to ensure compliance with the requirement of honest practices in industrial or commercial matters.

Non-original car spare parts and trade mark infringement: is there no room for referential use? The AG Opinion in C-334/22 Audi

Abstract In her Opinion in C-334/22 Audi, Advocate General (AG) Medina found that provisions of the EU trade mark law must be interpreted as meaning that an element placed on a non-original automotive spare part (radiator grille) for fitting the original mark of the car manufacturer would not constitute ‘use of a sign in the course of trade’. She ruled out, however, the possibility of relying on the referential use limitation in such circumstances. This gives rise to concerns that the AG’s Opinion construes the scope of the referential use limitation too narrowly. The author submits that the AUDI case, which is now to be decided by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), calls for attributing greater relevance to the catalogue of limitations and exceptions to exclusive trade mark rights, notably the referential use limitation. Moreover, a recalibration of the approach towards the 'honest practices' clause, which serves as a filter for all limitations and exceptions under EU trade mark law, is also needed in the context of non-original spare parts.

Oversampling Application of Identifying 3D Selective Laser Sintering Yield by Hybrid Mathematical Classification Models

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is one of the most popular 3D molding technologies; however, the manufacturing steps of SLS machines are cumbersome, and the most important step is focused on molding testing because it requires a lot of direct labor and material costs. This research establishes advanced hybrid mathematical classification models, including random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and artificial neural network (ANN), for effectively identifying the SLS yield of the sintering results from three sintered objects (boxes, cylinders, and flats) to achieve the key purpose of reducing the number of model verification and machine parameter adjustments, thereby saving a lot of manufacturing time and costs. In the experimental process, performance evaluation indicators, such as classification accuracy (CA), area under the ROC curve (AUC), and F1-score, are used to measure the proposed models’ experience with practical industry data. In the experimental results, the ANN gets the highest 0.6168 of CA, and it is found that each machine reduces the average sintering time by four hours when compared with the original manufacturing process. Moreover, we employ an oversampling method to expand the sample data to overcome the existing problems of class imbalance in the dataset collected. An important finding is that the RF algorithm is more suitable for predicting the sintering failure of objects, and its average sintering times per machine are 1.7, which is lower than the 1.95 times of ANN and 2.25 times of SVM. Conclusively, this research yields some valuable empirical conclusions and core research findings. In terms of research contributions, the research results can be provided to relevant academic circles and industry requirements for referential use in follow-up studies or industrial applications.

Metaphor processing: Referring and predicating

The general consensus emerging from decades of empirical investigation of metaphor processing is that, when appropriately contextualised, metaphorically used language is no more demanding of processing effort than literally used language. However, there is a small number of studies which contradict this position, notably Noveck, Bianco, and Castry (2001): they maintain that relevance-based pragmatic theory predicts increased cognitive costs incurred in deriving the extra effects that metaphors typically yield, and they provide experimental results that support this prediction. In our study, we first surveyed and assessed the tasks and stimulus materials of many experiments on metaphor processing from the 1970's to the present day. The most telling result was an apparent disparity between the processing of metaphorical language used predicatively versus referentially. We then ran two self-paced reading experiments to test our hypothesis that when used as a predicate, metaphorical language is no more costly than literal language, but when used referentially, it does incur extra costs, even given a preceding biasing context. In the first experiment, all metaphorical referring expressions were in subject position so occurred early in the sentence; in the second experiment, we controlled for any effect of sentence position by placing metaphorical referring expressions in object position, thus later in the sentence, similar to the predicate metaphors. In both cases, metaphorical referring incurred significantly greater costs relative to literal equivalents than did metaphorical predication, with no effect of sentence position. We end with a brief analysis of why the referential use of metaphor is special and effort-demanding.

Каплан и Марти об определенных дескрипциях

Donnellan’s distinction between referential and attributive uses of definite descriptions gave rise to controversy between semantic and pragmatic accounts of referentially used descriptions. Kaplan adumbrated and Marti elaborated in detail a semantic account that assimilates referentially used definite descriptions with proper names in the sense of the theory of direct reference. I argue that the evidence Kaplan-Marti theory relies on is inappropriate, and conclude that KaplanMarti theory has no advantage over the pragmatic account of referential use in Donnellan’s sense.

Using circles games to investigate the referential use of negation

ABSTRACT Studies on the spontaneous production of negation suggest that it can be modulated by pragmatic principles of successful communication such as informativity and relevance. The present study investigates whether negation production is additionally modulated by a more general principle of effort minimisation. In a series of circles games, subjects were presented with pairs of circles and asked to complete a sentence that would allow a listener to identify one of the two circles. Negation was only produced when an affirmative description for the circle at issue was harder, i.e. there was no simple intuitive way to describe the circle's pattern. The length of the concurrent descriptions did not strictly influence the production of negation. The results suggest that the use of negation becomes more frequent as the effort to produce it decreases with respect to a concurrent affirmation, even at the cost of greater informativity of affirmation.

A Functional Discourse Grammar account of proper names in Portuguese

A generally accepted view regarding proper names is that they have reference, but no lexical meaning (Lyons, 1977). This idea is the basis for the Functional Discourse Grammar (Hengeveld & Mackenzie, 2008) view of proper names as primitives of the Interpersonal Level and the lexical head of Subacts of Reference. At the Representational Level, the entity is designated by an absent head, which captures the fact that proper names do not have a meaning. Although this approach accounts for the most prototypical use of proper names, it fails to explain a range of other uses. In addition to the referential use of non-modified proper names, this paper analyses other uses of proper names in Portuguese: modified proper names, metaphorical proper names, and proper names in naming constructions. The proposal presented here explains cases of restrictive modification and metaphorical uses of proper names as instances of reflexive language and coercion, respectively. As for proper names in naming constructions, they are considered to have a third, different, function, in addition to the vocative and referential use.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Times;panose-1:0 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:auto;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1342185562 0 0 415 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin:0in;mso-pagination:none;text-autospace:none;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-pagination:none;text-autospace:none;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}

Referential expressions in monolingual and bilingual children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A study of informativeness and definiteness.

The current study evaluated the separate and combined effects of bilingualism and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on informativeness and definiteness marking of referential expressions. Hebrew-speaking monolingual children (21 with ASD and 28 with typical language development) and Russian-Hebrew-speaking bilingual children (13 with ASD and 30 with typical language development) aged 4-9 years participated. Informativeness, indexed by referential contrasts, was affected by ASD, but not by bilingualism. Definiteness use was non-target-like in children with ASD and in bilingual children, and it was mainly predicted by children's morpho-syntactic abilities in Hebrew. Language-universal and language-specific properties of referential use are discussed.

CTNI-10. ADVANCES IN MANAGEMENT OF LOW-GRADE GLIOMAS

Abstract BACKGROUND Low-grade gliomas (LGGs) are common benign brain tumors that arise from glial cells of the brain. The complex and variable backgrounds of LGGs cause difficulties in assigning therapies. In this report, we compile findings relating to LGG genetics and treatment options in order to create a coherent summary for referential use. METHODS We compiled 70 articles from the past ten years that cover a broad range of topics pertaining to LGGs, including molecular, genetic, epigenetic, morphological, and other diagnostic factors, as well as prognosis and treatment options. RESULTS In order to provide proper treatment, the molecular basis and histology of the tumor must be addressed. The 1p/19q co-deletion indicator has been considered the gold standard of glioma diagnosis, but oft-sighted mutations in the IDH1 and IDH2 genes have given rise to three subgroups of 1p/19q co-deleted tumors, each associated with specific patterns of nervous cells. Other molecular markers and microRNA expression patterns have been studied for possible diagnostic and prognostic methods. Microsurgical resection is the singular treatment with highest overall survival (OS) and quality of life (QOL). Total gross resection is optimal, with patients having a 5-year OS of 100% with 90% tumor resection. Low doses of radiation are as effective as high doses and are better tolerated (with less cognitive deficits). Chemotherapy, specifically temozolomide, offers a favorable toxicity profile and QOL; additionally, seizure reduction is an early and consistent prognostic marker for survival after treatment with temozolomide. CONCLUSIONS The “wait and see” approach for treatment is no longer the standard for LGGs. Immediate treatment after diagnosis is recommended. Gross total resection (if achievable) is the most favorable treatment, with the highest OS and QOL. The use of temozolomide and radiotherapy is recommended. Histological background and genetic markers are vital for determining a treatment plan.

Singular de and its referential use in talk-in-interaction


 
 
 The Danish pronoun de and its inflections are traditionally described as 3rd person plural, but, as this article demonstrates, it is also used as a gender neutral 3rd person singular pronoun. As this pronoun – termed singular de – has not been documented or described in the literature thus far, the purpose of this article is to provide a grammatical description and analysis of singular de and its referential use in interaction. This is based on 104 occurrences of singular de in naturally occurring conversation. It is found that singular de is used with both generic and specific reference, and that interlocutors may use singular de to avoid indexing gender and orienting to it as a relevant topic in talk-in- interaction (gender-unspecified reference) or to index the referent’s gender as neither male nor female (gender-specified reference). The article also parallels between singular de and English singular they, as well as sociolinguistic variation in the use of singular de which could be topics for future studies.
 
 
 

The Referential Uses of Demonstratives in Kerinci Malay, Indonesia

Demonstratives are pervasive and ubiquitous in every human language. This study explores further evidence from Kerinci, a Malayic sub-variety spoken in Sumatra, Indonesia. It highlights the referential uses of the Kerinci proximal demonstratives ineh/neh ‘this’ and the distal demonstrative itoh/toh ‘that’. It is based on a corpus containing eight hours of recordings. The basic indexical functions of demonstratives within the referential domain are sketched from three perspectives, namely syntactic contexts, deictic expressions, and pragmatic uses. In light of the evidence presented, this study supports the most accepted principle that demonstratives are universal. However, this research also suggests that the form, use, and meaning of the Kerinci demonstratives are language-specific as presented in this paper.Â

Analysis of Referential Cohesion in L2 Written Narratives Within an English Immersion Education Context

This study explored the effects of English immersion education on referential cohesion in L2 writing. To measure the discourse competence arising from a curricular difference, referential use was chosen to be investigated in order to find the effect of English immersion education. Written personal narratives of 29 students in an immersion school and 35 students in regular high schools were examined to compare the two groups’ use of reference. The only significant group difference was found in the use of zero anaphora. In order to extend their writing as well as construct cohesion in their writing, the students in the immersion school used zero anaphora more often than those in the regular high school. In addition, the regular high school students showed a tendency to produce more errors with third-person singulars and demonstratives. These differences can be attributed to curriculum differences, and in particular to English immersion education’s greater language input, which facilitates textual cohesion in immersion students’ writing.

When is it ok to call someone a jerk? An experimental investigation of expressives

We present two experimental studies on the Italian expressive ‘stronzo’ (English ‘jerk’). The first study tests whether, and to which extent, the acceptability of using an expressive is sensitive to the information available in the context. The study looks both at referential uses of expressives (as in the complex demonstrative ‘that jerk Marco’) and predicative uses of expressives (as in ‘Marco is a jerk’). The results show that expressives are sensitive to contextual information to a much higher degree than the non-expressive control items (such as ‘Piedmontese’) in their referential use, but also, albeit to a lesser degree, in their predicative use. The second study tests whether the lower acceptability of expressives in their predicative use may be simply due to saying something negative about someone. A comparison between expressives, such as ‘jerk’, and non-expressive negative terms, such as ‘nasty’ or ‘unbearable’, suggests that it is the expressive nature of these terms, rather than the mere negative valence, that affects acceptability. Our studies present a major challenge to the existing accounts of expressives, and raise several theoretical issues that still call for an answer.

Spatial Terms: The Acquisition of Multiple Referential and Syntactic Mappings

The current study used a naturalistic, longitudinal design to investigate how children and parents use a set of early-acquired spatial terms (up, down, in, out, on, off). Measures included the frequency, referential contexts, syntactic frames, and referent-syntax pairings of these words from 14 to 30 months. Results showed that children’s earliest use of these terms related to parents’ referential use, but not to parent frequency of use. During the multi-word period, parent frequency of spatial term use was reflected in children’s frequency of use. Further, children’s most frequent referent-syntax pairings were predicted by these pairings in parents’ speech. The current results indicate that children may initially use referential cues in the acquisition of these terms, and later become sensitive to the relative frequencies of referent-syntax pairings for individual lexical items. This study demonstrates how children use regularities across multiple sources of information in the input during acquisition.

Pre-task planning and discourse cohesion: Analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ referential use in oral narratives

While the research on pretask planning has concentrated on its effects on learners’ task performance in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity, its possible influence on the overall discourse level, such as discourse management and coherence, has been largely ignored. The present study addresses the inadequacy by uncovering the potential effects of pretask planning on Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ selection of referential expressions in oral narratives. Fifty-six intermediate-level learners were tasked with retelling the story of Modern Times under one of two conditions, that is, either with 10-minutes strategic planning or without any planning time. An additional 25 native speakers (NSs) also narrated the same story under the same task conditions. Their narratives were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded based on a coding scheme that distinguished the roles of characters, types of reference, and discursive status of reference. A combination of statistical analysis and discourse analysis showed that (1) compared with NSs, the EFL learners were overexplicit in using noun phrases and proper names to refer to singular characters, but not so in joint reference to the major characters; and (2) pretask planning facilitated more target-like selection of referential expressions when major characters were referred to, although it did not bring the learners’ performance up to NS standards. However, the impact of planning time on referential use seemed to be moderated by the role prominence. These findings were explained within the framework of Levelt’s speech production model and Skehan’s Limited Attentional Capacity Hypothesis.

Pragmatic ambiguity and Kripke’s dialogue against Donnellan

In this paper I discuss Donnellan’s claim of the pragmatic ambiguity of the distinction between referential and attributive uses of definite des-criptions. The literature on the topic is huge and full of alternative analysis. I will restrict myself to a very classical topos: the challenge posed by Kripke to Donnellan’s distinction with the case of a dialogue on an attempt to update a misdescription. I claim that to treat the problem of the referential use of definite descriptions we need not only to take into account the context of utterance, but also the cognitive context with its epistemic restrictions and the possible different contexts of reception of the same utterance. I try to show different aspects of what can be called “pragmatic ambiguity”, which seem not correctly considered by Kripke, and connect them to the basic tenets of Grice Cooperative principle.

Uma análise acústica da palavra “este” do espanhol em função metadiscursiva

No presente trabalho, analisamos comparativamente as características acústicas da palavra morfológica este da língua espanhola em uso metadiscursivo (filler/marcador discursivo) com as que se observam para a mesma em uso referencial (adjetivo/ pronome). O objetivo da análise é verificar se, em uso metadiscursivo, a palavra apresenta regularidades quanto aos parâmetros F0 (frequência fundamental) e duração, do mesmo modo como em uso referencial, e se possíveis irregularidades são previsíveis. Nossa hipótese é que, em uso metadiscursivo, encontram-se diferentes padrões de F0 e duração para a palavra, sendo que cada um deles corresponde a um distinto matiz semânticopragmático. A investigação se insere dentro do domínio dos estudos prosódicos, utiliza procedimentos da Fonética Experimental, e também recorre a subsídios da Psicolinguística para a interpretação qualitativa dos dados.

Effects of repeated practice in pre-task planning on the acquisition of English personal pronouns by Chinese EFL learners

While the literature concentrates on the effects of one-time planning on immediate task performance, this article aims to uncover how repeated practice in planning helps promote L2 learners' acquisition of English third-person singular pronouns, conceptualized as pronominal use and selection of referential strategies in their oral monologue. In this study, 63 intermediate-level Chinese EFL learners were enrolled in a longitudinal experiment, in which they narrated picture-prompted stories 12 times under one of three conditions, namely, unguided planning, guided planning, or no planning. Comparison of posttest data among the groups showed that (a) long-term practice in planning facilitated the learners' control over accurate use of “he” but not the use of “she”; (b) repeated planning practice did not alter L2 learners' strategy for reference selection when doing a new task, but task repetition seemed to improve referential use; and (c) planning guidance did not promote their acquisition of the target form. Such results also suggested that effects of pretask planning might be moderated by the cognitive load required for producing the linguistic forms.