Pointing at Jack, Talking about Jill: Understanding Deferred Uses of Demonstratives and Pronouns

Author: Borg, Emma¹

Source: Mind & Language, Volume 17, Number 5, November 2002 , pp. 489-512(24)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to explore the proper content of a formal semantic theory in two respects: clarifying first, which uses of expressions a formal theory should seek to accommodate, and, second, how much information the theory should contain. I explore these two questions with respect to occurrences of demonstratives and pronouns—the so-called `deferred' uses—which are often classified as non-standard or figurative. I argue that, contrary to initial impressions, they must be treated as semantically identical to ordinary, perceptual uses of these expression-types, and that this finding has important repercussions for our view of the scope and limits of a semantic theory.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/1468-0017.00209

Affiliations: 1: University of Reading, UK e.g.n.borg@rdg.ac.uk

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