On the grammar of referential dependence

Hinzen, Wolfram

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/slgr-2016-0031

On the grammar of referential dependence

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Citation

Hinzen W. On the grammar of referential dependence. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric. 2016; 46(59):11-33. DOI: 10.1515/slgr-2016-0031

Abstract

All forms of nominal reference, whether quantificational, definite, rigid, deictic, or personal, require that the nominals in question appear in relevant grammatical configurations. Reference is in this sense a grammatical phenomenon. It is never determined lexically or a word-world relation in a purely semantic or causal sense. Here it is further argued that the principles of the grammar of object-reference naturally extend to cases where the reference of one nominal depends on that of another, i.e. the grammar of referential dependence, without any further special grammatical relations such as ‘binding’ required. This further includes a relation of (referential) identity.