Sentence Meaning v. Utterance Interpretation
The linguistic meaning of an expression is part of our knowledge of language and a resource which makes communication more effective and efficient.
It does this by providing reliable evidence of what the speaker intends to convey.
But if linguistic meaning is knowledge we have prior to context, then the semantic value that an expression has on a particular occasion of its use is not part of the linguistic meaning. The linguistic meaning of an expression determines the value of a use of the expression.
Two different utterances of the same sentence
In class we looked at two different utterances of the sentence (1):
(1) When I offered her the book, she took it.
And saw that the referents of the pronouns and the noun phrase the book were distinct in each case, but that in both cases the values in the context were selected so as to satisfy requirements which were constant across all uses of the expressions.
The first pronoun pronoun always refers to the speaker of the sentence. The first pronoun her refered in both cases to a human female who was most salient in the event being described. The phrase the book referred to different books each time, but in each case, it referred to a uniquely selectable book in the described event.
Linguistic meaning and value in context
The meaning of an expression determines (constrains) what it means in context.
We need to separate out the two types of meaning here:
The linguistic meaning of an expression determines (constrains) what an utterance of it means in the context of its use.
The linguistic meaning (sense, semantics content) of an expression determines (constrains) a semantic value (denotation, referent) with respect to its context of use.
Indexicality
Meanings are indexical when they make crucial reference to aspects of context in determining semantic values.
Person: I, you, we, etc.
Location: here, there, come, go
Time: now, tomorrow, last night
Deixis: this, that, some uses of 3rd person pronouns
Status honorifics
Some other terms which are indexical:
A local sports team, another restaurant, again
Context of Use
Utterance situation: Speaker, addressee, utterance time, utterance location, demonstrated objects
Described situation: the situation that you're talking about.
Common ground: Knowledcge that is (i) shared by the interlocutors and (ii) known by them to be shared.
Linguistic maning underdetermines utterance interpretation. The interpreter must construct an undersatnding in context which at least fills in values of deictic expressions, fixes reference of terms in the described situation, activates background assumptions, and draws inferences.