Sense and Reference Scope of Semantics

2.2.3 Sense and Reference

Words other than proper names both have a meaning and can be used to refer to things or objects. The reference of a word is the object designated, while the sense of a word is the additional meaning. On the other hand Palmer 1976:30 defined reference and sense as follows: “Reference deals with the relationship between the linguistics elements, words, sentence, etc. And the non-linguistics world of experience. Sense relates to the complex system of relationships that hold between linguistics elements themselves mostly the words; it is concerned only with intra- linguistics relaions.” Reference is the relation between words and entities which is being talked about in the world of experience. For example, the word ‘sunglasses’ has a certain meaning, an outer covering eye from the sunshine, typically made of plastic. In addition, the word ‘sunglasses’ also posseses a characteristic which is known as “reference”, that is the ability of the word ‘sunglasses’ to refer to a certain kind of protective item for eye. Sense relationships also form an important part of the study of a language. A word or lexeme does not merely ‘have’ meaning; it contributes to the meaning of the larger unti, a phrase, clause or sentence. For example, the sense of the word ‘library’ in these two following examples is different: • VJ. Daniel always checks his wardrobe. wardrobe means a collection of dresses • The wardrobe is at the corner of the mall. wardrobe means a room where dresses are organized and sold Universitas Sumatera Utara The difference between sense and reference can be described from what Hurford 1980 states : “Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every expression has reference” The explanation from statement above is by these examples; ‘I love rose ’ and ‘I love Rose’. From the examples above, both examples refer to a certain thing. Although they have the same sentence, but actually the sense is different. The phrase ‘I love rose’ describes ‘rose is one kind of flower’ and ‘I love Rose’ describes ‘Rose as a name of certain girl’. The referent of an expression is often a thing or person in the world. Whereas the sense of an expression is not a thing at all. The sense of expression is an abstraction, but it is helpful to note that it is an abstraction that can be entertained in the mind of language user.

2.3 Goals of Semantic Theory