The Referents of Noun Phrases (An Old and Rare Book)

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Book Specification

Item Code:	NAM057
Author:	D. N. S. Bhat
Publisher:	Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute
Language:	English
Edition:	1979
Pages:	166
Cover:	Paperback
Other Details	8.5 inch x 5.5 inch
Weight	210 gm

Book Description

Preface

I have primarily tried to establish, in this monograph, a sharp and clear-cut distinction between two varieties of referring expressions, namely names and descriptions. I have given arguments in support of this distinction from the point of view of both linguistics as well as philosophy. I have pointed out here that the above distinction is restricted to a particular variety of linguistic expressions, namely the noun phrases.

On the basis of the distinction so established, I have tried to re-interpret two other distinctions that are generally conceded to be occurring among referring expressions, namely (i) the distinction between proper names and common names, and (ii) the distinction between the so-called referential and non-referential uses of nominal expressions. I have pointed out that the generic, nonspecific, predicative, and the attributive uses of noun phrases can all be brought together into a single variety of use on the basis of the fact that all of them represent a reference to the underlying characteristics of the noun phrases concerned, instead of a reference to a specific (or particular) entity that shows those characteristics.

Since all these three distinctions are of great interest to philosophers, logicians, and linguists, and since some very important facts concerning these distinctions have been newly uncovered in this monograph (especially about the distinction between names and descriptions), I am hopeful that the scholars working on these topics would find this monograph interesting. In my forthcoming monograph entitled Predication, I plan to examine the distinction between predication and reference (and also modification) on the one hand, and between the major varieties of predication on the other, so that some of the topics left untouched in this present monograph can be examined in detail.

The present monograph has resulted from a seminar course I gave for the M.A. Students of the University of Poona during the year 1978. I am indebted to my students and to my colleagues at the Deccan College who have helped me either directly or indirectly in developing these ideas. I am especially thankful to Dr. H. S. Biligiri who has carefully gone through this monograph in its manuscript form and has given many helpful suggestions.

Contents

	Preface	9
	Chapter One: Names and Descriptions
1.1	Introduction	13
1.2	Differences in the relationship with referents	16
1.3	Two different double articulations	18
1.4	Two Varieties of meaning	20
1.5	The nature of the conventional meaning	23
1.6	Distinguishing characteristics	27
1.7	Rigid and nonrigid designators	30
1.8	Referential opacity	33
1.9	Two varieties of analytic statements	36
1.10	Selecting a characteristic	40
1.11	Finiteness of names	42
1.12	Irregularity of denvation	44
1.13	Creative and manipulative devices	46
1.14	Distinguishing names from words	48
1.15	Relative order of constituents	51
1.16	Familiar and novel compounds	53
1.17	Compactness of names	55
1.18	Permanent and transient characteristics	56
1.19	Classificatory relevance	57
1.20	Names of natural and synthetic objects	58
1.21	Distinguishing compounding from naming	59
1.22	Derived nominals as names	61
1.23	Distinction among de-adjectivals	64
1.24	The question of a continuum	65
1.25	Restriction to nominals	67
1.26	Naming devices : genitive constructions of Kannada	70
1.27	Linker distinction in Tagalog	74
1.28	The case of the Sanskrit language	75
1.29	Summary	77
	Chapter Two: Proper Names and Common Names
2.1	Introduction	83
2.2	Differences in application	85
2.3	Differences in recognition	88
2.4	Relevance of meaning	92
2.5	Relationship between names	98
2.6	Arguments based on analyticity	100
2.7	The criterion of translatability	102
2.8	The constraint of countability	106
2.9	The criterion of uniqueness	108
2.10	Definite and indefinite expressions	111
2.11	Proper names as homonymous terms	114
2.12	The question of a continuum	116
	Chapter Three: Objects and Concepts
3.1	Introduction	123
3.2	Identifying characteristics as concepts	127
3.3	Predicative noun phrases	129
3.4	Attributive noun phrases	133
3.5	Generic noun phrases	137
3.6	Problems of pronominalization	142
3.7	Dichotomy of the distinction	145
3.8	Hyponymic substitution	148
3.9	Parsing f referring expressions	151
3.10	Conclusion	155
	References	159
	Index	163

Sample Pages