This contribution sketches the role of hearers in the long history of reference research. Canonical approaches from semantics and (early) pragmatics as well as cognitive approaches are discussed with respect to the increasing role that hearers play in these various notions of reference. In the… read more
This article discusses the textual functions of demonstratives in German and Russian in terms of ‘discourse topicality’ and ‘proximity’, thus covering a broad range of referential phenomena within a unified approach. It shows that — in spite of important grammatical differences between German and… read more
Complex anaphors are nominal expressions that pick up sentential or longer antecedents referring to propositionally structured referents such as events and states. Concerning their textual function, complex anaphors do not only serve as a means of continuity but also effect the progression of the… read more