The role of potential referential conflict in the choice of a referring expression
Olga V. Fedorova · 2014
The present survey focuses on the phenomenon of referential ambiguity, or referential conflict, i.e., the discourse situation in which two or more referents are activated high enough to be chosen the antecedent of a reduced referring expression. While permanent ambiguity occurs occasionally and is quite uncommon, potential ambiguity is pervasive in language and, thus, should be thoroughly studied. In addition to proposing the typology of referential conflicts, this study seeks to give an explanation of the effects related to the potential referential conflicts that are described in the literature. It proposes a model of the referential conflict that accounts for the choice of the referential strategy made by the speaker depending on whether she or he precludes referential conflicts or not. Finally, from examining the past work on the topic as well as analyzing the results of the current experiment on Russian material, a general model of referential choice is presented which should place the mechanism responsible for the preclusion of referential conflict as a separate module rather than reckoning referential ambiguity among the factors which lower the activation of a referent, as it has been proposed by some researchers.