To define reference as an act by which a speaker (or writer) uses language to enable a
listener (or reader) to identify something. To perform an act of reference, we can use
proper nouns (Chomsky, Jennifer, Whiskas), other nouns in phrases (a writer, my
friend, the cat) or pronouns (he, she, it). We sometimes assume
thatthesewordsidentifysomeoneorsomethinguniquely,butitismoreaccuratetosay that, for
each word or phrase, there is a “range of reference.” The words Jennifer or friend or she
can be used to refer to many entities in the world. As we observed earlier, an expression
such as the war doesn’t directly identify anything by itself, because its reference
depends on who is using it.