Referentobjekt

Referentobjekt is a term used in linguistics and philosophy of language to denote the object or entity that a referential expression picks out in a given context. In this sense, the referentobjekt is the actual thing in the world (or in a discourse world) that a speaker intends to refer to when producing a sentence or an utterance.

In semantic and pragmatic analyses, the referentobjekt is distinguished from the linguistic form that signals reference. A single expression can be used to refer to different referentobjekte across contexts, and the identity of the referentobjekt often depends on situational factors, prior discourse, and shared background knowledge. Range of referentobjekte can include concrete objects, events, times, processes, or even abstract concepts, depending on how the expression is used.

Examples help illustrate the idea. In the sentence this book is interesting, the referentobjekt is the book currently identified as the one near the speaker and deemed relevant by the speaker and listener. In a narrative, the king may be a referentobjekt whose identity becomes clear through context. In proper noun use, the referentobjekt is the individual named by the expression.

Reference and coreference research often treats the referentobjekt as the target of tracking across sentences. Ambiguity, vagueness, or lack of sufficient context can lead to reference failure, where no clear referentobjekt can be identified. In computational linguistics, annotators may label referentobjekte to analyze coreference chains and discourse structure.

See also: referent, reference, coreference, deictic expression, referential theory.