J Psycholinguist Res (2018) 47:279–282
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9489-8
Introduction to Reference and Anaphora in Iberian
Languages
Iker Zulaica Hernández
1
· Carlos Gelormini Lezama
2
Published online: 2 May 2017
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017
Within the field of linguistics, reference is broadly defined as the human ability to refer
to physical, textual, and mental entities by means of linguistic expressions, also known as
referring expressions. The human ability to refer is an essential component of our cognitive
system. We could hardly conceive both the outside and our inner world, interact with our
interlocutors, share experiences, plans, ideas, narrate past events, or anticipate the future
without the ability to refer and displace reference. Linguistic reference has been one of the
central topics in the fields of semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language for decades.
More recently, linguistic reference has become a hot topic in the field of cognitive science in
general and, in particular, in psycholinguistics.
Natural languages have different mechanisms to refer. In anaphora, speakers use a linguis-
tic expression (the anaphor) in order to refer to another expression in the linguistic/textual
context (the antecedent). Anaphoric expressions can be of a varied nature (pro-forms, deic-
tic words, tense, etc.) thus giving rise to a multiplicity of direct and derived phenomena
prone to investigation. As a linguistic phenomenon, anaphora is a central element to inter-
pret discourse, to attain textual cohesion, to create coherence, and to enable the dynamic
construction of meaning. It is difficult to conceive the study of linguistic reference without
taking anaphoric processes into consideration.
However, despite the fact that many of the factors that underlie anaphora resolution have
been arguably claimed to be universal, most research has been carried out in English. This
constitutes a serious limitation if we hope to gain a better understanding of the general
principles that affect anaphoric processing. Studying anaphora in other languages—especially
languages with a different anaphoric inventory—can provide us with crucial information to
B
Iker Zulaica Hernández
izulaica@iupui.edu
Carlos Gelormini Lezama
cgelormini@udesa.edu.ar
1
Department of World Languages and Cultures, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis,
425 University Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
2
Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de San Andrés, Vito Dumas 284, (B1644BID),
Buenos Aires, Argentina
123
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera