ABSTRACT
It is a condition of successful reference that the speaker should select a referring expression—typically a proper name, a definite noun-phrase or a pronoun—which, when it is employed in accordance with the rules of the language-system, will enable the hearer, in the context in which the utterance is made, to pick out the actual referent from the class of potential referents. If the expression is a definite noun-phrase operating as a definite description, its descriptive content will be more or less detailed according to the circumstances; and the manner of description will often depend upon the speaker’s assumption that the hearer is in position of quite specific information about the referent. (Lyons, 1977b: 180)
