A Study Of Reference In The Film The Croods

Since the mid-twentieth century, the rise of cognitive science provides a new perspective for traditional linguistics, philosophy and psychology. From this new perspective, many linguistic phenomena get new understandings. As an important topic in linguistics, Referential Theory is of great theoretical significance and is entitled new meanings. Now,the most famous achievements in the Referential Theory are Frege’s Theory of Meaning, Russell’s The Descriptive Theory, Wittgenstein’s Language Game, Saussure’s Two-Dimensional Semiotic Theory,Ogden and Richards’ Semantic Triangle and Peirce’s Peircean Trichotomy of Sign. Yet, most of the Referential Theories are about Proper Name, few to Verbs and Depended Words. This paper attempts to summarize Reference of Verbs and Reference of Depended Words and to analyze some typical References of Verbs and Depended Words by illustrations in The Croods. Moreover, this paper, in light of Traditional Referential Theory and Peircean Trichotomy of Sign, fills the gap of the film corpus and gives an available interpretation for The Croods’ comedy by analyzing referential relationships in the film.This thesis mainly integrates with relevant materials of Referential Theory by the way of comparative and descriptive methods and sums up some points of Verbs’ and Depended Words’ Referential Theories and four typical ambiguities caused by reference. And this thesis chooses top-rated film The Croods’ s script to be its object of study. Additionally, based on the Peircean Trichotomy of Sign, this thesis divides referential relationships in The Croods into symbolic relationship, iconic relationship and indexical relationship and separately analyzes in detail. The following are specific results: 1.Some Verbs and its referents have similar relationships and those relationships can be divided into similar relationships in form and similar relationships in meaning; 2. The Depended Word which could not be extirpated must depend on Noun and Verb to find its referent; 3. There are four types of typical ambiguity caused by reference: Ambiguity Caused by Zero-Anaphoric, Ambiguity Caused by the Same Substitution, Ambiguity Caused by the Liar Paradox and Ambiguity Caused by Sensory Verbs. 4. Those referential relationships in The Croods can be divided into symbolic relationship, iconic relationship and indexical relationship.Through the discussion, a new perspective of appreciating the film is presented to the audience. Characters in the film become vivid, the stubborn, conservative cavemen living in the dark cave all their life with an adventurous journey become real, and the glamour of this animated adventure is revealed.