This text is called (an) article: Referring nouns in name-informing quotation

This paper examines quotations involving predicates like call or refer to that inform the addressee about the name of a lexicalized concept. Quotations of this sort often contain names that are accompanied by a determiner, e.g., This phenomenon is called a “sun halo.” We claim that name-informing constructions imply an underspecified copular relation which entails a referring interpretation of the name. Crucially, the determiner is optional in name-informing quotations, cf. This phenomenon is called “sun halo.” Specifically, our studies aim to determine whether the name in name-informing constructions is perceived as referentially more salient when it is accompanied by a determiner. To test this, three experimental studies were conducted, employing forced-choice tasks, acceptability judgment, and self-paced reading paradigms. Those three experimental methods showed non-significant differences indicating an equivalent behavioral treatment of the two alternatives. Therefore, we conclude that names used in name-informing constructions accompanied by a determiner do not differ referentially from uses not involving a determiner. The data thus suggest that the two realizations of name-informing constructions are semantically equivalent and entail identical semantic features.