When words like "idea", "duty" or "question" point to a (partly) missing piece of text
What is it about?
This article shows how words such as "idea", "duty" or "question", which are known in linguistics as "shell nouns", can refer to a portion of text which is not always clearly identifiable. The reasons for this vagueness are multiple and can range from the source text being scattered, to needing to be "trimmed" by the receiver of the message. This paper shows the link between so-called "shell nouns" and vague reference as well as the consequences of such vagueness by examining examples taken from contemporary French and Romanian.
Why is it important?
This article tackles the question of shell nouns, which is a hot topic in the fields of semantics and syntax. However it does so by focussing on a "dead spot" of previous research on shell nouns, namely cases where the reference operated by the shell noun requires a greater cognitive effort from the part of the receiver of the message.