Real-time Meaning in Communication and the Analysis of the Meaning of Referring Expressions

Based on a review of the theories on meaning in the field of philosophy, semantics and pragmatics, this paper suggests that language meaning, subject to constant change in real communication,is a concept different from relatively static sense and reference which are mutual inter-dependent to each other. Sense and reference constitute the personal images of any given words.Three sources of meaning are elaborated: the dictionary sense, the personal images of any given words, and the dynamic context.A combination of traditional semantic meaning and dynamic pragmatic meaning analysis is suggested through examining the meaning derivation process in the cases of the use of referring expressions in definite, indefinite descriptions, and incomplete sentences.