the referential function is oriented toward the context “Water boils at 100 degrees”.
The Referential Function corresponds to the factor of Context and describes a situation, object or mental state. The descriptive statements of the referential function can consist of both definite descriptions and deictic words, e.g. “The autumn leaves have all fallen now.”
Jakobson remarks that the context is what is known as the " 'referent' in another, somewhat ambiguous, nomenclature" (1960, p. 353). Amazingly, this does not stop him from using the term "referential" for the function whose target factor is the context. Moreover, the term "context" is no less ambiguous, both in general and in this particular case. Jakobson says that the context is "either verbal or capable of being verbalized". As for the referential function, Jakobson gives the synonyms "denotative" and "cognitive" (1960, p. 353), but unlike all the other functions, this one is not presented in detail, and seems to be taken for granted. We believe that there are two main ways of interpreting this function in the work of Jakobson and those who use his model.
1. The referential function relates to the thing "spoken of" (Jakobson, 1960, p. 355).
2. The second way of viewing the referential function seems more useful and operative than the first. The referential function is associated with an element whose truth value (true or false status) is being affirmed (or questioned), particularly when this truth value is identical in the real universe and in the assumptive or reference universe that is taking it on.
This calls for some explanation (for more details, see the chapter on dialogics). A universe of assumption (such as the universe of a character in a literary work) may be reinforced or contradicted by the universe of reference (as defined by the omniscient narrator, for example), which stipulates what is ultimately true or false (or undecidable) in the more or less "realistic" universe constructed by the semiotic act. So the statement "the sun rises in the East" – which is true in reality and in a realistic text – would be more of a referential assertion than "the sun rises in the West", which would be perceived as somewhat poetic, in that the incongruity draws attention to the message (even if the utterance is true in the universe of reference, say, of a science-fiction novel).
NOTE: THE REFERENTIAL FUNCTION AND TRUTH VALUES
Jakobson says that unlike declarative sentences, imperatives (linked to the conative function) cannot be tested for their truth value. The imperative "Drink!" "cannot be challenged by the question 'is it true or not?' which may be, however, perfectly well asked after such sentences as 'one drank', 'one will drink', 'one would drink'." (Jakobson, 1960, p. 355) Considering that declarative sentences clearly activate the referential function, then the "truth value test" becomes a test we can use to identify the referential function.
THE POETIC FUNCTION
The Poetic Function
focuses on "the message for its own sake"[3] (the code itself, and how it is used) and is the operative function in poetry as well as slogans.
2.7 THE POETIC FUNCTION AND THE CHANGING FUNCTIONAL BALANCE
The functions (and the factors) do not necessarily all operate on the same analytical level. The poetic function in particular can operate at least partially on a second level, as the beneficiary of certain transformations in the functional balance, especially if they are marked (Klinkenberg, 1996, p. 58). In this case, the poetic function is linked to the other functions by a non-symmetrical relation. We will call it the ascending correlation: The poetic function is intensified as a result of a significant and selective strengthening or weakening of any other language function, but the reverse is not necessarily true (e.g., the emotive function is not necessarily strengthened by intensifying the poetic function). It is hard to imagine that a marked emphasis or attenuation in one function would not draw attention to the message itself, at least in some cases. This is what happens when the phatic function breaks down in Ionesco's The Bald Soprano, developing into parallel monologues as opposed to real dialogues. This contributes to the poetic effect of the play. It remains to be seen whether all variations in the poetic function necessarily result from a change, either qualitative or quantitative, in one or more other functions. Moreover, the poetic function is not necessarily the only one affected in cause-and-effect relations with one or more other functions. For example, when the poetic function is suddenly accentuated, the result and/or effect may be to keep the addressee's attention at a time when it was beginning to wander (the phatic function).
THE CONATIVE FUNCTION
engages the Addressee (receiver) directly and is best illustrated by vocatives and imperatives, e.g. "Tom! Come inside and eat!"
METALINGUAL
Firstly, we propose making the metalingual function into a more general "metacode" (or "metasystem") function. This will allow us to apply it to non-linguistic "messages". Secondly, we propose recognizing any normed and norming system as a code, and not restricting ourselves to the language code where text is concerned. Rastier takes the view that a text is the result of three systems interacting (1994, pp. 222 and 224 and 1997, pp. 27-29): (1) the dialect (the language system), (2) the sociolect (the particular usage of a dialect specific to a differentiated social practice with its own discourse organized through genres), and the idolect (a given author's individual usage of a language and a sociolect). In this case, utterances like "A Sonnet has 14 lines" (which deals with a genre, or sociolectal phenomenon) and "Baudelaire liked antitheses" (which deals with an individual's style, or idiolectal phenomenon) are as much about a code as "How do you spell 'surreptitiously'?" (which deals with the language system).
The examples given above use a thematized metacode function, embedded in the signified, or content. However, we should expect that non-thematized metacode functions may also exist. When the code norm is transgressed, attention is directed indexically, but clearly, to the code, as in: "The wind, he blow." Or if a given sonnet simply deviates from the norm, doesn't this evoke the model sonnet by contrast, and thus the system that defines it?
In this advertisement, we see phatic function which aims to draw attentionof receiver.
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