Webber, Bonnie L2023-05-222023-05-221988-09-012007-09-19https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/7557Computational approaches to discourse understanding have a two-part goal: (1) identifying those aspects of discourse understanding that require process-based accounts, and (2) characterizing the processes and data structures they involve. To date, in the area of reference, process-based accounts have been developed for reference via anaphoric pronouns and via definite descriptors. In this paper, I propose and argue for a process-based account of deictic reference in text. This account adds precision to common notions of discourse entity, discourse segment and focus and to relationships between the three.Report