Non-referential uses of language

identified six functions of language, only one of which is the traditional system of reference.

* referential: conveys information about some real phenomenon (corresponds to Austin's illocutionary act)
* expressive: describes feelings of the speaker
* conative: attempts to elicit some behavior from the addressee (corresponds to Austin's perlocutionary act)
* phatic: builds a relationship between both parties in a conversation
* metalingual: self-references
* poetic: focuses on the text independent of reference (sort of corresponds to Austin's locutionary act)

Émile Benveniste discussed pronouns "I" and "you," arguing them to be fundamentally distinct from other pronouns because of their role in creating the subject.

Michael Silverstein has argued that the "non-referential index" communicates meaning without being explicitly attached to semantic content.