Editing Self-reference (section)

==In language==
A word that describes itself is called an ''[[autological word]]'' (or ''autonym''). This generally applies to adjectives, for example [[wikt:sesquipedalian|sesquipedalian]] (i.e. "sesquipedalian" is a sesquipedalian word), but can also apply to other parts of speech, such as [[wikt:TLA|TLA]], as a three-letter [[abbreviation]] for "[[three-letter abbreviation]]".

A sentence which inventories its own letters and punctuation marks is called an [[autogram]].

There is a special case of meta-sentence in which the content of the sentence in the metalanguage and the content of the sentence in the object language are the same. Such a sentence is referring to itself. However some meta-sentences of this type can lead to paradoxes. "This is a sentence." can be considered to be a self-referential meta-sentence which is obviously true. However "This sentence is false" is a meta-sentence which leads to a self-referential [[Liar paradox|paradox]]. Such sentences can lead to problems, for example, in law, where statements bringing laws into existence can contradict one another or themselves. [[Kurt Gödel]] claimed to have found such a [[Gödel's Loophole|loophole]] in the [[United States Constitution]] at his citizenship ceremony.

Self-reference occasionally occurs in the [[Broadcast media|media]] when it is required to write about itself, for example the [[BBC]] reporting on job cuts at the BBC. Notable encyclopedias may be required to feature articles about themselves, such as Wikipedia's article on [[Wikipedia]].

[[Fumblerules]] are a list of rules of good grammar and writing, demonstrated through sentences that violate those very rules, such as "Avoid cliches like the plague" and "Don't use no double negatives". The term was coined in a published list of such rules by [[William Safire]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://alt-usage-english.org/humorousrules.html| title = Humorous Rules for Writing |first1=Donna |last1=Richoux |date=June 18, 2002 |website=alt.usage.english }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first = William |last= Safire |author-link=William Safire |publication-date=1979-11-04 |title=On Language; The Fumblerules of Grammar |periodical=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/04/archives/on-language-the-fumblerules-of-grammar.html  |page=SM4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205052204/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/04/archives/on-language-the-fumblerules-of-grammar.html?sq=Fumblerules&scp=1&st=p |archive-date= 2023-02-05}}</ref>

[[Circular definition]] is a type of self-reference in which the definition of a term or concept includes the term or concept itself, either explicitly or implicitly. Circular definitions are considered [[Fallacy|fallacious]] because they only define a term in terms of itself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walton |first=Douglas N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-TWAAAAMAAJ |title=Begging the Question: Circular Reasoning as a Tactic of Argumentation |date=1991 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-27596-8 |language=en}}</ref> This type of self-reference may be useful in [[argumentation]], but can result in a lack of clarity in communication.

The adverb "hereby" is used in a self-referential way, for example in the statement "I hereby declare you husband and wife."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hereby|title=''hereby'' in wiktionary|date=19 June 2023 }}</ref>