Roleset refer.01 Verbnet Class: NONE "call, label":

Roles:

Arg0:labeller


Arg1:labelled


Arg2:label

Examples:

all args (-)
He added that he had spoken with Mr. Laidig, whom he referred to *trace* as a friend, by telephone Monday evening.
Arg0:	he
REL:	referred
Arg1-to:	*trace* -> whom -> Mr. Laidig
Arg2-as:	a friend




more commonly as discourse function (-)
``Payments are good right now, but we aren't recommending any long-term lines of credit,'' says Richard Hastings, a retail credit analyst, *trace* referring to credit lines which make inventory purchases automatic.
Arg0:	*trace* -> Richard Hastings, a retail credit analyst,
REL:	referring
Arg1-to:	credit lines which make inventory purchases automatic

Roleset refer.02 Verbnet Class: 1 "recommend, send":

Roles:

Arg0:recommender, sender


Arg1:thing recommended, sent


Arg2:recommended/sent to

Examples:

all args (-)
The firms aren't required *trace* to refer work exclusively to each other and remain separate organizations.
Arg0:	*trace* -> The firms
REL:	refer
Arg1:	work
ArgM-MNR:	exclusively
Arg2-to:	each other

person: ns tense: ns aspect: ns voice: active form: infinitive


more clearly send (-)
Two former ministers were so heavily implicated in the Koskotas affair that PASOK members of Parliament voted [*-1] to refer them to the special court.
Arg0:	[*-1] -> PASOK members of Parliament
REL:	refer
Arg1:	them
Arg2-to:	the special court

The 'cite' sense of refer (I refer to the Oxford English dictionary for questions of word sense) fits under the first roleset, since it implicitly takes the arg2 "as an authority".