my $ref1 = ['a','b','c']; my $ref2 = ['d','e','f']; my $refref = [$ref1, $ref2]; myfunc($refref); print $ref1->[0]; sub myfunc { my (@list) = @{[@{$_[0]}]}; print $list[0][0]; $list[0] = ['1','2','3']; }