Jan Horáček

Introduction to Linguistics I

Assignment 2

1. Which of the basic semantic relations and properties outlined in the text (synonymy,
entailment, etc.) are exemplified by the following?
a) Nobody is at the party and Al is enjoying the party more than anyone else.
b) memory (as in “I have a good memory,” “I have beautiful memories of my trip to Amalfi,” and
“I need to buy some more memory for my computer”)
c) Either it’s raining in Delhi now, or it isn’t.

a) In sentence a we have contradiction, because it says that nobody is at the party meaning not
even one person and then it writes that Al is enjoying party more than anyone else. This is also
proven by nobody and anyone being antonyms. From this we can see that this sentence does
not make sense.
b) In letter b we have different uses of word memory, in my opinion this should represent
polysemy of this word since all of the meaning of this word only have subtle differences and can
all be connected to the same root. I am writing this because all of these words represent action
of remembering, recalling or saving some information inside our brain or some kind of machine.
c) This is typical example of entailment A -> B.

2. Explain the meaning of the following sentences, focusing on the role of quantifiers. Identify the
restrictor and the scope.
a) Every dog has a tail.
b) Nobody around here speaks French.

a) Meaning of this sentence is that every individual or breed belonging under category of dogs
has this thing in common in this sentence that is a tail. Every is a quantifier, dog is restrictor and
has is scope.
b) Meaning of this sentence is not even one person in their close location speak French. Nobody
is quantifier speaks French is restrictor and around here is scope.

3. Below are some sentences with scope ambiguities. For each, describe the two meanings and
indicate which two words or phrases create the ambiguity.
a) I don’t like every student.
b) During your visit to Rome, you must visit one fountain.

a) It is ambiguous since it can have two meanings. One of them is that I do not like even one
student and second one is that you are saying that you do not like all of them, but you like at
least one of them. Word every creates ambiguity.
b) Honestly I don’t really get this sentence. I just can not see the second meaning, I would be
glad if you explained it to me, because the presentation lacks enough examples at least for me.
Thank you.

4. Categorise the modality in the following sentences as epistemic or deontic.

a) Dogs may not enter the subway.
b) If you love animals, you ought to be a vegetarian.
c) You can probably find a book about raccoons in the library.

a) Dogs may not enter the subway is deontic since it is a set rule and obligation that can be
enforced.
b) This sentence is deontic and I think it fits in to the category of right and wrong.
c) Letter c is epistemic since it is mostly a guess and the person suggesting is not sure if he is
telling truth.