NOTATIONS

FOR PROPOSITIONS
UNIT 13
 01 NOTATIONS FOR
SIMPLE PROPOSITIONS

NOTATIONS FOR
CONTENT 02 EQUATIVE SENTENCES

NOTATIONS FOR
03 CONNECTIVES AND & OR
REVIEW
ENTRY TEST
01 NOTATIONS FOR
SIMPLE SENTENCES
Review:
Look at the following sentences:
1.Abraham died.
2.Fido is a dog.
3.Ted loves Alice.
4.Phil introduced Mary to Jack.

Find the predicator and the

arguments in each sentence
 SOME ASSUMPTIONS

• Simple propositions has ONE predicator, written in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Ex: LOVE
• Arguments are represented by a single letter in lower case.
Ex: James is represented by j
• Anything that is not a predicator or a referring expression is simply
omitted.
 NOTATIONS

Abraham died a DIE

Fido is a dog f DOG

Ted loves Alice t LOVE a

Phil introduced Mary to Jack p INTRODUCE m j

a, to, be, tense markers ARE OMITTED

=> concentration of logic on truth
PRACTICE

a DREAM
b GULP
c SWEAR
p CURSE
b CYCLE
OMISSION OF PREPOSITIONS

Not all prepositions are omitted from the logical formulae. When a
preposition contributes substantially to the sense of the sentence, it
must be included in logical formulae.
OMISSION OF PREPOSITIONS
 NOTATIONS FOR PREPOSITIONS

Winston is a nephew of Randolph w NEPHEW r

Ellen is envious of James e ENVIOUS j

Margaret is looking for Billy m LOOK-FOR b

Margaret is looking at Billy m LOOK-AT b

PRACTICE

f SHORTER e

g PROUD k
i WEST s
d CAPITAL e
02 NOTATIONS FOR
EQUATIVE SENTENCES
EQUATIVE SENTENCES
 NOTATIONS FOR EQUATIVE SENTENCES

• The identity predicate is represented with an ‘equals’ sign =.

• Anything corresponding to any other use of the verb be is omitted.

Clark Kent is Superman ck = s

Clark Kent is a reporter ck REPORTER

PRACTICE

dj GENTLEMAN
mh VILLAIN
dj = mh
jr = dc
mk SISTER ck
 NOTES

• NO FORMULA for a simple proposition can have TWO (or more) predicators.
• It CANNOT have anything ELSE which is neither a predicate nor a name.
PRACTICE
PART 1 & PART 2 PRACTICE
ANSWER
NOTE
Click Enter text title

For all of the paraphrases, there would only be ONE formula.

j SEE b
REVIEW
n RESIGN

k THWART C
YES, OF COURSE
03
NOTATIONS FOR
CONNECTIVES
‘AND’ and ‘OR’
❖ Connectives provide a way of joining simple
propositions to form complex propositions.
❖ ‘AND’: Any number of individual well-formed formulae
can be placed in a sequence with the symbol & between
each adjacent pair in the sequence.
❖ ‘OR’: Any number of well-formed formulae can be
placed in a sequence with the symbol V between each
adjacent pair in the sequence.
Notes:
- (…): Make the structure of the formulae clear
- (…): May be absolutely necessary in certain cases
- Only formulae for whole propositions can be connected with &
- Predicates and names cannot be connected with &
John is tall and Mary is small.

a ENTER & m LEAVE

j LOVE m & m LOVE b

j IRISH & m IRISH

ad PLOUGH & e SEW

g CREATE ad & g CREATE e

ad PARENT c & e PARENT c

e BEAR c & e BEAR ab

c ATTACK ab & c SLAY ab

Not all simple sentences can have their meanings unpacked in
exactly the same way as these examples from 1-5.
Consider the following sentence:

Problem: the predicate ‘couple’

=> We are not going to deal with this problem in
this semantics course.
Connective ‘and’ in paraphrases
Remember: Rules of inference

A rule stating that if a proposition P entails

a proposition Q, and P is true, then Q is
true.
What rule of inference is it?
Modus Ponen
 Rules of inference

1.Modus ponen
2.Commutativity of conjunction
3.…

A rule of inference states, in effect, that a

situation in which the premiss (or premisses)
is (are) true is also a situation in which the
conclusion is true.
Modus ponen Commutativity of
conjunction
Lorna left

Harry tapdanced
and &: conjunction
or V: disjunction
d SEE b V d SEE a

d CAPITAL f V k CAPITAL f
Ambiguous sentence:

Alice went to Birmingham and she met Cyril or she called on David

Logical notation: 2 different formulae

(a GO b & a MEET c) V a CALL-ON d

Alice went to Birmingham and either she met Cyril or she called on David
a TAKE l V (a TAKE c & a TAKE d)
(a TAKE l V a TAKE c) & a TAKE d
and - but
How about ‘but’?
T
F
F
F
How about ‘or’?
T
T
T
F
THANK YOU