SEMANTICS

INTRODUCTION
 SEMANTICS

 It is a branch of linguistics that studies meaning (The

Scientific study of meaning)

 It is taken from a Greek word “Semantikos”, meaning

the study of signs (sema).
 BRANCHES OF LINGUISTICS

 Phonetics: The study of speech sounds

 Phonology: The study of speech sounds

 Morphology: The study of word structure

 Syntax: The study of sentence structure

 Semantics: The study of meaning

 TYPES OF MEANING

There are two main types of meaning:

1. Sentence (word) meaning (semantic meaning): The literal

meaning of the word or a sentence/ What a word or a sentence
means ( dictionary meaning).

2. Speaker’s meaning (pragmatic meaning): What the speaker

intends to say when he uses language.
For Example: “ I am sick.”
 EXAMPLE 1
Speaker to hearer: “I am sick.”

Sentence meaning: I am affected by physical or mental illness. (A

speaker may use this utterance to state that he/she the does not feel well
(literal meaning).

Speaker’s meaning: a speaker may use this utterance in different contexts

as:
(a) request: take me to a doctor/ bring me some medicine
(b) refusal: I cannot do it (wash dishes, clean a room, etc.)
(c) apology: I cannot attend ( party, class, etc.)
 EXAMPLE 2
Example 2: “Someone is a dog.”

Sentence meaning: a domesticated mammal that has 4 legs, two long ears,
acute smell, non-retractable claws, and a barking voice. (If taken literally,
this sentence is unacceptable because it is contradictory)

Speaker’s meaning: He is a person who treats people in a bad manner; some

one who is ugly; some one who is loyal; someone who always screams and
shouts, etc.
(1) Consider the meaning of “nice day” in the following context between two
people meeting each other for the first time at a bus station:

A: ‘Nice day’
B: ‘Yes, a bit warmer than yesterday, isn’t it?’
A: ‘That’s right – one day fine, the next cooler’
B: ‘I expect it might get cooler again tomorrow’
A: ‘Maybe – you never know what to expect, do you?’
 (2) Consider the meaning of “nice day” in the following strained exchange
between husband and wife.

Husband: ‘When I go away next week, I’m taking the car’

Wife: ‘Oh. Are you? I need the car here to take the kids to school’
Husband: ‘I’m sorry, but I must have it. You’ll have to send them on the bus’
Wife: ‘That’ll be nice for the family. Up at the crack of dawn, (ironically) and
not home till mid-evening! Sometimes you’re very inconsiderate’
Husband: ‘Nice day’
The phrase “ nice day” in the first example is used by the speaker to
initiate a conversation ( use as an ice-breaker). In the second example, it
is used to end or terminate a conversation.

The difference in meaning between the two use of the phrase “nice day”
depends on the context.
 ONE MORE EXAMPLE

 “ Give me a hand”

Semantic / sentence meaning: Give me one of your (two hands) body

organs ( Robot)

Pragmatic/ Speaker’s meaning: it is a request for help (help me!)

 Discourse Marker ‫ﻣﻊ ﻧﻔﺴﻚ‬
• Semantic meaning: with yourself

• Pragmatic meaning: (based on the context)

(1) refusal
(3) Expressing annoyance
(5) expressing doubt
(7)Expressing challenge
(9) Expressing disappointment
(2) showing lack of interest
(4) reprimanding
(5) distancing one’s self from others
(8)Scolding
(10) Expressing choice

• If you feel interested in the paper, go to this link

(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339663355_The_Use_of_Discourse_
Marker_ma_nafsak_in_Saudi_Arabic_A_Pragmatic_Perspective)
 PRACTICE

• Look at the following utterances and state whether they are intended to be taken
literally (Yes) or not

(1) Tired traveller: ‘This suitcase is killing me’ Yes / No

(2) Assistant in a shop: ‘We regularly do the impossible; miracles
take a little longer’ Yes / No
(3) During a business meeting: ‘It’s a dog-eat-dog situation’ Yes / No
(4) During a heated argument: ‘Don’t bite my head off!’ Yes / No
(5) Hungry person at the dinner table: ‘I could eat a horse!’ Yes / No
 TASK
• Find out the semantic and the pragmatic meanings of the following :

• 1. wow
• 2. Thank you
• 3. ‫»طﯿﺐ« ﺑﺎﻟﻠﮭﺠﮫ اﻻردﻧﯿﮫ‬
 SEMANTICS

 Semantics is very difficult.

Why?
Because it studies meaning, and meaning can be
vague/ambiguous/fuzzy/ gray/ blurry/ unclear/ hazy/ equivocal

 Semantics studies the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences.

 The study of meaning starts with the study of the word. (lexical
semantics)
 WHAT IS A WORD?

 A single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing (can stand alone,

and represent an idea, object, action, etc.)

 For example, consider all the following words:

run, ran, run (pp),running, runner, runners, overrun, overran, overrunning,

outrun, outran, runway…………

All the abovementioned words have one lexeme, which is run. A lexeme is an
abstract unit to which a number of forms (words) are related by inflection
(root).
 EXAMPLES ON LEXEME

What are the forms of the lexeme “ find”?

, finds, found, founder, founders, finding, findings….
Find
What are the forms of the lexeme “ good”?
Good, better, best……

What are the forms of the lexeme “be”?

Be, am, is, was, are, were, been, being……..

What are the forms of the lexeme “take”?

………………………………………………………………………
 TYPES OF MEANING

According to Leech (1974) , there are seven types of meaning:

(1) Conceptual
(2) Connotative
(3) Affective
(4) Social
(5) Reflected
(6) Collocative
(7) Thematic
( Note: 2,3,4,5,6, are part of Associative meaning)
 CONCEPTUAL MEANING

 It is also called: semantic/ sentence/ literal/ denotative/ dictionary

(cognitive/ referential/propositional/ descriptive….) meaning.

 It is the basic propositional meaning that corresponds to the primary

dictionary definition.

 It is the literal meaning of a word/phrase/ or sentence.

 It is the core meaning of an expression.

 It is the base for all other types of meaning.

 EXAMPLES

What is the conceptual meaning for the words below?

Dog: a domesticated carnivorous mammal that typically has a long

snout, an acute sense of smell, non-retractable claws, and a barking,
howling, or whining voice.

Needle: a small slender usually steel instrument that has an eye for
thread or surgical sutures at one end and that is used for sewing.

Woman: an adult female person

 CONNOTATIVE MEANING
• The communicative values of an expression beyond the conceptual
meaning.

• Examples:

• Dog: ugly, fear, vicious, protection, friendship, loyalty, unclean, impurity

• Needle: fear, cure, blood, sickness, danger

• Woman: beauty, weak, emotional, skirt, nice language, politeness

• The connotative meaning is considered unstable/ open ended/ affected by
culture, age , gender, education, etc.

• Examples:

• That woman is a dove.

• He is such a dog.
• What do you expect from a politician/ statesman.
• He is economical/ cheap.
• Her singing voice is velvet.
• ‫ ﻓﻄﺲ‬/‫ﺗﻮﻓﺎه ﷲ‬/‫اﻧﺘﻘﻞ اﻟﻰ رﺣﻤﺔ ﷲ‬/‫ﻣﺎت‬
• ‫ﻣﺤﻜﻮم‬/‫ﻣﺘﻔﺎھﻤﯿﻦ‬
 AFFECTIVE MEANING
• It is also called emotive meaning.
• This meaning communicates the personal feeling of attitude of the speaker
towards what is being said.

• Examples:
• I hate you, you idiot. (negative attitude/ feeling)
• I am terribly sorry to interrupt you. (positive attitude)
• Wow (intonation plays a role). Positive or negative
• I don’t like this shirt. (negative attitude/ feeling)
• I love my parents ( positive attitude/ feeling)
• This weather is making me sick. (negative attitude/ feeling)
 STYLISTIC MEANING
• It is also called social meaning. This meaning communicates the social
circumstances of an expression.
• It communicates information about the age, gender, education, profession,
ethnicity, social class, of the participants. (language variation)

• Examples:
• horse, steed, nay (They all have the same meaning, but horse (general), steed
(formal), and nay (colloquial)
• I ain’t done nothing ( tells the speaker is African American/ slang)
• Home (general) , residence (formal), abode (poetry)
• Urban and rural speech in Jordan
• Arabic Languages in the Arab world
• Educated vs uneducated
• Bank tellers vs mechanics
 COLLOCATIVE MEANING
• It is association of words. Words that collocate together.

• Examples:
• Salt and pepper, oil and vinegar, pen and paper,……….
• ‫ اﻟﺨﯿﺮ واﻟﺸﺮ‬,‫ ﺧﯿﻂ واﺑﺮه‬,‫زﯾﺖ وزﻋﺘﺮ‬
• Big / large business
• Addled eggs, rancid better, rogue cop
• Handsome boy, beautiful woman
• Wander (animal)……..stroll (human)
• Handsome/ pretty cow
• Tall/ long building
 REFLECTED MEANING
• It is a kind of meaning that arises when the word has more than one
conceptual meaning.

• Examples:
- comforter: (a) Third Trinity/ spirit (in religion)
(b) a person who comfort others (non-religion)

- I have been to the dentist so many times, so I know the drill.

drill: (a) a device used by the dentist used for cutting or making holes
(b) process/ exercise
 REFLECTED MEANING
 Word play (pun) is an example of reflected meaning. It is a joke that makes a
play on words. It uses words having more than one conceptual meaning.

 Example
 Your argument is sound, nothing but sound.
 Santa’s clauses are known as subordinate clauses.
 Corduroy pillows are making headlines.
 What has four wheels and flies?
 Reflected meaning is often used by comedians to make jokes. It is also used
by businesses and trademarks.
 REFLECTED MEANING
 Word play (pun) is an example of reflected meaning. It is a joke that makes a
play on words. It uses words having more than one conceptual meaning.

 Example
 Your argument is sound, nothing but sound.
 Santa’s clauses are known as subordinate clauses.
 Corduroy pillows are making headlines.
 What has four wheels and flies?
 You were right, so I left.
 Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
 I can can the can, but the can cannot can me.
 REFLECTED MEANING
 Reflected meaning is often used by comedians to make jokes. It is also used
by businesses and trademarks.

 Examples

 Lawyer’s firm: Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe

 Ophthalmologist: For Eyes
 Downy (Fabric softener)
 Toro (Truck)
 Terminator (detergent)
‫‪WORD PALY(PUN) EXAMPLES FROM ARABIC‬‬
‫• اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ اﻟﻘﺮﯾﺐ واﻟﻤﻌﻨﻰ اﻟﺒﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﮫ‬

‫• ﻗﻮل ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ‪َ} :‬وھَُﻮ اﻟﱠِﺬي ﯾَﺘََﻮﻓﱠﺎُﻛﻢ ِﺑﺎﻟﻠﱠْﯿِﻞ َوﯾَْﻌﻠَُﻢ َﻣﺎ َﺟَﺮْﺣﺘُﻢ ِﺑﺎﻟﻨﱠﮭَﺎِر{‬

‫• طﺮﻗﺖ اﻟﺒﺎب ﺣﺘﻰ ﻛﻠﻤﺘﻨﻲ ﻗﻠﻤﺎ ﻛﻠﻤﺘﻨﻲ ﻛﻠﻤﺘﻨﻲ‪.‬‬

‫ﻓﻤﺎ ﺑﺎل ﺷﻮﻗﻲ اﺻﺒﺢ ﺑﺎردا‬ ‫• ﯾﻘﻮﻟﻮن ان اﻟﺸﻮق ﻧﺎر وﻟﻮﻋﺔ‬

‫• اﺣﺐ اﻟﺒﺮﺗﻘﺎل ﺑﻌﺪ اﻟﻌﺼﺮ‬

‫ﻓﻘﻠﺒﻲ ﺟﺎرھﻢ واﻟﺪﻣﻊ ﺟﺎري‬ ‫• ﻛﺄﻧﺎ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺎورة اﻗﺘﺴﻤﻨﺎ‬

 THEMATIC MEANING
 What is communicated by the way in which a speaker organizes the message
in terms of focus.

 Example
 The cat ate the rat………..The rat was eaten by the cat.
 Ahmad stole the car. ………..It was the car that Ahmad stole.

 The book received a lot of publicity in China.

 It was the book that received a lot of publicity in China.
 It was in china that the book received a lot of publicity.
 It was a lot of publicity that the book received in china.
‫‪EXAMPLES FROM ARABIC‬‬
‫‪ ‬اﻛﻞ اﻟﻮﻟﺪ اﻟﺘﻔﺎﺣﺔ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬اﻟﻮﻟﺪ اﻛﻞ اﻟﺘﻔﺎﺣﺔ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬اﻟﺘﻔﺎﺣﺔ اﻛﻞ اﻟﻮﻟﺪ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬ﺟﻨﺎت ﻋﺪن ﯾﺪﺧﻠﻮﻧﮭﺎ‬
‫‪ ‬ﺟﺎء ﺿﺎﺣﻜﺎ زﯾﺪ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬ﻋﻈﯿﻢ أﻧﺖ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬اﻟﻘِﺼﺎص ﺣﻜﻢ ﺑﮫ اﻟﻘﺎﺿﻲ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬ﻛﺮﯾﻢ ھﻮ اﻟﺮﺟﻞ‪.‬‬
 SEMANTICS
SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, & PROPOSITIONS
 SNETNECE VS UTTERANCE

 Read the following out loud!

I am a translation student.

If this sentence is read by 100 people, then it becomes (

will be counted as) 100 utterances.
DIFFRENCES BETWEEN SENETNCE AND UTTERANCE

SENTENCE UTTERANCE
1 abstract physical
2 decontextualized contextualized
3 permanent/ storage function temporary/ peripheral/ no storage function
4 grammatical grammatical or not
5 written (silent) spoken (loud or not)
6 conveys full meaning not necessary
7 planned/ can be edited unplanned/ cannot be edited
8 complicated syntax/standard simple syntax/ non standard
9 writer is not under pressure speaker is under pressure
10 no paralinguistic features paralinguistic features
11 punctuation intonation, prosody, pauses
12 surface cohesion deep cohesion
13 monologue/ non interactive dialogue/ interactive
14 does not accomplish an action accomplish an action
15 less mistakes more mistakes
 SENTENCE

• It is an abstract entity produced by the grammar of language. It is

detached from context expressing an idea.

• It is a string/group of words put together by the grammatical rules

of language expressing a complete idea/thought.

• It is a grammatically complete string of words expressing a

complete thought.
 UTTERANCE
• It is the use of a piece of language, such as a sequence of sentences, or a
single phrase, or even a single word by a particular speaker, on a
particular occasion.

• It is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is
silence on the part of that person.
• Examples:

• (a) Passenger to taxi driver: “Please, take me to the nearest bank!”

• (b) Man to woman: “Hello”
• (c) Mother to son: “in the kitchen”
• (d)Teacher to student: “late again”
 UTTERANCE
• An utterance could be a single word (out!), a single phrase “ very cold”,
or a single sentence “ I don’t like to go out in the cold”.

• “My brother lives in Beirut” is an utterance, which gives a full meaning.

• ‘Pxgotmgt’ is not an utterance because it is not from any language.

• “between” is an utterance even though it does not give a full meaning.

• “You was happy when I saw him.” is an utterance although it is

ungrammatical.

• “‫ ”اﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻣﺠﺘﮭﺪ‬is an utterance although in different language other than Eng.

 PRACTICE SOME EXAMPLES
Indicate your answer by circling Yes or No

(1) Do all (authentic) performances of Macbeth begin by using the same sentence?
Yes / No
(2) Do all (authentic) performances of Macbeth begin with the same utterance?
Yes / No
(3) Does it make sense to talk of the time and place of a sentence? Yes / No
(4) Does it make sense to talk of the time and place of an utterance? Yes / No
(5) Can one talk of a loud sentence? Yes / No
(6) Can one talk of a slow utterance? Yes / No
 SENTENCE
• A given sentence always consists of the same words, and in the same
order. Any change in the words, or in their order, makes a different
sentence.

Examples:
(1) Different sentences:
(a) Helen rolled up the carpet.
(b) Helen rolled the carpet up.

(2) Same sentence:

(a) Jack has won the prize.
(b) Jack has won the prize.
• All sentences are complete grammatical units, but not all utterances are
actually tokens of sentences, but sometimes only parts of sentences, e.g.
phrases or single words used mostly in conversations.

• Examples: Say whether the following are sentences or non-sentences

(utterances)
• “I would like a cup of coffee.” S/NS
• “Coffee, please!” S/NS
• “In the kitchen” S/NS
• “Please, put it in the kitchen.” S/NS
• “John” S/NS
• “It’s mine” S/NS
• “Who is there?” S/NS
 UTTERANCE
• Give a full sentence that expresses the full meaning!
• A: What is your name?
• B: Sara

• A: What do you study at YU?

• B: Translation

• A: Do you like Ice cream?

• B: Yes!

• A: What is your favorite food?

• B: Mansaf.

• (All answers to the questions above are tokens of incomplete sentences)

 SENTENCE

• Semantics is concerned with the meanings of non-sentences (words and

phrases) and with whole sentences.

• We will begin our analysis with the meaning of whole sentences because it
is more convenient.

• The meanings of whole sentences involve propositions/ The meanings of

words and phrases do not.
 PROPOSITIONS
• It is basically some sort of idea that can be specified by language.

• Every declarative sentence has a proposition.

• Examples:
• The weather is hot.
• Smoking can destroy your lungs.
• There are many reasons why people love mobile phones .

• But,
• Colourless green ideas sleep furiously. (grammatical, but has no
propositions)
 SENTENCE & UTTERANCE
• A single sentence may correspond to many utterances. (a sentence
maybe used in multiple utterances)

Example:

- I do not understand why you did this.

This sentence maybe used in many utterances, i.e., by the (same person or by
different people) in the (same occasion, or different occasions) to mean the
(same thing or different things).
 SENTENCE, UTTERANCE & PROPOSITION
• The same proposition may correspond to many sentences (utterances).
(The same proposition maybe expressed by multiple sentences (utterances))

Example (1):
-Jack fooled all of you.
-Jack fooled you all.
-You were all fooled by Jack.

Example (2)
-The cat chased the rat.
-The rat was chased by the cat.
 SENTENCE, UTTERANCE & PROPOSITION
• The same sentence (utterance) may correspond to more than one
proposition. (The same sentence or utterance may have more than one
proposition)

Example (1):
- “It’s cold in here!”

Example (2)
We had a ball last night.
 SENTENCE, UTTERANCE & PROPOSITION
• Sentences and utterances can be said to belong to any particular language.

- Example:
- I love Mansaf.
- .‫اﻧﺎ اﺣﺐ اﻟﻤﻨﺴﻒ‬
- …………….(French)
- ……………..(Russian)

- Propositions cannot be said to belong to any particular language (They are

abstracts/ideas); therefore, we cannot say that this proposition is Arabic, or
English or French.
 SENTENCE, UTTERANCE & PROPOSITION
• Sentences and Utterances can be said to belong to any particular dialect.

- Example:
- .‫ و اﻧﺎ اﺣﺐ اﻟﺤﻤﺎط‬.‫اﻧﺎ اﺣﺐ اﻟﺘﯿﻦ‬
- ‫ ھﺎدا ھﻮ‬,‫ ھﯿﻮﺗﻮ‬,‫ ھﺎظﺎ ھﻮ‬,‫ ھﯿﻮ‬,‫ھﺮﻋﮫ‬

- Example:
- I am not going to do it.
- I ain’t gonna do it.

- Propositions cannot be said to belong to any particular dialects

 SENTENCE, UTTERANCE & PROPOSITION
• Sentences and utterances in different languages can have the same
propositions, if they are the perfect translation of each other.

Example:

• I love you.(English)
• Je vous aime- je t’aime (French)
• Te amo (Italian)
• ‫( اﻧﺎ اﺣﺒﻚ‬Arabic)
• Sarangheyo (Korean)

• All the above sentences (utterances) have the same propositions.

 SENTENCE, UTTERANCE & PROPOSITION
• Utterances can be loud or quiet/ slow or fast; sentences and propositions
cannot be.
• Sentences and utterances can be grammatical or not; propositions cannot.

• Sentences , utterances, and propositions can be true or not.

• Utterances can be in particular regional dialect or accent; sentences and

propositions cannot.

• Sentences and utterances can be in particular language; propositions cannot.

 TRUTH-VALUE OF A PROPOSITION
• The speaker commits himself to the truth of the proposition. They can be
assertives.

- Only the proposition of a declarative sentence has a truth-value. Questions and

imperatives do not have a truth-value.

- Truth-value: They can be either true or not.

- Examples:
- I don’t like him.
- My father was a lawyer.
- Grass is green.
- One plus one equals six.
 TRUTH-VALUE
A: Jack is a taxi driver. (Declarative)
B: Is jack a taxi driver? (Interrogative)

• These two sentences have almost the same propositional content, but A can
be asserted (has truth-value) because it is a declarative sentence and B
cannot be asserted.
SEMANTICS
REFERENCE AND SENSE
Rafat Al Rousan

Dr. Rafat Al Rousan

 REFERNCE & SENSE

• They are two basic notions in semantics.

• They are two quite distinct ways of talking about the meaning of
words phrases and sentences.

• When we talk about sense, we deal with relationships inside the

language, but when we talk about reference, we deal with the
relationships between language and the world.
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 EXAMPLE

• This car is beautiful.

• The underlined phrase the car is part of the language, but the car
itself (real car) is part of the world.

• A language is not made of real objects (metal or wooden, etc.). It is

made of sounds, letters, words, phrases, sentences, etc.

Dr. Rafat Al Rousan

 MORE EXAMPLES

• Jack saw a dog in the park.

• The idea was brilliant.

• The man on the horse was the leader himself.

• The ghost scared me to death.

• Amman is in Jordan.
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 WHAT IS REFERNCE?
• It is the relationship between parts (elements) of a language and parts
(elements) of the outside world (outside the language).

• Example:

• My son is riding a bike.

• In this example, we have two expressions that are used to refer (my son and
a bike).
• My son: is an element of language that has a relationship with an element
(identifies a person) outside the language (in the world)
• A bike: is an element of language that has a relationship with an element
(identifies an animal) outside the language (in the world)
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 REFERRING EXPRESSIONS & REFERENTS
• Consider the example below:

• Tameem is a student.

• The linguistic expression Tameem is an element of a language (a linguistic

expression) which has a (reference) relationship with an element (a person)
outside the language (Real Tameem).

• The linguistic element (word) Tameem is called: referring expression.

• The real person Tameem is called: referent.

Dr. Rafat Al Rousan

 REFERRING EXPRESSIONS & REFERENTS

• Referring expression: is a piece (element) of language (Noun Phrase) that is

used in an utterance and is linked to something outside the language.

• Referent: is an entity (person, animal, object, idea, etc.) to which a referring

expression refers.

• Examples:
• The king ordered the army to attack the enemy.
• In this example, we have three different referring expressions (king, army,
enemy) that are used to refer to three different referents , i.e., entities (real king,
real army, real enemy) Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 MORE EXAMPLES

• The king ordered the army to attack the enemy.

• Jack’s car is so strong.
• My mother called me two hours ago.
• This course is boring.
• The war ended last year.
• The Dead Sea is drying.
• The earth revolves around the sun.
• Trump was the president of the united states.
• Sarah bought a laptop.
• Jordan is in the Middle East.
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 TYPES OF REFERENTS
• Referents could be generic or specific, real or unreal, unique or non-unique, concrete or
abstract, direct or indirect, singular or plural, countable or uncountable.
REFERENTS
TYPE EXAMPLE
Generic A lion/ The lion is a strong animal.
Specific The lion killed his coach.
Real Book, table, lion, car, street, pen, mouse, wall, dam, jar, house
Unreal Ghost, dragon, unicorn, ..‫ﺣﻮرﯾﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺮ‬..‫اﻟﻌﻨﻘﺎء‬
Unique/ Constant USA, moon, sun, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Prophet Mohammad, Allah
Non-unique Book, dog, computer, window, truck, phone, horse, mall, bus
Abstract Idea, thought, love, hatred, courage, fear, altruism
Concrete Table, apple, donkey, building, stairs, plane
Direct My friend, his mother, Jack, the table, the text, the water, I , you, we
Indirect He, she, it, they,
Singular Dog, table, pen
Plural Dogs, tables, pens
Countable Dog, pen, table, horse. car
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
Uncountable Fish, furniture, water, salt,
 MORE EXAMPLES

• Two different referring expressions may have the same referent, e.g., Trump and
The president of the USA & The morning star and The evening star

• Two different referring expressions may have two different referents, e.g., Jack
and the cat.

• Same referring expressions may refer to the same referent or different referents,
e.g., a dog, this dog, the dog, my dog

• Unique/ Constant referents always have one referent, e.g, The Dead Sea/ Brazil
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 WHAT IS SENSE

• One of a set of meanings a word or phrase may bear especially as segregated in

a dictionary entry. (Meriam Webster Dictionary)

• The sense of a linguistic expression is its place in a system of semantic

relationships with other expressions in the language, such as synonymy,
antonymy, hyponymy, etc.)

• We can talk about the sense of words, phrases, and sentences.

• Go to page 29, Practice 2

• Go to page
Dr. Rafat Al29,
Rousan Practice 3
 WHAT IS SENSE

• Every word has some sort of sense.

• Some words may have more than one sense, e.g., ball, mole, bat, mug, bald, lie,
refuse, lead, empty, second, fine, clip, overlook, etc.

• Two words or more may have the same sense, e.g., edit, transform, and change/
bad, awful, terrible/ big, large/ handsome, beautiful, etc.

• One sentence may have more than one sense, e.g., Sarah has a nice mole/ The
chicken is ready to eat.

• Two sentences may have the same sense, e.g., It is likely that Ahmad will win
the race and It is probable that Ahmad will
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan win the race.
 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REFERENCE AND SENSE

• (1) The referent of a linguistic expression is often a thing in the world (person,
object, animal, idea, etc.). But, the sense of an expression is never a thing,
because sense is an abstraction, which can be worked out in the mind of a
language user.
For example, when some one says, “ I understand what you are saying”, it
means that he grasps the sense of what is being said.

• (2) Every expression that has a meaning has a sense, but not every expression
has a referent.
For Example, if, so, in, go, steal, sleep, are, does. (These words all have some
kind of sense, but no referents whatsoever)
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
• Sentences and propositions are semantically complete units; words and phrases
are not.

• For example:

(1) John
(2) John’s got a new car.
(3) John’s car
(4) This is the car John’s bought.

2 and 4 are semantically complete units. Therefore, they have propositions

1 and 3 are not complete semantic units. Therefore, they don’t have propositions.
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
• Expressions with totally different connotations can have the same sense.

• For example:

- Statesman and politician

- Economical …cheap…stingy
- Die...pass away...kick the bucket...met his creator
- Disabled, Crippled, Handicapped, Retarded
- Rich, loaded, privileged, wealthy, affluent
- Broke, poor, impoverished
-
‫ﺗﻮﻓﺎه ﷲ‬...‫اﻧﺘﻘﻞ اﻟﻰ رﺣﻤﺔ ﷲ‬...‫ﻣﺎت‬..
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
• Some expressions in different languages or dialects have the same sense.

• For example:
- pavement….sidewalk
- Motorway…highway
- Flat…apartment
- Mobile phone…cell phone
- ‫ﺣﻤﺎط‬...‫ﺗﯿﻦ‬
- ‫ﺗﻤﻦ‬...‫رز‬
- ‫ﻋﯿﺶ‬...‫ﺧﺒﺰ‬
- ‫رﻗﻲ‬...‫ﺣﺒﺤﺐ‬...‫ﺑﻄﯿﺦ‬
- I love you…‫اﺣﺒﻚ‬
- The cat ate the rat…...‫اﻛﻞ اﻟﻘﻂ اﻟﻔﺎر‬ Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
• The relationship between sense and proposition is always direct. (If a sentence
has a proposition, then it has sense)

• For example:
(1) “You can change the people around you”.
(This sentence makes sense because it has a proposition.)

(2) “You cannot change the people around you, but you can change the
people around you.”
(This sentence doesn’t make sense because there is no proposition in it)

Dr. Rafat Al Rousan

• The relationship between utterance and reference is not always direct.

• For example:
(1) “David has got married last week”.

• This utterance could be uttered by different people, who may be referring to

different people named David. Therefore, the linguistic expression David may
have many different referents depending on the context.

• This means that the relationship between the expression David and his referent
is not always direct. It means that, not every time we say the expression David ,
we refer to the same person. Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
• In everyday conversation, the words meaning, means, mean, meant, etc. are
sometimes used to indicate reference and sometimes to indicate sense.

• Examples:

(1) When Helen mentioned ‘the fruit cake’, she meant that rock-hard object in the
middle of the table R/S
(2) When Albert talks about ‘his former friend’ he means me . R/S
(3) Daddy, what does unique mean? R/S
(4) Purchase has the same meaning as buy. R/S
(5) Look up the meaning of leisure in your dictionary. R/S
(6) If you look out of the window now, you’ll see who I mean. R/S
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
SEMANTICS
REFERRING EXPRESSIONS
Dr. Rafat Al Rousan
 REFERRING EXPRESSIONS
• Any linguistic expressions used in an utterance to refer to an entity
(person, object, animal, etc.) used with a particular referent in mind.

• For Example:
1) “ I talked to Fred over the phone.” Referring
2) “ There is no Fred in this class.”…….Non referring

- Fred in the first example is a referring expression because it refers to

a particular Fred, i.e., the speaker has a particular Fred in his mind.
Fred in the second example is not a referring expression.
• Referring Expressions are always Noun Phrases (nouns, pronouns, noun
phrases).

• The following expressions can be used as referring expressions: a man,

the man, my father, Ahmad, my little sister, the man living next door,
Jack, a table, the lion, my idea, the bird, a donkey, her car, their coffee
shop, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Prophet Muhammad, Jesus, Messi, the
movie, a song, etc.

• The following expressions cannot be used as referring expressions:

is, her, go, unique, beautiful, a, between, on, be, have, so, because, plate,
the, down, got, danced, been, arrogant, killed, faithful, sadly, rapidly, at, etc.
 REFERRING EXPRESSIONS
• The same expression could be referring or non-referring depending
on the context.
• Example (1):
- “ I saw a man walking down the street.”…………Referring
- “ A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”………Non-referring

• Example (2):
- “ Jane is looking for a man.”…………………referring/non-referring
- “ Jane is acting like a man.” ………………….non-referring
 TASK
- Say whether the underlined expression referring or non-referring.

1) A man could get killed in a war.

2) The council voted as one man.
3) A man with a limp shot the bystander.
4) I saw a dog eating chicken in the kitchen.
5) I saw the dog eating chicken in the kitchen.
6) I saw no dog in the kitchen.
7) A dog is a loyal animal.
8) The dog is a loyal animal.
9) A dog was lying down at the door.
- The context (linguistic or non linguistic) often gives an indication whether
the noun phrase is referring or non-referring. (but not at all times)
- For Example:

- (1) A man with a strong car hit the wall. Referring

- (2) Jack believes that a man with a strong car hit the wall. Ref & Non
- (3) Every evening at sunset a swan flew over my house. Ref & Non
- (4) I saw a swan flying over my house. . Referring
- (5) Jack bought a car. Referring
- (6) Jack is looking for a car. Ref &Non
- (7) Jane married a Jordanian. Referring
- (8) Jane wants to marry a Jordanian. Ref & Non
- (9) A Jordanian is working at my brother’s factory. Referring
 HOW TO REMOVE THE AMBIGUITY?

- “ Jack is looking for a car”.

- In this example, the expression a car can be used as a referring

expression or as non-referring expression.

- We can remove this ambiguity by adding words, such as certain,

particular, or precise, specific in front of the NP. The sentence
becomes:

- “ Jack is looking for a certain car.”

 DEFINITE NOUN PHRASES

- Most frequently, definite NPs, such as proper nouns (John, Khaled, Salma)
and personal pronouns (he, she, it, they…) are referring expressions.
- Examples:

- (1) John is a mechanic.

- (2) The man who shot Abraham Lincoln was American.
- (3) He is my cousin.
- (4) She is a polite person.
- (5) It’s sinking.
- (6) The man who helped me was a police officer.
- Decide whether the following underlined expressions are referring or non-
referring expressions.

- (1) If anyone marries Nancy, he is in for a bad time.

- (2) The person who did this is crazy.
- (3) Every man who owns a donkey beats it.
- (4) A lion is a strong animal.
- (5) The lion is a strong animal.
- (6) Ahmad is an Einstein.

- (Again, the linguistic context plays a vital role)

 CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

1) The lion is a strong animal.

2) A lion is a strong animal.
3) Your are a lion.
4) Lions are strong animals.
5) The lion killed his coach.
6) The lion in the cage looks hungry.
7) My friend has a lion in his backyard.
8) African lions are being hunted every day.
9) A lion is a lion.
10) If you catch a lion, let me know.
 EQUATIVE SENTENCES

• It is a sentence that is used to assert the identity of the referents of the two
referring expressions. That is, the two referring expressions in the
sentence have the same referent.
• Examples:

1) Trump is the president of USA.

2) Dr. Ibrahim Darweesh is the Head of the Translation Department in YU.
3) Amman is the capital of Jordan.
4) The man standing over there is my cousin.

• (Reversibility test: If they are reversible with no loss of acceptability)

 EQUATIVE SENTENCES

• Are the following sentences equative or not?

1) Ahmad was standing there. Non-E

2) Amman is a big city. Non- E
3) Cairo is in Egypt. Non-E
4) Trump is a president. Non-E
5) All I need is a can of soda. (reversible, but Non-E)
6) That is the boy who broke the window. (irreversible, but E)
SEMANTICS

SEMANTIC ROLES
 DEFINITION

• A semantic role is the underlying relationship that a participant

(argument) has with the main verb in the clause.

• It is also known as: Thematic Role/ Theta Role/ Semantic Case

SEMANTIC ROLES PLAYED BY PARTICIPANTS
• Following are the main semantic roles played by the participants
(arguments):

• Agent - Measure
• Patient - Path
• Beneficiary - Time
• Causer - Committative
• Experiencer
• Source
• Goal
• Instrument
• Locative
• Manner
 GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS AND SEMANTIC ROLES

• We should not confuse grammatical relations (e.g., subject, object, etc.) with
semantic roles ( e.g., agent, patient, instrument, experiencer). Semantic roles do
not directly correspond to grammatical relations.

• Example 1:
- Bob broke the window.
Bob the window
Grammatical relation: subject object
Semantic Role: agent patient
GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS AND SEMANTIC ROLES
• Example 2:
• Bob broke the window.
• The window was broken by Bob.

the window Bob

Grammatical relation: subject object of preposition
Semantic Role: patient agent
 GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS AND SEMANTIC ROLES

• Consider the subject in the following examples. See how many semantic
roles a subject can play:

• Bob opened the door with a key. (agent)

• The key opened the door. (causer)
• The door opened. (patient)
• The door was opened by Bob. (patient)
 Agent
• It is the instigator of the action denoted by the predicate./ It is the entity that
performs/does the action/event. It is the doer of the action.

• Examples:
- The boy hit the ball. (agent)
- The cat chased the rat. (agent)
- David ate an apple. (agent)
- Taima carried the box. (agent)
- Nour is doing her homework. (agent)
- Ahmad is climbing the tree. (agent)
- Almajd sent me some flowers. (agent)
- My mother is making an omelet. (agent)
- The dog dug a hole. (agent)
- The sailor corrected the list. (agent)
 PATIENT

• It is also known as : theme/ undergoer/ affected/ recipient

• It is the entity that undergoes a change of state or location, or which is

possessed, acquired, or exchanged.

• Or the entity that gets affected by an event

 EXAMPLES

• The door is open. (entity undergoes a change of state)

• The window broke. (entity undergoes a change of state)
• Tameem broke the window. (entity undergoes a change of state)
• Alaa’ threw the ball. (entity undergoes a change of state or location)
• The ball rolled of the table. (entity undergoes a change of state or location)
• John has a new car. (entity possessed/exchanged/acquired)
• Siwar bought a new book. (entity possessed/exchanged/acquired)
• The dog ate the meat. (affected by an event)
• The water evaporated. (entity (thing) undergoes a process)
 The men destroyed the crops. Agent
 The rain destroyed the crops. Causer

 John made Susan do the work.
 The policeman had the driver stop the car.
- The wind blew the house away.
- The car hit the pedestrian.
 CAUSER
• It is a referent which instigates an event/action rather than actually doing
it.

• Examples:

 The rain destroyed the crops. (causer)

- John made Susan do the work. (causer)
- The policeman had the driver stop the car. (causer)
- The wind blew the house away. (causer)
- The car hit the pedestrian. (causer)
 BENEFICIARY

• A referent which is advantaged by an event.

• Examples:

- [M’umen helped {his friend] buy a car}. (Beneficiary)

- Heba assisted jack in building a house. (Beneficiary)
• Examples:

- Bill smelled the food.

- Muhammad is sick.
 EXPERIENCER
• It is an entity that receives, accepts, experiences, or undergoes the effect of an
action/event (denoted by the predicate).

• Examples:

- Suhad saw a bird.

- Bill smelled the food.
- The explosion was heard by everyone.
- I was scared.
- Muhammad is sick.
 SOURCE
• A source denotes the place of origin/ location from which an entity moves.

• Examples:
• I borrowed some money from Hamza.
- David fell off the chair.
- The baby came from the living room.
- The man picked up the box from the car.
- Ahmad bought the book from Khaled.
- Iman took some money from her father.
 GOAL
• A goal denotes the place of origin/ location to which an entity moves.

• Examples:
- Iman gave some money to her father.
- Jane swam to the shore.
- Jana studied for the test.
- Yasmeen moved from Irbid to Amman.
- Ibrahim went home.
 INSTRUMENT
• It is the medium by which an action/event (denoted by the predicate) is
carried out.
• It is usually an animate thing an agent uses to implement an action.

• Examples:
- Gasem kicked the ball with his foot.
- She opened the can with a can opener.
- David locked the door with the key.
- The key locked the door.
 Locative
• The place or location where the action/ event (denoted by the predicate) is
carried out.

• Examples:

- The boy put the doll on the table.

- The book is on the shelf.
- The ship sank at sea.
- My jacket is in the closet.
 PATH
• It is a semantic role that describes motion.

• Examples:

• The baby crawled across the room.

• The postman walked along the field.
 MEASURE

• It is a semantic role that shows the quantification of an event.

• Examples:

• This coat costs 75 JDs.

• I drove 55 miles.
• Hana weighs 120 pounds.
• I have known Fathi for 20 years.
 MANNER
• It is a semantic role that shows/ notes how the action/ event/ process was
carried out.

• Examples:

- The lady walked slowly.

- The man was singing happily.
- Maria did the job successfully.
 TIME

• It is a semantic role that shows the temporal placement of an action/

event.

• Examples:

- The baby woke up at noon.

- I will meet him at 7 pm.
- I do not like to work late in the evening.
 COMMITATIVE
• It is a semantic role that refers to another entity that does an action/ event with
the agent.

• Examples:

- Zamzam did her homework with Rama.

- I dug a hole with the help of my brother.
 PRACTICE
• Identify the semantic role of the underlined arguments in the sentences below.( If you have any problem with any of
them, please do ask me)
1. The baby crawled from the living room to the kitchen.
2. Bill hurt jack.
3. Bill hurt himself.
4. The man is in a lot of pain.
5. The flood caused {the farmers to leave their villages.
6. I borrowed a pen from my friend.
7. Nour handed the phone to Laila.
8. I pray 5 times a day.
9. I transferred some money from my saving account to my checking account.
10. Heba gave a hand to Hala in her homework.
11. Safaa’ cooked some food for us.
12. The dog barked all night.
13. Jack smashed the window.
14. The little stone smashed the window.
15. The lady is miserable.
END OF LESSON
SEMANTICS

SENSE RELATIONS
 SENSE RELATIONS

 They are relations that hold between the predicates (words) in a sentence.

 They refer to relationships in meaning between lexical units (predicates) within

the semantic system of language. (Mathew, 1997)

 Sense relations are divided into:

(1) Sense relations of similarities: synonymy, paraphrase, hyponymy, entailment
(2) Sense relations of dissimilarities: antonymy, ambiguity, polysemy,
homonymy
 SYNONYMY
• It is the relation that holds between two (words) predicates or more that have
the same sense.

• Examples:
• Change : edit, exchange, transform, adjust, shift, switch, translate, transform, transmit, alter,
redo, reshape……….
( These words are all synonyms for the word change, and they could be synonyms of each other)
• Tall…….………..long fast………………..quick
• Stubborn……….obstinate politician…………statesman
• Brigand…………bandit answer……………..reply
 MORE EXAMPLES

•
 Real synonymy does not exist. There is no such thing as exact/identical/true/ 100%
synonyms. You can never find two predicates with the same exact sense. (we only
have near synonyms)

- Example:
- Answer and reply are near synonyms. However, they are not exact/identical
synonyms because they cannot be used in the same context all the time.

- Therefore, we say:
- I will write a reply to his email. (not an answer)
- Answer all the exam questions. (reply all the exam questions)
- .‫ﻟﻢ اﺟﺐ ﻋﻠﻰ رﺳﺎﻟﺘﮫ اﻻﻟﻜﺘﺮوﻧﯿﮫ‬
• The notions of synonymy and sense are interdependent. You cannot understand one
without understanding the other.

• We shall stick to clear cases , not borderline cases. We deal with the conceptual
meaning of the predicates, not the stylistic or social associations a predicate may
have.
• Examples:
• Children and kids ( they have the same sense, but differ in style)
• Statesman and politician ( same meaning, but differ in connotation)
• Fall and autumn (same meaning, but differ in dialectal association)
• Horse and nay (same meaning, but different in style)
• Synonymy is a relationship between predicates and not words, because
a word may have more than one sense, and each distinct sense of a
word is a predicate.
• Example:
Hide : is a word that has more than one sense (more than 1 predicate)
Hide 1: conceal (predicate 1)
Hide 2: a place where you can hide (predicate 2)

In the sentence: The thief tried to hide the evidence.

( The predicate hide is synonymous with hide1 not hide2)
(1) Jenkins is our postman.
Jenkins is our mailman.
(In these two examples, postman and mailman are synonyms)

But
(2) Jenkins is our postman.
Jenkins is a man who delivers our mail.
( In these two sentences, postman and a man who delivers our mail are not
synonyms. The are paraphrases)

 Synonyms have to be of a single lexeme and of the same weight.

• Synonymy could hold between :
(1) words having the same part of speech.
• Examples:
profound….deep (adjectives)
shift….........switch (verbs)
quickly……..rapidly (adverbs)
Mercury…….Quicksilver (nouns)

(2) words having different parts of speech

• Example:
Sleeping………..asleep (verb and adjective)

• This means that the sense of the word does not depend on its part of speech.
 PARAPHRASE
 A paraphrase is a sentence that expresses the same proposition as another sentence.
 Example 1:
(a) Girls with red hair are preferred by unmarried men.
(b) Bachelors prefer red-haired girls.
(These two sentences are paraphrases of each other because they both express the same
proposition. Or we can say that A is a paraphrase of B, and vise versa)

 Example 2:
(a) John sold a book to Rick.
(b) Rick bought a book from John.
(These two sentences are paraphrases of each other. If A is true then B is true, and vice versa)
 MORE EXAMPLES
Example 1:
(a) This bus seats 40 students.
(b) This bus accommodates 40 students.
(c) This bus carries 40 students.
(d) This bus holds 40 students.
(A, B, C, and D are paraphrases of each other because they all have the same proposition.)

Example 2:
(a) The cat chased the rat.
(b) The rat was chased by the cat.
( A and B are paraphrases of each other)
 HYPONYMY
 Hyponymy is a sense relation between predicates such that the meaning
of one predicate in included in the meaning of the other predicate.
 Hyponymy is also called the relationship of inclusion.
• Examples:
• man and male: The meaning of male is included in the meaning of man. Or we can
say that the meaning of male includes the meaning of man.

(The predicate man in the above example is called hyponym, whereas the predicate
male is called superordinate/hypernym.) (man is a kind of male)
• Cat and animal: The meaning of animal is included in the meaning of cat. Or the meaning of
animal includes the meaning of cat.
(The predicate cat in the above example is called hyponym, whereas the predicate animal is
called superordinate/hypernym.) (cat is a kind of animal)

Scarlet and red: The meaning of red is included in the meaning of scarlet. Or the meaning of
red includes the meaning of scarlet. (red is superordinate/hypernym; scarlet is hyponym)

Apple and fruit: The meaning of fruit is included in the meaning of apple. Or the meaning of
fruit includes the meaning of apple. (fruit is superordinate/hypernym; apple is hyponym)
 MORE EXAMPLES

Superordinate (hypernym) Hyponyms

Animal cat, dog, camel, horse, mule, elephant
Dog foxhound, German shephard, dalmation
Fruit apple, orange, kiwi, peach, banana
Bird robin. Pigeon, swan, owl, cuckoo, duck
Human man, woman, boy, girl
Creature human, plant, animal
Colour red, yellow, green, white, red
( Note: A hyponym can be a hypernym for other hyponyms).
• Synonymy can be seen as a special case of hyponymy= Symmetrical
hyponymy

• Example:
Quicksilver and Mercury

RULE:

• If X is a hyponym of Y and if Y is a hyponym of X, then X and Y are

synonyms.
 ENTAILMENT

 Generally, entailment is the relationship between sentences whereby one

sentence will be true if all the other one or ones are also true.
 Entailment: It is the principle whereby, under certain conditions, the truth
of one statement follows nescessarily from the truth of another statement.
A proposition X entails a proposition Y if the truth of Y follows
necessarily from the truth of X.
 In other words:
 A sentence expressing proposition X entails a sentence expressing
proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X.
 EXAMPLES
Proposition X Entails Proposition Y
John ate an apple. John ate fruit.
John ate fruit. John ate something.
Hamid killed a dog. Hamid killed an animal.
Hamid Killed a dog. The dog is dead.
Alaa’ went to Amman. Alaa’ went somewhere.
Mumen bought a Ferrari. Mumen is rich.
My friend is in the hospital. My friend is sick.
 RULE
 It is not possible to think of a situation where X is true and Y is false. (X and Y
must be true)
Example:
- “John ate Mansaf.” entails that “Someone ate something.” (if X is TRUE, then Y must be
TRUE)

 Entailment applies cumulatively. i.e., If X entails Y and Y entails Z, then X entails z.

Example:
- Some boy ran down the street. (X) entails
- Some kid ran down the street. (Y) entails
- Some kid went down the street. (Z)

- In this example, X entails Y and Y entails Z, then X entails Z.

 PARAPHRASE & ENTAILMENT

 Two sentences are said to be paraphrases of each other if and only if

they have exactly the same set of entailments. Therefore, whenever one
is TRUE the other one must be TRUE.
Example:
- “John and Mary are twins” entails that “Mary and John are twins.” And
- “Mary and John are twins.” entails that “John and Mary are twins.”
Therefore,
- “John and Mary are twins.” is a paraphrase of “Mary and John are twins.”
 PARAPHRASE & ENTAILMENT

 More examples:
 (1) It is hard to fix Electric cars.
Electric cars are hard to fix.

 (2) The house was destroyed by the bomb.

The house was demolished by the bomb.

 (These two examples have the same set of entailments; therefore, they are
paraphrases of each other.
 HYPONYMY & ENTAILMENT

What is the relationship between the words in column A and the words in column B?
A B
tulip flower
dog animal
steal take
man male
walk move
square rectangular

Answer: The words in column A are hyponyms of the words in column B.

 HYPONYMY & ENTAILMENT

What is the relationship between the sentences in column A and the sentences in
column B?
A B
Henry was chewing a tulip. Henry was chewing a flower.
David got savaged by a dog. David got savages by an animal.
David stole some money. David took some money.
I saw a man in the house. I saw a male in the house.

Answer: The sentences in column A entail the sentences in column B.

 BASIC RULE OF ENTAILMENT

 If we have two sentences (A & B) which are identical in everything except that
sentence A contains a word X and sentence B contains a word Y, and X is a
hyponym of Y, then sentence (A) entails sentence (B).

Examples:
A B
Henry was chewing a tulip. Henry was chewing a flower.
David got savaged by a dog. David got savages by an animal.
David stole some money. David took some money.
I saw a man in the house. I saw a male in the house.
 EXCEPTIONS TO THE BASIC RULE OF ENTAILMENT
 (1) Negative sentences: when the negative particle “not” is involved. In this case, the
sentences in column B entail the sentences in column A.

Examples:
A B
Henry was not chewing a tulip. Henry was not chewing a flower.
David didn’t get savaged by a dog. David didn’t get savaged by an animal.
David didn’t steal any money. David didn’t take any money.
I didn’t see a man in the house. I didn’t see a male in the house.
 EXCEPTIONS TO THE BASIC RULE OF ENTAILMENT

 (2) Inclusion of “all”: when the quantifier “all” is involved. In this case, the sentences
in column B entail the sentences in column A.

Examples:
A B
Henry chewed up all my tulip. Henry chewed up all my flowers.
All Denis’s sheep have foot-rot. All Denis’s animals have foot-rot.
 EXCEPTIONS TO THE BASIC RULE OF ENTAILMENT
 (3) Gradable words: when gradable words such as “big, tall, beautiful, small,
expensive” are involved. In this case, There is no entailment relationship between the
sentences.

Examples:
A B
John saw a big mouse John saw a big animal.
A tall pygmy came in. A tall person came in.
We travelled in a small bus. We travelled in a small vehicle.
That was an expensive sandwich. That was an expensive meal.
END OF UNIT
Hide: (word)
‫( ﯾﺨﺘﺒﺊ‬predicate)
‫ ﯾﺨﻔﻲ‬My friend is playing hide and seek
‫ ﻣﺨﺒﺎ‬Where is the hide?
I am going to hide from the police.