Semantics, Fall 2021-2022 Dr.

Najib Ismail Jarad

Describe the semantic relationship expressed by each of the following sentences.

(1) Flight 2048 arrives and departs at 8:00 a.m. [contradiction]

(2) I appreciate your help. You helped me. [Presupposition]
(3) My brother married a doctor. My male sibling joined in wedlock with a physician.
[Paraphrase].
(4) In walked the corpse. [Anomaly]
(5) The corpse is alive. [Contradiction]
(6) Professor Jones went to his office. Professor Jones went to the university. [Entailment]
(7) They have a love-hate relationship. [Contradiction]
(8) The escaping convict accidentally assassinated the guard. [Anomaly]
(9) Jane ate a piece of chicken. Jane ate a piece of poultry. [One-way Entailment]
(10) My husband is living. I am a widow. [Contradiction]
(11) She stepped on an idea. [Anomaly]
(12) Edith amused the salad. [Anomaly]
(13) My brother is an only child. [Contradiction]
(14) He unintentionally committed perjury. [Contradiction]
(15) She wore a colorless pink dress. [Contradiction]
(16) Othello killed Desdemona. Desdemona died. [Entailment]
(17) He descended from the ground floor to the attic. [Contradiction]

Exercise: In the space provided, give the presupposition which is triggered by the underlined
words in each of the following utterances:

1. The police arrested John again. [John was arrested before]

2. Mary regrets doing a PhD in Linguistics. [Mary did a PhD in Linguistics].
3. The Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights is illegal. [Israeli has already annexed].
4. The professor accused Sam of plagiarism. [Sam Plagiarized something]
5. John doesn’t write poems anymore. [John used to write poems].
6. The police ordered the youngsters to stop drinking. [The youngsters were drinking].
7. Jessica regretted not receiving a new car for her birthday. [Jessica got a car but not a new
one].
8. Jane wants more popcorn. [She had some already, but she wants more].
9. Who discovered America in 1492? [America was discovered in 1492].
10. John forgot locking the door. [John forgot that he locked the door].