SEMANTICS TEST

I. What is the speaker meaning of the following?

1. ( mother to child pulling a cat’s tail) I’m sure the cat likes you to pull its tail.

2. Thank God it’s Friday.

3. ( father to child) What in the world did you do that for?

4. I’ll eat my hat if he lives up to his campaign promises.

II. Underline the referring expressions in the following sentences.

1. You may not know the answer to this problem.
2. The earth is the third planet from the sun.
3. If someone calls, tell ‘em I’m out.
4. The apple you eat every day won’t keep the doctor away.
5. John attacked a man.
6. The Morning star is the Evening star.
7. Nam loves his wife.
8. Peter danced with Mary.
9. My mother is a worker.
10. A tiger is a dangerous animal.

III. Mark the following words as one-, two-, or three-place predicates.

1. yawn: 2. steal: 3. different: 4. be taller than:
5. tell: 6. sell: 7. imagine: 8. under:
9. put: 10: sister

IV. Identify the figures of speech used in each of the following sentences.
1. His mind works like a computer.
2. It’s really a good meal - good enough even for the royal family.
3. The pen is mightier than the sword.
4. Life is a journey.
5. Fortune always visits those who work hard

V. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. What is the difference between paraphrase and entailment?

2. A hyponymy is a more specific term as it has an extra element of meaning. Does it

apply to fewer or more things?

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3. What is the difference between hyponymy and homonymy?

4. What is the difference between sense and reference?

key
I. What is the speaker meaning of the following?
1. ( mother to child pulling a cat’s tail) I’m sure the cat likes you to pull its tail.
i. It hurts the cat and so you shouldn’t do it..
2. Thank God it’s Friday.
i. This week is almost finished.
3. You can say that again.
i. The speaker completely agrees.
4. ( father to child) What in the world did you do that for?
i. You should not have done that .
5. I’ll eat my hat if he lives up to his campaign promises.
The speaker is extremely confident that the person referred to will not carry
out his campaign promises.
II. Classify the following pairs as binary antonyms (B), converses (C), gradable
antonyms (G), or multiple incompatibles (M.I). (1.5 m)

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 1. cruel-kind > G 6. cricket-football> M.I.
2. wife-husband> M.I./C 7. win-lose> B
3. quickly-slowly> G 8. present-absent>B
4. above-below> C 9. true-false>B
5. precede-follow> C 10. hot-cold>G

III. Underline the referring expressions in the following sentences.

1. You may not know the answer to this problem.

2. Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam.

3. If someone calls, tell ‘em I’m out.

4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

5. John attacked a man.

IV. Explain by paraphrase two meanings of each of the following.

1. John promised to behave himself at the party.

At the party, John promised to behaved himself.
John has promised to behave himself at the party.

2. Did you see her roast chicken?

Did you see the chicken that she roasted?

Did you see her roasting a chicken?

3. I like good food and wine.

I like good food and good wine.

I like good food and any wine.

4. John paid the man who made this chair yesterday.

Yesterday, John paid the man who made this chair.
The man made this chair yesterday. John paid him.

V. Mark the following words as one-, two-, three-, or four-place predicates.

1. yawn: 1 2. steal: 2 3. different: 2 4. be taller than: 2

5. tell: 3 6. sell: 2/3 7. imagine: 2 8. under: 2

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 9. put: 3 10: sister 2

VI. What are the presuppositions of the following? ( 1.0 m)

1. Lesley is a lesbian. > Lesley is a woman.

2. Lesley plays the clarinet brilliantly. > Lesley plays the clarinet.
3. Lesley will graduate next year. > Lesley is an undergraduate.
4. Lesley is sorry for all the trouble she has caused> Lesley has caused a lot of
trouble.

VII. Explain why each of the italicised verbs in the following sentences is not
functioning as a performative. ( 0.5 m)

1. I warned you not to go to that movie.

Warned is not present tense.

2. He is begging you not to leave.

Is begging does not have a first person subject.

VIII. Identify the figures of speech used in each of the following sentences. ( 0.5 m)

1. His mind works like a computer.> simile

2. It’s really a good meal - good enough even for the royal family.> sarcasm

3. The pen is mightier than the sword.>metonymy

4. Life is a journey.> metaphor

5. Fortune always visits those who work hard.> personification

IX. Briefly answer the following questions.( 2.0 m )

1. What is the difference between paraphrase and entailment?

+ Paraphrase: sentences> the same meaning > symmetric

+ Entailment: sentences> the meaning of the first sentence
includes the meaning of the second. > asymmetric

2. How can we identify an equative sentence?

Two referring expressions > the same referent

Sentence pattern: SVC
V : be > predicator > the identity relation

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+ example ( Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam)

3. What is the difference between hyponymy and homonymy?

+ A hyponym is a word whose meaning contains the entire meaning of a
another word, known as the superordinate. + examples
+ Homonymy is the relation between words whose forms
are the same but whose meanings are different and
cannot be connected. + examples
4. What is the difference between sense and reference?
+ Sense is the relationships between linguistic units (words, phrases, and
sentences) + examples
+ Reference is the relationship between language and the
outside world > constant reference and variable constant
+ examples