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Bài tập ôn
Bài tập ôn
sentence meaning what a sentence (or word) means, i.e. what it counts as the equivalent of the language concerned
proposition corresponds to a complete independent thought
an abstraction that can be grasped by the mind of an individual person
same expression can have more than one sense
speaker meaning can include both courtesy and hostility, praise and insult, endearment and taunt
expression used in an utterance to refer to sth or sb, that is used with a particular referent in mind
opaque context same word referring to different things
referring expression its place in a system of semantic relationships with other expressions in the language
proposition typically involve opacity creating verbs
variable reference an abstraction that can be entertained in the mind of a language user
Think carefully about each of the following general statements, and try to say whether it is true (T) or false (F).
TRUE FALSE
An utterance is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is no silence
F
on the part of that person.
An utterance is a piece of language, such as a sequence of sentences, or a single phrase, or
T
a single word.
Before and after an utterance there is a silence. T
Helen rolled up the carpet and Helen rolled the carpet up are the same sentence. F
A sentence is a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language. T
A sentence is a grammatically complete string of words expressing a complete thought. T
All utterances are actually tokens of whole sentences. F
Accent and voice quality belong strictly to the utterance, not to the sentence uttered. T
A speaker can mention a particular proposition, with asserting its truth by uttering a simple F
interrogative or imperative.
Some words refer to nothing in the world. This is called constant reference. F
Expressions in different dialects of one language can have the same sense. T
Acts of reference only actually happen in the course of utterances. T
Both referring and uttering are acts performed by particular speakers on particular T
occasions.
Most utterances contain, or are accompanied by one or more acts of referring. T
Expressions which never refer to different things and they have no sense. F
By means of reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world (not including persons) F
are being talked about.
When a speaker utters a simple interrogative sentence, he commits himself to the truth of F
the corresponding proposition: i.e. he asserts the proposition.
Propositions are public because the same proposition is accessible to different persons T
(different individuals can grasp the same proposition)
Sentences in different languages can correspond to the same proposition, if the two T
sentences are perfect translations of each other.
Any expression that can be used to refer to any entity in the real world or in any imaginary T
world will be called a referring expression.
once a person has mastered stable meanings of words and sentences as defined by the
language system, he can quickly grasp the different conversational and social uses that they T
can be put to.
Proper names (e.g. John), personal pronouns (e.g. he, it), and longer descriptive expressions
T
(the man who shot Abraham Lincoln) can all be used as referring expressions.
indefinite noun phrases can be a referring expression or not, heavily depending on linguistic
T
context and circumstances of use.
opaque context is a part of a sentence which could be made into a complete sentence by the
addition of a referring expression, but where the addition of different referring expressions
will not yield sentences with different meanings when uttered in a given situation.
English, like most languages, has a number of different dialects. just as the pronunciation
of English varies from one dialect to another, so there are also differences in the basic T
semantic facts from one dialect of English to another.
In an equative sentence, the two referring expressions cannot be reversed due to loss of
F
acceptability.
An analytic sentence is one which is used to assert the identity of the referents of two refer-
F
ring expressions, i.e. to assert that two referring expressions have the same referent.
Opaque context leads to indefinite noun phrases being ambiguous between a referring and
a non-referring interpretation.
the verb be in its various forms (is, was, are, were, am) can be the predicator F
Most nouns are one-place predicates. T
nouns such as father, son, brother, mother, daughter, neighbour are one-place predicates F
-
-
Utterances Sentences Propositions
Can be loud or quiet + - -
Can be grammatical or not + + -
Can be true or false + + +
In a particular regional
+ - -
accent
In a particular language + + -
Involves a set - + -
Independent of particular occasions
or utterance + + -
Connects language to the world - - +
X
a man being used to refer to a particular man?
Is a man in this example a referring expression? X
Is forty buses have been withdrawn from service by the Liver-
X
Is forty buses
X
sion?
a Norwegian X
a Norwegian X X
a car X X
a man with a limp X X
a man with a limp X
a swan X X
Can the proper name Mohammed Ali ever be used as the predicator of a sentence X
X
-year-old brother is a boy X
married X
X
My watch is slow X
That X
X
Some typewriters are dusty X
X
If it breaks, it breaks X
John killed Bill, who remained alive for many years after X
That man is human X
That man is tall X
That man is a woman X
John is here and John is not here X
Either John is here or John is not here X
If John is here, John is here X
X
If someone is here, then no one is here X
X
hit 2
die 1
come 2
murder 2
Martha hit the sideboard 2
see 2
Herod gave Salome a nice present 3
different 2
Your marble is under table 2
identical 2
similar 2
sister 2
universe of discourse The particular world, real or imaginary (or part real, part imaginary), that the speaker assumes he
is talking about at the time
generic sentence a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally understood to have in simple sentences
predicator makes the most specific contribution to the meaning of the sentence
predicate any word (or sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can function as the predicator of a
sentence
a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally understood to have in simple sentences
universe of discourse The particular world, real or imaginary (or part real, part imaginary), that the speaker assumes he
is talking about at the time
generic sentence a sentence in which some statement is made about a whole unrestricted class of individuals
extension of a one- can be thought of as the most typical member of the extension of a predicate
place predicate
sufficient set of condi- indispensable hard core of meaning
tions on the sense of a
predicate
necessary condition the set of all individuals to which that predicate can truthfully be applied
on the sense of a pred-
icate
prototype of a predi- a condition (or criterion) which a thing must meet in order to qualify as being correctly
cate described by that predicate
sense a set of conditions (or criteria) which, if they are met by a thing, are enough in
themselves to GUARANTEE that the predicate correctly describes that thing
stereotype of a predi- a list of the TYPICAL characteristics or features of things to which the predicate may be applied
cate
extension of a one- the set of all individuals to which that predicate can truthfully be applied
place predicate
sufficient set of condi- a set of conditions (or criteria) which, if they are met by a thing, are enough in
tions on the sense of a themselves to GUARANTEE that the predicate correctly describes that thing
predicate
necessary condition a condition (or criterion) which a thing must meet in order to qualify as being correctly
on the sense of a pred- described by that predicate
icate
prototype of a predi- can be thought of as the most typical member of the extension of a predicate
cate
sense indispensable hard core of meaning
binary antonyms predicates which come in pairs and between them exhaust all the relevant possibilities
synonymy the relationship between two predicates that have the same sense
a paraphrase a sentence which expresses the same proposition as another sentence
gradable antonyms are at opposite ends of a continuous scale of values (a scale which typically varies according to
the context of use).
converses a predicate describes a relationship between two things (or people) and some other predicate
describes the same relationship when the two things (or people) are mentioned in the opposite
order
contradictory of another Is impossible for them both to be true at the same time and of the same circumstances
proposition