UNIT 3

 Exercise 1: The definition of some terms and concepts.

 Sense: The sense of a word or a linguistic expression shows

the internal relationship between that word or expression

and others in the vocabulary of a language.
 Reference: The reference of a word or a linguistic

expression is the relationship between that word or

expression and the thing, the action, the event, the quality it
refers to.
 Referent: A referent is an object or an entity in the real

world or in the world of your imagination that is talked

about.
 Context: A context is the situation in which something

happens that makes you understand it.

(https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/eng
lish/context?q=context)
 Dialect: A dialect is a regional or social variety of a

language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, and/or

vocabulary. (phương ngữ - ngôn ngữ của từng địa phương)
 Proposition:

 A proposition is that part of the meaning of the

utterance of a declarative sentence which describes

some state of affairs.
 A proposition is the sentence meaning or the utterance

meaning.
 Exercise 2: Can different expressions have the same
referent? Give an example.
 Yes. Two different expressions can have the same referent,

which is called co-reference.

  For example: “The queen of the United Kingdom” and
“Her majesty the queen” both refer to Queen Elizabeth II.
 Exercise 3: Can the same expression have different
referents? Give an example.
 Yes. Some expressions in a language can have variable

reference.
 For example: “Orange” can mean either color or fruit.

 Exercise 4: Give an example of an expression that has an

invariable referent and of one that has no referent.
 Example: “The Pacific Ocean is magnificent”.

  Invariable referent/constant referent: “The Pacific

Ocean”.
 Example “of”.

  No referent because of is a preposition.

 Exercise 5: Explain this sentence from this unit in your
own words: ‘Every expression that has meaning has sense,
but not every expression has reference’.
 The sentence refers to two aspects of meaningful words

which are sense and reference. Every expression that has

meaning has sense, as the 'sense' of an expression is the
way in which the expression presents the idea of the
sentence of the utterance. And, if we want to call an
expression an utterance, it must be meaningful. Therefore,
expression that has meaning always has sense.
 Moving on to the reference, the reference of an expression

is the relation between the linguistic expression and the

entity in the real world to which it refers. Not all expression
has reference. For example, the word “the” has meaning
“used to refer to somebody/something that has already
been mentioned or is easily understood” – according to
Oxford Dictionary – and that meaning can be thoroughly
 understood by English users, but it has no reference to the
real world because it is an article. The same rule also
applies to the following words: almost, probable, and, if,
above, etc.
 All in all, we conclude that “Every expression that has

meaning has sense, but not every expression has

reference”.
 Exercise 6: Characterize a typical dictionary definition of
a word. Does the definition include everything a typical
native speaker knows about the word’s meaning? Is it
possible to write such an entry which is complete?
Comment on the following examples, making reference to
concepts introduced in this unit.
 No. Normally, the words which native speakers use in daily

conversations usually contain more meanings than the

number of meanings academically described in the
dictionary due to the need to personalize their talk and the
necessity of meeting a lot of different circumstances in
daily life.
 No. People cannot write a complete entry because language

is constantly evolving in both meaning and form.

 Exercise 7: the Evening Star/ the Morning Star.
 Both the Evening Star and the Morning Star refer to the

planet Venus.
 The relationship between them is reference as the English

expressions “the Evening Star” and “the Morning Star”

(parts of the world) are all related to the planet Venus (part
of the world).   co-reference
 Exercise 8: the President of the United States/ the
Commander-in-Chief/ the Leader of the Republican Party.
  The President of the United States, the Commander-in-
Chief and the Leader of the Republican Party have variable
reference because the reference of an expression varies
according to the circumstances (time, place, etc.) and the
topic of the conversation in which expression is used.
 Exercise 9: Visiting relatives can be boring.
 This sentence refers to both the sense:

 The action “visiting” is boring.

 The people “relatives” who are paid visit to is boring.

 Relatives   variable reference.

 Exercise 10: the planet Mars.

 It is reference because it mentions a real planet in the

world.   constant reference

 Exercise 11: Smoking grass can be dangerous.
 It refers to the both the sense:

 The action “smoking” is dangerous.

 The plant “grass” is dangerous to smoke.

 Grass   variable reference.

 GROUP MEMBERS:
1. Nguyễn Ngọc Kim Khuê – 312 113 0064
2. Nguyễn Minh Thư – 312 113 0139
3. Nguyễn Thị Minh Thư – 312 138 0148
4. Thái Gia Mẩn – 312 138 0148
5. Trần Thanh Huyền – 312 138 0116
6. Phạm Khả Thi – 312 138 0260
7. Nguyễn Trịnh Minh Hằng – 312 138 0089
Unit 4
Exercise 1:
Referring expression
 A referring expression is any expression used in an

utterance to refer to something or someone, used with

a particular referent in mind. It can be any noun or
noun phrase.

Ex: (1): ‘Thu loves me’

→ Thu is a referring expression because the speaker has a
particular person
in mind.
(2): ‘There’s no Thu in this class’
→ Thu is not a referring expression because the speaker
would not have a
particular person in mind.

The same expression can be a referring expression

or not depending on the linguistic context and on the
circumstances of utterance.

Indefinite Noun Phrases

 An indefinite NPs is one where the speaker/listener
does not know exactly which one to which we are
referring. The head noun is usually prefaced by the
indefinite article (a, an).
 Ex: a man, a dog, an umbrella,…
Source: Extra information

 With the same expression, indefinite NPs can be a

referring expression or not.
Ex: (1): ‘Tien married a rich person’
(2): ‘Tien wants to marry a rich person’
 ‘a rich person’ in (1) is a referring expression
because there is a distinct person in the mind of the
speaker whom Tien married. But in (2), it can be a
referring expression or not, because we can’t identify
if there’s a specific person in the speaker’s mind.
 Sentence (2) is ambiguous.

*Note: We can eliminate these types of ambiguities

by using the word ‘certain’ immediately following
the indefinite article.
Ex: (2) ‘Tien wants to marry a certain rich person.’

Definite Noun Phrases

 A definite noun phrases is one where the head noun

clearly refers to something specific-something

previously mentioned or known, something unique,
or something being identified by the speaker.
Source: Extra information
 Come in various kinds:
  Proper name ( e.g. John, Thu, Tien,…)
 Personal pronoun ( e.g. he, she, it,…)
 Longer descriptive expressions ( e.g. The man
who loves Tien)

 Can all be used as referring expressions.

Ex: ‘Thu is my friend’; ‘She is my friend’; ‘The girl
standing on the stage with the chief guest is my
friend’;…

*BUT this is not true all time

Ex: ‘If any student does not get at least 80 percent marks
in the final term, he will be struck off from school.’
 he is not a referring expression because there is no
specific student in the
speaker’s mind.

 Both indefinite noun phrases and definite noun

phrases can be ambiguous between referring and non-
referring interpretations, with the appropriate
interpretation being highly dependent on linguistic
context and the circumstances of the utterance.

Opaque Context
 Normally, one expects that utterances that differ only

in that they use different expressions referring to the

same thing (or person) will have the same meaning.
 Ex: ‘Mr. Phi is so cute.’; ‘Our semantic teacher is so
cute.’

*BUT there is a class of exceptions to this

generalization. This is the class
of examples involving opaque context.

 An opaque context is a part of a sentence that could

be made into a complete sentence by the addition of a
referring expression, but where the addition of
different referring expressions, even though they
refer to the same thing or person, in a given situation,
will yield sentences with different meanings.
Ex:
Condition: Assuming that both ‘Jayce’ and ‘the man who
saved a baby’ are the
same person, but Marry doesn’t know that.
 It would be a different claim.

*Note: Opaque contexts typically involve a certain kind

of verb, like want,
believe, think, and wonder about.
Equative sentence
 An equative sentence is one which is used to assert

the identity of the referents of two referring

expressions, i.e to assert that two referring
expressions have the same referent.
Ex: ‘Tony Blair is The Prime Minister.’
‘That woman over there is my daughter’s teacher.’

 A feature of many equative sentences is that the

order of the two referring expressions can be
reversed without loss of acceptability.
Ex: ‘Tony Blair is The Prime Minister.’ ‘The Prime
Minister is Tony Blair’
 equative sentence (two referring expressions,
reversible + acceptable)

 HOWEVER, the ‘reversal test’ is not a perfect

diagnostic for equative sentences.
Ex:
(1): ‘What I need is a pen’ ‘A pen is what I need’
 Not an equative sentence (reversible but not has
referring expression)
 (2): ‘That woman over there is my daughter’s
teacher.’ ‘my daughter’s teacher is that woman
over there’.
 equative sentence (even though the reversal is
unacceptable)

Exercise 2: Which of the following could be used as

referring expression?
a. my table e. or
b. a unicorn f. Mary
c. no love g. a book
d. travel h. Abraham Lincoln

 a, b, f, g, h could be used as referring expressions,

because they refer to indefinite NPs/definite NPs, all
can be a referring expression depending on linguistic
context and the circumstances of the utterances.
d could be used as referring expressions if it was NPs.
Ex: My travel to London was very fun.
“travel” in this case is a referring expression.
c, e are not, because they couldn’t be referred to as
something or someone.

Direction: For sentences 3-6 below decide whether the

italicized noun phrases are referring expression or not,
and explain why (or why not). If the sentence is
ambiguous explain why it is ambiguous.
3) His father married a dancer.
- a dancer in this sentence is a referring expression
because:
• Married is a linguistic context that refers to a dancer
( married is the past tense verb)
• A dancer which is in this sentence is a particular
referent in the speaker’s mind.

4) John wants to marry a dancer.

 a dancer in this sentence is ambiguous.
• A dancer is a referring expression if “marry” is the
main verb. “Marry” is a linguistic context that refers to
someone.
• A dancer is not a referring expression if “wants to” is
the main verb. Because “wants to” is a subjunctive
mood that expresses the desire for a dancer in this
sentence. Therefore, a dancer may not be existence.
 It depends on whether the speaker has in mind a
particular person whom John wants to marry.

5) The whale is the largest mammal.

 The whale in this sentence is not a referring
expression because The whale refers to the whole range
of animal, it is too general.

6) The man who shot Kennedy was Lee Harvey Oswald.

  The man who shot Kennedy in this sentence is a
referring expression because:
 “shot” is a linguistic context that refers to the man.

( shot is the past tense verb).

 The man is a particular referent who is Lee Harvey

Oswald.

Exercise 7: Explain the ambiguity in: I am looking for

a pencil
“Looking for” is an action that hasn’t lead to a specific
result yet. So it depends on whether the speaker has in
mind a particular “pencil” that is being looked for.

Exercise 8: Create a set of circumstances under which

the sentence Dan believes that … signed the bill is a
opaque context. Use the referring expressions George
W. Bush and the President of the United States in your
answer.
1. “Dan believes that George W. Bush signed the bill”
2. “Dan believes that the President of the United States
signed the bill”
If, for example, Dan believes erroneously that the
President of the United States is not George W. Bush
then (1) and (2) will mean different things.

Exercise 9: Which of the following are equative

sentences? Explain why.
a. Fred is the man with the gun.
 This is a equative sentence. In this utterance “Fred”
and “the man with the gun” are reffering expressions
can be reversed without loss of acceptability.
b. William the Conqueror is the current King of
England.
 This is a equative sentence. In this utterance
“William the Conqueror” and “the current King of
England” are reffering expressions can be reversed
without loss of acceptability. Equative sentence can be
false.
c. Detroit is a nearby city.
 This is not a equative sentence. (‘a nearby city’ is not
a reffering expression). This sentence is purely
propositional. And the meaing of Detroit has include
the word city in it, so the word “city” in “a nearby city”
is irrelevant. Therefore, it is not a referring expression.
d. Mary is a genius.
 Because the meaning 'Mary' is included in the
meaning of 'genius'.
e. A box of cookies is what I would like.
 'A box of cookies is what I would like' is not an
equative sentence. Because ' A box of cookies' is not a
referring expression, a user of this sentence would not
have any particular a box of cookies in mind.
f. Detroit is not the largest city in the USA.
 'Detroit is not the largest city in the USA' is not an
equative sentence. Because it does not assert two
referring expressions have the same referent are
'Detroit' and 'the largest city in the USA'

Exercise 10: Consider the sentence It’s a tree. Assume

that this sentence is uttered by a particular person on a
particular occasion to pick out a particular tree. Briefly
explain how each of the following technical terms
introduced so far in this book apply to the utterance of
this example sentence: sentence, utterance, reference,
referent.

It’s a tree is a sentence, a string of words put together

by the grammatical rules of English. When someone
says “It’s a tree”, then he has performed an utterance of
the sentence on a particular occasion. Reference is the
relationship between the expression a tree in the
sentence It’s a tree and the entity (tree) referred to in
the sentence. The referent of tree is the actual tree being
referred to.
 UNIT 5: STUDY GUIDE AND EXERCISES
1. You should understand these terms and concepts
from this unit:
 Predicator of a simple declarative sentence is the word

(sometimes a group of words) which does not belong to

any of the referring expressions and which, of the
remainder, makes the most specific contribution to the
meaning of the sentence. Intuitively speaking, the
predicator describes the state or process in which the
referring expressions are involved. (P.47)
 Predicators have no image in our minds although it

has sense.
 The predicators in sentences can be of various parts

of speech: adjectives, verbs, prepositions and nouns.

 Words of other parts of speech, such as
conjunctions (and, but, or) and articles (the, a),
cannot serve as predicators in sentences.
Example: Ho Chi Minh is a patriotic.
When we talk about Ho Chi Minh, we have his image in
our minds. So Ho Chi Minh is a referring expression.
When we pronounce patriotic, we have no image in our
minds although it has sense. Patriotic is called a
predicator.
 Predicate is any word (or sequence of words) which (in
a given single sense) can function as the predicator of a
sentence. (P.48)
 Example: A beautiful young woman left the bank.
Predicator → leave
Predicates → beau ful, young, woman, bank
→ Predicates can func on as predicators in other
sentences.
Mary is beautiful.
He is young.
My teacher is a woman.
This tall building is a bank.
 Argument is an individual independent entity, the role(s)
of argument(s) is/are played by the referring
expression(s). (P.48)
Example: Mr.P is proud of his family. (Arguments: Mr.P,
his family)
 Degree of a predicate is a number indicating the
number of arguments it is normally understood to have
in simple sentences. (P.50)
Example: John eats a pancake. Eat is a predicate of
degree two (a two-place predicate).
Example: He is asleep. Asleep is a predicate of degree
one (often called a one-place predicate)
 Ellipsis (Elliptical) seems to omit something that one
would normally expect to be mentioned. (P.51)
Example: A: What will we eat tomorrow?
 B: Noodles. (The sentence should be ‘We will eat
noodles tomorrow.’)
 Identity relation (P.53, 54)

 This is the relation found in equative sentences.

 The identity relation has a very basic role in the

communication of information.
Example: George W.Bush is the 43rd President of the
United States.
The 43rd President of the United States is George
W.Bush.
2.Indicate the arguments and predicators in each
sentence:
1.

Argument(s) Predicator(s)
a. John is a John linguist
linguist
b. John loves John, Mary love
Mary
c. Mary loves Mary, John love Are arguments
John ordered? Yes
d. John gave John, Mary, a give
Mary a ring ring
e. Chicago is Chicago, Los between
between Angeles, New
Los Angeles York
and New
York
f. Jane is Jane, Mary’s is (expresses
Mary’s mother or identity
mother Jane, Mary relation) or
mother
g. Jones is the Jones, the is (expresses
Dean of the Dean of the identity
College College or relation) or
Jones, the Dean
college
h. John stood John, the bank stand How should the
near the ambiguity be
bank handled? Bank
has two senses,
so they are
homonyms.
i. Ed is a fool Ed fool
j. Ed is foolish Ed foolish

3.Indicate the degree of the predicates used as

predicators in each sentence in item 2 above
a. linguist: a one-place predicate
b. love: a two-place predicate
c. love: a two-place predicate
d. give: a three-place predicate
e. between: a three-place predicate
f. is or mother: a two-place predicate
g. is or Dean: a two-place predicate
h. stand: a two-place predicate
i. fool: a one-place predicate
j. foolish: a one-place predicate

4.How does the concept of predicate in the semantic

sense differ from the concept of grammatical predicate?
Does one seem to be more revealing than the other?
- The semantic predicate is the expression in a sentence
that can be function as the predicator of the sentence.
Example: John is reading a book. (read, book are
predicates)
- Grammatical predicate is one of the two main parts of a
sentence or clause, modifying the subject, including verbs,
objects or phrases.
Example: John is reading a book. (is reading a book is a
grammatical predicate)
(https://www.thoughtco.com/predicate-grammar-
1691660)
- Grammatical predicate seems to be more revealing than
the semantic predicate.

5. In this unit we said that the prepositions from and of

in the two-part adjectives different from and afraid of
‘are not themselves predicates… (and that they) are
relatively meaningless linking particles’. Do you agree
with this statement? Consider a sentence such as The
letter is from my uncle before reaching a conclusion.
Agree with this statement: ‘are not themselves
predicates… (and that they) are relatively meaningless
linking particles’ because in those examples, prepositions
just modify adjectives in order that adjectives can join to
the following arguments.
But the word ‘from’ in the sentence The letter is from my
uncle might serve as a predicator itself. So, prepositions
are predicates or not may be a matter of degree and
depend on particular circumstances.

6. What are the functions of the verb be in these

sentences (i.e. does it function as an identity predicate
or as a grammatical device for linking a non-verbal
predicate to its first argument)? Do all instances of be
carry tense?
a. Mary is happy
linking function
b. A tulip is a flower
linking function
c. George W. Bush is the US President
identity predicate
d. God is
The sentence is elliptical.
Identity predicate: God is the creator of the world.
Linking function: God is spiritual.
All uses of be are tensed.

7. Does it make sense to say that the verb be has a

meaning of its own, independent of whether it is used as
a linking device or as the identity predicate? Speculate
about what it could mean, and don’t be concerned if your
answer is quite abstract. Many lexical items in the
world’s languages have very abstract meanings.
The verb be has several meanings of its own.
 The verb be can mean "exist."

Example: There are seven chairs in the room.

 It can mean "to happen, to occur."

Example: My birthday will be next month.

 It can mean "to occupy or maintain a place or

position."
Example: The chair is in the living room.

The verb be is independent of whether it is used as a

linking device or as the identity predicate.
a. Mr. John is our English teacher.
b. Mr. John is a generous teacher.
be in sentence (a) serves as an identity predicate (because
this is an equative sentence), be in sentence (b) serves as
a linking device (because this is not an equative sentence).
However, in both sentences, the meaning of be is ‘used to
say something about a person, thing, or state, to show a
permanent or temporary quality, state, job, etc’
(Cambridge Dictionary).