Q1.

Choose the semantics terms in the box that best fit the definitions in the following
sentences. Write down your answers in the chart below. Notice that there are more
words in the box than needed (2.0 marks) 10 words.
Q2. Determine whether these statements are true or false by circling T or F (2.0 marks)
10 sentences.
Q3. Provide two paraphrases for each of the following ambiguous sentences (2.0
marks) 4 sentences.
Q4. Questions about Sense relations (synonym, paraphrase, hyponymy, entailment
(one-way, two-way), antonymy, homonymy, polysemy) (2.0 marks) 10 sentences.
Q5. Questions about Equative sentence, Generic sentence, analytic, synthetic and
contradictory sentences (2.0 marks) 10 sentences.

DEFINITIONS:
Speaking SPEAKER MEANING is WHAT A SPEAKER MEANS (i.e. intends to convey) when he uses a piece
meaning of language.
Sentence SENTENCE MEANING (or WORD MEANING) is WHAT A SENTENCE (or WORD) MEANS (i.e. what
meaning. it counts as the equivalent of in the language concerned)

Referent, A REFERENT is an object or an entity in the real world or in the world of your imagination, that
reference is talked about
and The REFERENCE of a word or a linguistic expression is the relationship between that word or
sense expression and the thing, the action, the event, the quality, etc. it refers to. (language & world)

SENSE the general meaning or the concept underlying the word.

The SENSE of an expression is its place in a system of semantic relationships with other
expressions in the language.

Variable Variable reference: the expression that refers to different objects (categories of one object.)
reference [Context-dependente.]
, constant ~ The same expression may refer to different objects.
reference ~ It can be: possessive adjectives; demonstrative adjectives and pronouns; personal pronouns;
and co- adverb of place/ time; article,
reference
E.g President of Pakistan.
.
Constant reference: one expression always refers to the same object (regardless who is the
speaker)
Ex: Proper name, especially geographical names: Angelina Jolie, Smith, David, Vietnam,
Laos,...

the expression that refers same categories of one object [context-independent]

E.g Eiffel tower, Sun etc

Co-reference: different expressions refer to the same object.

Ex. HCM and Saigon -> both refer to the same city
The Morning Star and the Evening Star -> both refer to the planet Venus.

occurs when two or more expressions refer to the same person or thing; they have the same
referent.
E.g Bill said Alice would arrive soon, and she did, the words Alice and she refer to the same
person.
Utterance An UTTERANCE is any STRETCH OF TALK, by one person, before and after which there is
, silence on the part of that person.
sentence, [a man pronounces and it has meaning]
propositio
n. ~ can be a word, a phrase, a sentence, a sequence of sentences.
~ by a particular person -> personal
~ on a particular occasion -> situational, contextual
~ physical
~ BELONG TO PARTICULAR PEOPLE

A SENTENCE is neither a physical event nor a physical object.

[A string of words arranged in grammatical order accepted in a language is called a sentence]

A PROPOSITION is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which
describes some state of affairs.

[The meaning in any sentences in any language is called a proposition]

~ Utter (say) a declarative sentence

~ Describe some state of affairs = UNIVERSAL TRUTH - FACT
~ Can be TRUE or FALSE
~ By a particular person -> NO
~ On a particular occasion -> NO
~ NOT Physical
~ NOT BELONG TO A SYSTEM OF LANGUAGE.

Referring REFERRING EXPRESSION is any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or

expressio someone (or a clearly delimited collection of things or people), I.e uses with a particular
referent in mind)
ns

Equative An EQUATIVE SENTENCE is one which is used to assert the identity of the referents of two
sentence. referring expressions, I.e to assert that two referring expressions have the same referent.
Generic Generic sentence: is a sentence in which some statement is made about a whole unrestricted
sentence. class of individuals, as opposed to any particular individual

Predicate, The PREDICATOR of a simple declarative sentence is the word (sometimes a group of words)
degree of 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
predicate, predicator describes the state or process in which the referring expressions are involved.
predicato
rs. A simple sentence only has one predicator.

A PREDICATE is any word (or sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can function
as the predicator of a sentence。

Predicate can not be: to be, article, conjunction

The Degree of a predicate is a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally

understood to have in simple sentences.

Stereotyp STEREOTYPE *
e, The STEREOTYPE of a predicate is a list of the TYPICAL characteristics or features of things to
which the predicate may be applied.
prototype
.
PROTOTYPE *
A PROTOTYPE of a predicate is an object which is held to be very TYPICAL of the kind of object
which can be referred to by an expression containing the predicate. In other words, the
prototype of a predicate can be thought of as the most typical member of the extension of a
predicate

A PROTOTYPE of a predicate is a typical member of its extension.

Sense ANALYTIC SENTENCE: An Analytic sentence is one that is necessarily TRUE as a result of the
propertie senses of the words in it..
Ex: All elephants are animals
s: * Sam’s wife is married.

An analytic sentence, therefore, reflects a tacit (unspoken) agreement but the speakers of the
language about the senses of the words in it.

SYNTHETIC SENTENCE: A Synthetic sentence is one which is NOT analytic, but may be either
TRUE or FALSE, depending on the way the world is.
Ex: John is from Ireland
Sam’s wife is German.

CONTRADICTORY SENTENCE: An contradiction is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE, as a

result of the senses of the words in it.
Ex: Cat is a human

Sense Synonym: Synonymy is the relationship between two predicates *that have the same sense.
relationsh [SYNONYMS that are NOT themselves synonyms of each other]
Ex: Evidence and Proof are synonyms
ip: *
~ Perfect synonymy: Synonyms interchangeable in ALL context. (Their cognitive and affective
value is preserved)
~ Partial synonymy: Synonyms interchangeable in SOME context. (They are just
interchangeable semantically)

Paraphrase: A PARAPHRASE is a sentence which expresses the same proposition as another

sentence (assuming the same referents for any referring expressions involved)

PARAPHRASE is to SENTENCES (on individual interpretations) as SYNONYMY is to PREDICATES

(though some semanticists talk loosely of synonymy in the case of sentences as well)
Ex: ‘Bachelors prefer red haired girls’ is a paraphrase of ‘Girls with red hair are
preferred by unmarried men’

Hyponymy: HYPONYMY is a sense relation between predicates (or sometimes longer phrases)
such that the meaning of one predicate (or phrase) is included in the meaning of the other.
Ex: flower -hyponymy- tulip, rose

~ Superordinate (hypernym) is more abstract, general, or schematic than its subordinate

(hyponym)
Ex: “tulip” is hyponym of the word “flower”

NOTE:
- Given two negative sentences A and B, identical in every way except that A contains
a word X where B contains a different word Y, and X is a hyponym of Y then sentence
B entails sentence A.
- Sentences with word “all”: B entails A when the set of things referred to by B including all the
things in A.
- X is a hyponym of Y, then sentence A entails sentence B

+ Hyponymy is defined in terms of the inclusion of the sense of one item in the sense of another.
+ Synonymy can be seen as a special case of hyponymy (symmetrical hyponymy)

X is a hyponym of Y
Y is also a hyponym of X => X & Y are synonymous

Entailment : ENTAILMENT is a sentence expressing proposition X entails a sentence

proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X

-> BASIC RULE OF SENSE INCLUSION (3 Exceptions)

~ One-way entailment
A proposition X ENTAILS a proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X

A sentence expressing proposition X ENTAILS a sentence expressing proposition Y if the truth

of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X

Ex: John was killed entails John died

Alfred saw a bear entails Alfred saw an animal.
~ Two- way entailment: = paraphrase.
Two sentences may be said to be PARAPHRASES of each other if and only if they have exactly
the same set of ENTAILMENTS; or which comes to the same thing, if and only if they mutually
entail each other so that whenever one is true the other must also be true.
Ex: John and Mary are twins entails Mary and John are twins
Mary and John are twins entails John and Mary are twins

Antonymy:
Binary antonymy are predicates which come in pairs and between them exhaust all the
relevant possibilities. *

Another way to view this is to say that a predicate is a binary antonym of another predicate if it
entails the negative of the other predicate. *

Ex: true and false, same – different, dead – alive, married – unmarried

Converse:
If 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, then the two predicates are CONVERSES of each other. *
Ex: Parent and child, below – above, greater than – less than, own – belong to

Multiple Incompatibility:
- All the terms in a given system are mutually incompatible.
E.x a playing card cannot belong to both the hearts suit and the spades suit.
- Together, the members of a system cover all the relevant area.
E.x hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades, there are no other suits.
=> There are large numbers of open-ended systems of multiple incompatibility.

Gradable antonym:
Two predicates are GRADABLE antonyms if they are at opposite ends of a continuous scale of
values (a scale which typically varies according to the context of use)

~ Binary antonymy (2 terms in the system concerned)

E.g: true - false; same - different.
~ Multiple incompatibility ( > 2 terms in the system concerned)
E.g: summer - winter ; dog - cat
~ Converseness (relational opposites)
E.g: parent - child ; employer - employee
~ Gradable antonymy
E.g: hot - cold ; love - hate.

Ambiguity:
~ A word or sentence is AMBIGUOUS when it has more than one sense.
~ A sentence is AMBIGUOUS if is has two (or more) paraphrases which are not themselves
paraphrases of each other.
~ In the case of words and phrases, a word or phrase is AMBIGUOUS if it has two (or more)

~ A LEXICAL AMBIGUITY is any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of a word.

Ex: The captain corrected the list is lexically ambiguous

Homonym:
A case of HOMONYM is one of an ambiguous word whose different senses are far apart from
each other and not obviously related to each other in any way with respect to a native
speaker’s intuition. Cases of homonymy seem very definitely to be matters of mere accident or
coincidence.
E.g: Mug (drinking vessel vs gullible person) would be a clear case of homonymy.
Bank (financial institution vs the side of a river or stream) is another clear case of
homonymy.
=> There is no obvious conceptual connection between the two meanings of either
word

Polysemy:
A case of Polysemy is one where a word has several very closely related senses. In other
words, a native speaker of the language has clear intuitions that the different senses are
related to each other in some way. *
~ Polysemy is much more common in human language than homonomy.
~ Most words have related variations in sense that depend on the particular linguistic
context in which they are used.
~ It is nearly impossible to draw a clear line between homonymy and polysemy -> they occupy
places along a graded continuum of meaning.

Three elements:
+ the various senses of a polysemous word have a central origin.
+ The links between these senses form a network.
+ understanding the ‘inner’ one contributes to understanding of the ‘outer’
one.
E.g: Mouth (mouth of a river , mouth of an animal)

Vagueness: A word is said to be “VAGUE” when it appears to have one basic sense
(monosemy) which is nevertheless flexible enough to allow for minor variations in meaning or
use which are not particularly entrenched in the speaker’s mind.
FORMAT:
1. Choose the semantics terms in the box that best fit the definitions in the
following sentences. Write down your answers in the chart below. Notice
that there are more words in the box than needed (2.0 marks) 10 words.

Any word (sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can function Predicate
as the predicator of a sentence.

They are sentences which have the same proposition (meaning) Paraphrases

It is always true to everybody Analytic

Sentence

It is a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language. Sentence

They are included in superordinates. Hyponyms

It is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence. Proposition

It is used to assert the identity of the referents of two referring expressions Equative
sentence

A sense relation between predicates (or sometimes longer phrases) such Hyponymy
that the meaning of one predicate (or phrase) is included in the meaning of
the other.

Two or more words/ phrases refer to the same referent Co - reference.

Speaker meaning is what a speaker means

Semantics is the study of meaning in language.

Sentence meaning (or word meaning) is what a sentence (or word) means.

A string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language. A sentence

Part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence. A proposition

It is used to assert the identity of the referents of two referring expressions. An equative
sentence

An object or an entity in the real world or in the world of your imagination A referent

A number indicating the number of arguments The degree of

a predicate.

A sentence in which some statement is made about a whole unrestricted A generic

class of individuals, as opposed to any particular individual. sentence.

The meaning of a word in a dictionary Sense

A thing (person) we can perceive is called A referent

The same word/ phrase refers to different referents Variable

reference

One word/ phrase refers to one referent Constant

reference

Two or more words/ phrases refer to the same referent Co - reference

Sentence is always true to everybody An analytic

sentence
Sentence may be true or may be wrong A synthetic
sentence

Sentence is the opposite of an analytic sentence A contradiction

sentence

They have the same sense Synonyms

They are sentences which have the same proposition (meaning) Paraphrases

They are included in superordinates Hyponyms

They are special cases of hyponyms. They are hyponyms of each other. Synonyms

They are words (predicates) which have opposite meaning Antonyms

They have more than one meaning Ambiguous

words or
sentences

It is the same word which have more than one meaning A homonym

It is transitive Two-place
predicate in
entailment
sentences

Which some statements is made about a whole unrestricted class of Generic

individuals as opposed to any particular individual. Sentence

When one linguistic expression refers to one and the same referent Constant
reference

Which is used to assert that two referring expressions have the same Equative
referent. Sentence

Any word (or sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can A predicate
function as a predicator of a sentence

An object or any entity in the real world or in the word of your imagination Referent
that is talk about.

Any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or someone (or Referring

a clearly delimited collection of things or people) i.e used with a particular expression
referent in mind.

Study of linguistic meaning Semantic

The general meaning or the concept underlying the word. Sense

Part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which Proposition

describe some state of affairs

When the same linguistic expression refers to different referents. Variable

reference

When two or more words/ phrases refer to the same referent Co-reference

A sentence expresses the same proposition as another Paraphrase

Any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is silence Utterance
on the part of that person.

A sense relation between predicates (or sometimes longer phrases) such Hyponymy
that the meaning of one predicate (or phrase) is included in the meaning of
the other.
 An object or an entity in the real world or in the world of your imagination, Referent
which is talked about.

The general meaning or the concept underlying the word. Sense

The relationship between two predicates that have the same sense. Synonym

Which some statement is made about a whole unrestricted class of Generic

individuals. sentence

2. Determine whether these statements are true or false by circling T or F

(2.0 marks) 10 sentences.

Semantic is concerned with how sentences and texts are used in contexts. F

The sentence ‘Motionless fast cars drink unintentionally’ is correct F

[contradiction in meaning]

‘The wine is Italian, isn’t it?’ has the sentence meaning that ‘Is it right that the wine is made in Italy’ T

‘A stalling car may (minds)mean a tune-up’ is more reflective of speaker meaning. T

‘These papers mean (minds) more work’ is more reflective or sentence meaning. F

A: Is Tom a good student? T

B: He had beautiful handwriting and is nearly dressed.

In this dialogue, the pragmatic/context-dependent meaning of the second sentence is that Tom is
not a good student.

An UTTERANCE is any stretch of sounds, by one person, before and after which there is silence F
on the part of that person.

‘Not at all’ is an utterance. T

‘Not at all’ is a sentence F

“Helen put off the hat” and “Helen put the hat off” are the same sentences. [above/over] F

-> same proposition.

‘The wall was under the fly’ and ‘The fly was on the wall’ share the same proposition. F

Peter was exhausted yesterday is S T

‘HAHAHDEENHVUHKCEF’ none of them (S AND U) T

‘Peter was exhausted yesterday’ is U T

An utterance tied to a particular time and place T

Whether a sentence contains any referring expressions or not depends on the time and place at F
which the sentence -> UTTERANCE occurs.

A proposition be said to be in any particular language F

An utterance be true or false T

The expression like Christmas Day 1990, the distance from school to my home, or a song can be T
considered referring expressions.

A word’s sense does not change every time the word takes on a new referent. T

A proposition is asserted in “Get out of here in a minute” F

Verbs and prepositions can be used as referring expressions in sentences F

The predicator of the sentence Joe is in New York is in T

The male of the species guards the eggs is a generic sentence T

Tony Blaire is the prime minister of the UK is an equative sentence T

The predicates in the phrase at the right place are at, the, right, place. F

In One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, man is a referring expression F

Semantics is the systematic study of meaning or the way languages organizes and express the F
word.
-express the word meaning

Sentence meaning is what a speaker means when he makes an utterance in a certain situation. F

An informant or consultant in linguistics is a native speaker or member of a community who acts as T

a linguistic reference for a language or speech community being study

The sentence meaning of an utterance is simply the literal meaning of the words, phrases, and T
sentences

Is it possible to say that the meaning of an expression can be found in a dictionary. T

Some words such as “in, but, if, etc.” have sense and reference F

Some words such as “pen, dog, car, etc” have sense and reference T

A similar nuance of meaning in another language can be straight forwardly conveyed in English F

“John!” is an utterance T

“John is handsome” has a proposition. T

Hyponyms are included in superordinates T

Dennis is a menace. “Menace” is a predicator. T

“Cry” is a one-place predicate. T

A word’s referent does not change each time the word is applied to a different object or situation. F

A word’s sense does not change every time the word takes on new referent T

Cairo is the largest city in Africa is an equative sentence T

In the sentence Mary is a good daughter, the noun phrase a good daughter is a referring F
expression

A sentence has only one predictor and may have many predicates T

This book sells well is a generic sentence F

A proposition can be expressed in different sentences. T

In One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, man is a referring expression. F

The predictor of the sentence Joe is in New York is in T

Americans like to eat apple pie is a generic sentence T

Two-place predicate in entailment sentences is transitive T

“Annie caught a tuna” entails “Annie caught a fish” T

“Lia baked the cake” entails “Lia did something to the cake” T

“Annie is not far” entails “Annia is thin” F

“It’s a gorgeous piece of jewelry” entails “It is a gorgeous bracelet” F

“The thief was chased by someone” does not entails “The police chased the thief” T

“Some kids running down the street” entails “Some boys running down the street” F

“My sister-in-law grows roses” entails “My sister-in-law grows flowers’ T

Verb and prepositions can be used as referring expressions in sentences F

“Not very good” could be considered a sentence F

A proposition is asserted on “Have u seen my luggage” F

Indefinite noun phrase (for ex a book) can be used either as referring expressions or as predicating T
expression

The presence of a predicate in a referring expression helps the hearer to identify of a referring T
expression

A word’s referent does not change each time the word is applied to a different object or situation. F
 3. Provide two paraphrases for each of the following ambiguous sentences
(2.0 marks) 4 sentences.

1. They are waiting at the bank.

~ They are waiting at the financial institution.
~ They are waiting at the shore of the river.

2. The long drill is boring.

~ The long tool for drilling makes me bored.
~ The long training exercise is boring.

3. They can fish.

~ They put fish into cans.
~ They are able to catch fish.

4. They are flying kites.

~ They are playing kites by letting them fly in the sky.
~ They are kinds of toys which are flying in the sky.

5. They are cooking crabs.

~ People are boiling / making crabs.
~ Cooking crabs are ready for eating.

6. Jack loves John more than Mary.

~ Jack loves John and Mary, but he loves John more.
~ Jack and Mary love John, but Jack loves John more

7. I saw her row

~ I perceive her row with my eyes.
~ I saw her when she rowed a boat

8. They are moving chairs.

~ People are moving chairs to some place.
~ They are chairs which can move.

9. They have to decide on the bus.

~ They have to decide something on the bus.
~ The bus is the problem that they have to decide about.

10. She greeted the man with a smile.

~ She smiled to great the man.
~ She greeted the man who had a smile.

11. The drunken visitor rolled up the carpet.

~The drunkard visitor FOLDED the carpet over on itself.
~ The drunkard visitor TURNED over and over up the carpet.

12. Is he really that kind

~ Is he really that nice?
~ Is he really that kind of person?

13. My finance is reserved

~My fiancé is shy and tends to keep to themselves.
~ The financial situation is in a conservative and cautious state.

14. I saw her slip

~ I saw her slip dress
~ I saw her lose her footing and nearly fall.

15. I saw her duck

~ I saw the duck of her
~ I saw her lower her head

16. They are cooking bananas

~ People are cooking bananas
~ cooking bananas are ready to be eaten

17. They are moving sidewalks

~People are moving sidewalks from one place to another.
~ Those sidewalks are motorized so they can move.

18. Old men and women will be served first.

~

19. The thing that bothered Bill was crouching under the table
~

20. Visiting relatives can be boring

~

21. They passed the port at midnight

22. The captain correct the list

23.Climbing plants can look strange.

~ The plants which can climb can look strange
~ The action of climbing on the plants can look strange

24. The English history teacher knows a lot.

~ The teacher who teaches English history knows a lot.
~ The history teacher from England knows a lot.

25. The minister married my sister.

~ The minister got married to my sister.
~ The minister performed my sister's wedding ceremony.

26. . She's selling synthetic buffalo hides.

~ She's selling hides made from synthetic buffalo.
~ She's selling buffalo hides that are synthetic.

27. The boy saw the man with a telescope.

The boy saw the man who had a telescope.
ii. The boy with a telescope saw the man.

28. He gave me a punch.

i. He gave me something to drink.
ii. He hit me.

29. he grass was very expensive.

i. The lawn was very expensive.
ii. The marijuana was very expensive.
1. They are waiting at the bank. 15. I saw her duck
~ They are waiting at the financial ~ I saw the duck of her
institution. ~ I saw her lower her head
~ They are waiting at the shore of the river. 16. They are cooking bananas
2. The long drill is boring. ~ People are cooking bananas
~ The long tool for drilling makes me bored. ~ cooking bananas are ready to be eaten
~ The long training exercise is boring. 17. They are moving sidewalks
3. They can fish. ~People are moving sidewalks from one
~ They put fish into cans. place to another.
~ They are able to catch fish. ~ Those sidewalks are motorized so they
4. They are flying kites. can move.
~ They are playing kites by letting them fly 18. Old men and women will be served
in the sky. first.
~ They are kinds of toys which are flying in ~ Old men and old women will be served
the sky. first.
5. They are cooking crabs. ~ Women and old men will be served first.
~ People are boiling / making crabs. 19. The thing that bothered Bill was
~ Cooking crabs are ready for eating. crouching under the table
6. Jack loves John more than Mary. ~ The creature that bothered Bill was
~ Jack loves John more than loves Mary. crouching under the table
~ Jack loves John more than Mary loves ~ Crouching under the table made Bill
John bothered
7. I saw her row 20. Visiting relatives can be boring
~ I perceive her row with my eyes. ~ It can be boring to visit relatives
~ I saw her when she rowed a boat ~ The relatives who we are going to visit
8. They are moving chairs. can be boring
~ People are moving chairs to some place. 21. They passed the port at midnight
~ They are chairs which can move. ~ The passed the seaport at midnight
9. They have to decide on the bus. ~ The passed the wine port at midnight
~ They have to decide something on the 22. The captain correct the list
bus. ~ The captain corrects the tilts
~ The bus is the problem that they have to ~ The captain corrects the inventory
decide about. 23.Climbing plants can look strange.
10. She greeted the man with a smile. ~ The plants which can climb can look
~ She smiled to great the man. strange
~ She greeted the man who had a smile. ~ The action of climbing on the plants can
11. The drunken visitor rolled up the look strange
carpet. 24. The English history teacher knows a
~The drunkard visitor FOLDED the carpet lot.
over on itself. ~ The teacher who teaches English history
~ The drunkard visitor TURNED over and knows a lot.
over up the carpet. ~ The history teacher from England knows
12. Is he really that kind a lot.
~ Is he really that nice? 25. The minister married my sister.
~ Is he really that kind of person? ~ The minister got married to my sister.
13. My finance is reserved ~ The minister performed my sister's
~My fiancé is shy and tends to keep to wedding ceremony.
themselves. 26. . She's selling synthetic buffalo
~ The financial situation is in a conservative hides.
and cautious state. ~ She's selling hides made from synthetic
14. I saw her slip buffalo.
~ I saw her slip dress ~ She's selling buffalo hides that are
~ I saw her lose her footing and nearly fall. synthetic.
27. The boy saw the man with a ~ He gave me something to drink.
telescope. ~ He hit me.
~ The boy saw the man who had a 29. The grass was very expensive.
telescope. ~ The lawn was very expensive.
~ The boy with a telescope saw the man. ~ The marijuana was very expensive.
28. He gave me a punch.
 4. Questions about Sense relations (synonym, paraphrase, hyponymy,
entailment (one-way, two-way), antonymy, homonymy, polysemy) (2.0
marks) 10 sentences.

1. Give two hyponyms of HOUSE. Cottage, mansion

2. Give one possible paraphrase of “She bought him a She purchased a computer for him
computer”

3. Give two superordinates of HEAD. BODY ~ AGENCY

4. Is the pair of antonyms “pass-fail” gradable or binary? Binary

6. Is the pair of antonyms “beautiful - ugly” gradable or Gradable

binary?

7. Which is a homonym: date or chip? Date

8. “John was killed” entails “John died”. Is it a two-way Yes / No

entailment?

9. “He borrowed Mary’s book” entails “Mary lent her book Yes / No
to him”. It is a two-way entailment?

10. Is “break” a polysemy? Yes / No

11. Which is the superordinate term in the following list: cosmetic

lipstick, eyeliner, moisturizer, cosmetic, and toner?

12. Which are the subordinate of the word kitchenware? List Cutlery, Cookware, Bakeware,
four nouns. Utensils

13. Suggest two characteristic which should be included in the Caring and Supportive, Living
stereotype of the predicate family. Together

14. Give two hyponyms of technology. Mobile phone, computer

15. Give one possible paraphrase of: + Mike handed over his favorite
+ Mike gave his favorite book to Miley. book to Miley.
+ Tim borrowed a big loan from the bank. + Tim took out a substantial loan
from the bank.

16. Give two hyponyms of reptile. Lizard, snake

17. Give two hyponyms of Sport. Foodball, tennis

18. What kind of sense relation is it?

+ hide/ conceal: + synonyms
+ dead/ alive: + antonyms
+ antonyms
+ big/ small:
+ synonyms
+ fall/ autumn:

19. What is the specific type of these pairs of antonymy?

+ married - unmarried + binary
+ boiling - freezing + gradable
+ multiple incompatibility
+ daisy - rose
+ binary
+ buy - sell

20. Paraphrase:(2)
- Small boys and girls are playing musical instruments. -
- He saw the huge tree
- She looked at the bat.
- Josh reads the letter Tim wrote with excitement.
 21.
cat-dog + multiple incompatibility
easy - difficult + gradable
good - bad + gradable
better than - worse than + converse
deciduous - evergreen
pass - fail
urban - rural

5. Questions about Equative sentence, Generic sentence, analytic, synthetic

and contradictory sentences (2.0 marks) 10 sentences.

1. Is “Vung Tau is a city” an equative sentence? Yes / No

2. Is “Thi No is Chi Pheo’s lover” an equative sentence? Yes / No

3. Is “The ape is a mammal” a generic sentence? Yes / No

4. Is “That ape loves her child very much” a generic sentence? Yes / No

5. Is “Ho Chi Minh is a great revolutionary leader in Vietnam” an Yes / No

analytic sentence?

6. Is “Nguyen Van Y” from Nha Trang” an analytic sentence? Yes / No

7. Is “Jack is right” contradictory to “Jack is not right”? Yes / No

8. Is “Jack is right” contradictory to “Jack is wrong”? Yes / No

9. Is “Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam” a synthetic sentence? Yes / No

10. Is “the boy was born in Hanoi” a synthetic sentence? Yes / No

11. Decide whether the following sentences are analytic, synthetic or

contradiction.
+ The lizard is a reptile. + analytic
+ synthetic
+ Anna is from Austria.
+ contradictory
+ If it breaks, it doesn’t break. + synthetic
+ Susan’s husband is Vietnamese.

12. What kind of sentence is it ? [Equative / Generic / Analytic /

Synthetic / Contradictory sentence]? Explain.
- Kenny killed Tim, who remained alive for many years after.
- contradictory
- Lam’s wife is a woman.
- analytic

13. Entailment relation:

- Jim found a large house.
- Jim found a large building.
 Mid-term

1. Choose the semantics terms in the box that best fit the definitions
in the sentences below. Notice that there are more words in the
box than needed. (2.0)

SEMANTICS is the study of MEANING in LANGUAGE

SPEAKER MEANING is WHAT A SPEAKER MEANS (i.e. intends to convey) when he uses a
piece of language.

SENTENCE MEANING (or WORD MEANING) is WHAT A SENTENCE (or WORD) MEANS (i.e.
what it counts as the equivalent (vật tương đương) of in the language concerned)

The TRIANGLE OF REFERENCE (also known as the TRIANGLE OF MEANING and the
SEMIOTIC TRIANGLE) is a model of how linguistic symbols relate to the objects they
represent

An UTTERANCE (PHÁT NGÔN) is any STRETCH OF TALK, by one person, before and after
which there is silence on the part of that person.

[a man pronounces and it has meaning]

A SENTENCE is neither a physical event nor a physical object.

[A string of words arranged in grammatical order accepted in a language is called a

sentence]

A PROPOSITION (MỆNH ĐỀ) is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative
sentence which describes some state of affairs.

[The meaning in any sentences in any language is called a proposition]

A REFERENT is an object or an entity in the real world or in the world of your imagination,
that is talked about

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, etc. it refers to. (language &
world)

SENSE the general meaning or the concept underlying the word. (nét nghĩa)

The SENSE of an expression is its place in a system of semantic relationships with other
expressions in the language.

REFERRING EXPRESSION is any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or

someone (or a clearly delimited collection of things or people), I.e uses with a particular
referent in mind

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.

The 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.
A PREDICATE is any word (or sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can
function as the predicator of a sentence。

The Degree of a predicate is a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally

understood to have in simple sentences.

Variable reference: the expression that refers to different object (categories of one
object.) [Context-dependente.]
E.g President of Pakistan.

Constant reference: one expression always refers to the same object (regardless who is
the speaker)

Ex: Proper name, especially geographical names: Angelina Jolie, Smith, David, Vietnam,
Laos,...

the expression that refers same categories of one object [context-independent]

E.g Eiffel tower, Sun etc

Co-reference: different expressions refer to the same object.

Ex. HCM and Saigon -> both refer to the same city
The Morning Star and the Evening Star -> both refer to the planet Venus.

occurs when two or more expressions refer to the same person or thing; they have the same
referent.
E.g Bill said Alice would arrive soon, and she did, the words Alice and she refer to the same
person.

Generic sentence: is a sentence in which some statement is made about a whole

unrestricted class of individuals, as opposed to any particular individual

The SENSE of an expression is its indispensable hard core of meaning

ex: Man: +[male], -[female], +[adult], +[human]
Mother: -[female], +[adult], +[human], +[having a child]

The sense of expression:

~ Its sense properties
~ sense relations with other expression

Sentence types:
+ ANALYTIC SENTENCE: An Analytic sentence is one that is necessarily TRUE as a result of the
senses of the words in it.
An analytic sentence, therefore, reflects a tacit (unspoken) agreement but the speakers of the
language about the senses of the words in it.
Ex: All elephants are animals
Sam’s wife is married.

+ SYNTHETIC SENTENCE: A Synthetic sentence is one which is NOT analytic, but may be either
TRUE or FALSE, depending on the way the world is.
Ex: John is from Ireland
Sam’s wife is German.

+ CONTRADICTORY SENTENCE: An contradiction is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE, as a

result of the senses of the words in it.
Ex: Cat is a human
Sense Relations Identity.
+ SYNONYMY: Synonymy is the relationship between two predicates that have the same sense.
Ex: Evidence and Proof are synonyms

~ Perfect synonymy: Synonyms interchangeable in ALL context. (Their cognitive and affective value is
preserved)
~ Partial synonymy: Synonyms interchangeable in SOME context. (They are just interchangeable
semantically)

Grammar and meaning are separate though closely related aspects of language.

+ A predicate is a distinct sense of a word (of the kind we are dealing with). A word have many
different senses.

+ A PARAPHRASE is a sentence which expresses the same proposition as another sentence

(assuming the same referents for any referring expressions involved)
PARAPHRASE is to SENTENCES (on individual interpretations) as SYNONYMY is to
PREDICATES (though some semanticists talk loosely of synonymy in the case of sentences as
well)
Ex: ‘Bachelors prefer red haired girls’ is a paraphrase of ‘Girls with red hair are preferred by unmarried
men’

+ HYPONYMY: Hyponymy is a sense relation between predicates for sometimes longer phrases)
such that the meaning of one predicate (or phrase) is included in the meaning of the other.
Ex: flower -hyponymy- tulip, rose
Hyponymy is defined in terms of the inclusion of the sense of one item in the sense of another.
Synonymy can be seen as a special case of hyponymy (symmetrical hyponymy)

X is a hyponym of Y
Y is also a hyponym of X => X & Y are synonymous

Entailment:
~ One-way entailment
A proposition X ENTAILS a proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X

A sentence expressing proposition X ENTAILS a sentence expressing proposition Y if the truth of Y

follows necessarily from the truth of X
Ex: John was killed entails John died
Alfred saw a bear entails Alfred saw an animal.

~ Two- way entailment:

Two sentences may be said to be PARAPHRASES of each other if and only if they have exactly the
same set of ENTAILMENTS; or which comes to the same thing, if and only if they mutually entail each
other so that whenever one is true the other must also be true.
Ex: John and Mary are twins entails Mary and John are twins

The relationship between entailment and paraphrase is parallel to the relationship between hyponymy
and synonymy.

Synonymy is symmetric (i.e two-way) hyponymy, paraphrase is symmetric (i.e two-way) entailment

Sense Relations (2):

+ BINARY ANTONYMY: Binary antonymy are predicates which come in pairs and between them
exhaust all the relevant possibilities.

Another way to view this is to say that a predicate is a binary antonym of another predicate if it
entails the negative of the other predicate.

+ CONVERSE = relational antonym: If 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, then the two predicates are CONVERSES of each
other.
Ex: give - receive.
“If … , then …” -> to test and identify relational antonym.

+ MULTIPLE INCOMPATIBILITY:
~ All the terms in a given system are mutually incompatible.
Ex: a playing card cannot belong to both the hearts suit and the spades suit.
~ Together, the members of a system cover all the relevant area
Ex: hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades, there are no other suits.
-> There are large numbers of open-ended systems of multiple incompatibility

+ GRADABLE ANONYM: Two predicates are GRADABLE antonyms if they are at opposite ends
of a continuous scale of values (a scale which typically varies according to the context of use)
Ex: hot - cold: hot - warm - cool - cold.

+ CONTRADICTORY: A proposition is a contradictory of another proposition if it is impossible for

them both to be true at the same time and of the same circumstances.
A sentence expressing one proposition is a contradictory of a sentence expressing another
proposition if it is impossible for both propositions to be true at the same time and at the same
circumstances.
Alternatively, a sentence contradicts another sentence if it entails the negation of the other
sentence.
Ex: This beetle is alive is a contradictory of This beetle is dead

Ambiguity:
~ A word or sentence is AMBIGUOUS when it has more than one sense.
~ A sentence is AMBIGUOUS if is has two (or more) paraphrases which are not themselves
paraphrases of each other.
~ In the case of words and phrases, a word or phrase is AMBIGUOUS id it has two (or more)

~ SYNONYMS that are NOT themselves synonyms of each other.

~ A case of HOMONYMY is one of an ambiguous word whose different senses are far apart from each
other and not obviously related to each other in any way with respect to a native speaker’s intuition.
Cases of homonymy seem very definitely to be matters of mere accident or coincidence.
E.g: Mug (drinking vessel vs gullible person) would be a clear case of homonymy.
Bank (financial institution vs the side of a river or stream) is another clear case of homonymy.
=> There is no obvious conceptual connection between the two meanings of either word

~ POLYSEMY: A case of Polysemy is one where a word has several very closely related senses. In
other words, a native speaker of the language has clear intuitions that the different senses are related to
each other in some way.
Three elements:
+ the various senses of a polysemous word have a central origin.
+ The links between these senses form a network.
+ understanding the ‘inner’ one contributes to understanding of the ‘outer’ one.
E.g: Mouth (mouth of a river , mouth of an animal)
- Polysemy is much more common in human language than homonomy.
- Most words have related variations in sense that depend on the particular linguistic context in which
they are used.
- It is nearly impossible to draw a clear line between homonymy and polysemy -> they occupy places
along a graded continuum of meaning.

~ VAGUENESS: A word is said to be ‘VAGUE’ when it appears to have one basic sense (monosemy)
which is nevertheless flexible enough to allow for minor variations in meaning or use which are not
particularly entrenched in the speaker’s mind.
E.g: aunt

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AMBIGUOUS SENTENCES & AMBIGUOUS WORDS

Some sentences which contain am

SENSE RELATIONS:
+ Binary antonym ~ dead - alive
+ Converse = Relationship antonym ~ grandparent - grandchild
+ Multiple incompatibility
+ Gradable Antonym ~ hot - cold
+ Contradictory.

PERSONIFICATION is a particular subtype of ontological metaphor in which an abstract entity is

construed as though it were a physical object which is then further specified as being a person
 2. Write true (T) or false (F) for each of the sentences below,
according to the information given. (2.0)

Semantic is concerned with how sentences and texts are used in contexts.

The sentence ‘Motionless fast cars drink unintentionally’ is correct

[contradiction in meaning]

‘The wine is Italian, isn’t it?’ has the sentence meaning that ‘Is it right that the wine is made in Italy’

‘A stalling car may (minds)mean a tune-up’ is more reflective of speaker meaning.

‘These papers mean (minds) more work’ is more reflectue or sentence meaning.

A: Is Tom a good student?

B: He had beautiful handwriting and is nearly dressed.

In this dialogue, the pragmatic/context-dependent meaning of the second sentence is that Tom is
not a good student

An UTTERANCE is any stretch of sounds, by one person, before and after which there is silence
on the part of that person.

‘Not at all’ is an utterance.

‘Not at all’ is an sentence

“Helen put off the hat” and “Helen put the hat off” are the same sentences. [above/over]

-> same proposition.

‘The wall was under the fly’ and ‘The fly was on the wall’ share the same proposition.

Peter was exhausted yesterday is S

‘HAHAHDEENHVUHKCEF’ none of them (S AND U)

‘Peter was exhausted yesterday’ is U

An utterance tied to a particular time and place

A proposition be said to be in any particular language

An utterance be true or false

Whether a sentence contains any referring expressions or not depends on the time and place at
which the sentence -> UTTERANCE occurs.

The expression like Christmas Day 1990, the distance from school to my home, or a song can be
considered referring expressions.

A word’s sense does not change every time the word takes on a new referent.

A proposition is asserted in “Get out of here in a minute”

Verbs and prepositions can be used as referring expressions in sentences

The predicator of the sentence Joe is in New York is in

The male of the species guards the eggs is a generic sentence

Tony Blaire is the prime minister of the UK is an equative sentence

The predicates in the phrase at the right place are at, the, right, place.

In One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, man is a referring expression

Semantics is the systematic study of meaning or the way languages organizes and express the
word.
-express the word meaning

Sentence meaning is what a speaker means when he makes an utterance in a certain situation.

An informant or consultant in linguistics is a native speaker or member of a community who acts

as a linguistic reference for a language or speech community being study

The sentence meaning of an utterance is simply the literal meaning of the words, phrases, and
sentences

Is it possible to say that the meaning of an expression can be found in a dictionary.

3. Identify the degree of the underlined predicates in the following
sentences. (2.0)
+ Philips is handsome. (Complete thought) > handsome: one-place predicate
+ Henry is afraid… (Elliptical) Henry is afraid of ghosts/ height/ .. > afraid: two-place
predicate.
+ John is asleep > asleep: one-place predicate.
+ Mary loves Peter > love: two-place predicate.
+ She gave him a shirt > Give: three-place predicate.
+ Barara is lovely > lovely: one-place predicate
+
4. Identify the meaning relationship in the following utterances or
sentences by using the semiotic triangle. (2.0)

When I said “Dublin (A) has lots of attractions” I meant Dublin (B), Ireland,
not Dublin, Viginia.
Language: “Dublin (A) has lots of attractions”.
Minds/intentions: YES. Refer to Dublin Ireland.
The world: “Dublin (a)(b).

In SYDNEY, “The bridge” means the harbour bridge.

Language: “The bridge”.
Minds/intentions: NO
The world: the harbour bridge

“STOUT” means “short and fat”.

Language: “Stout”,”short and fat”.
Minds/intentions: NO.
The world: NO.

By turning off the music I didn’t mean that you should go.
Language: No
Minds/intentions: YES. Denies that the action was the result of intention of leaving
The world: music.

Trees mean water.

Language: NO
Minds/intentions: NO
The world: Trees, water
 5. Open-ended (2.0)
Chicken is ready to eat.
- Sense 1: Chicken is an animal that is still alive, and it is the time for feeding
- Sense 2: Chicken is a dish that is in our oven and ready to serve.
The queen has fallen off the table
- Sense 1: female reigning monarch
- Sense 2: second highest ranking piece in a game of chess
- Sense 3: third highest card in a suit, behind ace and king.

[a semantic meaning & a pragmatic meaning]

(1) A: Would you like a piece of cake?

B: I’m on a diet.
● The semantic meaning (context-free) of ‘I’m on diet’ is ‘I want to lose
weight by eating the food which is not rich in fat, sugar, etc.’ (=sentence
meaning)
● The pragmatic meaning (context - dependent) of ‘I’m on diet’ is ‘I don’t
want any piece of cake’ or ‘I’m afraid that I have to refuse your invitation’
(=speaker meaning)