SEMANTICS Semantics Thư Viện Tài Liệu Tổng Hợp Com SEMANTICS

SEMANTICS Semantics Thư Viện Tài Liệu Tổng Hợp Com SEMANTICS tài liệu, giáo án, bài giảng , luận văn, luận án, đồ án, bà...

LAC HONG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES : SEMANTICS : 30 : LE DUC THINH, M.A : COMPLIED BY THE INSTRUCTOR SUBJECT PERIODS INSTRUCTOR Course book Reference books: Semantics: A Course book by Hurford, J.R & Heasley Cambridge: CUP (1984) Semantics Review by Đặng Thị Hướng National University of HCM City (1997) English Semantics by Tô Minh Thanh National University Publishing House of HCM City (2007) CONTENTS: No CONTENTS PERIODS - Introduction to Semantics - Utterance, Sentence and Proposition - Denotative and Connotative Meanings - Sense Relations (1) + Hyponymy, Hyponyms + Synonymy, Synonyms (True and Partial Synonyms) + Antonymy, Antonyms (Binary, Gradable and Relational Antonyms) + Paraphrases + Entailments - Sense Relations (2) + Polysemy + Homonymy + Homophony + Homography + Ambiguity (Lexical and Structural) - Figures of Speech - Presuppositions - Implicatures - Mid-term Test - Speech Acts + Kinds of Meaning + Types of Speech Acts Revision TOTAL 30 GRADING CRITERIA - Attendance: 10% - Discussion, Presentation, Assignments, and Minor tests: 30% - Final Test: 60% FINAL TEST FORMAT Time: 60 MINUTES Contents: parts (Examinees are not allowed to use any types of documents) Theory (3.0 marks) Ambiguity (Disambiguate ambiguous sentences (1.5 marks) Figures of Speech (Interpret sentences and identify the figure(s) of speech employed (1.5 marks) Presuppositions (Identify the presupposition(s) from two utterances) (1.0 mark) Implicature (Draw implicature(s) that can be drawn from the conversations.) (1.0 mark) Speech Acts (2.0 marks) INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SEMANTICS What is Semantics? Semantics is a study of MEANING in LANGUAGE [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 1] Word meaning (lexical meaning) or sentence meaning is what a word or a sentence means, i.e “what it counts as the equivalent of in the language concerned.” Speaker meaning (utterance meaning) is “what a speaker means (i.e tends to convey) when he uses a piece of language.” Practice: Read the two conversations below and then answer the questions Conversation A: “Nice day” B: “Yes, a bit warmer than yesterday, isn’t it?” A: “That’s right - one day fine, the next cooler” B: “I expect it might get cooler again tomorrow.” A: “Maybe – you never know what to expect you?” B: “No Have you been away on holiday?” A: “Yes, we went to Spain.” B: “Did you? We’re going to France next month.” A: “Oh, are you? That’ll be nice for the family Do you speak French?” B: “Sheila’s good at it, and we hope Martin will improve.” A: “I expect he will I hope you have a good time.” B: “Thank you By the way, has the 42 bus gone by yet? It seems to be late.” A: “No I’ve been here since o’clock and I haven’t seen it.” B: “Good I don’t want to be late for work What time is it now?’ A: “Twenty-five past eight.” [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 3-4] Conversation Husband: “When I go away next week, I’m taking the car.” Wife: “Oh Are you? I need the car here to take the kids to school.” Husband: “I am sorry, but I must have it You’ll have to send them on the bus.” Wife: “That’ll be nice for the family Up at the crack of dawn, and not home till midevening! Sometimes you’re very inconsiderate.” Husband: “Nice day” [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 5] Questions The second conversation includes three utterances which are also used in the first conversation between A and B Identify these utterances and interpret the meanings of them At what point does the information exchanged in conversation begin to be of a sort that one of the speakers actually needs for some purpose in going about his everyday business? Comments: It is true that many sentences are used by speakers not to give information at all, but to keep the social wheels turning smoothly Speaker meaning (utterance meaning) can include courtesy and hostility, praise and insult, endearment and taunt The same sentences can be used by the same speaker or different speakers on different occasions to mean different things The gap between speaker meaning and sentence meaning is that it is even possible for a speaker to convey a quite intelligible intention by using a sentence whose literal meaning is contradictory or non-sensical Unit UTTERANCE, SENTENCE and PROPOSITION Distinction between an utterance and a sentence UTTERANCE SENTENCE “An utterance is any stretch of talk, by one “A sentence is a grammatically person, before and after which there is silence complete string of words expressing a on the part of that person.” complete thought.” [Hurford & Heasley, “An utterance is the use by a particular 1984: 18] speaker, on a particular occasion, of a piece of language, such as a sequence of sentences Ex1: Would you like coffee? (a sentence) or a single phrase or even a single word.” Ex2: My mother is a teacher My father is a [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 15] doctor (two sentences) Ex1: “Coffee?” (an utterance) Ex2: “My mother is a teacher My father is a doctor.” (an utterance) Note 1: Books contain no utterances (since books don’t talk) Therefore, in semantics we need to make a careful distinction between utterances and sentences We adopt the convention that anything written between quotation marks represents an utterance, and anything italicized represents a sentence or part of a sentence such as a phrase or a word Note 2: Utterances of non-sentences, e.g short phrases, or single words are commonly used by people in communication People don’t converse wholly in (tokens of) well-formed sentences, but the abstract idea of a sentence is the basis for understanding those expressions which are not sentences Ex: A: “When were you born?” B: “In 1978” Proposition “A proposition is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs The state of affairs typically involves persons or things referred to by expressions in the sentence.” [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 19] Propositions, unlike sentences, cannot be said to belong to any particular language Sentences in different languages can correspond to the same proposition, if the two sentences are perfect translation of each other [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 21-22] The following pair of sentences expresses the same proposition: I’m cold Tôi lạnh She picks up her children at their school every day Every day she picks her children up at their school The following pair of sentences expresses the different propositions: I not like you I hate you She was injured by a stone She was injured with a stone 3 Distinction between an utterance, a sentence and a proposition “It is interesting to note that the same proposition can be expressed by different sentences and that the same sentence can be realized by different utterances on particular occasions.” [Thanh, 2007:96] PROPOSITION SENTENCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE SENTENCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE SENTENCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE PRACTICE 1 Mark each of the following statements true (T) or false (F) One proposition can be expressed by only one sentence A proposition is the basic meaning which a sentence expresses An utterance cannot consist of more than one sentence “Good morning” is not an utterance Each of the following pairs of sentences has the same proposition: a Harry sent me his book Harry sent his book to me b I gave her a book yesterday She was given a book by me yesterday c The fly is on the wall The wall is under the fly d John caused Janet to die John killed Janet e Lan ghét Thi Lan doesn’t love Thi f Tom loves Ann Ann loves Tom The same sentence may be used by different speakers on different occasions to mean different things The same sentence may be used by the same speakers on different occasions to mean different things Speaker meaning is always the same as word meaning or sentence meaning A sentence can be true or false but a proposition is always true 10 It would make sense to say that a sentence was in a particular accent 11 Accent and voice quality belong strictly to the utterance, not to the sentence uttered 12 A single proposition can be expressed by using several different sentences in different languages 13 A single sentence can be uttered several times in different languages 14 Sentences in different languages can correspond to the same proposition if they are perfect translations of each other Fill in the chart below with “Yes” or “No” Ways to consider loud or quiet grammatical or not true or false in a particular regional accent in a particular language Propositions Sentences Utterances Unit SENSE RELATIONS (1) I Denotative and Connotative Meanings Denotative Meaning (Denotation) Connotative Meaning (Connotation) The denotation of a word is a core, The connotation of a word is the central or referential meaning of the word additional meaning that the word has beyond found in a dictionary In English a content its denotative meaning It shows people’s word may have its denotation described in emotions, and/or attitudes towards the word terms of set of semantics features that serve refers to [Thanh, 2007: 30] to identify the particular concept associated The connotation of a word may depend on with the word [Thanh, 2007: 30] such factors as the culture in which the word is The denotation of a word can be easily used, the language user’s family, ethnic group, found in a dictionary educational background and/or political Ex: Woman is denotatively described as class,… [+mature] and [female] Ex1: Under a certain circumstance, woman may positively be connoted as [devoted] and/or [patient] Under another circumstance, woman is negatively connoted as [talkative], and/or [small-minded] Note 1: Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, not always have the same connotation/emotional meaning For example, the words stingy and frugal both mean “careful with money” However, to call a person stingy is an insult while the word frugal has a much more positive connotation Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called synonyms are not really synonyms at all Note 2: The connotation(s) of a word can be positive, and/or neutral and/or negative PRACTICE Identify all the possible connotations associated with the following nouns fox, pig, lion/lioness, ox, child, cave, fairy, fish, rose,… Clarify the differences between denotation and connotation Discuss the value(s) of connotation II Hyponymy Definition Hyponymy is a sense relation in which the referent of a word is totally included in the referent of another word In other words, hyponymy is the relationship between each of the hyponyms and its hypernym or superordinate (the “higher” word) [Thanh, 2007: 57] A Hyponym is a word whose referent is totally included in the referent of another word (the prefix hypo- in hyponym means “below”) [Thanh, 2007: 57] A hypernym (or superordinate) is a word whose referent covers all the referents of its hyponyms Ex1: cook grill toast boil fry roast bake smoke ……… Hyponyms often exist at more than one level, resulting in multiple layers of hyponymic relationships Ex2: animal fish reptile mammal insect ……… human cattle (beast) PRACTICE 3: Draw a chart to show the relationship between a superordinate and a hyponym luggage and suitcase plant and rose flower and tulip vehicle and car furniture and dressing table III Synonymy 3.1 Synonymy Synonymy is a relation in which various words have different written and sound forms but have the same or nearly the same meaning [Thanh, 2007: 63] Ex: Hide (v) – conceal (v) are synonyms They both mean keeping someone/something from being seen or known about There are two main kinds of synonymy: true synonymy and partial synonymy 3.2 Distinction between true synonymy and partial synonymy True Synonymy Partial Synonymy True Synonymy is a relation in which two or Partial Synonymy is a relation in which a more various words are written and polysemous word shares one of its meanings pronounced differently but have the same with another word meaning Ex: Deep (adj) – profound (adj) are two Ex: Hide (vt) - conceal (vt) are two true partial synonyms One meaning of deep is synonyms They both mean keeping synonymous with profound someone/something from being seen or known Partial synonyms cannot be used about interchangeably in every case True synonyms can be used interchangeably in Ex1: You have my deep/profound sympathy every case (Both deep and profound can be used in Ex1: He wanted to hide/conceal his feeling interchangeably in this case.) Ex2: He found a gold ring hidden/concealed Ex2: The river is very deep at this point (In under his bed this case, profound cannot be used in place of * There are few true synonyms in the deep.) lexicon of English PRACTICE In the following sentences, the capitalized pairs of words have the same sense? The thief tried to CONCEAL/HIDE the evidence I’m going to BUY/PURCHASE a new car Her daughter is now RIPE/MATURE You have PROFOUND/DEEP sympathy How WIDE/BROAD is your house? He comes to see us every AUTUMN/FALL How many KIDS/CHILDREN you have? The bag was found in the BOOT/TRUNK of the car Her house stands at the EDGE/SIDE of the lake 10 If the weather PERMITS/ALLOWS, we will go fishing tomorrow IV Antonymy 4.1 Definition Antonymy is a relation in which two words have different written and sound forms and are opposite in meaning Ex: Pass (v) – fail (v), hot (adj) – cold (adj) are two pairs of anonyms There are three main kinds of antonymy: binary (complementary) antonymy, gradable antonymy, and relational antonymy 4.2 Distinction between binary antonymy and gradable antonymy Binary Antonymy Gradable Antonymy Binary Antonymy is a relation in which two Gradable Antonymy is a relation in which two members of a pair of antonyms: members of a pair of antonyms: (a) are mutually exclusive; (a) are gradable; Ex: “not alive” is “dead” and “not dead” is Ex: Between “hot” and “cold” there are some “alive” intermediate terms such as “warm”, “tepid”, “not true” is “false” and “not false is “cool”,… “true” (b) can be used in comparative or superlative (b) cannot be used in comparative or sense; superlative sense; Ex: “more difficult”; “the easiest” Ex: “He is more alive.” cannot be used (c) cannot be used with very, very much or/and (c) can be used with very, very much or/and in in questions with how to ask about degree; questions with how to ask about degree; Ex: We cannot make such questions as “How Ex: We can make such questions as “How false is the test? How alive is he?” difficult is the test? How hot is it?” Therefore, alive – dead and true – false are Therefore, hot - cold” and difficult – easy are two pairs of binary antonyms two pairs of gradable antonyms 4.3 Relational antonymy Relational Antonymy is a relation in which two members of a pair of relational antonyms (converses) display symmetry in their meaning The “if …, then…” formula can be used to test and identify relational antonyms Ex1: If Mr Brown is Jack’s employer, then Jack is Mr Brown’s employee Ex2: If John bought a car from Fred, then Fred sold a car to John Therefore, employer – employee and buy – sell are two pairs of relational antonyms Relational Antonyms belongs to various word classes: a) Verbs: buy – sell, give – receive, lend – borrow, import - export, own – belong to,… b) Nouns: employer-employee, grandparent – grandchild, teacher – pupil, husband – wife,… c) Comparative adjectives: thinner – fatter, cheaper – more expensive, newer – older,… d) Comparative adverbs: faster – more slowly, more efficiently – less efficiently,… e) Prepositions: above – below, in front of – behind, after – before,… In addition, there are large numbers of systems of multiple incompatible antonyms which may be open-ended Ex1: spring, summer, autumn, winter Ex2: heart, diamond, club, spade Ex3: black, blue, green, red, white,… Ex4: lotus, orchid, rose, sunflower, tulip,… PRACTICE State whether the following pairs of antonyms are binary (B), gradable (G), or relational (R) good - bad easy – difficult pass - fail 10 hot-cold expensive - cheap 11 rude – polite parent - offspring 12 same – different beautiful - ugly 13 love – hate false - true 14 correct – wrong import - export 15 always - never better than – worse than 16 dead – alive Think of more examples of systems of multiple incompatible antonyms V ENTAILMENT 5.1 Definition “Entailment is a relationship that applies between two sentences where the truth of one implies the truth of the other because of the meaning of the words involved.” [Goddard, 1998: 17] Ex: John killed Bill entails Bill died Hyponymy involves entailment Ex: John gave Lan a rose yesterday entails John gave Lan a flower yesterday I lost some dollars yesterday entails I lost some money yesterday However, “rules stating the relationship between hyponymy and entailment are somewhat complex although most of the logical principles involved are well understood.” [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 111] Here after are some typical cases which present problems + Look at some sentences involving the word all below A B John gave Lan all his roses yesterday John gave Lan all his flowers yesterday I lost some all my dollars yesterday I lost all my money yesterday In this case, the sentences in column B entail the sentences in column A However, the entailment from B to A only holds when the set of things referred to by the phrase including all exists For example, John gave Lan all his flowers yesterday entails John gave Lan all his roses yesterday only if all John’s flowers actually includes roses + Hereafter is another case of gradable words such as big, tall, small etc A B John saw a big mouse last night John saw a big animal last night She met a tall pygmy last week She met a tall person last week There are no entailment relations between these sentences Although a mouse is an animal, a big mouse is not a big animal Similarly, a pygmy is a person, but a tall pygmy is not a tall person The presence of gradable words upsets the normal relationship between hyponymy and entailment 5.2 Characteristics + “Entailment applies cumulatively Thus if X entails Y and Y entails Z, then X entails Z.” [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 108] Ex: Some boys ran down the street (X) entails Some kids ran down the street (Y) Some kids ran down the street (Y) entails Some kids went down the street (Z) Therefore, Some boys ran down the street (X) entails Some kids went down the street (Z) 5.3 Types of entailment There are two types of entailment: one-way entailment (asymmetrical) and two-way entailment (symmetrical entailment or paraphrase) One-way Entailment Two-way Entailment (Paraphrase) One-way Entailment which is also called Two-way Entailment (Paraphrase) which is asymmetrical entailment is a relation that also called symmetrical entailment is a applies between two sentences where the relation that applies between two sentences truth of one implies the truth of the other but where the truth of one implies the truth of the not vice versa because of the meanings of the other and vice versa because of the meanings words involved of the words involved The entailments of this type come about because of hyponymic relations between Ex: Paul borrowed a car from Sue words symmetrically entails Sue lent a car to Ex: Alfred saw a bear asymmetrically entails Paul Alfred saw an animal If Paul borrowed a car from Sue then Sue If Alfred saw a bear then he necessarily saw necessarily lent a car to Paul, and if Sue an animal, but if he saw an animal, he could lent a car to Paul then Paul necessarily have seen a bear, but not necessarily It could borrowed a car from Sue Therefore, Paul be a wolf, an elephant, or a tiger, for borrowed a car from Sue and Sue lent a car example to Paul are paraphrases of each other VI PARAPHRASE 6.1 Definition There are various definitions of paraphrase The following are just some typical ones of them “A sentence which expresses the same proposition as another sentence is a paraphrase of that sentence [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 104] “Sentences are paraphrases if they have the same meaning (except possibly for minor differences in emphases [Fromkin & Rodman, 1993: 132] 10 Personification “Personification is a special kind of metaphor in which some human characteristic is attributed to an inanimate object or abstract notion, that is, a lifeless thing or quality is stated as if it were living.” [Thanh, 2007: 37-39] Ex: The wind was blowing angrily when he went out of the house Metonymy “Metonymy is the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another to which it is related/with which it is associated.” [Thanh, 2007: 37-39] Ex1: He is the best pen The best pen in this case is a metonymy, used to stand for the best writer The sentence means He is the best writer 3.1 A sign substitutes for the person or the object it signifies or symbolizes - Can you protect your children from the cradle to the grave? (=from childhood to death) - He succeeded to the crown 3.2 An instrument substitutes for an agent - The pen (= the writer) has more influence than the sword (=the soldier) - We need a force of a thousand rifles (= soldiers) 3.3 A container substitutes for the thing contained - The kettle (=the water in the kettle) is boiling - Why don’t you recognize the power of the purse? (= the money) 3.4 The concrete, like an organ of a human body, substitutes for the abstract such as love, hatred, sincerity, a mental ability, a natural talents, etc - She has an ear for music (= She possesses a remarkable talent for learning, imitating, appreciating, etc music.) - She has a good head of business (= She is clever at dealing with business.) 3.5 The abstract substitutes for the concrete - His Holiness (= The Pope) has just come back to Rome 3.6 The material substitutes for the thing made - All our glass is kept in this cupboard (= vessels and articles made of glass) - He was buried under this stone (= the tomb made of stone, tombstone) 3.7 An author/a producer/a place where goods are made substitutes for his work(s)/product(s) - Have you ever read Homer? (= the works of Homer) - I love old china (=crockery made in China) Synecdoche “Synecdoche is a special kind of metonymy in which a part of an aspect of a person, object, etc is meant to refer to the whole person, object, etc.” [Crowther 1922: 925] Ex1: He has a kind heart A kind heart in this case is a synecdoche, used to stand for a person The sentence means he is a kind/kind-hearted person Ex2: He is a man of seventy winters (=years of age) Ex3: This is a village of only more than one hundred souls (=people) 17 Hyperbole “Hyperbole, which is also called overstatement, is the use of exaggerated statement that is made for special effect and is not meant to be taken literally.” [Crowther 1922: 446] Below are a few hyperboles - I invited millions of people to my party (a lot of people) - She sheds floods of tears whenever she is upset (cries a lot) - Don’t live in such a sea of doubt (Don’t be too suspicious.) Litotes “Litotes, which is also called meiosis, is the use of deliberately gentler, milder, or weaker statements to express something in a controlled way.” [Thanh, 2007: 45] Ex1: I don’t think I would agree with you (=I disagree with you.) Ex2: I am afraid that no passenger is allowed to smoke in here (You are not allowed to smoke in here) Quite often, an expression of litotes is an “ironical understatement, especially using a negative to emphasize the contrary.” [Crowther 1922: 527] - It is not bad (= It is fine.) - It wasn’t easy (It was very difficult.) - Always remember that she is not fool (= she is worldly-wise, in fact.) Irony Irony is “the expression of one meaning by saying the direct opposite of one’s thoughts in order to be emphatic, amusing, sarcastic, etc.” [Crowther 1922: 479] Ex1: He is so intelligent that no examiner has agreed to pass him so far Intelligent in this sentence is an expression of Irony, meaning dull Ex2: He is lucky to have an ugly and awkward wife (=extremely unlucky) Ex3: What a lovely day Everything went wrong (a very bad day) Euphemism Euphemism is “the use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate or direct ones to avoid a frightening or unpleasant subject and/or to express a positive connotation.” [Crowther 1922: 305] Ex1: Her beloved father was laid to rest in this cemetery Was laid to rest in this sentence is a Euphemism, meaning was buried Ex2: His father passed away when he was seven years old (died) PRACTICE 8: Interpret the following sentences and identify the figure(s) of speech employed My hands are as cold as ice Tom eats like a horse She has a heart of stone He was a lion in the fight He is the best pen They organized a fleet of fifty sails Spare the rod and spoil the child Many hands make light work She invited millions of people to her twentieth birthday party 10 He is very lucky to have such an ugly and awkward wife 18 11 She is extremely unlucky to have been born in such a prosperous family in a developed European country 12 I found the sixty pounds of books you left for me to carry Your kindness really moved me 13 When you take that course, plan to study thirty hours a day 14 When the White House called, the ambassador went at once 15 My room is like a cave 16 Come to the dormitory and see what a cave I am living in 17 If you are not happy with the service, go and talk to the City Hall 18 I will not let him come under my roof 19 Robert was as sharp as a tack this morning He answered every question as soon as it was asked 20 The river ate its bank away 21 Keep overeating like that and you will weigh a thousand pounds soon 22 The captain was in charge of hundreds of horses 23 Life is a dream 24 His beloved mother was laid to rest in this cemetery 25 Don’t live in such a sea of doubt 26 A thousand thanks are for your kindness 27 Give every man your ears; bid a few your voice 28 I am afraid that he misrepresented the facts 29 He worked and worked until he breathed his last 30 I am the captain of my soul 31 I am starving now 32 His words can be trusted 33 Have you ever read Shakespeare? 34 When he gets going, Jack is a streak of lightning 35 The kettle is boiling 36 Don’t substitute the good for the bad 37 He is a fox 38 Never in a million years will he admit defeat 19 Unit PRESUPPOSITION AND IMPLICATURE 5.1 PRESUPPOSITION 5.1.1 Definition “A presupposition is what a speaker or writer assumes that the receiver of the message already knows.” [Richard et al, 1987: 228] “A presupposition is anything the speaker assumes to be true before making the utterance.” [Peccei, 1999: 19] Ex: “John doesn’t write poems anymore” presupposes that John used to write/once wrote poems “Would you like another glass of beer, Peter?” presupposes that Peter has already had/drunk at least one glass of beer “Presuppositions are inferences about what is assumed to be true in the utterance rather than directly asserted to be true.” Ex: “Ann has been looking for the key to open her safe all this morning.” - Presupposes that both the listener and the speaker know who Ann is and that she has a safe - Directly asserts that Ann has been looking for the key to open her safe (all this morning) Comments Presuppositions can be used to communicate information indirectly Much information exchanged in a conversation or discourse is of this kind Often, after a conversation has ended, we can realize that some fact imparted to us was not specifically mentioned That fact is often a presupposition Ex: A: “Does John still beat his wife?” B: “No, he no longer does that.” The presuppositions in this short conversation are that John has a wife and he once beat his wife 5.1.2 Characteristics The presupposition of an utterance remains the same under its negation and/or interrogation Ex: “Jane stopped going out at night.” “Jane didn’t stop going out at night.” “I don’t know why Jane stopped going out at night?” “Why did Jane stop going out at night?” “When did Jane stop going out at night?” All the utterances above presuppose that Ann used to go out at night 5.1.3 Classification According to George Yule (1998), there are six main types of presuppositions 5.1.3.1 The existential presupposition Relate to the speaker’s use of proper names, possessive constructions, definite article the, definite noun phrases, pronouns he, she, they, it, possessive adjective his, her, their, its, objective pronouns him, her, them, it, etc Such kind of presupposition shows that when making an utterance, the speaker presupposes certain entities to be existed Ex1: “John’s daughter has been in hospital for a week.” The utterance presupposes that John has a daughter Ex2: “The King of Sweden has just left for France.” The utterance presupposes that there is/exists a king in Sweden 20 Ex3: “Could you come to our party this weekend?” The utterance presupposes that we are going to have a party this weekend 5.1.3.2 The factive presupposition Verbs: know, realize, regret, be aware, be odd, be glad, be happy, … Words or linguistic expressions belonging to such kind of presupposition, generally, introduce a presupposed fact Ex1: “Nobody realized that Kelly was ill.” The utterance presupposes that Kelly was ill Ex2: “I wasn’t aware that she was married.” The utterance presupposes that she was married Ex3: “We regretted telling him the truth.” The utterance presupposes that we told him the truth 5.1.3.3 The non-factive presupposition Verbs : dream, wish, hope, pretend, image, … Such kind of presuppositions consists of words or linguistic expressions that when pronounced they affirm certain situations not to be in real world Ex1: “I dreamt that I was rich.” The utterance presupposes that I was not rich Ex2: “Ann pretends to be ill” The utterance presupposes Ann is not ill 5.1.3.4 The lexical presupposition Verbs : manage, stop, start, buy, lose, change, … Adverbs : again, more, no longer, so, such, … In this kind of presuppositions, the semantic properties of the words or linguistic expressions used contain a presupposed fact Ex1: “She wants to change her job” The utterance presupposes has a job already/she is not unemployed Ex2: “She is going to get married again.” The utterance presupposes that she was married at least once before 5.1.3.5 The structural presupposition A w(h)-questions; an embedded question → a complete statement Ex1: “Where did he buy the bike?” The utterance presupposes that he bought a bike Ex2; “How fast was the car going when it ran the red light?” The utterance presupposes that the car ran the red light 5.1.3.6 The counter-factual presupposition When making such kind of utterance, the speaker has to presuppose something that counteracts the fact referred to a) An if clause → a complete statement Ex: “If I had had enough money, I would have bought that house.” The utterance presupposes that I did not have money to buy that house b) An embedded clause after “wish” → a complete statement Ex: “They wish they could go on vacation now.” The utterance presupposes that they cannot go on vacation now c) A clause with a modal perfect verb form → a complete statement Ex: “She shouldn’t have told lies to me.” The utterance presupposes that she told/did tell lies to me 21 PRACTICE 9: Identify the presupposition(s) in each of the following utterances “I wish Lan were here now.” “She finds the Semantics course she is taking difficult.” “She was not aware that her husband loved her younger sister.” “You can borrow Ann’s cassette player.” “I can’t guess when the rain stops.” “Why did Ann pretend to be ill?” “If he had studied hard last week, he would have passed his graduation exam.” “Can you stop playing with your dog?” “Where did you buy the motorbike?” 10 “You are late for the meeting again.” 11 “When did John stop smoking?” 12 “John’s wife is now on business.” 13 “Tim wants more popcorn.” 14 “How long have you been studying English?” 15 “Why did Tom smash his radio?” 16 “I wish I had met Jane yesterday.” 17 “If only he had listened to me.” 18 “She should have called her mother last night.” 19 “When did George stop beating his son?” 20 “When did John get married?” 21 “My sister is going to graduate from Lac Hong University.” 22 “She is drunk again.” 23 “She has just born another son.” 24 “She pretended to be pleased with the gift.” 25 “They are going to have a final examination in Semantics.” 26 “She was not aware that it would hurt her so much.” 27 “John doesn’t write poems anymore.” 28 “He wishes his girlfriend had not said goodbye to him yesterday.” 29 “The police ordered the teenagers to stop drinking.” 30 “I wish I had enough money to buy a house now.” 31 “I regret having told her that news.” 32 “Why don’t pigs have wings?” 33 “We imagined we were in Hawaii.” 34 “John doesn’t accuse Harry of writing the letter.” 35 “That Mary’s turtle ran away makes her very sad.” 36 “The King of Cambodia is going to Korea.” 37 “Emily can’t get over her husband’s death.” 38 “This is my youngest sister.” 39 “I will not let him come under my roof any longer 40 “They should have studied hard from the beginning.” 22 5.2 IMPLICATURE 5.2.1 Definition Implicatures and presuppositions are based on the principle of cooperativeness, which is a basic principle governing conversation The implicature is an additional unstated meaning that has to be assumed to maintain the cooperative principle Presupposition is what of the cooperative principle that the speaker or the writer of a message assumes the listener or the reader already knows This principle can be broken down into four basic conversational maxims, the unwritten rules about conversation, which people know and which influences the form of conversational exchanges The maxim of RELEVANCE: say things that are relevant The maxim of QUALITY: speak truthfully, speak what the speaker believes right The maxim of QUANTITY: give enough needed information but no more The maxim of CLARITY: say something clearly and briefly Some linguists combine the second and the third maxims into one, naming the maxim of Informative IMPLICATURE is an additional unstated meaning that has to be assumed to maintain the co-operational principle In other words, it is what the speaker implies when making an utterance Implicature requires a considerable amount of shared knowledge between the speaker and the hearer; that is to say, it depends much on the context of the utterances There are two main types of implicatures: Conversational implicature and conventional implicature 5.2.2 Distinction between Presupposition and Conversational Impicature Presupposition Conversational Implicature A presupposition is anything the speaker A conversational implicature is an inference assumes to be true before making the or an additional unstated meaning drawn utterance from the situation Conversational implicature is less Presupposition is more straightforward and straightforward and more subjective/personal more objective Conversational implicature is derived from Presupposition is easily drawn before observing or violating one or more maxims making an utterance and drawn after a conversation is over Ex: A: “Will your brother go to the Ex: A: “Will your brother go to the conference in Ha Noi tomorrow?” conference in Ha Noi tomorrow?” B: “He has gone abroad.” B: “He has gone abroad.” B’s utterance may implicate that B’s brother A’s utterance presupposes that A has a will not go to the conference brother and Both A and B know that there will be a conference in Ha Noi tomorrow 23 Following are some more examples about Conversational Implicature Ex1: Charlene : “I hope you bought the bread and the cheese.” Dexter : “Ah! I bought the bread.” Making the utterance, Dexter implies that he did not buy the cheese Ex2; Rick : “Coming to my birthday party tonight?” Tom : “My father is sick” When making the utterance, Tom implies that he will not go to Rick’s birthday party Leila : “What happened to your boss?” Mary : “Let’s go to coffee shop.” When making such irrelevant utterance, Mary implies that she cannot answer Leila question immediately at the place they are, and she will tell Leila at the coffee shop” Ex3; 5.2.3 Conventional implicatures Unlike conversational implicatures, “Conventional implicatures don’t depend on special contexts for their interpretation Unlike lexical presuppositions, conventional implicatures are associated with specific words, but, even, yet, and, and result in additional conveyed meanings when those words are used.” [Yule, 1996: 45] The word but conveys the implicature of contrast, the word even conveys the implicature of not expecting to be, the word yet conveys the implicature of expecting to be, and the word and conveys the implicature of in addition to or plus and then (showing the order of being done of an information cluster) For example: “Mary suggested black, but I chose white.”  The utterance may implicate that the speaker did something in contrast to what was suggested “Even John came to the party.”  The utterance may implicate that John wasn’t expected to come to the party Dennis hasn’t come here yet  The utterance may implicate that Dennis is expected to be here by now She put on her clothes and left the house  The utterance may implicate that she carried out two actions in sequence, i.e one after another 24 PRACTICE 10 Write down one implicature that can be drawn from the second speaker’s response in each of the following conversations 01 Hung: Lan: “I heard that you passed all of your end-of term exams.” “I failed in Semantics.” 02 Thang: Oanh: “Please go to the market to buy me a kilo of sugar.” “It is raining heavily.” 03 Jane: Peter: “Coffee, please?” “It would keep me awake all night.” 04 Son: Mother: “I didn’t take your money.” “Why you always lie?” 05 Jane: Peter: “Are your parents at home tonight?” “My father has gone to Ha Noi” 06 Tom: Denis: “Would you like a cigarette?” “I am coughing a lot.” 07 Father: Son: “Did you water the flowers this morning?” “It rained heavily yesterday.” 08 Jane: Peter: “How you find my necklace and bracelet?” “The necklace is nice.” 09 Jane: Peter: “Have you finished the student’s evaluation form and the reading list?” “I’ve done the reading list.” 10 Mother: Son: “Have you finished your homework and put your books away?” “I have just finished my homework.” 11 Jane: Peter: “What happened to your flowers?” “A dog got into the garden.” 12 Jane: Peter: “Who used all the chalk?” “I used some of it.” 13 Jane: Peter: “Did you buy the book?” “It cost twice as much as I thought it would.” 14 Mother: Daughter: “Has the kitchen been painted?” “My husband is away.” 25 15 Jane: Peter: “How did you on those exams?” “I failed in Semantics.” 16 Jane: Peter: “Did you invite Tom and Jim to your party.” “I invited Jim.” 17 Jane: Peter: “What is this examination in Semantics like?” “It is not easy this time.” 18 Jane: Peter: “Did John like the film?” “He left after fifteen minutes.” 19 Jane: Peter: “Would you like to go to the cinema with me tonight?” “I’ve got an exam tomorrow.” 20 Professor [towards the end of a lecture]: “What time is it?” Student: “It is 10:43 and fifty seconds.” 21 Jane: Peter: “Would you like a hamburger?” “I don’t eat meat.” 22 Waiter: Peter: “Would you like to order lamb? It is the specialty of this restaurant.” “I am on a diet.” 23 Jane: Peter: “Whose turn is it to wash the dishes today?” “I washed them yesterday.” 24 Peter: “I enjoyed being with you at your house when your parents were on business last time Would you like to go out with me tonight?” “My parents have gone on business again.” Ann: 26 Unit SPEECH ACTS 6.1 Definition “A speech act is an utterance as a functional unit in communication.” [Richard et al, 1985: 265] “Quite contrary to the common belief that actions and words are entirely distinct, many actions can actually be performed with words [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 235] 6.2 Characteristics A speech act has two kinds of meanings: propositional meaning (locutionary meaning or locution) and illocutionary meaning (illocutionary force/illocution) Propositional meaning is the basic literal meaning of the utterance which is conveyed by particular words or structures that the utterance contains Illocutionary meaning is the effect the utterance might have on the hearer Ex: Tom: “I’m thirsty.” Janet: “I’ll bring you a glass of water.” - The locutionary meaning of “I’m thirsty” is I am suffering from my thirst - The illocutionary meaning of “I’m thirsty” is Tom indirectly requests Janet to give him something to drink 6.3 Classification According to philosopher Searl (1981), there are five kinds of speech act 6.3.1 Representative Representative is the speech act that represents or describes a state of affairs In other words, a representative is a speech act in which the speaker believes in something that he utters A speaker will make a representative when he is doing the action of asserting, stating a fact, claiming, describing, predicting, reporting, making hypotheses, announcing, informing, etc The representative can generally be characterized as being true or false Ex: David: “Where are you from?” Tom: “I am from England.” - The utterance “I am from England” is a representative Tom directly gives a piece of information concerning where he was born and grew up 6.3.2 Declarative Declarative is the speech act that brings about or changes a state of affairs With a declarative the speaker always causes a change in the world A speaker will make a declarative when he is doing the action of blessing, firing, sacking, arresting, baptizing, marrying, dismissing, calling, naming, selecting, voting, electing, etc Ex1: Vicar: “I now pronounce you two man and wife.” - The utterance “I now pronounce you two husband and wife.” is a declarative The vicar is directly announcing the legal and permanent union between a man and a woman as husband and wife, simultaneously changing their marital status Ex2: Minister of Education: “I resign.” Prime Minister: “ You’ll be free from tomorrow.” - The utterance “I resign” is a declarative; the Minister of Education directly declares to give up his current position 27 The utterance “You’ll be free from tomorrow” is also a declarative; the Prime Minister indirectly declares to dismiss the Minister of Education from his current position Note: “This type of speech act is quite special that it can only count if the speaker has the appropriate authority to perform the type of act.” [Thanh, 2007: 149] - 6.3.3 Commissive Commissive is the speech act that commits the speaker himself to a course of action: promising, threatening, vowing, swearing, intending, offering, etc Ex: - Jenny: “If you don’t stop fighting, I will call the police.’ Bill: “Call them at once to turn your brother in.” “I will call the police” is a commissive: Jenny directly threatens to call the police if Bill and her brother don’t stop fighting 6.3.4 Directive Directive is the speech act that intends to get the listener to carry out an action: commanding, requesting, entreating, inviting, refusing, warning, challenging, suggesting, advising, etc Ex: Ann: “The kitchen is a mess.” Mother: “Clean it up.’ - “Clean it up” is a directive; Ann’s mother directly requests Ann to make the kitchen tidy  Rogative, according to Leech (Pragmatic, 1983), is an extra category to deal with requests for information : Yes-No question, Wh-question, alternative question, echo question, tag question Note that while directives are requests for actions, rogative are questions for verbal answering Asking is the particular illocutionary force of Rogative (upon Searl’s opinion, asking is the illocutionary force of Directive) 6.3.5 Expressive Expressive is the speech act that indicates the speaker’s psychological states, feelings, emotions, etc Expressives generally have the illocutionary force of greeting, apologizing, congratulating, condoling, complimenting, complaining, thanking, leave-taking, etc Note that a sentence usually has more than one kind of speech acts To know exactly the kind of the speech acts, we have to identify the situation and the illocutionary force (that is to say, what the speaker is doing) of the utterance For example, “What else you want?” will be a directive when it contains the illocutionary force of asking for information, but it will be a commissive if the speaker utters the in order to threaten his/her opposite person PRACTICE 11 For each of the following sentences, provide two situations so that one sentence can be used to perform two different acts with two different utterances Interpret the utterances and identify the acts performed in the light of the situations you provide Ex: We are running out of time 28 Situation 01 : Tom and Jane, who are husband and wife, are going to leave home for the airport to fly to Singapore Jane spends a lot of time making up while it is getting late Tom: “We are running out of time.” Jane: “OK I’ll finish soon.” By uttering “We are running out of time” Tom indirectly urges his wife, Jane to hurry up so that they can go to the airport in time to catch the plane Therefore, Tom’s utterance “We are running out of time” in this conversation is a DIRECTIVE  Situation 02 : In a classroom, John says to Ann, “We are running out of time” to inform that the class time is going to be over John: “We are running out of time.” Ann: “I am looking forwards to escaping from such a boring lesson.” By uttering “We are running out of time” John directly informs Ann that the class time is going to end Therefore, John’ utterance “We are running out of time” in this conversation is a REPRESENTATIVE Can you shut the door? My essay is due tomorrow Let’s go to our place for a drink I don’t know how to answer your question Would you like a cup of coffee? If you don’t try your best, you will fail in your exams I’ve stopped smoking It is raining heavily now I’ve got to go now 10 I said I didn’t 11 There is a bend a head 12 Be aware of dogs 13 Keep off the grass 13 I am so upset that so many of you are talking in the classroom 14 What else you want? 15 It is midnight now 16 You are late again 17 There are a lot of mice in the kitchen 18 There is a petrol station ahead 19 Do you think I am a fool? 20 We appoint John the class leader 21 Who will believe in your story? 22 You look lovely today in your new dress 23 Close the door 24 Someone said you got fired 25 Mind your head 26 Why don’t we go out for a walk? 27 Why don’t you live with your parents? 28 There is a big hole in front of our school gate 29 What time is it, John 30 I will not work here from tomorrow  29 FINAL TEST FORMAT AND QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW A END-OF COURSE TEST FORMAT Time: 60 MINUTES Contents: parts (Examinees are not allowed to use any types of documents) Theory (3.0 marks) Ambiguity (Disambiguate ambiguous sentences (1.5 marks) Figures of Speech (Interpret sentences and identify the figure(s) of speech employed (1.5 marks) Presuppositions (Identify the presupposition(s) from two utterances) (1.0 mark) Implicature (Draw implicature(s) that can be drawn from the conversations.) (1.0 mark) Speech Acts (2.0 marks) B QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW I THEORY (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Sentences and Utterances with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Sentences and Utterances (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Denotation and Connotation with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Denotation and Connotation (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Binary Antonyms and Gradable Antonyms with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Antonymy (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Relational Antonyms and Gradable Antonyms with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Antonymy (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Relational Antonyms and Binary Antonyms with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Antonymy (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Homonymy and Polysemy with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Homonymy and Polysemy (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Homographs and Homonyms with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Homographs and Homonyms (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between True Synonyms and Partial Synonyms with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Synomyny (3.0 marks) Clarify the differences between Lexical Ambiguity and Structural Ambiguity with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Ambiguity (3.0 marks) 10 Clarify the differences between Homonyms and Homophones with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Homonyms and Homophones (3.0 marks) 30 11 Clarify the differences between Synonymy and Antonymy with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Synonymy and Antonymy (3.0 marks) 12 Clarify the differences between One-way Entailment and Two-way Entailment with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of One-way Entailment and Two-way Entailment (3.0 marks) 13 Clarify the differences between metaphor and simile with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values metaphor and simile (3.0 marks) 14 Clarify the differences between Presupposition and Conversational Implacature with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Presupposition and Conversational Implacature (3.0 marks) 15 Clarify the differences between Homography and Polysemy with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Homography and Polysemy (3.0 marks) 16 Clarify the differences between Synonymy and Antonymy with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Synonymy and Antonymy (3.0 marks) 17 Clarify the differences between Irony and Euphemism with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Irony and Euphemism (3.0 marks) 18 Clarify the differences between Metonymy and Synecdoche with illustrated examples and interpretations Discuss the values of Metonymy and Synecdoche (3.0 marks) II Explain the ambiguity in each of the following sentences by providing two sentences that paraphrase its two different meanings (1.5 marks) (See Practice 7) III Interpret the following sentences and identify the figure(s) of speech employed (1.5 marks) (See Practice 8) IV Identify the presupposition(s) in each of the following utterances (1.0 mark) (See Practice 9) V Write down one implicature that can be drawn from the second speaker’s response in each of the following conversations (1.0 mark) (See Practice 10) VI For each of the following sentences, provide two situations so that one sentence can be used to perform two different acts with two different utterances Interpret the utterances and identify the acts performed in the light of the situations you provide (2.0 marks) (See Practice 11) THE END 31 ...INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SEMANTICS What is Semantics? Semantics is a study of MEANING in LANGUAGE [Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 1] Word meaning... of comparison of one thing with another which is employed for special effect, and does not have its usual or literal meaning A Simile is an explicit or direct comparison in which something is compared... appropriate authority to perform the type of act.” [Thanh, 2007: 149] - 6.3.3 Commissive Commissive is the speech act that commits the speaker himself to a course of action: promising, threatening,