Exercises on english semantics for students majoring in english for finance and accounting

ACADEMY OF FINANCE Editor: Phan Thi Lan Phuong, MA EXERCISES ON ENGLISH SEMANTICS (For Students majoring in English for Finance and Accounting) FINANCIAL PUBLISHER LỜI NÓI ĐẦU Để đáp ứng yêu cầu giảng dạy học tập môn Ngữ nghĩa học theo chương trình đào tạo cử nhân tiếng Anh Tài Kế tốn, phép Hội đồng Khoa học Đào tạo Học viện Tài chính, Bộ môn Lý thuyết tiếng Dịch Khoa Ngoại Ngữ tổ chức biên soạn Hướng dẫn thực hành môn Ngữ nghĩa học dùng cho hệ Đại học chính qui tiếng Anh Tài Kế tốn Cuốn Hướng dẫn thực hành môn Ngữ nghĩa học biên soạn chủ yếu dựa các tài liệu, giáo trình Ngữ nghĩa học dùng cho hệ đại học đào tạo Cử nhân tiếng Anh có tính đến thời lượng theo khung chương trình đào tạo mà Học viện Tài dành cho môn học Về nội dung, Cuốn Hướng dẫn thực hành môn Ngữ nghĩa học gồm chương: Chương 1: Dẫn nhập Ngữ nghĩa học; Chương 2: Nghĩa từ; Chương 3: Nghĩa câu; Chương 4: Nghĩa phát ngôn; với dạng tập khác nhằm giúp sinh viên củng cố nội dung liên quan đến Ngữ nghĩa học học qua chương Cuốn Hướng dẫn thực hành môn Ngữ nghĩa học tập thể giảng viên Bộ môn Lý thuyết tiếng Dịch biên soạn, gồm: Ths Phạm Lan Phương (Trưởng Bộ môn - chủ biên) và Ths Đào Thị Oanh - Đồng chủ biên; tham gia biên soạn bao gồm: giảng viên Nguyễn Thị Thanh Thanh, Cao Phương Thảo, Bùi Tuyết Mai, Phạm Phương Oanh, Nguyễn Lan Anh, Đoàn Thị Thủy, Trần Minh Thu Tuy có nhiều cố gắng, song hạn chế, chắn Hướng dẫn thực hành mơn Ngữ nghĩa học khó tránh khỏi khiếm khuyết Các tác giả mong nhận góp ý chân thành thầy, giáo, các bạn đồng nghiệp bạn đọc để sách này tiếp tục được hoàn thiện nhằm phục vụ cho việc dạy - học môn học tốt CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS Exercise 1: Below are ten pairs of sentences In each pair, assume that the first sentence is true Then decide what we know about the second sentence, which has the same topic(s) If the first is true, must the second also be true (T)? Or if the first is true, must the second be false (F)? Or does the truth of the first tell us nothing about the truth of the second (X)? 1(a) Rose is married to Tom 1(b) Rose is Tom’s wife 2(a) David is an unmarried adult male 2(b) David is a bachelor 3(a) This knife is too dull to cut the rope 3(b) This knife isn’t sharp enough to cut the rope 4(a) Victoria likes to sing 4(b) Victoria doesn’t sing 5(a) Harold has been here for an hour 5(b) Harold is tired of waiting 6(a) Mr Bond has given up smoking (a) what the SENTENCE I’ll be back later means, or 6(b) Mr Bond used to smoke (b) what JOHN meant in saying it? (a) / (b) 7(a) Mr Bond still smokes 7(b) Mr Bond used to smoke 8(a) Oil paintings are more expensive than watercolors 8(b) Watercolors cost more than oil paintings 9(a) The Carlson Hotel is more than a century old 9(b) The Carlson Hotel has operated for more than a century (5) A dictionary can be thought of as a list of the meanings of words, of what words mean Could one make a list of what speakers (e.g John, you, or I) mean? Yes / No (6) Do you understand this question? Yes / No Exercise 3: Read the following conversation between two people, A and B, at a bus stop one morning (The lines are numbered for reference.) Then answer the questions (1)-(8) 10(a) Alice invited some friends to lunch A: ‘Nice day’ 10(b) Alice has friends B: ‘Yes, a bit warmer than yesterday, isn’t it?’ Exercise 2: Do the following two English sentences mean approximately the same thing? A: ‘That’s right - one day fine, the next cooler’ (1) I’ll be back later, and I will return after some time Yes / No A: ‘Maybe - you never know what to expect, you?’ B: ‘I expect it might get cooler again tomorrow’ (2) Is the answer to the previous question obvious to a normal speaker of English? Yes / No B: ‘No Have you been away on holiday?’ (3) In the light of your reply to (2), if I ask: ‘What did John mean when he said he’d be back later?’, would you be giving the helpful kind of answer that I probably want if you said: ‘He meant that he would return after some time’? Yes / No B: ‘Did you? We’re going to France next month’ A: ‘Oh Are you? That’ll be nice for the family Do they speak French?’ (4) In asking ‘What did John mean when he said he’d be back later?’ is the questioner primarily asking 10 B: ‘Sheila’s quite good at it, and we’re hoping Martin will improve’ A: ‘Yes, we went to Spain’ 11 A: ‘I expect he will I hope you have a good time’ 12 B: ‘Thank you By the way, has the 42 bus gone by yet? It seems to be late’ 13 A: ‘No I’ve been here since eight o’clock and I haven’t seen it’ 14 B: ‘Good I don’t want to be late for work What time is it now?’ 15 A: ‘Twenty-five past eight’ Answer the questions: (1) Does speaker A tell speaker B anything he doesn’t already know in lines 1, 3, and 5? Yes / No (2) Does A’s statement in line give B any new information? Yes / No (3) When B says ‘Did you?’ in line 8, is he really asking A to tell him whether he (A) went to Spain? Yes / No (4) Is there any indication that A needs to know the information that B gives him about travelling to France? Yes / No (5) Does A’s ‘That’ll be nice for the family’ in line give B any information? Yes / No (6) Do A’s statements in lines 13 and 15 give B any information that he (B) needs? Yes / No (7) At what point does this conversation switch from an exchange of uninformative statements to an exchange of informative statements? (8) At what point does the information exchanged begin to be of a sort that one of the speakers actually needs for some purpose in going about his everyday business? Exercise 4: Look at the following utterances and state whether they are intended to be taken literally (Yes) or not (No) (1) Tired traveller: ‘This suitcase is killing me’ Yes / No (2) Assistant in a shop: ‘We regularly the impossible; miracles take a little longer’ Yes / No (3) During a business meeting: ‘It’s a dog-eat-dog situation’ Yes / No (4) During a heated argument: ‘Don’t bite my head off!’ Yes / No (5) Hungry person at the dinner table: ‘I could eat a horse!’ Yes / No Exercise 5: Answer the following questions (1) Can two people hold an ordinary conversation without knowing the meanings of the words they are using? Yes / No (2) Is it reasonable to say, if I use such English words as table and chair in the normal way in my conversation, communicating the usual messages that one does with these and other words, that I know the meanings of the words table and chair? Yes / No (3) If one knows the meaning of a word, is one therefore necessarily able to produce a clear and precise definition of its meaning? Yes / No (4) Conversely, if several speakers can agree on the correct definition of a word, they know its meaning? Yes / No (5) Do you happen to know the meaning of the word ndoho in the Sar language of Chad, Central Africa? Yes / No (6) Would a sensible way to find out the meaning of ndoho be to ask a speaker of Sar (assuming you could find one)? Yes / No (7) The word ndoho in Sar means nine, so it is not a particularly rare or technical word Would any normal adult speaker of Sar be an appropriate person to approach to ask the meaning of the word? Yes / No (8) If a native speaker of Sar insists that ndoho means nine (or the number of digits on two hands, less one, or however he expresses it), while a distinguished European professor of semantics who does not speak Sar insists that ndoho means ten (or dix,or zehn,however he translates it), who you believe, the Sar-speaker or the professor? Exercise 6: Indicate whether each of the following sentence pairs expresses the same or different propositions a Mary read the book / The book was read by Mary b Fred took back the book / Fred took the book back c The cat chased the rat / The cat was chased by the rat d The chef cooked the meal / The chef had the meal cooked 10 CHAPTER TWO: WORD MEANING 2.1 Semantic features and semantic fields Exercise 1: For each group of words given below, state one semantic feature that all ten items have in common, and then state one feature that distinguishes the (a) list from the (b) (Note: F is a tricky, quasi-syntactic feature.) Example: a widow, mother, sister, aunt, seamstress b widower, teacher, brother, uncle, tailor All of these words have the feature HUMAN The (a) words, but not the (b) words, all have the feature FEMALE. (a) bachelor, man, son, paperboy, warlock (b) bull, rooster, drake, ram, gander Feature all the words have Feature the (a) words have (a) skate, ski, canoe, cycle, drive (b) walk, run, skip, jump, hop Feature all the words have 11 Feature the (a) words have (a) book, temple, mountain, road, tractor (b) idea, love, charity, sincerity, fear Feature all the words have Feature the (a) words have (a) typewriter, pencil, ballpoint pen, word processor, chalk (b) book, letter, encyclopedia, novel, notebook Feature all the words have Feature the (a) words have (a) frisbee, disk, plate, pie, wheel (b) globe, bulb, cone, cylinder, pipe Feature all the words have Feature the (a) words have (a) milk, rice, lettuce, spaghetti, corn (b) egg, carrot, cherry, noodle, pea Feature all the words have Feature the (a) words have Exercise 2: For each group of words given below, state what semantic features are shared by the (a) words and the (b) words, and what semantic features 12 distinguish between the classes of (a) words and (b) words The first one is done as an example (a) lobster, shrimp, crab, oyster, mussel (b) trout, sole, herring, salmon, mackerel The (a) and (b) words are [+edible water animal] The (a) words are [+shellfish] The (b) words are [+fish] (a) widow, mother, sister, aunt, seamstress (b) widower, father, brother, uncle, tailor The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are The (b) words are (a) bachelor, son, paperboy, pope, chief (b) bull, rooster, drake, ram, stallion The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are The (b) words are (a) table, pencil, cup, house, ship, car (b) milk, tea, wine, beer, water, soft drink The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are 13 The (b) words are (a) book, temple, mountain, road, tractor (b) idea, love, charity, sincerity, bravery, fear The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are _ The (a) and (b) words are _ The (b) words are _ The (a) words are _ (a) ask, tell, say, talk, converse The (b) words are _ (a) rose, lily, tulip, daisy, sunflower, violet (b) ash, oak, sycamore, willow, beech (c) pine, cedar, jew, spruce, cypress The (a) (b) and (c) words are _ The (a) words are _ The (b) words are _ The (c) words are _ (a) book, letter, encyclopedia, novel, notebook, dictionary chalk (b) typewriter, pencil, ballpoint, crayon, quill, charcoal, The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are _ The (b) words are _ (a) walk, run, skip, jump, hop, swim 14 (b) fly, skate, ski, ride, cycle, canoe, hang-glide (b) shout, whisper, mutter, drawl, holler The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are _ The (b) words are _ 10 (a) alive, asleep, awake, dead, half-dead, pregnant (b) depressed, bored, excited, upset, amazed, surprised The (a) and (b) words are _ The (a) words are _ The (b) words are _ Exercise 3: Identify the semantic features in each of the following words 1.Hair Light Noise 15 Paper 21 Rice Orchid 22 Kangaroo Suit 23 Advantage Waitress 24 Tiptoe Actor 25 Singer Poverty 26 Toothpaste 10 Generation 27 Television 11 Climb 28 Dishonesty 12 Stallion 29 Servant 13 Tax-officer 30 Chocolate 14 Nature 15 Think 16 Room 17 Drink Exercise 4: Organize the given words (and probably those of your own) into four semantic fields: hard, software, strength, mind-blowing, enormous, player, team, cosmonaut, modem, spacious, cursor, orbit, mouse, monitor, ball, striker, off-side, power, housewife, stiff, immense, astonishing 18 Freedom 19 Elm 20 Laptop 16 17 2.2 Sense and reference Exercise 5: Sense and Reference (1) In the case of expressions with constant reference, such as the Sun or the Moon, could a speaker be said to know what they refer to simply by having memorized a permanent connection in his mind between each expression and its referent? Yes / No (2) In the case of expressions with variable reference, such as the man or the middle of the road, could a speaker be said to know what they refer to by having memorized a permanent connection in his mind between each expression and its referent? Yes / No (3) How, in a given situation, would you know that in saying ‘the cat’ I was not referring to a man sitting in an armchair, or to a book in his hand, or to the clock on the mantelpiece? (Remember, from your answer to question (2), that it cannot be because you have memorized a connection between the expression the cat and some particular object, a cat, in the world.) (4) Might it seem reasonable to say, in the case of a referring expression with variable reference, such as the cat, that a speaker has memorized a connection between the expression and a set, or type, of the expression’s potential referents? Yes / No 18 (5) How many potential referents are there for the expression the cat? Exercise 6: Circle your choice (1) In a conversation about a situation where John is standing alone in the corner, ‘John’ and ‘the person in the corner’ have the same referent? Yes / No (2) Consider the following two utterances: ‘Dick believes that John killed Smith’ ‘Dick believes that the person in the corner killed Smith’ Assume that Dick does not know that John is the person in the corner; could one of these two utterances be true and the other false? Yes / No (3) Is “Dick believes that killed Smith” an opaque context? Yes / No (4) The Morning Star is the Evening Star: they are both in fact the planet Venus Assuming that Nancy does not know this, the following make the same claim about Nancy’s wishes? ‘Nancy wants to get married when the Morning Star is in the sky’ ‘Nancy wants to get married when the Evening Star is in the sky’ Yes / No (5) Is Nancy wants to get married when is in the sky an opaque context? Yes / No (6) Imagine a situation in which the last banana on the table is the prize in a game of charades, but that Gary, who came late to the party, is not aware of this Do the following make the same claim in this situation? 19 Jim’s utterance may implicate that Alvin’s utterance may implicate that _ _ (2) Steve: ‘Do you want to go to the movies tonight?’ (7) Mat: ‘What’s the weather going to be like today?’ Jane: ‘My little sister is coming for a visit.’ Jane’s utterance may implicate that Bob’s utterance may implicate that _ _ (3) A: Sally be at the meeting this afternoon? B: Her car broke down. (8) Carmen: ‘A: Can I get petrol somewhere around here?’ B’s utterance may implicate that Maria: ‘There’s a garage around the corner.’ _ Patricia’s utterance may implicate that (4) Gina: ‘Where’s Bill?’ _ Robin: ‘There’s a yellow VW outside Sue’s house.’ Robin’s utterance may implicate that (9) Robert: ‘Uncle buck is coming for dinner.’ Gabriela: ‘I’d better lock up the liquor.’ _ Gabriela’s utterance may implicate that (5) Student: ‘A: Tehran’s in Turkey, isn’t it, teacher?’ _ Teacher: ‘And London’s in Armenia, I suppose.’ (10) Student: Was Mozart born in France? Teacher’s utterance may implicate that Teacher: Was Napoleon born in China? _ Teacher’s utterance may implicate that (6) Gwen: ‘What qualities does John have for this position?’ Alvin: ‘John has nice handwriting.’ 84 Bob: ‘You should bring your umbrella.’ _ (11) Austin: ‘Have you cleared the table and washed the dishes?’ 85 Jenny: ‘I’ve cleared the table.’ Jenny’s utterance may implicate that _ (12) Alice: ‘Would you recommend Mr Smith for the job?’ Max: ‘Mr Smith is an excellent tennis player and has always been polite.’ Ed: ‘I’m not into parties.’ Ed’s utterance may implicate that _ (17) A: ‘What are the Nelsons like?’ B: ‘They were rich.’ Max’s utterance may implicate that B’s utterance may implicate that _ _ (13) Phil’s mother: ‘Is Karl a good philosopher?’ (18) A: ‘What is this examination in English like?’ Phil: ‘He’s got a beautiful handwriting.’ B: ‘It is so easy this time.’ Phil’s utterance may implicate that B’s utterance may implicate that _ _ (14) Paul: ‘Can I play nintendo.’ (19) A: ‘Did you get the milk and the eggs?’ Mother: ‘How is your homework getting along, Paul?’ B: ‘I got the milk.’ Mother’s utterance may implicate that B’s utterance may implicate that _ _ (15) Tom: ‘Have you seen any of Shakespeare’s plays.’ (20) A: ‘Did Laura like the party?’ Janet: ‘I’ve seen some of them.’ 86 (16) Liza: ‘Are you going to the party tonight.’ B: ‘She left after an hour.’ Janet’s utterance may implicate that B’s utterance may implicate that _ _ 87 Exercise 6: In each case below decide which maxim has not been observed and what conversational implicature might be drawn Background information is given in square brackets (1) A: ‘I really like that dinner.’ B: ‘I’m a vegetarian.’ _ (2) A: ‘Would you like a cocktail? It’s my own invention.’ B: ‘Well, mmm uh it’s not that we don’t drink.’ _ (3) A: ‘How are you?’ B: ‘I’m dead.’ _ (4) A: ‘We’re going to the movies.’ B: ‘I’ve got an exam tomorrow.’ _ (7) Policeman [at the front door]: ‘Is your father or your mother at home?’ Small boy [who knows that his father is at home]: ‘Either my mother’s gone out shopping or she hasn’t.’ _ (8) Mother: ‘Now tell me the truth Who put the ferret in the Bathtub?’ Son [who knows who did it]: ‘Someone put it there.’ _ Exercice 7 : Each of B’s utterances below would probably give rise to a conversational implicature Say what the implicature would be, and identify the rule of conversation involved (In one case a clash between two rules is involved.) A: Do you want to go to the movies tonight? B: My little sister is coming for a visit. _ A: Where does Joe live? (5) A: ‘Are you going to Steve’s barbecue?’ B: Either Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids B: ‘A barbecue is an outdoor party.’ _ (6) Teacher [towards the end of a lecture]: ‘What time is it?’ 88 Student: ‘It is 10: 44 and 35.6 seconds.’ A: Where are you going? B: Out. A: Are you going to wear that outfit? B: No, I thought I’d go naked today 89 Exercise 8: In each of the following decide whether each of the inferences in brackets is a presupposition (P) or an implicature (I) derived from the underlined utterance (1) A: ‘My girlfriend lives in New York.’ B: ‘My girlfriend lives in Boston.’ (I have a girlfriend.) (2) A: ‘What?’ B: ‘Why are you laughing at me?’ (You are laughing at me.) (3) A: ‘Why is she eating those?’ B: ‘Her father didn’t give her any supper.’ (She didn’t have any supper.) (4) A: ‘Is John engaged?’ B: ‘He’s bought a ring.’ (John is engaged.) (5) A: ‘You look pleased.’ B: ‘I managed to pass the exam.’ (I tried to pass the exam.) (6) A: ‘Did you finish that report?’ B: ‘I started it.’ (I didn’t finish it.) (7) Paul: ‘I didn’t take it.’ Virginia: ‘Why you always lie?’ (You always lie.) (8) A: ‘What’s with Jean?’ B: ‘She discovered that her central heating is broken.’ (Her central heating is broken.) 90 (9) A: ‘How you like your bath?’ B: ‘Warm.’ (I don’t like it hot.) (10) A: ‘What you think of this necklace and bracelet?’ B: ‘The bracelet is beautiful.’ (The necklace is not beautiful.) (11) A: ‘Has the kitchen been painted?’ B: ‘Tom’s away.’ (No.) (12) A: ‘How come Mary’s all dressed up? B: ‘We’re going to the D-E-N-T-I-S-T.’ (Mary hates the dentist.) (13) A: ‘It works now.’ B: ‘When did Alex fix it?’ (Alex fixed it.) 4.3 Speech acts Exercise 9: Give a situation in which each of the following utterances occurs, interpret its meaning and then classify it according to different types of speech acts ‘Why don’t you spend less time watching TV?’ ‘I advise you to stop smoking.’ ‘I swear I won’t see Martha again.’ ‘I agree with your terms.’ ‘I forbid you to leave your room.’ 91 ‘Why don’t you stop hitting your brother?’ ‘You’re under arrest.’ ‘I guarantee you a seat at next Blue Jay’s game.’ ‘Would you pass the salt?’ 10 ‘I warn you to stay away from my wife.’ 11 ‘I suggest you go to the movies.’ 12 ‘I order you to leave right now.’ 13 ‘Would you like me to give you a ride home?’ 14 ‘What is his e-mail address?’ 15 ‘I would appreciate it if you could the dishes.’ 16 ‘I’d be honored if you came to my party next week.’ 17 ‘It’s obvious that Bill is going to be late for his interview.’ 18 ‘Open the window!’ 19 ‘Can you shut the door when you leave?’ 20 ‘Why don’t we go to the nice Italian restaurant near the museum?’ 21 ‘I hereby apologize sincerely for my rude behavior last night.’ 92 25 ‘Did you know that Allison is going to Europe this summer?’ 26 ‘You’ll be happy to know that the work will be finished tomorrow.’ 27 ‘The meeting is adjourned.’ 28 ‘Can you tell me how much that costs?’ 29 ‘I wonder where Mom went.’ 30 ‘I can’t believe how much nerve that guy has.’ Exercise 10: For each of the following utterances, provide two situations so that one utterance performs two different acts Interpret the utterances and identify the acts performed in the light of the situations you provide ‘Do you feel better today?’ SITUATION 1: SITUATION 2: ‘I beg your pardon.’ SITUATION 1: SITUATION 2: ‘It’s going to rain.’ SITUATION 1: 22 ‘Would you mind getting us an extra menu?’ SITUATION 2: 23 ‘I promise never to touch another glass of booze.’ ‘It’s raining.’ 24 ‘Can’t you sit still for a minute?’ SITUATION 1: 93 SITUATION 2: ‘I said I didn’t.’ SITUATION 1: SITUATION 2: ‘There’s a hole ahead.’ SITUATION 1: SITUATION 2: ‘Keep off the grass.’ SITUATION 1: Mrs Smith: ‘Thank you It was a great shock, but I must get used to it.’ (2) A: ‘Would you like a cup of coffee?’ B: ‘Yes, please.’ (3) Son: ‘Can I go out for a while, Mum?’ Mother: ‘You can play outside for half an hour.’ Exercise 12: Are the following utterances performative (P) or constative (C)? SITUATION 2: ‘I NAME this ship Hibernia.’ ‘I’m very upset that so many of you are talking.’ ‘I BELIEVE in the dictatorship of the Proletariat.’ P / C SITUATION 1: ‘I ADMIT I was hasty.’ P/C SITUATION 2: ‘I THINK I was wrong.’ P/C ‘Be aware of the road.’ ‘I hereby INFORM you that you are sacked.’ P/C SITUATION 1: ‘I GIVE you supper every night.’ P/C SITUATION 2: ‘I WARN you not to come any closer.’ P/C 10 ‘What else you want?’ ‘I TRY to get this box open with a screwdriver.’ P/C SITUATION 1: ‘I PRONOUNCE you man and wife.’ P/C SITUATION 2: 10 ‘I SENTENCE you to be hanged by the neck.’ Exercise 11: Using the locution, illocution, perlocution analysis, analyze the underlined utterance in each of the following dialogues 94 (1) Mrs Smith’s neighbor: ‘I was so sorry to hear about your loss.’ P/C P/C Exercise 13: Also note that the most reliable test to determine whether an utterance is performative is to insert the word hereby and see if the modified utterance 95 is acceptable Can hereby be acceptably inserted in the following utterances? have the same written form but have different and forms ‘I ( ) GIVE notice that I will lock these doors in 60 seconds.’ Yes/No A is a sentence that is necessarily false, as a result of the senses of the words in it ‘I ( ) PROMISED him that I would be at the station at 3:00 pm.’ Yes/No Hyponymy is a relation in which the of a word is totally included in the of another word ‘It ( ) GIVES me great pleasure to open this building.’ Yes/No A is an ideal string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language ‘I ( Yes/No _ is a relation in which two words have different (written and sound) forms and are opposite in meaning ) WARN you not to talk to my sister again.’ ‘I ( ) WARN you that you will fail.’ Yes/No ‘They ( ) WARN her that she will fail.’ Yes/No ‘I ( ) COMMAND you to teach first-year Semantics.’ Yes/No ‘Tokyo ( ) IS the captain of Japan.’ Yes/No ‘I ( ) ASK you to mind your head.’ Yes/No 10 ‘I ( ) BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.’ Yes/No Exercise 14: Fill in each of the blanks with an appropriate word The first one is done as an example Semantics is a branch of linguistics which deals with meaning Homography is a relation in which various words 96 A proposition is that part of the meaning of the _ of a declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs Homophony is a relation in which various words have the _ sound form but have _ meanings and written forms An is the use by a particular speaker, on a particular occasion, for a particular purpose, of a piece of language, such as a sequence of sentences, or a single phrase, or even a single word 10 The _ of a word or an expression is the relationship between that word or expression and the thing, the action, the event, the state of affairs, etc it refers to 11 _ is a violation of semantic rules to create nonsense 97 12 Semantic features are the _ units of meaning in a word languages, there are words which tend to go with others The relation between these is described as (4) _ 13 _ is relations in which various words have the same (sound and written) form but have different meanings b Hyponymy can be defined in terms of (5) _ which means the meaning of one member is “in” the other The hyponym is the one whose (6) _ meaning is narrowed enough to (7) _ by that of the (8) _ The (9) _ meaning of this is more (10) _ than that of the hyponym, i.e it is “in” that of hyponym 14 Any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of a word is ambiguity 15 Partial _ is a relation in which a polysemous word shares one of its meanings with another word 16 A sentence is considered as ambiguous when its structure permits more than one interpretation 17 is a relation in which a single word has two or more slightly different but closely related meanings 18 An _ sentence is one that is necessarily true, as a result of the senses of the words in it Exercise 16: Which of the following are factive and which are nonfactive? (a) John criticized Mark for not working hard enough (b) John acknowledged that Mark was not working hard enough 19 _ meaning is context-free whereas pragmatic meaning is context-dependent (c) I was hoping that the game was cancelled 20 _ is a relation in which various words have different (written and sound) forms but have the same or nearly the same meaning (e) The student forgot that the assignment was due today 21 A _ performs some act and simultaneously describes that act Exercise 15: Fill in the blank with one suitable word a (1) _ sense relations are those existing between lexical items of identical grammatical (2) _ and they can be used (3) _ in English as well as in other 98 (d) It turns out that the game was cancelled (f) The student assumed that the assignment was due today (g) It’s nice that you could get away (h) It’s nice to get away (i) I realized that he had stolen the money (j) I suspected that he had stolen the money 99 Exercise 17: Semantic Features (Nouns) (r) The doctor prescribed bed rest Using the inherent features of nouns discussed in (s) The scissors are missing (t) Are there any requirements for this course? the chapter, analyze the underlined noun in each of the following sentences: (a) Have you made plans for tonight? (b) He had the flu last week (c) The group made its way through the forest (d) He has a very healthy appetite (e) We have managed to stay within our budget (f) She spilled the coffee grounds on the floor (g) Have you any grounds for making such a claim? (h) After the long boat trip, it felt good to stand on solid ground (i) Do you like seafood? (j) My grandparents are coming for visit (k) (l) Exercise 18: In some cases below, the second sentence is semantically related to the first (an entailment and/or a presupposition) In other cases, it is a (generalized) conversational implicature (+>) Identify the latter cases. (a) Hank was sorry that it rained It rained (b) Some of my friends like fudge. Some of my friends don’t like fudge (c) Sue remembered to call Sue was planning to call (d) Jane managed to shut the door It was difficult for Jane to shut the door A herd of caribou crossed the road (e) Jill went into a nearby house The house was not her house Our vacation begins next week (f) Even Fred passed. Fred was least likely to pass (m) She has symptoms of the flu 100 (n) You should take responsibility for the planning (g) The movie is OK. The movie is not fantastic (o) The scenery here is so beautiful (p) Where is the receiver? (h) Bill took off his hat and sat down Bill took off his hat before he sat down (q) My clothes need to ironed (i) It continued to rain. It had been raining 101 ACADEMY OF FINANCE Division of Linguistics and Translation Full name: Class: FINAL SAMPLE TEST Time allowance: 60’ ********** Index number: Date of exam: What is figure of speech? Make a distinction between metaphor and simile and give examples (10 pts) Score (in number) (in letter) Examiner 1: Examiner 2: Scorer 1: Scorer 2: Note: To present your answers, use the space provided only Can you name main types of speech acts? Give examples for different types (10 pts) Can you name types of sentences? Give one example for each type (10 pts) 102 103 Fill in each of the blanks with an appropriate word The first one is done as an example (10pts) Eg: Semantics is a branch of linguistics which deals with meaning They are opening windows The of a word or an expression is the relationship between that word or expression and the thing, the action, the event, the state of affairs, etc it refers to A is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs _ is a relation in which various words have the same sound form but have different meanings and written forms _ is a relation in which the referent of a word is totally included in the referent of another word A sentence is considered as _ ambiguous when its structure permits more than one interpretation Explain the ambiguity in each of the following sentences by providing two sentences that paraphrase its two different meanings (10 pts) Look at the dog with one eye He fed her cat food Interpret the meaning of the following sentences and state what kind of figures of speech used in each of them? (10 pts) Most of the students think the next exam will be a piece of cake so they spend time on relaxing John pays more attention the lecture than Jane “Susan, in this financial crisis, I am afraid that my company have to let you go.” Harry isn’t coming to the party Tell Joe that we’ll see him next week. 104 105 B: “I would sell it if I were you.” I have four mouths to feed at home A: “Can I help you?” “Oh great! Now you have broken my new camera.” B: “Yes, I’m looking for some cheap shoes.” His parents bought him a new set of wheels A: “Can you set the table, please?” B: “I’m tired to death now.” Interpret the meaning of the utterance in italic and classify it according to different types of speech acts (10 pts) A: “I was so sorry to hear about your loss.” B: “Thank you for your great sympathy.” Interpret the meaning of the utterance in italic and classify it according to different types of speech acts (10 pts) A: “I was so sorry to hear about your loss.” B: “Thank you for your great sympathy.” Son: “What does the sign say, Mom?” Mother: “Keep off the grass.” Son: “What does the sign say, Mom?” Mother: “Keep off the grass.” A: “My car breaks down again.” 106 107 A: “My car breaks down again.” B: “I would sell it if I were you.” The utterance presupposes that “How long have you been in Paris?” The utterance presupposes that 10 Write down one implicature that can be drawn from the second speaker’s response in each of the following conversations (15 pts) A: “Can I help you?” B: “Yes, I’m looking for some cheap shoes.” A: “Mind your head!” B: “Thank you for your warning!” Identify the presupposition(s) in each of the following sentences (5pts) “I wish I would have won the million-dollar-jackpot last night.” The utterance presupposes that 1.A: “I hear you’re always late for the class.” B: “Well, sometimes I am.” B’s utterance may implicate that 2.A: “Have you brushed your teeth and tidied your room?” B: “I’ve tidied my room.” B’s utterance may implicate that A: Would you like to go to the movies tonight?” B: “I’ve got an exam tomorrow.” B’s utterance may implicate that 4.A: “What subjects is Jack taking?” B: “He’s not taking Math.” “My sister-in-law didn’t buy a new pair of shoes.” B’s utterance may implicate that The utterance presupposes that Mother: “Now tell me the truth Who hid my money?” “If I were you, I wouldn’t act in such a showy way.’ Son [who knows who did it]: “Someone hid your money.” The utterance presupposes that Son’s utterance may implicate that “Did John not aware that Mary is pregnant? A: “Did you finish that assignment?” 108 109 B: “I started it.” B’s utterance may implicate that A: “Did Mary like the party?” B: “She left after an hour.” B’s utterance may implicate that A: “Did you buy the car?” B: “It cost twice as much as I thought it would.” B’s utterance may implicate that A: “‘Has the kitchen been painted?” B: “David’s away.” B’s utterance may implicate that 10 A: “Did you manage to fix that printer?” B: “I tried to.” MỤC LỤC CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS CHAPTER TWO: WORD MEANING 11 2.1 Semantic features and semantic fields 11 2.2 Sense and reference 18 2.3 Denotation and Connotation 24 2.4 Figures of speech 27 2.5 Word relations 40 CHAPTER THREE: SENTENCE MEANING 57 3.1 Sentence types 57 B’s utterance may implicate that - THE END - 3.2 Parapharse 61 3.3 Entailment 67 CHAPTER 4: UTTERANCE MEANING 77 4.1 Presupposition 77 4.2 Implicature 83 4.3 Speech acts 91 110 111 EXERCISES ON ENGLISH SEMANTICS Chịu trách nhiệm xuất bản: GIÁM ĐỐC - TỔNG BIÊN TẬP Phan Ngọc Chính Chịu trách nhiệm biên soạn: Phan Thi Lan Phuong, MA Biên tập: Trình bày bìa: Ban quản lý Khoa học, Hưng Hà Biên tập kỹ thuật: Hưng Hà Đơn vị liên kết: Học viện Tài chính, số Phan Huy Chú, Q Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội In cuốn, khổ 14.5 x 20.5cm Công ty TNHH Sản xuất Thương mại Hưng Hà Địa chỉ: Số 20, Hoàng Quốc Việt, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội Số xác nhận ĐKXB: /CXBIPH//TC Số QĐXB: /QĐNXBTC ngày tháng năm Mã ISBN: 978-604-79 In xong nộp lưu chiểu năm 201 112 ... look on the dark side of things): wind (as in The wind is blowing hard) and wind (as in wind one’s watch): deny and admit: host and guest: 10 evaluate? ?and? ?instinctive: 11 horde? ?and? ?few: 12 era? ?and? ?moment:... superordinate and a hyponym pig and sow virtue and honesty tree and beach emotion and fear color and lavender meat and pork bird and sparrow star and nova living thing and tree 10 vehicle and sport... any information? Yes / No (6) Do A’s statements in lines 13 and 15 give B any information that he (B) needs? Yes / No (7) At what point does this conversation switch from an exchange of uninformative