Sunday, March 30, 2008

1-7 Exercises to do

Unit 1
1. After studying the unit one, you should understand these terms and concepts:

  • semantics
  • linguistics
  • sentence (word) meaning
  • language
  • speaker meaning
  • components of language
  • native speaker (informant)
  • theory of semantics

  • 2. Try to restate in your words each of the following uses of the word mean as it is used in each sentence below. Do you think each use is more reflective of speaker meaning or sentence meaning? Explain.

    a. I mean to be there tomorrow.
  • b. A stalling car may mean a tune-up.

    c. "Calligraphy" means beautiful handwriting.

    d. It wasn't what he said but what he meant.

    e. What does the Arabic word ‘kitab’ mean?

    f. Those clouds mean rain.

    3. What is meant by a theory of semantics? Try to explain this briefly in your own words.
    4. Which of the following items appear to illustrate sentence meaning and which illustrate speaker meaning in the way these concepts were introduced in this unit? Be able to explain your choice.

    a. A bachelor is an unmarried man.

    b. A red light means 'stop'.

    c. A fine product THEY put out! (THEY emphasized)

    d. The sentences in the following pair appear to be opposite in meaning:

    • 1) The bear killed the man.
    • 2) The man killed the bear.

    e. My feet are killing me.


    5. Is meaningfulness synonymous with informativeness? Explain using an example.

    6. A semantic theory should account for items like the following, which we will study in the following units. Can you guess now what aspect of meaning is involved in each example?

    a. The King of Saudi Arabia is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
    b. She can't bear children.
    c. You're sitting in the apple-juice seat.
    d. How long did Ali stay in Hail?
    e. A camel is an animal.
    f. Ali’s present wife is unmarried.
    g. The car needs to be washed.
    h. If Ali killed Ahmed is true, then so is Ahmed is dead.

    7. Semantics "concentrates on the similarities between languages, rather than on the differences" (p.11). Do you agree with this sort of focus? Does it seem too narrow? Why or why not?

    8. Explain the statement "No theory...[including] semantic theory...is complete" (p. 12).

    Unit 2

    1. After studying the unit two, you should understand these terms and concepts:

    • sentence
    • declarative sentence
    • utterance
    • interrogative sentence
    • proposition
    • imperative sentence

    2. Is semantics concerned only with complete sentences? Explain.

    3. Indicate the conventions used to distinguish a sentence from an utterance. Give an illustration of each.

    4. Indicate whether each of the following sentence pairs expresses the same or different propositions.

    a. Laila read the book

    • The book was read by Laila.

    b. Freih took back the book

    • Freih 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.

    e. Hondas are easy to fix

    • It's easy to fix Hondas.
    5. Explain the statement: "Normally, when a speaker utters a simple declarative sentence, he commits himself to the truth of the corresponding proposition: i.e. he asserts the proposition. By uttering a simple interrogative or imperative, a speaker can mention a particular proposition, without asserting its truth."

    6. In each of the following, indicate whether a proposition is asserted or not, and explain why.


    a. Ali left yesterday.
    b. Did Ali leave yesterday?
    c. Can Ali leave this afternoon?
    d. Ali, get out of here.
    e. Ali!
    7. Decide whether each pair of sentences below has the same or different propositional content. If they have the same propositional content, identify the proposition that they both share.


    a. Can Ali have some cake?
    b. Take out the garbage
    c. Can you pass the salt?
    8. Utterances can be loud or quiet, in a particular regional accent, and in a particular language. Can you think of other characteristics of utterances?

    Unit 3

    1. After studying the unit three, you should understand these terms and concepts:

    • sense
    • context
    • reference
    • dialect
    • referent
    • proposition


    2. Can different expressions have the same referent? Give an example not found in this unit.

    3. Can the same expression have different referents? Give an example not found in this unit.

    4. Give an example of an expression that has an invariable referent and of one that has no referent.

    5. Explain the statement, "Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every expression has reference" in your own words.

    6. Does a dictionary definition of a word include everything a typical native speaker knows about the word's meaning? Explain.

    7. Comment of the following examples, making reference to concepts introduced in this unit:


    a. The evening star/The morning star
    b. King of Saudi Arbaia/Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia/Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
    c. Visiting relatives can be boring.
    d. The planet Mars
    e. Beating wife is dangerous.

    Unit 4

    1. After studying the unit four, you should understand these terms and concepts:

    • referring expression
    • indefinite noun phrase
    • definite noun phrase
    • opaque context
    • equative sentence


    2. Which of the following could be used as referring expressions? Be able to explain why or why not.


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

    3. For sentences 3-6 below decide whether the italicized noun phrases are referring expressions or not, and explain why (or why not). If the sentence is ambiguous explain why it is ambiguous.


    a. His father married a teacher.
    b. Ali wants to marry a teacher.
    c. The whale is the largest mammal.
    d. The man who shot Kennedy was Lee Harvey Oswald.
    e. Explain the ambiguity in: I am looking for a pencil.
    f. Create a set of circumstances under which the sentence Ali believes
    that...signed the bill is an opaque context. Use the referring expressions King
    of Saudi Arbaia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in your answer.
    4. Which of the following are equative sentences? Explain why.


    a. Ali is the man with the camel.
    b. Abdulaziz Ibn Saud is the current King of Saudi Arabia.
    c. Al Qassim is a nearby city.
    d. Fahd is a genius.
    e. A box of cookies is what I would like.
    f. Riyadh is not the largest city in Saudi Arabia.

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

    Unit 5

    1. After studying the unit five, you should understand these terms and concepts:

    • predicator
    • predicate
    • argument
    • degree of predicate
    • ellipsis (elliptical)
    • identity relation


    2. Underline the arguments and circle the predicator(s) in each sentence:


    a. Ali is a linguist.
    b. Ali loves Noof.
    c. Noof loves Ali.
    d. Noof gave Ali a book.
    e. Qassim is between Hail and Riyadh.
    f. Laila is Noof’s mother
    g. Yusuf is the Dean of the College.
    h. Yusuf stood near the bank.
    i. Freih is a fool.
    j. Freih is foolish.

    3. Indicate the degree of the predicates used as predicators in each sentence in item 2 above.

    4. How does the concept of predicate in the semantic sense differ from the concept of grammatical predicate? Does one seem to be more revealing than the other?

    5. Do you agree with this statement, “ The prepositions from and of in different from and afraid of "are meaningless linking particles and are not themselves predicates” Consider a sentence such as The letter is from my uncle before reaching a conclusion.

    6. Does the verb ‘be’ in following sentences function as an identity predicate or as a grammatical device for linking a non-verbal predicate to its first argument?


    a. Fahd is happy.
    b. A camel is an animal.
    c. Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud is the king of Saudi Arabia.
    d. God is.
    7. Does it make sense to say that the verb be has a meaning of its own, independent of whether it is used as a linking device or as the identity predicate? Speculate about what it could mean, and don't be concerned if your answer is quite abstract. Many lexical items in the world's languages have very abstract meanings.

    Unit 6

    1. After studying the unit six, you should understand these terms and concepts:
    • generic sentence
    • universe of discourse


    2. Which of the following are generic sentences? Explain.


    a. Americans like to eat apple pie.
    b. Fred likes to buy Uzis.
    c. A bird lays eggs.
    d. My pet finch just laid an egg.

    4. Language can create unreal worlds. Explain with the help of an example.

    5. How was the question of the existence of God resolved with respect to the notion referring expression? How are we able to resolve the apparent difficulty of dealing with such referring expressions as yesterday, four hundred, and the distance between Hail and Riyadh, etc.?

    6. How is it that we can understand speech and writings about non-existent, imaginary worlds?

    7. Construct a short example of a conversational exchange different from the ones given in this unit which illustrates that the participants are working within partially different universes of discourse.

    8. Why is it that "no universe of discourse is a totally fictitious world"? What would happen if this were the case?

    Unit 7

    After studying unit 7, you should understand these terms and concepts:
    • deictic words (deictics)
    • context
    • reported speech
    • definiteness

    2. What parts of speech can function as deictics? List them and give an example or two of each, preferably different from the ones given in this unit.

    3. Are deictics a useful device in language, or are they a burden to the speaker? Explain and illustrate.

    4. Identify all the deictic expressions in the following sentences and be able to explain why they are decitic.

    a. You noticed me standing there.
    b. This book was written by that author over there.
    c. Just set your briefcase to the right of mine.
    d. Now we have to make plans for next week.
    e. Her best friend was standing behind Nora.
    f. All the guests arrived two hours ago.

    5. Use an utterance of your own to report the following utterances from a vantage point distant in time and space. Be sure to change the deictic expressions as needed. Assume the people are speaking to you.

    a. Ali: "I will do that assignment tomorrow."
    b. Ahmed: "I don't see any good books here."
    c. Ali: "Why couldn't you help me last week?"

    6. Is it possible to know the truth value of a sentence with a deictic expression independently of the context in which it is uttered? Give an example and explain.

    7. When is it appropriate to use the definite article the? When is it appropriate to use the indefinite article a?

    8. Think of a context in which it would be appropriate to use the following utterances, and one in which it would be inappropriate:

    a. "I have to read an article for class tomorrow."
    Appropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------
    Inappropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.

    b. "Mary wants to check out the book."
    Appropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.
    Inappropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.

    c. "Did you meet her at a university?"
    Appropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.
    Inappropriate context: ------------------------------------------------------------.


    9. Is the definite article the the only word that signals definiteness? Explain and illustrate.
    10. Are all definite noun phrases referring expressions? Is every noun phrase with the definite article semantically definite? Give examples.

    11. Suppose you accidentally drive the family car through a plate glass window late at night and that your parents know you have been driving the car. You first call your parents, then the police, to report the accident. Which of the following utterances would you most likely say to each party?

    a. "I just drove a car through a plate glass window."
    b. "I just drove the car through a plate glass window."
    c. "I just drove a car through the plate glass window."
    d. "I just drove the car through the plate glass window."

    12. Which utterance in question 11 would you most likely say to the owner of the store whom you contact after calling the police? Explain.

    13. Does the change of articles affect the truth value of the utterances in 11 above?

    14. Consider the following sentences and try to determine what factor the speaker uses in choosing the italicized verb in each. Also comment on the difference in meaning in the choice of different verbs with respect to the speaker's perspective on the scene.

    a. I just called to see if you will be coming to see me tomorrow.
    b. I just called to see if you will be going to see me tomorrow.
    c. She asked me to come to her party, but I didn't go.
    d. Please come in.
    e. Please go in.
    f. Don't bring any food with you.