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Exercises Unit1 2 Semantics

The document discusses sentence meaning versus speaker meaning. Sentence meaning refers to the literal or defined meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. Speaker meaning refers to what is intended or implied by the speaker rather than just the literal definition. Some examples provided illustrate sentence meaning, like "A bachelor is an unmarried man" while others illustrate speaker meaning, like "My feet are killing me." The document also discusses how a semantic theory should account for both sentence meaning and speaker meaning. It provides examples and asks the reader to determine which aspect of meaning is involved. Finally, it addresses the difference between a sentence and an utterance, defining a sentence as a grammatically complete thought and an utterance as a piece of language used by

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Kiều Oanh
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842 views

Exercises Unit1 2 Semantics

The document discusses sentence meaning versus speaker meaning. Sentence meaning refers to the literal or defined meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. Speaker meaning refers to what is intended or implied by the speaker rather than just the literal definition. Some examples provided illustrate sentence meaning, like "A bachelor is an unmarried man" while others illustrate speaker meaning, like "My feet are killing me." The document also discusses how a semantic theory should account for both sentence meaning and speaker meaning. It provides examples and asks the reader to determine which aspect of meaning is involved. Finally, it addresses the difference between a sentence and an utterance, defining a sentence as a grammatically complete thought and an utterance as a piece of language used by

Uploaded by

Kiều Oanh
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Unit 1

5. 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

 It is sentence meaning

b. A red light means ‘stop’

 It is sentence meaning

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

 It is sentence meaning

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

 All of them are speaker meaning

e. My feet are killing me.

 It is speaker meaning

Explanation: In sentences a, b and c, there are clear and has literal meaning, so these are
sentence meaning. The sentences d and e are the speaker meaning because these are the
intended of the speaker.
7. 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 President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief  sentence meaning

b. She can’t bear children  speaker meaning

c. You’re sitting in the apple-juice seat  speaker meaning

d. How long did John stay in New York?  sentence meaning

e. A tulip is a flower  sentence meaning

f. John’s present wife is unmarried  speaker meaning

g. The car needs to be washed  sentence meaning

h. If John killed Bill is true, then so is Bill is dead  speaker meaning

Unit 2

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

 No, semantics also indicate the conventions used in the text to distinguish a sentence
from phrase, clause and etc.

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


a. A sentence is grammatically and a complete thought. It has not physical event and
physical object.

Ex: I am a teacher.

b. A piece of language by one person in particular time, place and event. It can be a
single word, a phrase or a sentence.

Ex: ‘Hello’ ‘How are you ?’

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