UMED

Department of Foreign Languages

Semantics
Task 1
Underline the deictic expressions in the following sentences and describe which type of
deixis (person, time, space) is involved.
a) She was sitting over there.
b) This is the biggest room in the house.
c) Bring him in whenever you’re ready.
d) I’ll see you tomorrow.
e) They were here, looking at this Mercedes.

Task 2
Complete the following utterances with brought / came / took / went as appropriate.
a) 'The patient's temperature _ _ _ _ _ up today.'
b) 'The patient's temperature _ _ _ _ _ down today.'
c) 'That song I heard this morning really _ _ _ _ _ me back to my childhood.'
d) 'The baby's crying _ _ _ _ _ him back to reality.'

Task 3
Which of the following sentences are not semantically well formed? Explain what is
wrong with the ones you reject.
a) She bought this book here at a discount sale.
b) She was given this book there by its author.
c) I would like to buy this book you have there.
d) I don't want that book you have there.
e) I'll come there and meet you at 4.30.
f) I'll go and meet you here at 4.30.

Task 4
Explain the difference in meaning between each pair of sentences.
a) Are you going to the beach party tomorrow?
Are you coming to the beach party tomorrow?
b) His school work is coming along nicely this year.
His school work is going along nicely this year.
c) This really is a difficult problem.
That really is a difficult problem.
d) This is a difficult problem you have.
That is a difficult problem you have.
Task 5
The intransitive verb to come has many idiomatic expressions in common with its transitive
counterpart to bring.
Combine each pair of sentences together with to bring.
For example:
Land is very high-priced. The question of a new site came up.
 .....The high price of land brought up the question of a new site. .....

a) A pocket-sized word-processor has just come out. It is made by a Japanese company.

A Japanese company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
b) We had warm weather this winter. The peach trees will come into blossom a week early.
The warm weather this winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
c) The prime minister takes long walks in the evening. He comes into contact with ordinary
people.
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d) My test results were deplorable. It came home to me how lazy I had been all year.
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e) They excavated the tomb at Ixtapetl. New evidence came to light that there was trans-
Atlantic commerce even then.
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Task 6
Using either to come or to go as the main verb, form inchoative sentences from the
stative descriptions below. That is, make sentences that describe how those states came
to be.

a) Jenkins is raving mad. d) The electric mains are dead.

b) The schedule is awry. e) The party is alive.
c) My predictions are true. f) The milk was sour after three hours in the sun.

Task 7 - Review
Explain what deictic words are. Name the three main types of deixis and give two
examples for each type.

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Task 1 adapted from Semantics, J I Saeed, Blackwell Publishing Limited 2009

and Tasks 2 – 6 adapted from Realms of Meaning, Th R Hofmann, Pearson Education 1993