VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY Student’s full name: .............................................................

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Student ID: ...........................................................................
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE
FULL-TIME PROGRAMME Class code: ...................; Test room: ………………………

Instructor: ………………………………………………………..

FINAL EXAMINATION
Course: ENGLISH SEMANTICS
Time Allotted: 45 minutes Exam Date: __________, 2021

Approved by Proctor Examiner Total Score

Dept. Chair (CBCT) (100%)
1. 1. Score in figures:

2. 2. Score in words:

Notes: No materials or dictionaries are allowed.

Students write their answers in the space provided in this test paper.

1. State whether the following statements are true or false. Write True for true
statements and False for false statements.
a. ___________ Indonesia normally has constant reference.
b. ___________ An indefinite noun phrase cannot be a referring expression.
c. ___________ The perlocutionary act is something the speaker intends to do in making
the utterance.
d. ___________ A felicity condition on promising is that the speaker must intend to carry
out the thing promised.

2. Fill in each blank with ONE appropriate word.

a. The _________________ conditions of an illocutionary act are conditions that must be
fulfilled if the act is to be said to be carried out properly.
b. The type of ambiguity in “He gave me a punch” is _________________ ambiguity.
c. _________________ is a kind of non-literal language in which one entity is used to refer to
another entity that is associated with it in some way.
d. “Here” and “there” are examples of _________________ deixis.

3. Decide whether each of the following sentences is an analytic sentence, a synthetic

sentence or a contradiction. Write A for analytic sentences, S for synthetic sentences
and C for contradictions in the space provided. Briefly explain.
a. Dogs never live more than 20 years. ___________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 b. Tom’s sister has no sibling. ___________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
c. My father is a widow. ___________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
d. All snakes are reptiles. ___________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What is the sense relation between the predicates in each of the following pairs? If
the relation is antonymy, state the type of antonymy.
a. lower than – higher than ________________________________________
b. borrow – lend ________________________________________
c. aircraft – helicopter ________________________________________
d. same – different ________________________________________

5. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it is an entailment of the
sentence printed before it (⇒ is used to show entailment) or a paraphrase of the
sentence printed before it (⇔ to show paraphrase).
a. We sold our house to Alan.
⇔ Alan ………………………………………………………………………
b. Steve hugged Mary.
⇔ Steve ………………………………………………………………………
c. The President was assassinated.
⇒ The President …………………………………………………………
d. Mary did not bring any stationery with her.
⇒ Mary …………………………………..……………………………………

6. Decide whether the following utterances are performative or constative. Then write
P for performative utterances and C for constative utterances in the space provided.
Briefly explain.
a. I think she is right.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
b. Everyone is required to leave at once.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
c. She admits that she made a mistake.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
d. I warn you not to get involved in it.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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7. Identify one core presupposition in each of the following.
a. Did you do anything when you saw it?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
b. You should have finished the report before 10 o’clock.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
c. I didn’t realize that he was not there.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
d. Stop bothering me!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. For each of the following dialogues, identify the maxim(s) being flouted and B’s
implicature.
a. A: Is John a good cook?
B: He’s a nice guy.
Maxim flouted: ________________________________________________
Implicature: ________________________________________________
b. A: Did you manage to fix the TV?
B: I tried to.
Maxim flouted: ________________________________________________
Implicature: ________________________________________________

9. For the following utterance, give 2 situations so that the utterance performs 2
different acts. Then interpret the utterance in light of the situations you provide and
classify it according to the intended acts.
“What else can I say?”
Situation 1:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interpretation: __________________________________________________________________________________
Classification: ____________________________________________________
Situation 2:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interpretation: __________________________________________________________________________________
Classification: ____________________________________________________

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