Unit8- Extensions and Prototypes

- Entry test, p.79.

- How much a knowledge of the reference of referring expressions helps a speaker in producing
and understanding utterances which describe the world he lives in. (Practice, p.80).

- Extension of a predicate:
Someone who knows how to use the word cat has an idea of the potential set of objects that
can be referred to as cat; he has some concept of the set of all cats.

The extension of a predicate is the complete set of all things which could potentially be the
referent of a referring expression whose head constituent is that predicates. (Example, p.81).

- An extension is a set of physical objects.

 Extension contrasts with sense  Since a sense is not a set of anything

 Extension contrasts with referent  Since a referent is normally an individual thing, not a
set of thing.
 Extension is like sense  it is independent of any particular occasion of utterance.
 Extension is like reference  it connects a linguistic unit; a word or expression, to
something non-linguistic. (Practice, p.81-82).

- The relationship between sense, extension and reference can be summarized as follows:
1. A speaker’s knowledge of the sense of a predicate provides him with an idea of its
extension. (Example, p.82). the sense of a predicate ‘fixes’ the extension of that predicate.
2. The referent of a referring expression used in particular utterance is an individual member
of the extension of the predicate used in the expression. The context of an utterance helps
the hearer to identify which particular member it is.

- A speaker of a language knows the extension of the predicates in that language, and uses this
knowledge to refer correctly to things in the world. (Practice, p.83).

- The extension of a combination of several predicates is the intersection of their respective

extensions, i.e. it is the set of things common to all of the extensions of the individual
predicates. (Practice, p.84).

- Certain kinds of predicates present more difficulties than others. (Example and practice, p.86-
87).

- A prototype of a predicate is the most typical member of its extension. (Example and practice,
p.87-88).

- In a language community, such as that of English, there are problems with this idea of prototype
due to cultural differences between various English- speaking communities. (Practice, p.88-89).

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 Unit8- Extensions and Prototypes

- Ostensive definition: definition by pointing. A child’s first concept of many concrete terms are
induced by ostensive definition involving a prototype (the most typical member of the extension
of a predicate). However, not all concepts can be learned in this way. (Practice, p.89).

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