Mehmet Kaan Telçi

B2102.020071

Unit 5 Study Guide and Exercises

1. You should understand these terms and concepts from this unit:
 Predicator: It means the semantic role played by the part of a sentence that describes an action or
state associated with the argument. In the sentence “John is a corporal”, “is a corporal” is the
predicator.
 Degree of a Predicate: This refers to the number of arguments that a predicate takes.
 Predicate: A predicate is any word which can function as the predicator of a sentence. Predicates
are typically verbs, adjectives, or nouns that provide information about the subject of the sentence.
 Ellipsis (Elliptical): This refers to the omission of a word or series of words.
 Argument: An argument is a semantic role played by expressions that help complete the meaning
of a predicate.
 Identity Relation: This refers to the relation found in equative sentences where the identity of the
referents of two different referring expressions is expressed by a form of the verb ‘’be’’.

2. Indicate the arguments and predicator(s) in each sentence.

a) John is a linguist.
Arguments: John, linguist
Predicator: is

b) John loves Mary.

Arguments: John, Mary
Predicator: loves

c) Mary loves John.

Arguments: Mary, John
Predicator: loves

d) John gave Mary a ring.

Arguments: John, Mary, ring
Predicator: gave

e) Chicago is between Los Angeles and New York.

Arguments: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Predicator: is

f) Jane is Mary’s mother.

Arguments: Jane, Mary
Predicator: is

g) Jones is the Dean of the College.

Arguments: Jones, College
Predicator: is
 Mehmet Kaan Telçi
B2102.020071

h) John stood near the bank.

Arguments: John
Predicator: stood near the bank

i) Ed is a fool.
Arguments: Ed, fool
Predicator: is

j) Ed is foolish.
Arguments: Ed
Predicator: is

k) Yes, the arguments are ordered.

l) In ‘’John stood near the bank.’’, the ambiguity should be handled by context. Because ‘’bank’’
has more than one meanings and it’s meaning differs by the context of the sentence or story.

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

a) John is a linguist.
Predicate: is a linguist (one-place predicate)

b) John loves Mary.

Predicate: loves (two-place predicate)

c) Mary loves John.

Predicate: loves (two-place predicate)

d) John gave Mary a ring.

Predicate: gave (three-place predicate)

e) Chicago is between Los Angeles and New York.

Predicate: is between (three-place predicate)

f) Jane is Mary’s mother.

Predicate: is (two-place predicate)

g) John loves Mary.

Predicate: loves (two-place predicate)

h) John stood near the bank.

Predicate: stood near the bank (one-place predicate)

i) Ed is a fool.
Predicate: is (one-place predicate)

j) Ed is a foolish.
Predicate: is (one-place predicate)
 Mehmet Kaan Telçi
B2102.020071

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?

The concept of predicate in the semantic sense differs from the concept of grammatical
predicate. The former refers to the part of the sentence that modifies the subject and gives additional
information about it, but the latter refers to the part of the sentence that contains the verb and its
objects. The semantic predicate reveals more about the subject, but the grammatical predicate includes
more structural information about the sentence.

5. In this unit we said that the prepositions from and of in the two-part adjectives different from and
afraid of ‘are not themselves predicates ... (and that they) are relatively meaningless linking particles’.
Do you agree with this statement? Consider a sentence such as The letter is from my uncle before
reaching a conclusion.

Yes, I agree with this statement. In the context of the two-part adjectives ‘different from’ and
‘afraid of’, the prepositions ‘from’ and ‘of’ are not predicates themselves. Actually, they serve as
linking particles that connects the adjectives to their complements.

 The letter is from my uncle.

Referring Expression: The Letter, My Uncle
Predicate: is from (two-place predicate)

6. What are the functions of the verb be in these sentences (i.e. does it function as an identity predicate
or as a grammatical device for linking a non-verbal predicate to its first argument)? Do all instances of
be carry tense?

a) Mary is happy.
Function: linking device for a non-verbal predicate

b) A tulip is a flower.
Function: identity predicate

c) George W. Bush is the US President.

Function: identity predicate

d) God is
Function: grammatical device for linking a non-verbal predicate to the first argument

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.

Yes, it could make sense to say that the verb ‘’be’’ has a meaning of its own. It could also be
used as a linking device or an identity predicate. We could say that it could be used as the verb of existence or
state of being which are very abstract.