1. What are lexical meaning and grammatical meaning?

 Lexical meaning: the meaning of a word in a relation to the physical world/ abstract concepts,
without reference to any sentence in which the word may occur.
Ex:
table = a piece of furniture that consists of a flat top supported by legs.
computer = an electronic machine that can store, organize and find information.
 Grammatical meaning: the meaning of a word by reference to its function within a sentence rather
than to a word outside the sentence.
Ex:
[Without]: table the computer on the is
[With]: the computer is on the table
 Some words share a lexical meaning but differ in grammatical meaning.
Ex:
go - went - gone (verb in present/ past/ past participle)
beauty - beautiful - beautifully
 Content words have both lexical and grammatical meaning, whereas function words usually have
only grammatical meaning.
 Content words are words which refer to a thing, quality, state or action and which have
meaning (lexical meaning) when words are used alone.
 Function words are words which have little meaning on their own but which show
grammatical relationship in and between sentences.
Ex:
I do not go to work
do, to: function words
I, go, work: content words.
2. What are the components of meaning?
1, Denotation (conceptual meaning, denotative meaning, or cognitive meaning)
 Dentition is that part of the meaning of a word or a phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real/
fictional world.
Ex:
table = a piece of furniture that consists of a flat top supported by legs.
 Denotative meaning can also be defined as to be organized largely in terms of semantic features.
Ex:
Man [+adult], [+human], [+male]
Remarried [+human], [+_ male], [+used to be married], [+married again]
2, Connotation (Connotative meaning)
 Connotation is the additional meaning(s) that a word or phrase has beyond its neutral meaning
(denotation).
 It shows people’s emotions and/or attitudes towards what the word refers to
Ex1:
Child [+human], [-mature], [±male]
 Positively [+affectionate] or [+innocent]
 Negatively [+noisy] or [+irritating]
Ex2:
Woman [+human], [+mature], [+female]
 Positively [+devoted], [+patient]
 Negatively [+wicked], [+talkative]
The denotation of a word can easily be found in a dictionary while its connotation(s) may probably
depend on such factors as:
1. the culture in which the word is used
2. the language user’s family and/or educational background
 3. the language user’s social and/or political class
4. the language user’s speech community and/or ethnic group
3, Structural/ Associative meaning
Reflected meaning: is the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense
of a word forms part of our response to another sense.
Ex:
 Ho Chi Minh - leader + father of Vietnamese
 So Khanh - a character in "Truyen Kieu" - a real flirt
Collocative meaning: consists of the associations of a word acquired on account of the meanings of words
which tend to occur in its environment.
Ex:

Play Do

Football Housework
Basketball Yoga
Games Homework

Associative meaning: is the meaning which arises because of its association with other meanings
Ex: new - old, thin - fat, beautiful - ugly
Thematic meaning: is the kind of communication by the way in which a speaker or writer organizes the
message in terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis.
Ex:
 It's difficult to study semantics
 Semantics is difficult to study
4, Categorical meaning
Categorical meaning is one part of grammatical meaning in which words derive from being a member of
one category rather than another (nouns rather than verbs,...). Words fall into such categories as nouns,
verbs, adj, prepositions, conjunctions,...
Ex:
 Record (n): the best or fastest ever done.
 Record (v): to store sounds or moving pictures using electronic equipment so that they can be
heard or seen later.
3. What is a semantic feature? Can the same semantic feature be part of the meaning of different
words? Can the same semantic feature occur in words of different parts of speech? Give examples?
Why is it crucial to identify all the possible semantic features of a word?
Semantics features or semantics components are the smallest units of meaning in a word.
Ex:
Child: [+human], [-mature], [±male], [+innocent]
Aunt: [+human], [±mature], [+female], [+father's/mother's sister (in law)]
Hen: [+animate], [+female], [+bird], [+fowl], [+fully grown]
The same semantic feature can be part of the meaning of different words
Ex:
 Doctor, engineer, teacher, physicist, chemist, tailor, hairdresser,... all are the same feature
[+professional]
 Mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparent, aunt, uncle,... are all [+skinship]
 Father, man, grandfather [+female], [+adult]
The same semantic feature can occur in words of different parts of speech.
Ex: [+educational]
 Nouns: teacher, textbook,...
  Verbs: teach, educate, instruct,...
It is crucial to identify all the possible semantic features of a word.
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1993), “the semantic properties of words determine what other words
they can be combined with”
Knowing all possible semantic features of a word enables us to combine semantically compatible words
together to form larger well-formed linguistics units of a language.
Ex:
 The television drank my water
 drank needs [+animate]
 the television [-animate]
 His dog writes the poetry.
 The hamburger ate the boy.
4. What are reference, referent, and sense? Find examples of a number of referring expressions for
one referent. Distinguish variable reference and constant reference.
Reference: is the relationship between a word or an expression and the object it is used to refer to.
Referent: is an object or an entity in the real world or in the world of your imagination.
 Ex:
My book The book that belongs to me
(English language) Reference (Referent)
Sense: shows the internal relationship between that word or expression and others in the vocabulary of a
language.
 Ex: Teacher and student have the sense relationship of the former is the one who gives a lesson
and the latter is the one who has the lesson given by the former.
Examples of a number of referring expressions for one referent:
Ex1: The morning star and the evening star both refer to the planet called Venus.
Ex2: If we are talking about a situation in which John is standing alone in the corner, John and the person
in the corner share the same referent.

Distinguish variable reference and constant reference.

Variable reference Constant reference

When the same linguistic expression refers to
different referents, it has variable reference.
Ex: There are many potential referents for the
phrase your left ear as there are people with a
left ear in the world.
When one linguistic expression refers to
one and the same referent, it has
constant reference
Ex: The sun, the moon, the United
Nations,...

5. What are extensions, prototypes, and stereotypes? Give two examples for each.
EXTENSION
 The extension of one place predicate is the set of all individuals to which that predicate can
truthfully be applied. It is the set of things which can potentially be referred to by using an
expression whose main element is that predicate.
Ex: The extension of computers is the set of all computers in the universe.
PROTOTYPES
 A prototype of a predicate is an object which is held to be very typical of the kind of object which
can be referred to by an expression containing the predicate.
 Ex:
 A man of medium height and average build, between 30 and 50 years old, with brownish
hair, with no particular distinctive characteristics or defects could be a prototype of the
predicate man in certain areas of the world.
  A dwarf or a huge muscular body - builder couldn’t be a prototype of the predicate man
STEREOTYPE
 A stereotype of a predicate is a list of typical characteristics of things to which the predicate may
be applied.
 Ex:
The stereotype of a building The stereotype of cat

 containing 3 - 4 + rooms  four-legged animal

 build of a durable material such as  either black, white, gray or marmalade in
concrete, bricks,... color, or some combination of these colors.
 have doors and windows  adult specimens, about 50cm long from nose
 used by human beings to tip or tall.

6. What are the criteria between polysemy and homonymy?

Polysemy (Đa nghĩa) is a relationship in which a single word has two or more slightly different but closely
related meanings.
Ex: The noun “chip” has the three following meanings:
 a small piece of some hard substance which has been broken off from something larger: a chip of
glass.
 a small cut piece of potato which is fried for eating.
 a small but vital piece of a computer.
Ex: The verb “break” has the 2 following meanings:
 separate into 2 or more parts as a result of force or strain (not cutting): He broke the cup.
 become unusable by being damaged; make something unusable by damaging: My watch is broken.
Homonymy (Đồng âm) is a relationship in which various words have the same (sound and written) form
but have different meanings.
Ex: Bank
 Bank (n): a financial institution
 Bank (n): the shore of a river
Ex: bear
 Bear (n): a large heavy animal with thick fur
 Bear (v): give birth to
 Bear (v): tolerate
If different meanings associated with one form are achieved as related, they constitute a polysemantic
word.
If these are not related in any way, they are treated as homonymy.
DISTINCTION:
Using spelling as a criterion is misleading: many sets of words are obviously distinct but have the same
spelling.
Ex: Sound
 Sound (n): noise
 Sound (adj): healthy
Ex: Bank
 Bank (n): a financial institution
 Bank (n): the shore of a river
The word's historical origin
Ex: 2 English words which derive from different Anglo-Saxon roots
 Bank (financial institution): an early borrowing from French
 Bank (shore of a river): a Scandinavian origin
The various antonyms and synonyms of a word provide a different kind of criterion that can be useful in
distinguishing between homonymy and polysemy.
Ex: 2 senses of "plain", which are "clear" or "easy" and "undecorated", share a synonym in "simple" and
an antonym in "complex". => They are indeed 2 meanings of one and the same polysemic word.
Homonymy and polysemy can be distinguished as different notions, the boundary between them is not
clear-cut.
Ex: Also notice that homonyms like bank (a financial institution) and bank (the shore of a river), sound
(noise) and sound (healthy) are treated in distinct dictionary entries whereas two or more closely related
meanings of the polysemous word "foot", "chip", or "plain" are linked together within only one dictionary
entry.
7. What are types of synonyms?
Synonyms are various words which have different (written and sound) forms but which have the same or
nearly the same meaning
Ex: "hide" and "conceal" are synonyms; they both mean "keep sb/sth from being seen or known about"
Ex: 4 nouns: kind, type, sort, and variety are synonyms; they all refer to a group having similar
characteristics.
Types of synonyms:
1, Absolute synonyms:
Ex: also-too
2, Territorial synonyms
Ex: autumn (British English) - Fall (American English)
3. Semantic synonyms
Ex: to look, to glance, to begin, to start, to commence, fast, quick, rapid
4. Stylish (Social, Affective, Connotative) synonyms
Ex:
+ mother -mummy (colloquial), valley-dale (poetic)
+ country-fatherland - motherland
+ notorious - famous
5. Euphemism
Ex:
+ redundant - be out of a job/unemployed
+ the underprivileged - the poor
+ to die - to be no more
+ language - tongue
6. Synonymous set expression
Ex: after all - in the long run
7. Structural synonyms
Ex: She is taller than her sister - Her sister is shorter than her
8. What is the lexical variant? Give example
There are many cases of similarity between words easily confused with synonymy but in fact, essentially
different from it
Ex1: luxurious - luxuriant
- They are synonyms when meaning “ characterized by luxury”
- Otherwise:
 Luxurious: expresses human luxury (used of tastes, habits, foods, and mansions)
 Luxuriant: the latter is restricted to the expression of abundance (used of hair, leaves, flowers)
Ex2: economic - economical
Economic
 connected with the trade, industry, and development of wealth of a country, an area or a society
 (especially in negative sentences ) of a process, a business or an activity) producing enough profit
to continue
Economical
 providing good service or value in relation to the amount of time or money spent
 using no more of something than is necessary
9. What are types of antonyms?
Antonyms are the words that are opposite in meaning, they denote opposition in meaning.
Ex: large-small, male-female, always- never, love-hate
Types of antonyms
1. Gradable
Two words are gradable antonyms if they are at opposite ends of a continuous scale of values (a scale
which typically varies according to the context of use)
Ex: hot/cold, short/tall, big/small
2. Complementary/ binary
Binary antonyms are words which come in pairs and between them exhaust all relevant possibilities. If the
one-word is applicable, then the other cannot be, and vice versa
Ex: single/married; alive/ dead; male/female; same/different
3. Converse terms/ relational opposites
Describes a relationship between two things (or people)
Ex: parent/child, below/above; greater than/less than; own/belong to; buy/sell; borrow/ lend
4. Multiple incompatibles/ Taxonomic sisters
- System of words : are mutually incompatible, and together, the members of a system cover all the
relevant area
Ex:
- System of colors: white, yellow, blue, green, marine, purple, violet, brown, rose, orange, red
- System of seasons : spring, summer, autumn, winter
- System of Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday,...Sunday
10. What is the meaning of function words? Give two examples
Function words are words which have little meaning on their own but which show grammatical
relationship in and between sentences.
Function words include determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, modals,
qualifiers, .....
Ex: The sly brown fox jumped gracefully over the lazy dog and cat.
the: determiner
over: preposition
and: conjunction
Determiners
 Articles: a, an, the
 Demonstratives: that, this, those, these
 Possessive pronouns: my, your, their, our, ours, whose, his, hers, ts, which
 Quantifiers: some, both, most, many, a few. a lot of, any, much, a little, enough, several, none, all
Conjunctions: and, but, for, yet, neither, or, so, when, although, however, as, because, before
Prepositions: in, of, between, on, with, by, at, without, through, over, aciòsS around, into, within
Pronouns: she, they, he, it, him, her, you, me, anybody, somebody, Somegne, anyone
Auxiliary verbs: be, is, am, are, have, has, do, does, did, get, got, was, were
Modals: may, might, can, could, will, would, shall, should
Qualifiers: very, really, quite, somewhat, rather, too, pretty (much)
Question words: how, where, what, when, why, who
11. What are the causes of semantic change?
1. Extra linguistic causes
- These causes are connected with the development of society, changes in social, political, economic,
cultural life, in science and technology.
- Objects are changed or our concepts are changes
Ex:
 word space meant “extension” and now it means “the limitless expanses, outer space, cosmos”;
 word car meant “a four wheeled wagon” but with the emergence of new transport means it denotes
automobile railway carriage.
- When the words which were used only within a definite group of people (professional words, slang,
jargons) pass into general usage or vice versa, when the words of general usage pass into the language of a
definite social or professional group they usually change their meaning.
2. Linguistic causes
They are factors acting within the language connected with the system of language.
* Ellipsis or contraction of a phrase
- If a phrase consists of two words one of them can be omitted and its meaning is transferred to its partner.
Ex:
 To propose marriage = to propose; daily newspaper = daily
 The word starve originally meant “to die” and was often used with the word hunger ( to die or
hunger) and soon it substituted the whole phrase “ die of hunger” and also began to mean “ suffer
from lack of food”
* Discrimination of synonyms
- It occurs often as a result of borrowing,
Ex: English word deer had the meaning “animal, beast”, but when word animal was borrowed from Latin,
English word deer restricted ( narrowed) its meaning and came to denote only a certain kind of animal)
* Attractions of synonyms
- If there are several synonyms and one of them gets new meaning, other synonyms usually get this new
meaning too.
Ex: The word catch acquired the meaning “to understand” and its synonyms (grasp, get) acquired this
meaning too.
12. What is the nature of semantic change?
The meaning of a word or expression may change over time in two respects: either the denotation or the
connotation can change or evolve. In particular, the denotation can develop in two ways as follows.
1. The denotation meaning
i. It may be extended (widened, generalized)
Ex:
 The word ready in old English meant “prepared for a ride”, now “prepared for anything”
 The word pipe meant only a musical instrument, and then it acquired the meaning of “any long
hollow tube”
- If the word not only widens its meaning but passes from specialized vocabulary into common use, this
process is called the generalization of meaning”
Ex: camp was a military term “the place where the troops are lodged in tents”. Now this word is of general
usage and denotes “temporary quarters”.
- The word case has come now to be used in quite a range of situation with its general meaning of
“circumstances in which a person or a thing is”
Ex: Compare its specialized meaning: a lawsuit, or a patient.
- When words from slang or jargons pass into literary language they usually also extent:
Ex:
 bootlegger (sl.) - “a dealer in illicit liquor”(lit) - “ a dealer in prohibited goods”.
 to mussel (sl) - “to encroach upon the racket of other gangsters” (lit) - “to encroach to make one's
way by force”.
ii. It may be narrowed (specialized)
 before after

deer animal a certain kind of animal

meat any food animal flesh

queen wife king's wife

If the word not only narrows its meaning but passes into specialized vocabulary as a term. We call this
process the specialization of meaning. When the word of general usage pass into the language of definite
social or professional groups they usually narrow their meanings.
Ex: “Meat” can provide another instance. In Old English, “meat” meant “food”, but now. it narrowed its
meaning to refer to only one type of food, i.e. “edible flesh”.
2. The connotation meaning
* Degradation of meaning (deterioration)
This depreciation of meaning is often connected with class approach. Thus some names of laborers
underwent degradation of meaning
Ex:
 knave, which originally meant “boy, servant'' now refers to''rogue “.
 villain, which was once used to denote a “laborer attached to a farm”. In modern usage, it means
“a wicked schemer”
*Elevation of meaning
before after

Minister a servant, an attendant head of a state department

=> Improved bettered their meaning.

It should be also mentioned that when slang words and jargonism are accepted into literary language they
not only widen (extend) their meaning but completely or partially “lose” the negative evaluation of objects
or notions.
Ex: rake-ofl (sl). - “a bribe, a share in illicit profit, lit - “a share of profit”.
13. Distinguish a simile from a metaphor. Distinguish live metaphor from dead metaphor. Give two
examples
DISTINGUISH A SIMILE FROM A METAPHOR
- Simile is a word or phrase that compares something to something else, using the words like or as.
Ex:
 a face like a mask or as white as snow
 Paul danced/like Michael Jackson, at the party.
 She is as beautiful as Angelina Jolie.
- Metaphor is a word or phrase used to describe somebody/something else, in a way that is different from
its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same qualities and to make the description
more powerful.
Ex:
 She has a heart of stone; the use of such words and phrases .
 Amir is a live encyclopedia.
DISTINGUISH LIVE METAPHOR FROM DEAD METAPHOR. GIVE TWO EXAMPLES
- A live metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things not using like or as.
Ex: Her home was a prison, in which the characteristics of prison are trying to assimilate or compare with
the environment of the house.
- A dead metaphor is one that has lost the force and meanings through overuse. When a metaphor loses its
poetic meaning, it is called dead metaphor.
Ex: foot of the hill-> the lower part of hill
14. What is metonymy? hyperbole? litotes? euphemism? irony?
METONYMY – HOÁN DỤ
- Metonymy is the transference of meaning from one object to another based on contiguity of notions, i.e.
instead of the name of one object or notion we use the name of another because these objects are
associated and closely related
Ex:
 "The kettle boils" instead of "the water in the kettle boils"
 "crown" instead of "monarchy". We can single out the following cases of metonymy.
1. We use the name of container instead of the thing contained: to drink a glass
2. Names of parts of human body may be used as symbols: to have a good eye, kind heart, clever head.
3.The concrete is used instead of abstract: from the cradle to the grave
4.The materials are used for the things made of the materials: glass, canvass
5. The name of the author is used for his works: Watts, Ampere, Volts, Picasso.
6. Part is used for the whole and vice versa: roof for house (We all live under the same roof or when the
whole is used for a part (she is wearing a fox)
HYPERBOLE — NÓI QUÁ
- Hyperboles is an exaggerated statement not meant to be understood literally, but the effect is powerful
Ex:
 It's a nightmare, A thousand thanks, It's monstrous.
 I've invited millions of people to my party.
LITOTES – NÓI GIẢM
- Litotes is really understatement. It is traditionally defined as expressing something in the affirmative by
the negative of its contrary.
Ex:
 "not bad" is often used to mean" good"
 "no coward" for "brave"
 "rather unwise" means "very silly".
EUPHEMISM – NÓI KHÉO
- Euphemism involves the use of a milder expression for something unpleasant.
Ex:
 "restroom" or "bathroom" is used instead of "WC"
 "pass away" for "die"
IRONY – NÓI MỈA
The term "irony" is taken from rhetoric. What it does is to express meaning by words of the opposite
sense. Here, it is important to note that intonation has a very essential role to play in getting this message
across.
Ex: You've got us into a nice mess? In this context, "nice" really means "bad"
15. Hyponymy is defined as the relation of inclusion. What is the difference between superordinates,
which are also called either hypernyms and hyponyms? Discuss with specific examples
HYPONYMY(QUAN HỆ/ TÍNH ĐA NGHĨA) IS DEFINED AS THE RELATION OF INCLUSION.
- Hyponymy is a paradigmatic relation among words which refers to the inclusion of the meaning of one
word in that of another. It implies a superordinate/hypernym and a subordinate/ hyponym term.
Ex:
 The meaning of scarlet is included in the meaning of red; scarlet is said to be the hyponym of red.
Red is the superordinate term.
 The meanings of tulip, daffodil, and rose are included within that of flower; they are co- hyponyms
of flower.
- The implication of hyponymy is perhaps, the vocabulary of a language has a hierarchical organization,
with hyponyms of hyponyms of hyponyms as the meaning of words becomes more general and more
inclusive.
 Dog is a hyponym of animal, which is a hyponym of mammal, which is a hyponym of creature.
- Hyponymy usually leads to the relation of entailment.
Ex:
 Hyponym Color (hyponyms blue, red, yellow, green, black, purple,...)
 Mammals (cow, dog, cat, ape, human, whale,...)
 Cook (toast, boil, fry, roast, broil, hake,...)
- Hyponymy is based on the notion of reference inclusion and entailment. If the referent of term A (for
example, color) includes a referent of term B (for example, red) then term B (red) is a hyponym of term A
(color), or term B entails term A. Hyponymic relationship is one of several types with which language
users organize the lexicon, the thesaurus.
16. What is a semantic field? Give examples. In what way are semantically similar items organized
into various semantic fields? What is a lexical gap? Give two examples
WHAT IS A SEMANTIC FIELD? GIVE EXAMPLES.
Lexical/Semantic Field is a set of words with identifiable semantic affinities. It is the organization of
related words and expressions into a system which shows their relationship to one another. It is related to
the same concept or notion based on association.
Ex1: The semantic field of kinship terms: father, mother, features brother, sister, uncle, aunt, etc
Ex2. The semantic field of adjectives describing human emotional states: angry, sad, happy, exuberant,
depressed, afraid, etc.
IN WHAT WAY ARE SEMANTICALLY SIMILAR ITEMS ORGANIZED INTO VARIOUS
SEMANTIC FIELDS?
(a) Items related by topics:
Ex:
 Types of fruit: apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, pears, plums, etc.
 Pieces of furniture: seats, tables, beds, storage, etc.
 Terms of color: blue, red, yellow, green, black, white, etc.
(b) Items similar in meaning
Ex:
 Ways of cooking: stew, boil, fry, steam, roast, grill, smoke, etc.
 Ways of looking: gaze, glance, peer, squint, stare, etc.
(c) Terms describing people
Ex: whose weight is below normal thin, bony, skinny, underweight, emaciated, slender, slim, etc.
(d) Items which form pairs of antonyms
Ex: long/short, light/heavy, alive dead, love/hate, approve/disapprove, appreve/disapprove, begin/end,
inside/outside, upstairs/downstairs, etc.
(e) Items which form pairs or trios of synonyms:
Ex:
 smart/bright/intelligent
 conserve/preserve/safeguard
 fix/repair/mend
 kind/sort/type/variety
 happy/glad, etc.
(f) Items grouped as an activity or a process:
Ex:
 Do the housework: clean the rooms, do the washing, iron the clothes, get the food, prepare a meal,
wash up, etc.
 Do research: make hypotheses, collect data, analyze data, get results and come to conclusions.
(g) Items classified according to:
* Sex
 Male: waiter, tiger, actor, host, landlord, sir, etc.
 Female: waitress, tigress, actress, hostess, landlady, madam, etc.
* Age: grown-ups, adults, elderly people, middle-aged people, teenagers, children, infants, babies, etc.
*Age and sex:
horse stallion:[+male].[+fully grown] dog dog: [+male],[+fully grown]
women [ +female], [ fully grown] bitch :[ female], [ +fully grown]
baby: [± male] , [- fully grown] puppy:[ ±male], [-fully grown]
WHAT IS A LEXICAL GAP? GIVE TWO EXAMPLES
“Lexical gap” is used to refer to the absence of a lexeme/word of a lexeme/word at a particular place in
the structure of a lexical field
Ex:

17. What is a proposition, a sentence, an utterance? Give two examples

A PROPOSITION
A proposition is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some
state of affairs.
Ex: The following pair of sentences expresses the same proposition
(1) Harry took out the garbage
(2) Harry took the garbage out
A SENTENCE
A sentence is a grammatically complete string of words expressing a complete thought.
AN UTTERANCE
An utterance is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is silence on the part of that
person
Ex:
One-word utterances Well-formed sentences
Jane: ‘Coffee?’ Would you like some coffee?
Steve: ‘Sure!’ I’m sure to love it.
Jane: ‘White?’ Would you like (black coffee or) white coffee?
Steve: ‘Black.’ I’d like black coffee, please.

18. Distinguish sentence meaning from utterance meaning.

A sentence is a grammatically An utterance is any stretch of talk, by one person,

complete string of word expressing before and after which there is silence on the part of
a complete thought. that person.

In order to understand the meaning Know the circumstances of utterance in order to

of a sentence, we must rely on understand the effect or force of the utterance.
+ the meaning of individual words An utterance is the use by a particular speaker on a
that make it up particular occasion, of a piece of language, such as a
+ the semantic role assigned to sequence of sentences, or a single phrase, or even a
each word. (who did what to single word
whom, with whom and for whom) The same sentences are used by different speakers on
different occasion to mean (speaker meaning)
different things
Ex:
One-word utterances Well-formed sentences
Jane: ‘Coffee?’ Would you like some coffee?
Steve: ‘Sure!’ I’m sure to love it.
Jane: ‘White?’ Would you like (black coffee or) white coffee?
Steve: ‘Black.’ I’d like black coffee, please.
19. What is the semantic structure of the simple declarative sentence?
In terms of structure, a proposition (mệnh đề) = a semantic unit consisting of a predicator and its
arguments.
Proposition = (A) - P - (A)
- The semantic analysis of simple declarative sentences reveals two major semantic roles
+ The role of predicator played by predicate(s)
+ The role(s) of arguments, played by the referring expressions
Ex:
Mrs. Wraith is writing the Mayor's speech.
A P A
- Predicator = write
-Arguments = Mrs. Wraith, Mayor's speech.
John went home. A: John, home P: went
He is a student.
A P
The student is good.
A P
He gave me some flowers.
A P A A
She is smiling
A P
20. What is semantic/ thematic role? Why is semantic role related to sentence meaning? Why is
noun phrase related to semantic roles?
WHAT IS SEMANTIC/ THEMATIC ROLE?
Semantic/thematic role refers to the way in which the referent of the noun phrase contributes to the state,
action, or situation described by the sentence.
WHY IS SEMANTIC ROLE RELATED TO SENTENCE MEANING?
- In order to identify sentence meaning, it is essential to recognize the meaning components of a sentence.
In terms of meaning, a sentence is a complete thought expressing our concepts about the world. Therefore,
each sentence is a situation type composed of different elements defined as tense, aspect, mood,
evidentiality and participants
- Clearly, adding together the meaning of each word will not produce the full meaning of a sentence.
- The crucial factor in the way sentence meaning is constructed is the role played by each noun phrase in
relation to the verb.
WHY IS NOUN PHRASE RELATED TO SEMANTIC ROLES?
- In order to understand the sentence we have to review the semantic/thematic role involved in the
semantic structure of the sentence. The term thematic role or semantic role is used to describe the part
played by a particular entity in an event. Thematic role (also theta role) is the semantic role such as agent
or theme assigned to a noun phrase or clause by a verb, adjective or other predicates, or (sometimes) by a
preposition.
- The thematic roles are assigned to NPs based on their position on syntactic structure, with each NP
receiving one and only one role.
- In English, the NP subject of a sentence can be the thematic role of
1-agent,
2-patient,
3-instrument,
4-cause,
5-experiencer,
6-benefactive,
7-locative,
8-temporal
depending on the meaning of the verb
Ex: If, in some real or imagined situation, someone named John purposely hits someone named Bill, then
John is the agent and Bill is the patient of the hitting event. Therefore, Bill has the semantic role is patient
and John has the semantic role of agent in both of the following sentences: John hit Bill and Bill was hit
by John.
21. Name important sense properties of sentence. Give example?
- 03 important sense properties of sentences: the properties of being analytic, of being synthetic, and of
being contradictory.
a. AN ANALYTIC SENTENCE is one that is necessarily TRUE, as a result, of the senses of the words in
it.
Ex: All elephants are animals.
b. A SYNTHETIC SENTENCE is one which is NOT analytic, but may be either true or false, depending
on the way the world is.
Ex: My brother is tall
c. A CONTRADICTION is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE, as a result of the senses of the words in
it.
Ex: This table is an animal
22. What is paraphrase? What is entailment? Distinguish one-way entailment from two way
entailment
WHAT IS PARAPHRASE?
A sentence which expresses the same proposition as another sentence is a paraphrase of that sentence.
Paraphrase is to sentence as synonymy to predicate/word.
Ex1: “Bachelors prefer red-haired girl” is a paraphrase of “Girls with red hair are preferred by unmarried
one”.
Ex2: “John is the parent of James” is a paraphrase of “James is the child of John”.
WHAT IS ENTAILMENT?
An entailment is a relationship that applies between two sentences, where the truth of one implies the truth
of the other because of the meanings of the words involved
Ex: John was killed entails John died. Obviously, John died could not be true any time before it was true
that John was killed.
DISTINGUISH ONE-WAY ENTAILMENT FROM TWO WAY ENTAILMENT
ONE WAY ENTAILMENT
The entailments of this type come about because of hyponymic relations between words:
Ex1. Alfred saw a bear asymmetrically entails Alfred saw an animal.
If Alfred saw a bear then he necessarily saw an animal; but if Alfred saw an animal, he could have seen a
bear but not necessarily. It could be a big bad wolf
TWO WAY ENTAILMENT
The entailments between a pair of sentences are mutual since the truth of either sentence guarantees the
truth of the other.
Ex1. “Paul borrowed a car from Sue” symmetrically entails “Sue lent a car to Paul”.
23. Give an account of the roles of context with examples for illustration.
The meaning of an utterance is more than the meaning of the sentence because of the fact that it is uttered
in a particular context.
Context, no doubt, can determine utterance meanings in three ways.
1. What sentence is uttered.
2. What proposition has been actually expressed
3. What kind of illocutionary force has been assigned by the speaker to the proposition
Ex: “Coffee?”. In different context this one-word utterance can have different meaning:
+ In the context in which there are 2 people are choosing a drink, it can mean “Would you like to drink
coffee?”
+ In the context of a supermarket in which a customer is asking a seller, it can mean “Where can I find a
coffee bag?”
+ In the context in which a person is pointing something and saying “Coffee”, it can mean “Is it coffee?”
When a sentence is uttered, it is not usually placed alone by itself, but rather it is surrounded by other
sentences, which help to realize its meaning. This kind of surrounding is called co-text.
24. Distinguish performatives from constatives.
A performative utterance is one that actually describes the act that it performs, i.e. it PERFORMS some
acts and SIMULTANEOUSLY DOES that act.
Ex: I promise to repay you tomorrow’ is a performative because in saying it the speaker actually does
what the utterance describes, i.e. he promises to repay the hearer the next day. The utterance both
describes and is a promise.
A CONSTATIVE asserts something that is either true or false.
Ex: ‘John promised to repay me tomorrow’ is a constative because the utterance does not simultaneously
do what it describes, i.e. John promised to repay the hearer the next day. The utterance describes a
promise but is not itself a promise.
25. Distinguish locution from illocution; a locutionary act from either an illocutionary act or a
perlocutionary act.
1. Locution (The actual form of the utterance)
Locutionary act is to produce an utterance with a particular form and a more or less determinate meaning
according to the rules of a given language.
- The speech-impaired do not have locutionary acts.
2. Illocution (The communicative force of the utterance)
= intended message that a speaker assigns to a sentence that he utters.
- use language for a variety of purpose: to promise, pledge, threaten, insult, etc
- an utterance can have >= 1 illocution
3. Perlocution (the communicative effect of the utterance)
- causing emotions, actions
Ex: "I promise to do my homework" (locution), you want your teacher to believe you (illocution), and she
does (perlocution).
26. What do you know about speech act classification?
5 main types of speech acts:
a. Directives: (hành động cầu khiến) are those acts which get people to do something:
- Forms: imperative sentence, questions, or even statement whose illocutionary force is that of a directive
Ex: Ed: ‘The garage is a mess.’ - Faye: ‘Clean it up.’
‘Clean it up’ is a directive: Faye directly orders Ed to make the garage tidy.
b. Commissives: (hành động cam kết) commits the speaker to a course of action: promising, vowing,
threatening, offering, etc.
Ex: Jenny: ‘If you don’t stop fighting, I’ll call the police.’ - Bill: ‘Call them at once to turn your brother
in.’
‘I’ll call the police’ is a commissive: Jenny directly threatens to call the police if Bill and her brother don’t
stop fighting
c. A representative (assertive) speech act (hành động biểu hiện) describes a state of affairs in the
world: asserting, stating, claiming, affirming, making hypotheses, describing, predicting, reporting, etc.
The representative can generally be characterized as being true or false.
Ex: Tom: ‘Where are you from?’
David: ‘I’m from Canada.’
‘I’m from Canada’ is a representative: David directly gives a piece of information concerning where he
was born and grew up.
d. Declaratives: (hành động tuyên bố) changes the world by bringing about or altering the state of affairs it
names: dismissing, sentencing, naming, announcing marriage, etc.
Ex: Vicar: ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’ [at the wedding ceremony held in a church]
‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ is a declarative: the vicar is directly announcing the legal and
permanent union between a man and a woman as husband and wife, simultaneously changing their marital
status.
e. Expressives: (hành động biểu cảm) indicates the speaker’s psychological state(s) or
feeling(s)/attitude(s) about something: greeting, apologizing, complaining, thanking, etc.
Ex: Desk clerk: ‘I beg your pardon. I’ll be right back.’ - Client: ‘No problem.’
‘I beg your pardon’ is an expressive: the desk clerk directly apologizes to the client for his/her absence for
a while.
27. Distinguish direct speech acts from indirect speech acts.
DIRECT SPEECH ACT
Performing a direct speech act, the speaker utters a sentence which means exactly what he or she says.
Ex: “Come in, please.” is a direct request.
INDIRECT SPEECH ACT
Performing an indirect speech act, the speaker utters a sentence which does not mean exactly what he or
she says:
Ex: ‘Won’t you come in?’ is not merely a Yes-No question. It is an indirect request made in a very
concerned manner.
Indirect speech acts are often felt to be more polite ways of performing certain kinds of speech acts, such
as requests and refusals. It is crucial for any language learner to approach indirect speech acts and learn
how to recognize them and then use them in context.
28. What is presupposition? Give examples. What are types of presupposition? Give examples.
PRESUPPOSITION (tiền giả định) can be used to communicate information indirectly
Ex: My brother is rich, we assume that the person has a brother, even though that fact is not explicitly
stated.
TYPES OF PRESUPPOSITION
1. EXISTENTIAL PRESUPPOSITION
Ex: Mary can’t get over her mother’s death.’
=> The utterance presupposes that “Mary’s mother died”
2. FACTIVE PRESUPPOSITIONS
Ex: She didn't realize he was ill.
=> The utterance presupposes that “He was ill”
3. NON-FACTIVE PRESUPPOSITION
Ex: ‘I dreamed that I was rich.’
=> The utterance presupposes that I was not rich.
3. LEXICAL PRESUPPOSITION
Ex: You’re late again.’
=> The utterance presupposes that you were late before.
4. COUNTER-FACTUAL PRESUPPOSITIONS
Ex: If you were my friend, you should have helped me.
=> The utterance presupposes that You are not my friend
5. LEXICAL PRESUPPOSITIONS
-He stopped smoking. (» He used to smoke)
-You're late again. (» You were late before)
6. STRUCTURAL PRESUPPOSITIONS:
Ex: Where did you buy the bike?
=> The utterance presupposes that You bought the bike
29. Explain the notion of conversational implicatures with examples.
Notion is an idea, a belief or an understanding of something
- IMPLICATURE what a speaker can imply, suggest, or mean, as distinct from whit the speaker literally
says.
- CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES promise to bridge “the gap between what is literally said and
what is conveyed
Ex: A: ‘Coffee?’- B: ‘It would keep me awake all night.’
=> B’s utterance may implicate that B would rather not drink coffee
30. What is the co-operative principle?
The basic concept: The cooperatice principle: “Make your contribution such as it is required at the stage at
which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of talk exchange in which you are engaged.” (H. Paul
Grice)
These principles are called maxims. The four maxims Grice recognized are quantity, quality relation and
manner.
1. Quantity
- Make yourself as informative as is required (for the current purpose of the exchange)
- Do not make your contribution more informative than it is required.
Ex: “How old are you?” – “Oh! That’s a nice question. My age is 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5”
2. Quality
- Do not say what you believe to be false, and
- Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
Ex: “How old are you?” – “245”
3. Relation
Be relevant and act accordingly
Ex: “How old are you?” – “I like fried chicken”
4. Manner
Be clear and not obscure
Ex: “How old are you?” – “Am I 20 years old or 243 months old? And when does life begin, anyway?”