Sentential Semantics

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Sentential Semantics

• Deny A. Kwary
• http//www.kwary.net
• Airlangga University

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Sentential relations (1)

• Paraphrase Two sentences that can have the same
  meaning.
• a. The police chased the burglar
• The burglar was chased by the police.
• b. Paul bought a car from Sue
• Sue sold a car to Paul

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Sentential Relations (2)

• Entailment a relation in which the truth of one
  sentence necessarily implies the truth of
  another.
• Examples of asymmetrical entailment.
• a. The park wardens killed the tiger.
• The tiger is dead.
• b. Robin is a man
• Robin is human

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Sentential Relations (3)

• Contradiction When two sentences cannot both be
  true.
• a. Charles is a bachelor.
• b. Charles is married.

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Exercise 3, pp. 307-308
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Metaphor The understanding of one concept in
terms of another

• Happy or Sad?

1. Im feeling up
Happy
2. Her spirits sank
Sad
3. That boosted my spirits
Happy
4. The height of ecstacy
Happy
5. The depths of misery
Sad
6. He fell into a depression
Sad
Emotions Happy is Up Sad is down
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Idioms

• Two central features of idioms
• The meaning of the idiomatic expression cannot be
  deduced by the examining the meanings of its
  parts.
• The expression is fixed both grammatically and
  lexically.
• For example
• Put a sock in it stop talking

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Can you identify the meanings of the following
idioms?

• Ring a bell.
• It sounds familiar to you / You have heard it
  before
• By word of mouth.
• In a spoken form.
• On the house.
• Free for the customers.
• Hot spot
• A place of political danger.
• A lively nightclub.
• An area on the screen which can be clicked on to
  start an operation such as loading a file.
• An area where you can get connected to the
  Internet through a wireless network.

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The Cooperative Principles Maxims of
Conversations (Grice, 1989)
Name of Maxim Description of Maxim
Quantity Say neither more nor less than the discourse requires
Relevance Be relevant
Manner Be brief and orderly avoid ambiguity and obscurity
Quality Do not lie do not make unsupported claims
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Examples

• 1. Im a multimillionaire (Actually, Im
  penniless.)
• Violated maxim Quality
• Explanation The speaker has failed to tell the
  truth.
• 2. A When am I going to get back the money I
  lent you?
• B Boy, its hot in here!
• Violated maxim Relevance
• Explanation Bs answer is not related to As
  question.
• 3. A What should I do to get rid of this
  headache, Doctor?
• B Take some medicine.
• Violated maxim Quantity
• Explanation B has not provided enough
  information.

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Exercises

• 1. Dont be silly. I love working 80 hours a week
  with no vacation.

Quality
2. A Excuse mehow much is this screwdriver?
B 9.95. The saw is 39.50, and the power drill
there on the table is 89.00.
Quantity
3. A Whats playing at the Rialto tonight?
B A film you havent seen.
Relevance
4. Dr. Smith received his Ph.D in 1986, his B.A.
in 1980, and his M.A. in 1982.
Manner
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Speakers sometimes deliberately violate the rules
of ordinary conversation to achieve certain ends
Example A Would you like to go out with
Andrea? B Is the Pope Catholic? Violated maxim
Relevance Motivation B is being humorous. By
replying with a question whose answer is obvious,
he is implying that the answer to As question is
equally obvious Yes!
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Exercises

• 1. A Ill pay you back in full next week, I
  promise.
• B Sure, and pigs will fly and fish will sing.

Violated maxim Relevance Motivation Bs
response implies sarcastically that he does not
believe A.
2. A What are the three most important things in
real estate? B Location, location, and
location.
Violated maxim Quantity Motivation To emphasize
the overwhelming importance of location
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3. A So tell me, do you like what I did to my
hair? B Erwhats on TV tonight?
Violated maxim Relevance Motivation B does not
like As hairstyle, so he changed the subject.
4. A How can I develop a great body like yours?
B Choose your parents carefully.
Violated maxim Quality Motivation Indirectly
saying that it is impossible, because its all in
the genes
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THANK YOU
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