Essential Concepts in Semantics and Pragmatics
Lexical Aspect and Event Types
The “For X Time” Test:
- She knew him for years. ✔
- Not natural for achievements: He arrived for an hour. ✘
The “In X Time” Test: Works with telic events (those with an endpoint).
- Built a house in 2 months. ✔
- Arrived in 5 minutes. ✔
- Bad with atelic events: Ran in 2 hours. ✘ (unless meaning completion).
The Progressive Test: States often resist the progressive form.
- I know French. ✔
- I am knowing French. ✘
- Activities are acceptable: I am running. ✔
- Achievements are often odd: I am noticing it? (usually considered weird).
Lexical Class and Reference
The grammatical category does not always match what an item refers to. Examples include:
- Destruction: A noun, but refers to an event.
- Arrival: A noun, but refers to an event.
- To father: A verb, but can refer to a relation.
Therefore, nouns are not always “things” and verbs are not always “actions.”
Sense and Reference in Language
No Reference
An expression has meaning but no real-world referent.
- Examples: Unicorn, Santa Claus, the present King of France.
- You understand the terms, but nothing real corresponds to them.
No Sense
This is rare; proper names are often said to have reference without a descriptive sense (a point debated by Frege).
- Example: Aristotle (may simply point to the person).
- This depends on the theory. A safer exam answer is that nonsense words may lack both: blork.
Deictic Elements and Context
Deictic words are those whose meaning depends entirely on context. Types include:
- Person deixis: I, you, we
- Place deixis: here, there
- Time deixis: now, then, tomorrow
- Social deixis: sir, professor
Example: “I am here now.” (Requires speaker context to be understood.)
Types of Antonymy in Adjectives
Gradable Antonyms
These are opposites on a scale.
- Examples: hot/cold, tall/short.
- Can be modified: very hot, hotter than.
- A middle ground is possible.
Complementary Antonyms
These are binary opposites.
- Examples: dead/alive, married/single.
- There is no middle ground; if one is not dead, they are alive.
Relational or Converse Antonyms
These represent opposite perspectives.
- Examples: buy/sell, teacher/student, parent/child.
- They depend on the relationship between the two.
Attributive and Predicative Adjectives
Attributive Adjectives
These appear before the noun. Pattern: Adj + N.
- Example: a happy child.
Predicative Adjectives
These appear after a linking verb. Pattern: N + be/seem/become + Adj.
- Example: The child is happy.
Usage Restrictions:
- Some adjectives are only attributive: former president, main reason (Not: The president is former ✘).
- Some are mostly predicative: afraid, asleep (The child is asleep ✔ vs. an asleep child ✘).
Gricean Maxims for Cooperative Conversation
- Quantity: Give enough information; not too much, not too little.
- Quality: Be truthful; do not lie and ensure you have evidence.
- Relation/Relevance: Be relevant to the topic.
- Manner: Be clear; avoid ambiguity and be orderly.
Implicature, Violation, and Flouting
Implicature
Meaning that is implied rather than stated. Example: “Some students passed.” Implies: not all of them.
Violation
Breaking a maxim secretly. Example: Lying. “Did you eat my cake?” “No.” (When you actually did.) This violates the maxim of Quality.
Flouting
Openly breaking a maxim to imply something else. Example: “How was the lecture?” “Well, the chairs were comfortable.” Implies the lecture was bad by flouting the maxim of Relation.
Opting Out
Refusing to cooperate explicitly. Example: “I can’t tell you; it’s confidential.”
Presupposition and the Negation Test
A presupposition is a background assumption a sentence takes for granted.
- Example: John stopped smoking. Presupposes: John used to smoke.
- Negation test: John didn’t stop smoking. Still presupposes: John used to smoke.
Presuppositions survive negation. Other triggers include: stop, again, too, regret, know, and even.
Polysemy vs. Homonymy
Polysemy
One word with multiple related meanings. Example: head (body part, leader, top of a table).
Homonymy
The same form but with unrelated meanings. Example: bank (river bank vs. financial bank).
- Homophones: Same sound (two/too).
- Homographs: Same spelling (lead the metal vs. lead the verb).
Types of Linguistic Ambiguity
- Lexical ambiguity: One word has multiple meanings (e.g., bank).
- Structural/Syntactic ambiguity: The sentence structure is unclear. Example: “I saw the man with binoculars.” (Did I use them, or did the man have them?)
- Scope ambiguity: Different interpretations of operators or quantifiers. Example: “Every student read a book.” (The same book or different books?)
- Referential ambiguity: Unclear reference. Example: “John told Tom that he was late.” (Who does “he” refer to?)