Semantics II

Question 1

what is meaning of sentence derived from

Answer 1

meanings of its individual words - lexicon
some rules for how to put those meanings together

Question 2

what are idioms

Answer 2

not compositional = no compositional meaning
ex= the shit hit the fan

Question 3

idiomatic

Answer 3

non compositional
no shit, hitting or fan involved
none of words have meaning - not derived from words in sentence

Question 4

literal

Answer 4

compositional
actual event
there is shit, a dan and a collision

Question 5

how know meaning of idiom

Answer 5

must memorize it

Question 6

how to know literal meaning of a sentence

Answer 6

just need to know the meanings of the words and how to put them together

Question 7

compositional semantics

Answer 7

very tied up in syntax bc syntax is part of grammar that puts words together into sentences
heart of grammar - relationship between form (word order, syntax) and meaning
interface and how they influence each other

Question 8

meaning of sentence =

Answer 8

its truth conditions = intension of the sentence

Question 9

principle of compositionality

Answer 9

meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them

Question 10

what is the extension of sentences

Answer 10

extension of a sentence is its truth value

Question 11

truth and falsity

Answer 11

no direct claims about nature of reality, truth or falsity
silent on whether truth conditions are determined relative to an external reality or mental representations, or the mutual beliefs of the participants in a discourse
any semantic theory should be compatible with all these views
set of beliefs differ

Question 12

predication

Answer 12

• one place predicate denotes set of individuals that have some property
• like denotation of smokes is the set of individuals who smoke

Question 13

predicate logic

Answer 13

formal language in which propositions are expressed in terms of predicates, variables and quantifiers

Question 14

semantic rule - predication

Answer 14

syntactic tree of alice smokes
compositionality gives = [s] = [np vp]
[np vp] = true if [np] ∈ [vp]
[alice smokes] = true if alice ∈ {x : x smokes}
= derived truth conditions for the sentence from the meaning of its parts, plus a semantic rule - makes reference to syntax

Question 15

semantic rule - intersective modification

Answer 15

[a n] = [a] ∩ [n]
[purple hat] = [purple] ∩ [hat]

Question 16

sentence meaning

Answer 16

just what teh words say, out of any context
words and way they are syntactically combined

Question 17

utterance meaning

Answer 17

what teh words refer to on a specific occasion
sentence meaning + context of utterance
context = time, place, speaker, adderssee

Question 18

communicative sense meaning

Answer 18

everything that is meant or understood
more implied meaning also context dependent
have to know context, meaning is diff - not core meaning, meaning can be false

Question 19

static semantics

Answer 19

under what conditions is the sentence true or false

Question 20

dynamic semantics

Answer 20

• what is effect of uttering this sentence = question asked in pragmatics = basic element of analysis is the utterance
• indefinites have effect of establishing new referent in discourse
• some dynamic semantics is grammatical, like diff bewteen definites and indefinites
• much work focuses on language universal properties of discourse also

Question 21

performatives

Answer 21

• uttering sentences can itself have non trivial effect
• utterances, when uttered in right conditions have some effect
• arent true or false
• like i do at a wedding
• dynamic semantics views all linguistics expressions as performatives

Question 22

assertion

Answer 22

declarative sentences perform the assertion of a proposition
asserting a proposition = adds proposition to info that is mutually understood in convo
mutual info = common ground
assertion goal = get someone to believe somerthing, but depends on if they uptake the info in common ground

Question 23

what is assertion deeply tied to

Answer 23

entailment
if sentence entails x then uttering that sentence asserts x

Question 24

what does an utterance do

Answer 24

presupposes x
if x has to already be in common ground for utterance to be felicitous
presup has to be mutually acknowledged by all conversational partners

Question 25

accomodation

Answer 25

sometimes if presup not mutually acknowledged --> are implicitly accommodated

Question 26

appositives

Answer 26

fit static def of presup, but not dynamic view like directly say, who is a vegan not presupposed but behaves as presup if negate it, still works if add not

Question 27

projected meaning

Answer 27

project though negation = presup and appositives

Question 28

expressives

Answer 28

another projected meaning convey particular attitude on part of speaker ex = u chicago - not assertions, can mark info that is already acknowledged

Question 29

expressives of the type "fuck__"

Answer 29

not imperatives

Question 30

slurs

Answer 30

epithets = expressive meaning often carry social meaning = strong negative attitude by the speaker towards specific social or ethnic group both expressive and at issue content = mudblood, conveys saw mixed wizard, and also conveys a neg attitude towards them

Question 31

interpretation function

Answer 31

= function mapping constants of predicate logic to their denotation in universe of discourse