Semantics _ C7

proposition

A ___ is defined as the invariant meaning expressed by a sentence, devoid of any modality. E.g: She is probably right. Proposition: She is right. => speaker asserts that proposition. Modality: probable impossible.

interrogative and imperative

Propositions are involved in the meanings of not only declarative, but also ___ sentences: Is she right? (speaker is questioning this proposition) (You) be careful! (you are careful mention/assert).

truth value

The ___ of a proposition should be distinguished from the truth conditions of a sentence. Mary married a rich man.

true or false

Truth value of a proposition: The proposition can be either ___.

truth conditions

___ of the sentence: Under what conditions would this sentence count as true? Mary must be a woman. Mary is of a marriageable age. Mary has got married. Mary's husband is a rich man.

ARGUMENT / PREDICATE

A proposition usually consists of (a) something which is named or talked about known as ___ or entity, and (b) An assertion or predication made about the arguments expressed by the ___. Eg: The man bit the dog. The dog bit the man. Predicate: BITE. Two arguments: the man, the dog.

propositional content

The meaning of a sentence consists of the predicate, argument(s), and the role of each argument. When we specify all these elements, we are talking about the ___ of the sentence.

entities

Not all ___ are arguments. It (not refer to anything specific) rained heavily.

participant

The arguments may fall into two sub-groups: participant and non-participant. ___ are those necessitated by the predication, and answer the question: Who does what to whom? John killed the dog. Mary marked the assignments.

adverbials

In standard grammatical treatment, participant arguments surface as subject, direct or indirect object, whereas non-participant arguments occur as ___.

PREDICATE

A ___ is any word, or sequence of words, which, in a given single sense, can function as the predicator of a sentence. Hungry, in, asleep, hit, show, bottle: are predicates. And, or, but, not: are not predicates.

predicator

The term '___' indentifies the semantic role played by a particular word (or groups of words) in a particular sentence.

degree

The combination of predicate and arguments can be defined in terms of ___. The DEGREE of a predicate is a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally understood to have in a simple sentence.

one argument

A predicate of degree (valency) one (often called: a one-place predicate / a predicate of valency one) is used with ___. E.g.. Asleep, beautiful. John is sleeping Mary is beautiful.

degree two

A prediate of ___ (often called a two-place predicate / a predicate of valency 2) is used with two arguments. E.g. kill, see, on, next to. The cat killed the mouse. John kissed Mary. Leila saw the mouse. Sam is Katie's brother. The book is on the table. The station is next to the bank.

three arguments

A predicate of degree/valency three (often called a three-place predicate / a predicate of valency 3) is used with ___. E.g. give, make, keep, put… The teacher gave us a test. Mary made me a cake. Grandmother keeps the cake in the fridge. Jane put the flowers on the table. Canberra is between Sydney and Melbourne.

entities / events

Arguments refer to ___ while predicates deal with ___, properties, attributes, and states.

independent / dependent

Those individuals who are ___ and can stand alone are arguments. Things like qualities, relations, actions, and processes that are ___ and cannot stand alone are termed predicates. E.g.: My computer. break down, fast, new.

predication

The relationship between entities as arguments and events, qualities, states as predicates is ___.

nouns, adjectives and prepositions

However, not all events are predicates. In English, not only verbs, but also ___ can function as predicates.

Semantic roles

Definition: ___ are a means to represent sentence meaning in logical terms. They are usually assigned to nouns and noun phrases (arguments) according to the relation they hold with the predicate. John is writing a letter. Mary kicked the dog. My mother bought me a car.

AGENT

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 1. ___: the animate initiator, causer, doer, or instigator of an action who acts by will or volition, takes responsibility for the action, and is its direct cause. The logger felled the tree. The mechanic repaired the car.

FORCE

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 2. ___: The inanimate cause of an action, which does not act by will or volition. The wind felled the tree. The logger felled the tree with a single blow. Note: Both the agent & force can impact the affected.

INSTRUMENT

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 3. ___: the means by which an event is caused, or the tool, generally inanimate, used to carry out an action. The tree was felled with an axe. The cook cut the cake with a knife.

EXPERIENCER

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 4. ___: The animate being affected inwardly by a state or action. Marianne likes the book. The news pleases me.

SOURCE

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 5. ___: the place from which or the person from whom an action emanates. I borrowed the book from my teacher. I got some money out of the bank.

GOAL

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 6. ___: the place to which or the person to whom an action is directed, including indirect objects and directional adverbs. Peter sent Mary a card. We hung the picture on the wall. A new idea came to me.

PATH

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 7. ___: the path taken in moving from one place to another in the course of an action. Hannibal travelled over the mountains. The package came via London.

LOCATION

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 8. ___: the place at/in which or the time at which an action occurs. The dog is in the house / under the table. I will return on Tuesday / at noon.

POSSESSOR

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 9. ___: the possessor of a thing, really a special kind of locative, since the thing and the possessor must coincide. He has/owns/possesses a dog. The dog belongs to him.

BENEFICIARY

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 10. ___: the person or thing for which an action is performed or the person who derives something from the actions of another. Jack answered the phone for Joe.

EFFECTED

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 11. ___: the object resulting from an action or state, having no prior existence but coming about by virtue of the action or state. They formed a circle (created). They baked a cake (created). đã tồn tại sẵn, bị thay đổi về vật lý, vật chất.

AFFECTED

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 12. ___: the person or thing affected by an action or the entity changing. I baked the chicken (bị baked). He cut the cake (bị cắt) in half. Note for both effected & affected: nếu không bị thay đổi, cũng không thể tạo ra theme.

THEME

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 13. ___: the person or thing which undergoes an action, or that which is transferred or moved by an event but otherwise unchanged. I put the letter on the table. We read the letter.

RANGE

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 15. ___: The specification or limitation of an action. The dress costs $300. The man weighs 100 kg.

ROLE

Brinton and Brinton (2010) 16. ___: a person playing a role or part in an action or state. We made Lisa the treasurer of the club. Hilda is the principal of the school.

particular someone / something

Notes: 1. Argument has to be a ___. Someone get me a drink, please! Someone called me last night.

another proposition

Notes: 4. Arguments of a proposition may be expressed by ___. She said that she would be late. Whether Tom will come or not doesn't matter.

embedded

___ propositions: The arguments of a proposition may be expressed by another proposition, not a referring expression. I know that she is innocent. He wants to see you now. I doubt if she will pass the exams. She told me that she had sent the package.

nominal clauses

Propositions as arguments can occupy subject or object positions, and they can surface as ___ in the following ways: a. Question clauses: What she said was appalling. I wonder when he will come. Do you remember where you put the ticket? I doubt if George knows the answer. Have you heard whether we get a holiday or not?

nominal clauses

Propositions as arguments can occupy subject or object positions, and they can surface as ___ in the following ways: b. That-clauses: That she dumped her boyfriend was unthinkable. She said that she would come. c. To infinitive clauses: I want her to succeed. The Eagles expect the Hawks to win the game. d. Ing- clauses: I saw Mr. Hall entering the bank. She heard a baby crying.

an argument

Notational representation of embedded propositions: If a proposition is embedded within another proposition, the embedded proposition is represented as ___ of the main predicate. She said some words. SAY (she, some words). She said that she would wait for me. SAY (she, WAIT-FOR (she, me)).