Introduction to Semantics & Pragmatics

Question 1

What area of meaning is semantics interested in?

Answer 1

The literal meaning

Question 2

What area of meaning is pragmatics interested in?

Answer 2

The meaning within context

Question 3

What is the idea theory?

Answer 3

Words are concepts, tied in with mental representation

Question 4

Which theory of meaning to psychologists like?

Answer 4

Idea theory

Question 5

What is the referential theory?

Answer 5

Words are compiled of a set of all the possible realisations in the world

Question 6

What is a pitfall in the idea theory of meaning?

Answer 6

What do you do with words such as ‘on’, ‘a’ or ‘ing’?

Question 7

What is a pitfall in the referential theory of meaning?

Answer 7

What do you do with words like tall? What counts as tall? It’s relative

Question 8

What is compositionally?

Answer 8

The meaning of a linguistics expression is a function of the meaning of its parts

Question 9

What is an intransitive verb (truth-value)?

Answer 9

A function that takes an individual and returns a truth-value

Question 10

What is a transitive verb?

Answer 10

A function that takes an individual and returns a function from individuals to truth-values

Question 11

Sentences can be context-invariant and context-

Answer 11

dependent

Question 12

What is entailment?

Answer 12

When a sentence implies another sentence - thus one sentence entails another

Question 13

Can entailment survive negation?

Answer 13

Sometimes

Question 14

Who created the conversational maxims?

Answer 14

Grice

Question 15

What are the conversational maxims? (4)

Answer 15

Quality; Quantity; Relation; Manner

Question 16

Are the conversational maxims absolute?

Answer 16

No! One can flout them in specific contexts to imply certain things

Question 17

What are the properties of conversational implicature?

Answer 17

Cancellable; Reinforceable; Non-detachable; Calculable; Non-conventional

Question 18

What are the problems with Grice’s maxims? (2)

Answer 18

They are largely based on western languages; thus they do not apply to all languages

Question 19

Who coined the Speech Act Theory?

Answer 19

Austin

Question 20

What is a constative?

Answer 20

Factual statement, expressions used to make statements

Question 21

What is a performative?

Answer 21

Used to perform an action, to bring about change

Question 22

What are felicity conditions?

Answer 22

Rules to be met if a performance will succeed

Question 23

What are the felicity conditions? (3)

Answer 23

Conventional procedure; executed properly; sincerity

Question 24

Why did Austin later revise his theory?

Answer 24

Because some performatives can be assessed for truth-value

Question 25

What three features are to be identified in a speech act?

Answer 25

locutionary (the act of saying something); illocutionary (the act in saying something); perlocutionary (what is done by saying something)

Question 26

Who revised Austin's Speech Act Theory?

Answer 26

John Searle

Question 27

What is an example of an indirect speech act?

Answer 27

Making requests

Question 28

What are the semantic rules?

Answer 28

If the NP refers to the set of the VP, it is true. (Rule 2 integrates the second individual into the VP)

Question 29

What is reductionism?

Answer 29

Semantics and pragmatics should be one topic

Question 30

What is complementarism?

Answer 30

Semantics and pragmatics should be separate topics