Matakuliah: G0922/Introduction to Linguistics Tahun: 2008 Session 9 Semantic 2

Bina Nusantara University 2 LEARNING OUTCOMES Students are able to give their own examples on semantics relation among sentences Students are able to analyze sentences using presupposition, conversational maxims and deixis

Bina Nusantara University 3 OUTLINE Phrasal meaning: thematic roles Semantic relations among sentences : - Paraphrase, - Entailment - Contradiction Pragmatics: -Presupposition -Conversational maxims -deixis

Bina Nusantara University 4 Thematic Roles The thematic roles of verb consist of: Agent : the one who perform an action. Joyce runs Theme: the one that undergoes an action. Mary found the puppy Location: the place where an action happens. It rains in Spain Goal : the place to which an action is directed. Put the cat in the porch. Source: the place from which an action originated. He flew from Iowa to Idaho Instrument: the means by which an action is performed. Jo cuts hair with a razor.

Bina Nusantara University 5 Thematic roles Experiencer: one who perceives something. Helen heard Robert playing the piano Causative: a natural force that causes a change. The wind damaged the roof. Possessor : one who has something. The tail of the dog wagged furiously.

Bina Nusantara University 6 Semantics relation among sentences Truth condition : under what circumstances the sentence is true Paraphrase Two sentences that have the same meaning. Two sentences are paraphrases if they have the same truth condition. It means when one sentence is true the other is true; and when one is false the other is false. –E.g. The police chased the burglar The burglar was chased by the police - It is unfortunate that the team lost – Unfortunately, the team lost Paraphrase often involve the same vocabulary in different syntactic structure

Bina Nusantara University 7 Semantics relation among sentences Entailment –The truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another sentence –E.g. A. The park warden killed the bear – B. The bear is dead. –If sentence A is true, sentence B must be true –It means that A entails B –Prince is a dog –Prince is an animal –If it is true that Prince is a dog, it must be true that Prince is an animal

Bina Nusantara University 8 Semantics relation among sentences Contradiction –The relationship between two sentences in which that if one sentence is true, the other sentence must be false in the same situation and circumstances. –E.g. A. Charles is a bachelor – B. Charles is married – If it is true that Charles is a bachelor, it must false that Charles is married in the situation that Charles in Sentence A and Sentence B is the same.

Bina Nusantara University 9 Absence of Meaning Anomaly: expression that appear to follow the rules of syntax, but semantically wrong. Ex. : My brother is an only child. The bachelor is pregnant. Metaphor: an expression used to designated another concept, to create implicit comparison. Ex. : My car is a lemon. Idioms: an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words. Ex: She put her foot in her mouth.

Bina Nusantara University 10 Pragmatics Speech Acts: uses of language to do things - Performative verbs : bet, promise, warn,etc. - Directive : go, put, etch. Presupposition : the fact whose truth is required for an utterance to be appropriate. This is also called implication - Have you stopped hugging your sheepdog? - In this sentence, the speaker is said to presuppose or assume the truth of the fact that the listener has hugged their sheepdog in the past. - Would you like another beer? This sentence presuppose that you have already had at least one beer.

Bina Nusantara University 11 Conversational maxims The general guide lines in conversations. If people break the rules, there may be misunderstanding in the interpretation of the conversation It is also called cooperative principle

Bina Nusantara University 12 Conversational maxims The maxim of quantity –Give enough information as it should be –E.g. I think she went somewhere. –(I know that she went to Hero Supermarket) The maxim of manner –Say something clearly according to the manner of the society in order to avoid ambiguity. –E.g. Use “the man who lives with Mary instead of Mary’s husband’

Bina Nusantara University 13 Conversational maxims The maxim of relation –Be relevant –E.g. –A: Have you finished that term paper yet? –B: It’s been raining a lot lately, hasn’t it? The maxim of quality –Say something true (do not say anything that are false or for which you lack of adequate evidence. –A: What’s the weather like? –B: (without knowing the truth) It’s snowing