Scribd
Upload
619 views

Semantics Unit 2

This document discusses sentences, utterances, and propositions. It defines a sentence as a string of words put together by grammatical rules that expresses a complete thought. An utterance is any stretch of talk by one person before and after silence. A proposition is the part of an utterance of a declarative sentence that describes a state of affairs. The document provides examples to distinguish sentences, utterances, and propositions and practices identifying them in different contexts.

Uploaded by

Putry Jessiie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
619 views

Semantics Unit 2

This document discusses sentences, utterances, and propositions. It defines a sentence as a string of words put together by grammatical rules that expresses a complete thought. An utterance is any stretch of talk by one person before and after silence. A proposition is the part of an utterance of a declarative sentence that describes a state of affairs. The document provides examples to distinguish sentences, utterances, and propositions and practices identifying them in different contexts.

Uploaded by

Putry Jessiie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

UNIT 2: SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, AND PROPOSITIONS

Definition: A SENTENCE is neither a physical event nor a physical object. It is,


conceived abstractly, a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a
language.

Practice: Given our conventions, say what is wrong with the following:
(a) John announced Mary�s here in his squeakiest voice
(b) �Mary thought how nice John was�

Definition: A SENTENCE is a grammatically complete string of words expressing a


complete thought.

Practice: Which of the following utterances are tokens of whole sentences (S) and
which are not (NS)?
(1) �John�
(2) �Who is there?�
(3) �Mine�
(4) �It�s mine�
(5) �Where shall I . . .?�

Practice: Write out a full sentence expressing the intended meaning more fully.
(1) Magnus: �When did Goethe die?�
Fred: �In 1832�
(2) Hostess: �Would you like tea or coffee?�
Guest: �Coffee, please�
(3) A: �Who won the battle of Waterloo?�
B: �Wellington�

Definition: An UTTERANCE is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after
which there is silence on the part of that person.

Practice: Now decide whether the following could represent utterances.


(1) �Hello�
(2) �Not much�
(3) �Utterances may consist of a single word, a single phrase or a single sentence.
They may also consist of a sequence of sentences. It is not unusual to find
utterances that consist of one or more grammatically incomplete sentence-
fragments. In short, there is no simple relation of correspondence between
utterances and sentences�
(4) �Pxgotmgt�
(5) �Schplotzenp?aaaaaaargh!�

Definition: A PROPOSITION is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a


declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs.

Practice: In each case, say whether the propositions are same or different.
(1) Harry took out the garbage
Harry took the garbage out
(2) John gave Mary a book
Mary was given a book by John
(3) Isobel loves Tony
Tony loves Isobel
(4) George danced with Ethel
George didn�t dance with Ethel
(5) Dr Findlay killed Janet
Dr Findlay caused Janet to die

Practice:
(1) In the following utterances, is any proposition asserted by the speaker?
(a) �Have you seen my toothbrush?�
(b) �Get out of here this minute!�
(c) �I�m afraid that I�ll have to ask you to leave�

(2) Would you say that the members of the following sentence pairs have the same
propositional content?
(a) Go away, will you?
You will go away

(b) Pigs might fly


I�m a Dutchman
(c) I am an idiot
Am I an idiot?

Practice: Yes or no? sentences utterances propositions


1. Can be loud or quiet
2. Can be grammatical or not
3. Can be true or false
4. In a particular regional accent
5. In a particular language

You might also like