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Final - Sem - 12 2021 PDUNG CDUNG

This document appears to be a final examination for a course in English semantics. It consists of 9 multiple choice and short answer questions testing students' knowledge of topics in semantics, including sentence types, sense relations, presuppositions, speech acts, and Gricean maxims. The exam is administered at Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City and covers 45 minutes.

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GIAN TUYẾT THUỲ TRANG
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137 views3 pages

Final - Sem - 12 2021 PDUNG CDUNG

This document appears to be a final examination for a course in English semantics. It consists of 9 multiple choice and short answer questions testing students' knowledge of topics in semantics, including sentence types, sense relations, presuppositions, speech acts, and Gricean maxims. The exam is administered at Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City and covers 45 minutes.

Uploaded by

GIAN TUYẾT THUỲ TRANG
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY Student’s full name: .............................................................

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES


Student ID: ...........................................................................
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE
FULL-TIME PROGRAMME Class code: ...................; Test room: ………………………

Instructor: ………………………………………………………..

FINAL EXAMINATION
Course: ENGLISH SEMANTICS
Time Allotted: 45 minutes Exam Date: __________, 2021

Approved by Proctor Examiner Total Score


Dept. Chair (CBCT) (100%)
1. 1. Score in figures:

2. 2. Score in words:

Notes: No materials or dictionaries are allowed.


Students write their answers in the space provided in this test paper.

1. State whether the following statements are true or false. Explain. (10pts)
a. Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States is an equative sentence.
b. The same proposition can be expressed by different sentences.
c. One of the sincerity conditions of the act of offering is that the hearer must not
already have the thing that is offered.
d. A sentence containing an ambiguous word is not always ambiguous.

2. Fill in each blank with ONE appropriate word. (10pts)


a. Whenever there is a(n) __________ relationship between a structure and a function, we
have a direct speech act.
b. The performative verbs would name explicitly the __________ act that the speakers
want to transmit.
c. The __________ presupposition is assumed to be present in possessive construction and
in any definite noun phrases.
d. A(n) __________ sentence reflects an unspoken agreement by speakers of a language
about the senses of the word in it.

3. Decide whether each of the following sentences is an analytic sentence, a synthetic


sentence or a contradiction. Explain. (10pts)
a. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
b. If Holmes killed Sikes, then Sikes is dead.
c. If something is blue, then it’s colored.

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d. Some horses are not mammals.

4. What is the sense relation between the predicates in each of the following pairs? If
the relation is antonymy, state the type of antonymy. Explain. (10pts)
a. modern – old-fashioned
b. policeman – criminal
c. candy – lollipop
d. bunny - rabbit

5. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it is an entailment of the
sentence printed before it (⇒ is used to show entailment) or a paraphrase of the
sentence printed before it (⇔ to show paraphrase). (10pts)
a. All dogs have fleas.
⇒
b. It is only 10 miles to the nearest gas station.
⇔
c. All children receive the same education.
⇔
d. He ate all the fruits though they were green.
⇒

6. Decide whether the following utterances are performative or constative. Explain.


(10pts)
a. “I believe that you were wrong.”
b. “Applicants are advised against sending cash by post.”
c. “The dog is called Sputnik.”
d. “I can’t promise that I’ll be there early this afternoon.”

7. Identify one core presupposition in each of the following. (10pts)


a. “Why did you go there?”
b. “Don’t pretend that you know everything”
c. “I’ll never speak to him again”
d. “If you had left at daybreak, you would be there now”

8. For each of the following dialogues, identify the maxim(s) being flouted and B’s
implicature. (10pts)
a. A: Who is picking up the children today?
B: I’ve got a meeting at 3.30.
Maxim flouted: ________________________________________________

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Implicature: ________________________________________________
b. A: How are her daughters?
B: The youngest is OK.
Maxim flouted: ________________________________________________
Implicature: ________________________________________________

9. For the following utterance, give 2 situations so that the utterance performs 2
different acts. Then interpret the utterance in light of the situations you provide and
classify it according to the intended acts. (20pts)
“I can’t hear a word”
Situation 1:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interpretation: __________________________________________________________________________________
Classification: ____________________________________________________
Situation 2:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interpretation: __________________________________________________________________________________
Classification: ____________________________________________________

------- THE END OF THE TEST -------

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