Utterances, Sentences

& Propositions

1
Utterances
• Utterances are physical events.
• Events are ephemeral.
• Utterances die on the wind.
• Linguistics deals with spoken language,
i.e. with utterances.

2
Utterances
• An utterance is the USE by a particular
speaker, on a particular occasion, for a
particular purpose, of a piece of language,
such as a sequence of sentences, or a single
phrase, or even a single word.
“Hello!”
“Not such.”
“Mine.”
“I’m single. I live in a small house at …”
Utterance meaning
• The meaning a speaker conveys by
using a particular utterance in a
particular context situation.
e.g. “My watch has stopped again.”
could convey, according to the context
situation:
(a) I can’t tell you the time.
(b) This is the reason for my being late.
(c) I really have to get it repaired.
(d) What about buying me another one?
4
Sentences
• 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.

5
 Sentences
• A sentence can be thought of as the
IDEAL string of words behind various
realizations in utterances and
inscription.
Jane: “Coffee?” ← Would you like some
coffee?
Steve: “Sure” ← I’m sure to love it.
6
Sentences
• Some examples will help to get the idea of a
sentence across. Indicate your answer by
stating Yes or No.
1. Do all (authentic) performances of ‘Macbeth’
begin by using the same sentence? Yes
2. Do all (authentic) performances of ‘Macbeth’
begin with the same utterance? No
3. Does it make sense to talk of the time and
place of a sentence?
No
7
Sentences

4. Does it make sense to talk of the

time and place of an utterance? Yes
5. Can one talk of a loud sentence?
No
6. Can one talk of a slow utterance?
Yes

8
Sentences
(1) For each of the following label it as an
utterance (U) or sentences (S), as appropriate.
(a)“The train now arriving at platform one is
the 11.15 form King’s Cross.” U
(b) The pelicans ignores the linguist. S
(2) What is wrong with the following?
(c) John announced Mary’s here in his quotation
squeakiest voice.
(d) “Mary thought how nice John was.” italics
9
Sentences
• A SENTENCE is a grammatically
complete string of words
expressing a complete thought.
• This very traditional definition is
unfortunately vague, but it is hard to
arrive at a better one for our purpose.

10
Sentences
I would like a cup of coffee. → a sentence

Coffee, please. → not a sentence

In the kitchen → not a sentence

Please put it in the kitchen. → a sentence

11
Which of the following utterances are tokens
of whole sentences (S) and which are not
(NS)?
(1) “John” NS
(2) “Who is there?” S
(3) “Mine” NS
(4) “It’s mine.” S
(5) “Where shall I …?” NS
(6) “I will…” NS
(7) “I miss you.” S 12
 Sentences
• Utterances of non-sentences, e.g. short
phrases or single words, are used by people
in communication all the time.
• People do not converse wholly in (tokens of)
well-formed sentences.
• The abstract idea of a sentence is the basis
for understanding even those expressions,
which are not sentences.
13
Sentences
• The meaning of non-sentences can be best
analyzed by considering them to be
abbreviations, or incomplete versions, of
whole sentences.
(1) “When did Goethe die?”
“In 1832” →Goethe died in 1832.
(2) “Would you like tea or coffee?”
“Coffee” →I would like coffee, please.
(3) “Who won the battle of Waterloo?”
“Wellington” →Wellington won the battle
of Waterloo. 14
Distinction between a sentence and
an utterance

The distinction between sentence

and utterance is of fundamental
importance to both semantics and
pragmatics.

15
Distinction between a sentence and
an utterance
A sentence: Utterance:
an abstract the issuance of a
theoretical entity sentence.
defined within a
theory of grammar.

16
Sentence refers to Utterance refers to
the system or its realizations.
language side; the
ideal structure
behind various
realizations in
utterance.

17
It suffices to define Utterance meaning,
sentence meaning on the other hand, is
as what a sentence what a speaker
means regardless of means when he
the context or makes an utterance
situation it may be in a certain situation.
used.

18
 (Tôi, thích hoạt hình)
• Tôi thích phim hoạt hình.
• 私は漫画が好き .
• I like cartoons.
• J'aime les dessins animés.
• 我喜欢看动画
• Tykkään sarjakuvia
• ผมชอบการ์ตน ู
19
Propositions (mệnh đề, định
đề)
• A PROPOSITION is that part of the meaning
of the utterance of a declarative sentence
which describes some state of affairs.
• The state of affairs typically involves persons
or things referred to be expressions in the
sentence.
• In uttering a declarative sentence a speaker
typically asserts a proposition.

20
Propositions
• The notion of truth can be used to decide
whether two sentences express different
propositions.
• If there is any conceivable set of
circumstances in which one sentence is
true, while the other is false, we can be
sure that they express different
propositions.
21
Propositions
• A sentence may express or imply more
than one proposition.
• SENTENCE: Maria’s friend, Tony, who
is a dentist, likes apples.
• UNDERLYING PROPOSITIONS:
– Maria has a friend.
– The friend’s name is Tony.
– Tony is a dentist.
– Tony likes apples.
22
Propositions
• Ex1: The following pair of sentences expresses the
same proposition:
(1) Harry took out the garbage.
Harry took the garbage out.
(2) John gave Mary a book.
Mary was given a book by John.
• Ex2: The following pair of sentences expresses
different proposition.
(1) Isobel loves Tony.
Tony loves Isobel.
(2) George danced with Ethel.
George did not dance with Ethel.
23
Propositions
• True propositions correspond to facts, in the
ordinary sense of the word fact. False
propositions do not correspond to facts.
Practice: In the present-day world,
(1) Is it a fact that there are lions in Africa?
Yes
(2) Is the proposition that there are lions in
Africa a true proposition?
Yes
24
Propositions
(3) Is it a fact that the state of Arkansas is
uninhabited by human beings true?
No
(4) Is the proposition that the state of
Arkansas is uninhabited by human beings
true?
No

25
Exercises
1. Do the two following sentences have the same
proposition?
a. Mr. Dindlay killed Janet.
b. Mr. Dindlay caused Janet to die.
No, they don’t.
 kill sb in (a) implies [+intentionally]
 caused sb to die in (b) implies [+accidentally]
The semantic feature [±intention] is crucial in
distinguishing the different propositions in (a-b)
2. Exercise 28 (Thanh, p.92)
26
 Distinction between a proposition
and a sentence
• Propositions • Sentences in
cannot be said to different languages
belong to any can correspond to the
particular same proposition, if
language. the two sentences are
perfect translation of
each other.

27
 Distinction between a proposition
and a sentence
• Ex: perfect translation → same
proposition
English French German Vietnamese
I’m J’ai Mir ist Tôi lạnh.
cold. froid. kalt.

28
Distinction between a proposition, a
sentence & an utterance
• It is useful to envisage the kind of family
tree relationship between proposition,
utterance, and sentence.
Proposition

Sentence Sentence Sentence

U U U U U U
29
Distinction between a proposition, a
sentence & an utterance
• A single proposition could be expressed by
using several different sentences:
The Monday Club deposed Mrs. Thatcher.
Mrs. Thatcher was deposed by the Monday
Club.
• And each of these sentences could be
uttered an infinite number of times.

30
Distinction between a proposition, a
sentence & an utterance
• The same sentence can be realized by
different utterances on particular
occasions.
Most pencils are yellow.

Most pencils Most pencils are yellow.

are yellow.

Most pencils are yellow.

31
 Fill in the chart below with ‘+’ or ‘-’ as
appropriate
UTTERANCES SENTENCES PROPOSITIONS
CAN BE LOUD OR
QUIET + - -
CAN BE
GRAMMATICAL OR
NOT + + -
CAN BE TRUE OR
FALSE + + +
IN A PARTICULAR
REGIONAL ACCENT + - -
IN A PARTICULAR
LANGUAGE + + - 32
The End

33