Semantics Exercises

1. What is a reference theory of meaning?

2. Find 5 words that do not refer to physical objects.

3. What is phlogiston?

4. What problem do words without a referent create for a reference theory of meaning?

5. Samuel Clemens used the alias Mark Twain for the books that he wrote. Use the identity test to show that these two names have different meanings. Do you have a nickname? Use the identity test to show that your two names have different meanings.

6. Tautologies are sentences that are always true. “Circles are round” is a tautology. Sentences that are always false are contradictions. “Squares are round” is a contradiction. Which of the following sentences are tautologies, contradictions or neither?

      a. Dogs are canines.

      b. Dogs have four legs and a tail.

      c. Chihuahuas and Great Danes are dogs.

      d. Dogs are invisible.

      e. George Washington was the first president.

      f. George Washington was a man.

      g. George Washington was not George Washington.

      h. Pluto is a planet.

      i. Pluto is made from frozen ice and methane.

      j. Pluto is a physical object.

7. What problem do words or phrases with the same referent create for a reference theory of meaning?

8. Find three things that have changed over the past ten years and describe the changes that occurred.

9. What problem do words or phrases with changing referents create for a reference theory of meaning?

10. What is a usage based theory of meaning?

11. How does a usage based theory of meaning explain the use of words without a referent?

12. How does a usage based theory of meaning explain the use of different words that have the same referent?

13. How does a usage based theory of meaning explain the use of words with changing referents?

14. The word intension is often confused with the word intention. While intension refers to the concept expressed by a word, intention refers to the purpose or design of an action or object. Although intension and intention have different meanings, identifying the intention for an action or object helps to understand the semantic intension of the word. Consider the following word pairs, and identify what their semantic extensions have in common as well as the differences in the intentions they express.

      Word Pairs            Shared Semantic Extension                      Different Intentions

      break, pick

      cover, wrap

      fold, crumple

      cup, bowl

      separate, divide

15. The semantic field of harvesting has verbs that contrast in interesting ways. Identify the semantic features that distinguish the meanings of the following verbs:

      cut, cull, gather, glean, harvest, pick, pluck, reap, weed

16. A meter was once defined by reference to the length of a certain bar S in Paris. The kilogram, likewise, was once defined by the weight of a certain lump of metal in Paris. What are the semantic extensions of the words meter and kilogram? What are the semantic intensions of the words meter and kilogram? Describe a situation in which the semantic extensions for meter and kilogram might change, but their semantic intensions would remain the same.

17. One way to think about the semantic intension of a word is to imagine how the meaning might change if you alter a semantic feature of its referent. For example, would you still consider something to be a bowl if it was broken or flat? Discuss how changes in semantic features would affect the semantic extensions and semantic intensions of the following words:

      a. zebra                                   b. cup                                c. wheat

      d. pick                                     e. but                                 f. in

18. We looked at the intensional context that propositional attitude verbs create and discussed the use of two opacity tests as a way to discover intensional operators. There are many other types of intensional operators. Use the truth value test and the substitution test to decide whether each of the following is an intensional operator:

      a. negation, e.g. I did not see Superman in the garden.

      b. a modal auxiliary, e.g. I could be the president of the United States.

      c. future tense, e.g. The queen of England will launch the ship.

      d. possible, e.g. It is possible that I saw the Chancellor.

      e. imperative mood, e.g. Meet the Dean at the Union.

      f. former, e.g. Mary is a former student.

19. Bowerman used a common set of situations to illustrate differences in the semantic extensions for the English words in and on and their equivalents in Dutch, Spanish and Berber. Bowerman only sampled a small set of possible topological relationships. Based on the examples that we discussed in class, which words would you predict a Dutch, Spanish and Berber speaker would use for the following situations? Explain your answers.

                                                Dutch                    Spanish                 Berber

      a. in a cloud

      b. on the internet

      c. on time

20. Larsen (1988:310) describes deixis in K’iche’ Maya in the following table.

      a. How do demonstratives in K’iche’ differ semantically from the demonstratives this and        that in English?

      b. How do definite articles in K’iche’ differ semantically from definite article the in English?

      c. Do demonstratives and the definite article have similar semantic features in English?

      d. How do the pointing words in K’iche’ differ from the words here and there in English?

Thomas Walter Larsen. 1988. Manifestations of Ergativity in Quiché Grammar. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

21. Rotokas, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea, has the following words:

      kaakau      ‘dog’                    kaakaukare     ‘pack of dogs’

      avuka        ‘old woman’        avukariako      ‘group of old women’

      avuru        ‘fly’                      avurupitu        ‘swarm of flies’

      koisi          ‘bee’                     kooisipitu        ‘swarm of bees’

      atari          ‘fish’                    atarikare          ‘school of fish’

      isiso          ‘grass’                  isisokou          ‘bunch of grass’

      kokio        ‘bird’                    kokiokare        ‘flight of birds’

      aako          ‘mother’               aakoriako        ‘group of mothers’

      kokopuo    ‘butterfly’             kokopuopitu   ‘swarm of butterflies’

      toru           ‘wave’                  torukou           ‘series of waves’

      tavauru      ‘young girl’          tavaururiako   ‘group of young girls’

      koie           ‘pig’                     koiekare          ‘herd of pigs’

      a. What is the semantic difference between a plural and a group?

      b. Which Rotokas group suffixes have similar extensions to group terms in English?

      c. Which Rotokas group suffixes have different extensions from group terms in English?

      d. What English group terms do you use to refer to a group of boys, crows, clouds, hills?

      e. Which English group term do you use when you are unsure? This is a default group term.

22. Consider the following Fijian pronouns.

      au              1^st person singular ‘me’

      iko             2^nd person singular ‘you’

      koya          3^rd person singular ‘him/her/it’

      kedaru       1^st person dual ‘you and me’

      keirau       1^st person dual ‘one other (not you) and me’

      kemudrau  2^nd person dual ‘you two’

      rau            3^rd person dual ‘them two’

      kedatou     1^st person trial ‘two others (including you) and me’

      keitou        1^st person trial ‘two others (excluding you) and me’

      kemudou   2^nd person trial ‘you three’

      iratou        3^rd person trial ‘them three’

      keda          1^st person plural ‘us’ (more than three, including you)

      keimami    1^st person plural ‘us’ (more than three, excluding you)

      kemuni:     2^nd person plural ‘you’ (more than three)

      ira             3^rd person plural ‘them’ (more than three)

a. What semantic features are lexicalized in the Fijian pronoun system that are not lexicalized in the English pronoun system?

b. What semantic feature is lexicalized in the English pronoun system that is not lexicalized in the Fijian pronoun system?

23. In place of pronouns, the Mayan language Mam uses noun classifiers such as the following (England 1983:158):

      jal             ‘nonhuman’

      nu’xh        ‘baby’

      xhlaaq’     ‘child’

      b’ixh         ‘person of the same status, fondly’

      q’a            ‘young man’

      txin            ‘young woman’

      ma             ‘man’

      xu’j           ‘woman’

      swe’j         ‘old man’

      xhyaa’      ‘old woman’

      xnuq          ‘old man, respectfully’

      xuj             ‘old woman, respectfully’

a. What semantic features are lexicalized in the Mam classifier system that are not lexicalized in the English pronoun system?

b. What semantic feature is lexicalized in the English pronoun system that is not lexicalized in the Mam classifier system?

England, Nora C. 1983. A Grammar of Mam, A Mayan Language. Austin: University of Texas Press.

24. English has many verbs that refer to features of light. What semantic features are lexicalized in the following verbs?

      glimmer                gleam              glitter              shimmer          flare          flash

      glisten                   glow                flicker             shine               glare          sparkle

25. English has many verbs that refer to different manners of walking. What semantic features are lexicalized in the following verbs?

      walk                      saunter            sashay             strut                stalk          prance

      stagger                  swagger          wade               mosey             wander      ramble

26. Pye (1996) published a list of breaking verbs in K’iche’ Maya. How do the semantic features lexicalized in the following K’iche’ verbs differ from the semantic features lexicalized in English breaking verbs?

      -chiko:j           to break by throwing an object, e.g. chest, stool, pot

      -ch’akati:j       to break off a small piece, e.g. bread to feed hens

      -ch’ol              to peel, skin e.g. fruit, vegetables, animals

      -ch’up             to pick a plant from the ground, roots and all, e.g. onions

      -etzalob’a:j     to break down, ruin, e.g. computer, car, zipper

      -jixi:j               to tear leaves along the veins

      -jochopi:j        to break a banana by failing to support the whole bunch

      -jol                  to pull entire leaf and part of stem from corn in a downward motion

      -joyopi:j          to break a banana from a bunch of bananas

      -kab’iq            to shell corn by twisting the cob in one's hands

      -k’et                to shell corn with one's thumb--imitating a hen pecking corn

      -mak               to pick small beans, e.g. coffee, beans

      -pachale:j        to smash something with one's foot

      -paq’i:j            to split, e.g. boards, watermelon, balloon

      -paxi:j             to break clay, rock, e.g. glass, plate, cup, rock, pot

      -pitz’itz’e:j     to crush something soft, e.g. clay

      -pi’i:j              to break something soft, e.g. book, tortilla, clay

      -pich’i:j          to squash bugs, e.g. lice, fleas, worms

      -poq’i:j           to pop, e.g. bubble, balloon

      -qasa:j             to break in a downward fashion

      -q’ipi:j            to chip, to make smaller, e.g. break sticks for kindling

      -q’ol               to pick leaves by tearing across the base of the leaf

      -q’upi:j           to break something hard, e.g. bridge, candle, basket, stick

      -rach’aqi:j       to tear, e.g. pants, cloth, paper

      -raqi:j              to smash something hollow, e.g. glass, pot, chest, bubble

      -t’oqopi:j        to sever something long and flexible, e.g. rope, wire, string

      -t’ub’i:j           to tear, e.g. paper, clothes

      -weqi:j            to smash something hard, e.g. pot, wall, mile post

      -xul                 to pick something by the stem, e.g. grapes

      -yoji:j              to dismantle something, e.g. table, house, car

      -yokoke:j        to crumple something, e.g. aluminum cans, paper cups

Pye, C. 1996. K’iche’ Maya verbs of breaking and cutting. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 21.87-98.

27. Examine the metaphors expressed in the following sets of sentences.

      a.   She gave him an icy stare.

            He gave her the cold shoulder.

            He exudes a lot of warmth toward people.

            They got into a heated argument.

      b.   He drops a lot of hints.

            The committee picked up on the issue.

            She dumps all her problems on her friends.

            Although he disagreed, he let it go.

      c.   the eye of a needle

            the foot of the bed

            the hands of the clock

            the arm of a chair

            the table legs

      d.   This lecture is easy to digest.

            He just eats up the lecturer’s words.

            Chew on this thought for a while.

            Listen to this juicy piece of gossip.

      For each set of sentences determine the basis for each of these metaphor sets. Use the pattern:

      “The metaphors in set x describe _________ in terms of _________.”