Sample of QXL-4411 Assignment 1: Meaning
Question 1)
Consider the following rather stilted conversation:
- I know what you are thinking.
- You don’t know what I am thinking.
- I do know what you are thinking.
- You don’t know what I am thinking.
- How many utterances are there?
There are four different utterences here.
- How many different sentences are there?
Three different sentences
- How many different propositions are there?
There are two different propositions
(4 marks)
Question 2)
Doctor Who is a long running British science-fiction television programme depicting the adventures of a Time Lord known as ‘the Doctor’, an extra-terrestrial being from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor explores the universe in a space ship called the TARDIS that can travel through time and space. A distinctive feature of the Doctor -and other Time Lords- is that he can take on a new body and personality to recover from anything that would kill a normal person. This has allowed a succession of actors to play the Doctor over the years from William Hartnell in 1963 to the actor who plays the current incarnation of the Doctor and who is the first woman to do so, Jodie Whittaker.
What two problems for referential theories of meaning are posed by the term ‘the Doctor’? Hint: exactly what are we pointing at?
(4 marks)
The referential problem is that al though the doctor is supposedly a singular being, remarking on them as incarnations suggests a degree of separation between the title and the character.
Question 3)
The following sentence appeared in NASA’s statement about the design of the space shuttle Challenger, which broke apart on its maiden voyage in January 1986, with the loss of all 7 astronauts.
The probability of mission success is necessarily very close to 1.0
What is the problem with this sentence? (4 marks)
The word necessarily does not qualify any subject in the sentence. This deprives the sentence of providing any real meaning.
Question 4)
It has been suggested that hyponyms and hypernyms (and other sense relations) can be defined in terms of logical entailment. Recall that with entailment, a sentence p entails a sentence q (p => q) in the situation where if p is true then q must also be true, i.e. q logically follows from p. Choose two words showing a hyponym-hypernym relation and say how they are logically related. You need to list four situations:
- How the sentence with the hyponym relates to the sentence with the hypernym
- How the sentence with the hypernym relates to the sentence with the hyponym
- How the negation of the sentence with the hyponym relates to the negation of the sentence with the hypernym (i.e, it is not an X)
- How the negation of the sentence with the hypernym relates to the negation of the sentence with the hyponym
- In terms of entailment, how does synonymy differ from hyponymy-hypernymy?
(5 marks)
Example:
Hypernym: cook
Hyponyms: bake, boil, grill, fry, steam, roast
Question 5)
Which of the following statements about Gricean maxims is correct?
- Grice’s maxims are rules that we typically follow in conversation.
- Grice’s maxims are rules that we must follow in polite conversation.
- Grice’s maxims are advice about how we should communicate.
- Grice’s maxims are rules that we can follow to avoid ambiguity.
(3 marks)
Answer: iii
Question 6)
What maxims are being flouted/violated in the following conversations?
- In a library.
CAT: What do you do?
JIM: [reading a book] I’m a teacher.
CAT: So where do you teach?
JIM: Timbuktu.
CAT: Sorry I asked!
Ans: The maxim of quantity
- At home
CAT: What are we having for dinner tonight?
Jim: Food
Ans: The maxim of manner
- After a lecture
Cat: Did you get my assignment?
Lecturer: I received two pages clipped together and covered with rows of black squiggles.
Ans: The maxim of relation
- To a friend
Cat: What do you think of my new boyfriend?
Emma: Nice weather for the time of year.
Ans: The maxim of relation
(5 marks)
Question 7)
In terms of the Classical Theory, what are the necessary conditions that would be sufficient to define a ‘grandmother’? In terms of Prototype Theory, what might constitute a prototypical grandmother? Which approach do you prefer and why?
(5 marks)
The necessary conditions under the classical theory would be that it is mutually exculsive and collectively exhaustive. The conceptual cluster would include “woman”, “mother to a parent”
A prototypical grandmother would be based on assumptions like “old”, “female”, “related to parents”, “family” which would then help form the complete picture.
The prototypical approach is more experiential while the classical theory, although restrictive is a bit more structured. In this case I would prefer the classical approach.
Question 8)
- Why is the concept of an ‘object bigger than your hand’ a problem for Prototype Theory?
Because it draws experiential comparison to a known object.
- Why is the concept of an ‘even number’ a problem for Prototype Theory?
Because it relates to the concept of 2 and its multiples.
- Why is the concept of an ‘even number’ not a problem for the Classical Theory? What are the necessary and sufficient conditions?
- Why is the concept of a ‘pet fish’ a problem for Prototype Theory?
Because the concept is derived from experiencial understanding of what a pet is and what a fish is then propels thoughts about ideating about them.
- Why is the concept of a three-legged dog a problem for the Classical Theory?
This is so because, the dog has a clearly defined mutually exculsive and collectively exhaustive definition and qualifying that clearly defines the subject of the discussion
(5 marks)
Question 9)
Select the sentence pairs where the first sentence entails the second:
- Jules and Jim went to the Belle Vue
- Jim went somewhere
- Emma walked to the Belle Vue
- Emma went to the Belle Vue
- Jim and Emma went to the Belle Vue.
- Jim and Jules went to the Belle Vue.
- Emma didn’t regret going to the Belle Vue
- Emma went to the Belle Vue
- Jim went to the Belle Vue and Emma went to the library
- Emma went to the library
- Emma didn’t regret going to the Belle Vue
- Someone didn’t regret going to the Belle Vue
