Semantics: a coursebook, second edition

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(4) So, of what degree is the predicate under (i.e. a how-many-
place-predicate is under)?
.............
(5) Of what degree is the predicate near?
.............
(6) Is Dundee is between Aberdeen acceptable?
Yes / No
(7) Is Dundee is between Aberdeen and Edinburgh acceptable?
Yes / No
(8) Of what degree is the predicate between?
.............
Feedback
(1) two (2) No (3) No (4) two (5) two (6) No (7) Yes (8) three
Comment We will now turn our attention to adjectives.
Practice (1) How many referring expressions are there in
Philip is handsome?
.............
(2) Is Philip is handsome John (not used when 
addressing John) acceptable?
Yes / No
(3) Of what degree is the predicate handsome?
.............
(4) Of what degree is the predicate rotten?
.............
(5) Of what degree is the predicate smelly?
.............
Feedback
(1) one (2) No (3) one (4) one (5) one
Comment In fact, the majority of adjectives are one-place predicates.
Practice (1) Is John is afraid of Fido acceptable?
Yes / No
(2) Does John is afraid seem elliptical
(i.e. does it seem to leave something unmentioned)?
Yes / No
(3) Could afraid be called a two-place predicate?
Yes / No
(4) Is Your house is di
fferent from mine acceptable?
Yes / No
(5) Does Your house is di
fferent seem elliptical?
Yes / No
(6) Of what degree is the predicate di
fferent?
.............
(7) Of what degree is the predicate identical?
.............
(8) Of what degree is the predicate similar?
.............
Feedback
(1) Yes (2) Yes (3) Yes (4) Yes (5) Yes (6) two (7) two (8) two
Comment You may have wondered about the role of the prepositions such as of and
from in afraid of and di
fferent from. These prepositions are not themselves
predicates. Some adjectives in English just require (grammatically) to be
joined to a following argument by a preposition. Such prepositions are
relatively meaningless linking particles. You might want to think of the
combination of adjective plus linking particle in these cases as a kind of

U N I T   5
Predicates
53
complex or multi-word predicate with basically one uni
fied meaning. Notice
that one can often use di
fferent linking prepositions with no change of
meaning, e.g. (in some dialects) di
fferent to, or  even  different than.
We now turn to predicates which are nouns.
Practice (1) How many referring expressions are there in
John is a corporal?
.............
(2) Is John is a corporal the army acceptable?
Yes / No
(3) Of what degree is corporal?
.............
(4) Of what degree is hero?
.............
(5) Of what degree is crook?
.............
(6) How many referring expressions are there in
This object is a pitchfork?
.............
(7) Of what degree is pitchfork?
.............
Feedback
(1) one (2) No (3) one (4) one (5) one (6) one (7) one
Comment Most nouns are one-place predicates. But a few nouns could be 
said to be ‘inherently relational’. These are nouns such as father,
son, brother, mother, daughter, neighbour.
Practice (1) Does John is a brother seem somewhat odd?
Yes / No
(2) Is John is a brother of the Mayor of Miami acceptable?
Yes / No
(3) Could brother be called a two-place predicate?
Yes / No
(4) Could sister be called a two-place predicate?
Yes / No
Feedback
(1) Yes, it would be completely acceptable only in a somewhat unusual 
context. (2) Yes (3) Yes (4) Yes
Comment Sometimes two predicates can have nearly, if not exactly, the same sense, but
be of di
fferent grammatical parts of speech. Typically in these cases the
corresponding predicates have the same degree, as in the following examples.
See if you can determine the degree of the predicates in these sentences.
Example Ronald is foolish, Ronald is a fool
Timothy is afraid of cats, Timothy fears cats
My parrot is a talker, My parrot talks
Comment We conclude this unit by discussing one special relation, the identity relation.
This is the relation found in equative sentences (Unit 4, p. 42). In English, the
identity of the referents of two di
fferent referring expressions is expressed by
a form of the verb be.

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Example George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States
The 43rd President of the United States is George W. Bush 
Practice All of the following sentences contain a variant of the verb be. In  which
sentences does a form of be express the identity relation? Circle your choices.
(1) This is a spider
(2) This is my father
(3) This is the person I was telling you about at dinner last night
(4) The person I was telling you about at dinner last night is in the next room
(5) The person I was telling you about at dinner last night is the man 
talking to Harry
(6)  The whale is a mammal
Feedback
The identity relation is expressed by a form of be in sentences (2), (3),
and (5).
Comment The identity relation is special because of its very basic role in the
communication of information. In English, one must analyse some instances
of the verb be (e.g. those in sentences (2), (3), (5) above) as instances of the
identity predicate. Other instances of the verb be, as we have seen, are simply
a grammatical device for linking a predicate that is not a verb (i.e. an
adjective, preposition, or noun) to its 
first argument, as in John is a fool or
John is foolish. The verb be is also a device for ‘carrying’ the tense (present or
past) of a sentence.
Summary The predicates of a language have a completely di
fferent function from the 
referring expressions. The roles of these two kinds of meaning-bearing
element cannot be exchanged. Thus John is a bachelor makes good sense,
but Bachelor is a John makes no sense at all. Predicates include words from
various parts of speech, e.g. common nouns, adjectives, prepositions, and
verbs. We have distinguished between predicates of di
fferent degrees (one-
place, two-place, etc.). The relationship between referring expressions and
predicates will be explored further in the next unit.

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