Unit 5 Study Guide and Exercises Directions

2 Indicate the arguments and predicator(s) in each sentence.
a John is a linguist
b John loves Mary
c Mary loves John
(Are arguments ordered?)
d John gave Mary a ring
e Chicago is between Los Angeles and New York
f Jane is Mary’s mother
g Jones is the Dean of the College
h John stood near the bank
(How should the ambiguity be handled?)
i Ed is a fool
j Ed is foolish
3 Indicate the degree of the predicates used as predicators in each sentence in
item 2 above.
4 How does the concept of predicate in the semantic sense di
ffer from the
concept of grammatical predicate? Does one seem to be more revealing
than the other?
5 In this unit we said that the prepositions from and of in the two-part
adjectives di
fferent from and afraid of ‘are not themselves predicates . . .
(and that they) are relatively meaningless linking particles’. Do you agree
with this statement? Consider a sentence such as The letter is from my uncle
before reaching a conclusion.
6 What are the functions of the verb be in these sentences (i.e. does it
function as an identity predicate or as a grammatical device for linking a
non-verbal predicate to its 
first argument)? Do all instances of be carry
tense?
a Mary is happy
b A tulip is a 
flower
c George W. Bush is the US President
d God  is
7 Does it make sense to say that the verb be has a meaning of its own,
independent of whether it is used as a linking device or as the identity
predicate? Speculate about what it could mean, and don’t be concerned if
your answer is quite abstract. Many lexical items in the world’s languages
have very abstract meanings.
U N I T   5
Predicates
55

56
UNIT 6 PREDICATES, REFERRING EXPRESSIONS,
AND UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE
Entry requirements REFERRING EXPRESSION (Unit 4) and PREDICATE (Unit 5). If you feel
you understand these notions, take the entry test below. Otherwise, review
Units 4 and 5.
Entry test (1) Say which of the following sentences are equative (E), and which are
not (N).
(a) My parrot is holidaying in the South of France
E / N
(b) Dr Kunastrokins is an ass
E / N
(c) Tristram Shandy is a funny book
E / N
(d) Our next guest is Dr Kunastrokins
E / N
(2) Circle the referring expressions in the following sentences.
(a) I am looking for any parrot that can sing
(b) Basil saw a rat
(c) These matches were made in Sweden
(d) A dentist is a person who looks after people’s teeth
Feedback
(1) (a) N (b) N (c) N (d) E (2) (a) I (b) Basil, a rat (c) these matches,
Sweden (d) None
If you have scored less than 4 out of 4 correct in (1), you should review
‘Predicates’ (Unit 5). If you have scored less than 4 out of 4 correct in
(2), you should review ‘Referring Expressions’ (Unit 4). If you got the test
completely right, continue to the introduction.
Introduction We explore further the distinction and the relationship between referring
expressions and predicates. We will see how the same word can be used for the
radically di
fferent functions of reference and predication. And we will begin to
see how these two functions 
fit together in the overall language system.
Comment Some expressions are almost always referring expressions no matter what
sentences they occur in.
Practice (1) Can the proper name Mohammed Ali ever be used as 
the predicator of a sentence?

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