Semantics: a coursebook, second edition
particular whale is being referred to?
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particular whale is being referred to? .......................................................................................................................... (2) Is the whale in the sentence just mentioned a referring expression? Yes / No (3) Is the phrase the whale semantically de finite in the sentence mentioned (i.e. would a user of this sentence presume that the hearer would be able to identify the referent of the expression)? Yes / No (4) Take the utterance ‘If anyone makes too much noise, you have my permission to strangle him’. On hearing this, could the hearer be expected to identify the referent of him? Yes / No (5) In the utterance just mentioned, is him semantically de finite? Yes / No (6) Which particular donkey does it refer to in Every man who owns a donkey beats it? .......................................................................................................................... (7) Is it in Every man who owns a donkey beats it semantically de finite? Yes / No Feedback (1) none at all (2) No (3) No, because there is in fact no referent. (4) No (5) No (6) No particular donkey (7) No Comment Finally, we consider the question of truth in relation to de finiteness. Does de finiteness contribute in any way to the truth or falsehood of a sentence considered in relation to a given situation? We will compare the e ffects of the de finite and indefinite articles the and a with referring expressions. Practice I am working in the garden, and accidentally stick a fork through my foot. I tell my wife, who knows I have been gardening and knows the fork I have been working with. (1) Which would be the more appropriate utterance (to my wife) in this situation, (a) or (b)? (a) ‘I’ve just stuck the fork through my foot’ (b) ‘I’ve just stuck a fork through my foot’ ............... (2) I telephone the doctor, to tell him of the accident. The doctor knows nothing about my gardening tools. Which of the two utterances just mentioned would it be more appropriate to use? .............. (3) In the situation envisaged, do the two utterances mentioned both describe exactly the same state of a ffairs? Yes / No Feedback (1) (a) (2) (b) (3) Yes Summary Deictic expressions are those which take some element of their meaning directly from the immediate situation of the utterance in which they are used (e.g. from the speaker, the hearer, the time and place of the utterance). Examples of deictic words are I, you, here, now, come. The availability of such expressions makes language a much more ‘portable’ instrument than it would otherwise be: we can use the same words on di fferent occasions, at di fferent times and places. De finite and indefinite referring expressions may be more or less appropriate in di fferent contexts. But utterances which differ only in that one contains a de finite referring expression where the other has an indefinite referring expression (provided these expressions have the same referent) do not di ffer in truth value. Considered objectively, the referent of a referring expression (e.g. a / the fork) is in itself neither de finite nor indefinite. (Can you tell from close inspection of a fork whether it is a ‘de finite’ or an ‘indefinite’ fork?) The de finiteness of a referring expression tells us nothing about the referent itself, but rather relates to the question of whether the referent has been mentioned (or taken for granted) in the preceding discourse. The de finiteness of a referring expression gives the hearer a clue in identifying its referent. tải về 1.74 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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