Unit 7 Study Guide and Exercises Directions

a Fred: ‘I will do that assignment tomorrow.’
b Mary: ‘I don’t see any good books here.’
c Fred: ‘Why couldn’t you help me last week?’
6 Is it possible to know the truth value of a sentence with a deictic expression
independently of the context in which it is uttered? Give an example and
explain.
7 When is it appropriate to use the de
finite article the? When is it appropriate
to use the inde
finite article a?
8 Think of a context in which it would be appropriate to use the following
utterances, and one in which it would be inappropriate.
a ‘I have to read an article for class tomorrow.’
b ‘Mary wants to check out the book.’
c ‘Did you meet her at a university?’
9 Is the de
finite article the the only word that signals definiteness? Explain and
illustrate.
10 Are all de
finite noun phrases referring expressions? Is every noun phrase
with the de
finite article semantically definite? Give examples.
11 Suppose you accidentally drive the family car through a plate glass window
late at night and that your parents know you have been driving the car. You
first call your parents, then the police, to report the accident. Which of the
following utterances would you most likely say to each party?
a ‘I just drove a car through a plate glass window.’
b ‘I just drove the car through a plate glass window.’
c ‘I just drove a car through the plate glass window.’
d ‘I just drove the car through the plate glass window.’
12 Which utterance in question 11 would you most likely say to the owner of
the store whom you contact after calling the police? Explain.
13 Does the change of articles a
ffect the truth value of the utterances in 11 above?
14 Consider the following sentences and try to determine what factor the
speaker uses in choosing the italicized verb in each. Also comment on
the di
fference in meaning in the choice of different verbs with respect to
the speaker’s perspective on the scene.
a I just called to see if you will be coming to see me tomorrow
b I just called to see if you will be going to see me tomorrow
c She asked me to come to her party, but I didn’t go
d Please come in
e Please go in
f Don’t bring any food with you
PA RT  T WO
From reference . . .
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UNIT 8 WORDS AND THINGS:
EXTENSIONS AND PROTOTYPES
Entry requirements SENSE and REFERENCE (Unit 3), PREDICATE (Unit 5), IDENTIFYING the
REFERENT of a REFERRING EXPRESSION and UNIVERSE of DISCOURSE
(Unit 6). If you feel you understand these notions, take the entry test below. If
not, review the relevant unit(s).
Entry test (1) Which of the following most appropriately describes reference? Circle
your preference.
(a) Reference is a relationship between sentences and the world.
(b) Reference is a relationship between certain uttered expressions and
things in the world.
(c) Reference is a relationship between certain uttered expressions and
certain things outside the context of the utterance.
(2) Which of the following is a correct statement about sense?
(a) All words in a language may be used to refer, but only some words
have sense.
(b) If two expressions have the same reference, they always have the
same sense.
(c) The sense of an expression is its relationship to semantically
equivalent or semantically related expressions in the same
language.
(3) How do hearers identify the referent of a referring expression (other
than a proper name) –
(a) by seeking in the context of the utterance some object to which the
predicates in the referring expression apply?
(b) by sharing with the speaker a conventional system according to which
each possible referring expression has a single agreed referent?
(c) by telepathy – reading the speaker’s mind?
(4) Which of the following words are predicates? Circle your choices. Henry,

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