The notions of sentence, utterance and proposition - Essay Example

Affirmative sentences, questions, exclamatory comments, etc. are commonly being used. Similarly if we try to understand deliberately about language we will have to learn about various concepts of language. Sentence can be viewed as the basic thing which supports and keeps alive a language. The most popular definition of a sentence is 'the expression of a complete thought'. Any 'thought', can be further specified more precisely. It is reasonable to argue that utterances also always express 'thoughts'.

A general theory of utterance means that the speaker first casts a thought, and then expresses it as a clear utterance. This theory includes the theory of sentences. But it is unrealistic. "A sentence represents an eventuality. An eventuality is an action, or an event, or a state of affairs: something that happens or something that is. The sentence represents an eventuality by separating out the type of eventuality from the abstract and or concrete things which are involved in the eventuality.

The type of the eventuality is typically represented by the verb, and the abstract or concrete things involved in the eventuality are prototypically represented by noun phrases. . Subject is the part on which the action of the sentence is being predicated. Subject may also be called as the person who performs the action in the sentence. Now comes the predicate part which includes verb and complements. Subject of a sentence is the part acting upon the object of the verb. 1) Ram ate mango 2) Peter threw the ball are two good examples of sentence: In the first sentence "Ram" is subject, "mango" is object and "ate mango" is predicate.

An utterance is a statement true in grammar but not true in meaning. It is widely being used in auditory communication. In other words, a sentence carries truth, an utterance holds no water. Utterance refers to a word, phrase or sentence expressed by a speaker on a particular occasion. It may or may not carry meaning. Examples of utterance1. India can win the next football Olympics 2. UK will become monarchy soon. A proposition is as proposal advanced. It is a grammatically correct statement.

A proposition is what is expressed by a sentence when that sentence is used to make a statement, that is, to say something, true or false. Literally it means to give a proposal or idea about something.Examples of proposition1. Yoga should be made compulsory for all youngsters.2. All students should get up before sunrise.One sentence can contain more than one utterance. Again one sentence can have one or more propositions. An utterance can be composed of a number of sentences. And also, one or more propositions can make an utterance.

Example: The child utters: "I am hungry". This actually makes two propositions - 1) "I am hungry" and 2) "I must be given milk." The sentence "I am hungry" is thus an utterance and a preposition. According to Chris Potts "One or more proposition makes