Sentence Meaning and Utterance Meaning - Assignment Example

5 work assignment Meaning) Answer 4 questions. that questions may have more than one part a) Give 3 of your own examples whichillustrate the gap between sentence meaning and utterance meaning. In each case, explain briefly whether the hearer has to go beyond the sentence meaning in order to identify the proposition expressed, the implicit content of the utterance, or the speech act which is being performed. Sentence meaning is the ‘absolute’ meaning of a set of words put together in a grammatical structure, without any considerations of context, tone, gestures etc. Utterance meaning is the meaning of something that is said, including the words used, the speaker’s tone and posture and other contextual considerations. From the above definitions it is clear that there is gap between sentence meaning and utterance meaning. In conversations it is utterance meaning, which is understood. The message is conveyed not just through words but other aspects, such as tone, posture, facial expressions etc play an important role. The main difference between sentence meaning and utterance meaning is due to explicit content and implicit content. Proposition expressed is the part of explicit content. Through example proposition expressed will be illustrated. Proposition Expressed 1. John is typing. The above example has explicitly stated its content. The details are not mentioned that what is typed or what is used for typing. This lack of detail makes the above example incomplete. The above example if restated as “John is typing his thesis on computer”, then the sentence becomes more explicit and the proposition expressed is clear. Implicit Content 2. Teacher: Have you completed your task? Student: My computer is not working. In this example the reply of student is implicitly stating that task is not completed. The student is not stating explicitly that work is not done but from the reply it is clear what student wants to convey. The statement of the teacher is explicit but reply of the student is implicit. Speech Act 3. Could you pass the salt? Speech act is a term in linguistics. The modern use of the term goes back to John L. Austins doctrine of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. Speech acts normally include promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting and congratulating. In the above example the speaker is requesting and therefore a speech act. (b) Identify the relationship between the (a) and the (b) sentence in each of the following (entailment, presupposition, implicature). Give brief reasons for your answer in each case: (1) (a) She was appalled that the prime minister was wearing flip flops. (b) The prime minister was wearing flip flops. In the above example the relationship between the sentences is of presupposition. In linguistics, a presupposition is an implicit supposition about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken for granted in conversation. In the example the affirmative form of (a) presupposes (b). This presupposition is still true in case (a) becomes negative, interrogative or supposition. For example negative form “She was not appalled that prime minister was wearing flip flops”, still presupposes (b) as true. The same case prevails in case of interrogative and supposition. (2) (a) Henry is either in the library or in the psycholinguistics lab. (b) The speaker doesnt know where Henry is. In the above example the relationship between the two sentences is of implicature. In linguistics Implicature is a term in linguistics, coined by H. P. Grice, which refers to what is “suggested” in an utterance, even though neither “expressed” nor “strictly implied” by the utterance. In the example, the second statement is stating what may not be true but from 2(a) it is implicit that speaker does not know where Henry is. The statement 2(a) is implicitly indicating the fact therefore the relationship between 2(a) and (b) is implicature. (3) (a) There was a duck in Henrys kitchen. (b) There was a bird in Henry’s kitchen. In the above example the relationship between (a) and (b) is of entailment. In linguistics entailment is the relationship between two sentences where the truth of one (A) requires the truth of the other (B). In the example the truth of (a) is dependent on truth of (b). If (b) is false then (a) cannot be true therefore the relationship between 3(a) and 3(b) is of entailment. 2. Give one example of a sentence containing a word which is lexically ambiguous, one example of a sentence containing a word whose meaning is polysemous and one example of a sentence containing a word whose meaning is vague. To what extent does this ambiguity/polysemy/vagueness carry across to another language with which you are familiar? (You may use a dictionary or consult a native speaker here). What light do these examples shed on the alleged differences between lexical ambiguity, polysemy and vagueness Lexically Ambiguous 1. The fisherman went to the bank. The above sentence is lexically ambiguous. The two possible meanings are that either fisherman went to riverside or fisherman went to financial institution. Ambiguity normally does not carry across the language. For example in Urdu the word “bank” is used for financial institution, borrowed from English. There is different word for riverside. Polysemous 2. She felt a light tap on her shoulder. She is wearing light summer apparel. In the above sentences the word “light” is polysemous. The difference between polysemous and ambiguous word is of relation. The meaning of polysemous words is related, whereas the meaning of ambiguous words is unrelated. In the above example the word “light” is used in two different senses but these senses are related. Polysemous can carry across the language. In Urdu the word “Halka” is used for “light weight”, “light work”. Vague A vague expression does not give an exact statement. The vagueness of sentence is due to the word, which can be used in multiple contexts and shades. Vague words can be used more or less loosely. Here the same words relation is not clear unlike ambiguity or polysemy. 3. A bald patch on the grass. A bald statement of the facts. In the above example the word “bald” is vague as the meaning in the two sentences is stretched. Vagueness is carried across other languages. Most of English adjectives have vague meaning in Urdu. 3. (a) Identify the referring expressions in the following text, and say whether they are examples of definite reference, indefinite reference, a proper name, anaphoric reference or deictic reference: When you arrive look out for Sam. He will be carrying a semantics book and will be standing under the clock. Hes an expert on the Fregean puzzle and he will be able to help you with the essay. S.No Words Referring Expression 1 You Deictic 2 Sam Proper name 3 He (First) Anaphoric 4 A semantics book Indefinite 5 Clock Definite 6 He (Second) Anaphoric 7 Fregean puzzle Definite 8 He (Third) Anaphoric 9 You Deictic 10 the essay Anaphoric (b) Using your own example, say what the Fregean puzzle is and explain briefly why it shows that there is more to meaning than reference. According to Referential Theory, a statement of identity is unimportant because it simply states that an object is an object, which gives no new information about said object.  However, when we use identity statements, they seem to say something meaningful.  Here lies the problem, as Referential Theory does not allow for statement to be meaningful. The problem of handling identity statements has come to be known as "Freges puzzle".  According to this puzzle language is more than just a referent and the sign or word that denotes it.  In addition, there is "sense," or the way in which the referent is presented by the statement.  Together, these elements work to explain how language has meaning.  David Cameron is the Prime Minister of England. In the above sentence David Cameron and Prime Minister refers to same person but the sense is different. It is possible to know David Cameron but no knowledge about premiership. In this respect both David Cameron and Prime Minister have different “Sense”. 4. (a) What is the difference between the following pairs: (1) (a) Yuk! (b) I’m disgusted. In the above example both (a) and (b) are expressing same feeling of dislike, however there is difference between (a) and (b). Sentence (a) is an interjection. In order to understand the meaning of (a) the knowledge of speaker’s emotions and feelings is required. The subjectivity of term can be confusing. On the other hand in (b) there is clear message. The feelings are stated in clear terms and without knowledge of feelings and emotions it is easy to understand what the speaker is feeling. Another important difference between (a) and (b) is the fact that (b) can be paraphrased but it is not possible to paraphrase (a). (2) (a) It was bloody difficult. (b) It was extremely difficult. Expletive is a term in linguistics for a meaningless word filling a syntactic vacancy (syntactic expletives). Outside linguistics, the word is much more commonly used to refer to "bad language". In (a), the word “bloody” is expletive as it expresses the feelings of speaker. Even after the omission of expletive term from the sentence, the meaning would remain the same. In (b) the use of adverb “extremely” is meaningful. It contributes to the meaning and intensity of sentence. Moreover the adverb used in (b) is not bad language. Both (a) and (b) are used to express the difficulty but in (a) expletive term is used, while in (b) an adverb is used. (3) (a) John said he’d be here by 9 but the bastard hasn’t even left the house. (b) John said he’d be here by 9 but he hasn’t even left the house. In the above example word “bastard” is used in (a) to express the feelings of speaker subjectively. This subjective usage is only valid for the speaker and not necessarily for the listener. In sentence (b) no such expressive meaning is present. It does not show any anger or ill feelings of the speaker. The meaning of sentence is same, both for the speaker and listener. So the difference between (a) and (b) is that meaning of (a) has subjective element, while (b) has same meaning for speaker and listener. (b) Discuss the possible interpretations of the following: (1) Can you pass the sauce? The use of indirect speech in the statement makes the request more polite. It is mainly use to remove any unpleasant feeling, which may incur, due to order, request and statement. In the above sentence the literal meaning is about the ability of listener to pass the sauce. However, sentence (1) is not used in this context. It is request of speaker to the listener to pass the sauce. In everyday life such usage is common and people reject the literal meaning. (2) Milk. This is one word utterance but can be used in multiple situations. Instead of requesting indirectly, as in case of 1, this one word is less polite manner of request or it can also be used in the context of order. Similarly it can be used to make listener do the work of bringing milk. It can also be simply desire of speaker for milk, with no intention of making listener do some work. Another possible usage of this utterance can be by a baby. One word utterance can be understood only in the proper contexts. In order to understand the meaning of one word utterance it is necessary to use them in the proper context. References Cruse, Alan 2000. Meaning in Language. Oxford: OUP Goffman, E. 1981. Forms of Talk. Oxford: Blackwell Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman Trask, L. 1993. A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. Routledge Wharton, Tim. 2003b. Interjections, language and the ‘showing-saying’ continuum. Pragmatics and Cognition 11. 39-91. (from DB) Wilkins, D. 1982. Interjections as Deictics. Journal of Pragmatics 18, 119-158 Read More