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Aula 2 Key Concepts - Apresentações Google

The document discusses semantics, focusing on the meaning of words and sentences independent of context. It outlines the process of human communication, emphasizing the active role of both sender and addressee in interpreting messages, and introduces concepts such as entailment and propositions. Additionally, it includes exercises to explore these concepts further and highlights the writing style of Carolina Maria de Jesus.

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7 views24 pages

Aula 2 Key Concepts - Apresentações Google

The document discusses semantics, focusing on the meaning of words and sentences independent of context. It outlines the process of human communication, emphasizing the active role of both sender and addressee in interpreting messages, and introduces concepts such as entailment and propositions. Additionally, it includes exercises to explore these concepts further and highlights the writing style of Carolina Maria de Jesus.

Uploaded by

isabellasantos937087
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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KEY CONCEPTS Griffiths, 2006

Let’s review some


points of our last class
SEMANTICS

◼ Semantics is the study of word meaning and sentence


meaning, abstracted away from contexts of use
(Griffiths, 2006).
◼ Hold out your arm. That’s it.
PROCESS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

◼ Human communication with language is not like pressing


buttons on a remote control and thereby affecting circuits in
a TV set. It requires active collaboration on the part of any
person the message is directed to:

◼ i) The addressee has the task of trying to guess what the


sender (the writer or speaker) intends to convey.
◼ ii) As soon as the sender’s intention has been recognised,
the message has been communicated.
◼ iii) The sender’s task is to judge what needs to be written or
said to enable the addressee to recognise what the sender
wants to communicate.
PROCESS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

◼ There are three consequences of this:

1. There are different ways of communicating the same


message (and the same string of words can convey
different messages) because it depends on what, in
the context at the time, will enable the addressee to
recognise the sender’s intention.
PROCESS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

◼ There are three consequences of this:

2. The active participation of the addressee sometimes


allows a lot to be communicated with just a little
having been said or written.
PROCESS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

◼ There are three consequences of this:

3. Mistakes are possible. In face-to-face interactions the


speaker can monitor the listener’s (or listeners’)
reactions – whether these are grins or scowls, or
spoken responses, or actions like Harry obediently
holding out his arm – to judge whether or not the
sending intention has been correctly guessed, and can
then say more to cancel misunderstandings and
further guide the addressee towards what is intended.
THREE STAGES OF
INTERPRETATION:

LITERAL MEANING
EXPLICATURE
IMPLICATURE

That was the last bus.


◼ Pragmatic competence may be defined as the
ability “to go beyond the literal meaning of what
is said or written, in order to interpret the
intended meaning, assumption, purposes and
goals, and the kind of actions that are being
performed” (Cohen, 2010, p. 8).
WHAT’S THE IMPLICATURE IN THIS
SITUATION?
WHAT’S THE IMPLICATURE IN THIS
SITUATION?
◼ Mary is a housewife but she is very intelligent.
PROPOSITIONS

A proposition is that part of the meaning of a clause or sentence that


is constant, despite changes in such things as the structure.

◼ Alec ate the banana


◼ The banana was eaten by Alec.

Different sentences can carry the same meaning:


a) Shark hunt seals
b) Seals are hunted by sharks
c) Seals are prey to sharks
d) These chase and kill these others
Consider the following pairs of sentences. In each case, say whether
there are any circumstances of which one member of the pair could
be true and the other false (assuming in each case that the same
name, e.g. Harry, refers to the same person).
(1) Harry took out the garbage
Harry took the garbage out Yes / No
(2) John gave Mary a book
Mary was given a book by John Yes / No
(3) Isobel loves Tony
Tony loves Isobel Yes / No
(4) George danced with Ethel
George didn’t dance with Ethel Yes / No
(5) Dr Findlay killed Janet
Dr Findlay caused Janet to die Yes / No
ENTAILMENT

◼ Entailment is the principle that under certain conditions the truth


of one statement ensures the truth of a second stantement.

a) All doctors save lives.


b) Doogie Howser, a doctor, saves lives.
ENTAILMENT

◼ In which of the following does the (a-) sentence entail


the (b-) sentence? (a) X is a cat. (b) X has four legs.
1. (a) X is a cat. (b) X is an animal.
2. (a) X is a cat. (b) X has four legs.
3. (a) X is a quadruped. (b) X has four legs.
4. (a) X is not dead. (b) X is alive.
5. (a) X has stopped smoking. (b) X doesn't smoke
anymore.
6. (a) X taught A B. (b) Y learnt A.
EXERCISES

◼ Which of the following sentences entail which?


1. The students liked the course.
2. The students loved the course.
EXERCISES

◼ Sentence 1: The Marvel movie "Avengers: Endgame" was released


in 2019.
◼ Sentence 2: "Avengers: Endgame" was released in the 2010s.
◼ Question: Does sentence 1 entail sentence 2?

◼ Sentence 1: Taylor Swift won the Grammy for Album of the Year in
2021 for "Folklore.“
◼ Sentence 2: Taylor Swift won a Grammy for "Folklore.“
◼ Question: Does sentence 1 entail sentence 2?
EXERCISES

◼ Sentence 1: The TV show "Stranger Things" is set in the 1980s.


◼ Sentence 2: "Stranger Things" features modern technology.
◼ Question: Does sentence 1 entail sentence 2?

◼ Sentence 1: The car is parked in the garage.


◼ Sentence 2: The car is moving.’
◼ Question: Does sentence 1 entail sentence 2?

◼ Sentence 1: All the students passed the exam.


◼ Sentence 2: Some students passed the exam.
◼ Question: Does sentence 1 entail sentence 2?
EXERCISES

◼ Student: “How did I do in the exam?” Tutor: “You didn’t fail.” What
the tutor opted to say allows the student to guess at the sort of
grade achieved. Do you think the grade was high or low? Briefly
justify your answer.
EXERCISES

◼ Someone once said to me: “You and I are well suited. We don’t like
the same things.” The context indicated – and I checked by asking
– that the speaker meant to convey ‘You and I are well suited,
because the things we don’t like are the same’. We don’t like the
same things is ambiguous, but notice that We dislike the same
things would not have been ambiguous in the relevant respect.
Explain the ambiguity, and comment on unambiguous alternatives.
CAROLINA MARIA DE JESUS

◼ Carolina Maria de Jesus' writing is marked by a characteristic


hybridism between complex constructions, sophisticated words
and linguistic deviations from the cultured norm ofBrazilian
Portuguese.
Activity
ACTIVITY 2

◼ In pairs, create a dialogue in which you explore the three stages of


interpretation that we have explored. Then present the dialogue for
your classmates and make comments about the semantic and/or
pragmatic questions approached.

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