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GIAÙO TRÌNH
NGÖÕ NGHÓA – NGỮ DỤNG HOÏC TIEÁNG ANH
ENGLISH SEMANTICS & PRAGMATICS
COMPILED BY NGUYEN THUY NGA

NGUYEN QUOC BAO
Ho Chi Minh City, 2014 (Revised)
CONTENTS
PART 1: SEMANTICS
I. DEFINITION 5
SENTENCES, UTTERANCES & PROPOSITIONS 5
II. SEMANTIC FEATURES / PROPERTIES 6
III. SEMANTIC / LEXICAL FIELD 7
IV. REFERENCE & SENSE 10
1. Definition
2. Types of reference
3. Referring expression
V. TYPES OF MEANING 16
1. Word meaning 16
a. Denotative meaning
b. Connotative meaning
2. Sentence meaning 16
a. Linguistic / literal meaning
 Semantic / Participant roles
b. Semantic meaning & pragmatic meaning
c. Non-literal meaning / Figures of speech
 Simile
 Metaphor
 Irony
 Sarcasm
 Synecdoche
 Metonymy
 Personification
 Hyperbole
 Euphemism
VI. MEANING PROPERTIES / CHARACTERISTICS 27

1. Anomaly 27
2. Ambiguity 28
 Definition
 Types of ambiguity
 Some common forms of structural ambiguity
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VII. MEANING RELATION 37
1. Word relation 37
 Synonym
 Antonym
 Homophone
 Homograph
 Homonym
 Polysemy
 Hyponymy
2. Sentence relation 41
 Entailment
 Contradiction
 Paraphrase
o Types of Paraphrase
o Ways to paraphrase a sentence
VIII. TYPES OF SENTENCE BASING ON TRUTH VALUE 45

1. Analytic sentence
2. Synthetic sentence
3. Contradictory sentence
PART 2: PRAGMATICS
I. DEFINITION 50
II. SPEECH ACT 50
1. Definition
2. Components
3. Speech event / situation
 Setting
 Participants / Characters
 Relation
 Message
 Tone used
4. Direct & indirect speech act
5. Types of speech act
 Declarative
 Representative
 Expressive
 Directive
 Commissive
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III. THE COOPERATIVE MAXIMS 57
IV. IMPLICATURE 59
1. Definition
2. Types of implicature
V. PRESUPPOSITION 63
1. Definition
2. Types of presupposition
REFERENCES 67
ANSWER KEY 68
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PART 1: SEMANTICS
I. DEFINITION
Semantics is the study of meaning in language.(Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 1)
Semantics is the study of the relationships between linguistic forms and entities in the
world; that is, how words literally connect to things. Semantic analysis also attempts to
establish the relationship between verbal descriptions and states of affairs in the world as
accurate (true) or not, regardless of who produces that description. (Yule, 1996:4)
II. SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, AND PROPOSITIONS

1. A sentence (câu) is a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a
language. (Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 16)
Ex:- A house was struck by lightning last night.
- Money doesn‟t make happiness.
2. An utterance (phát ngôn) is a piece of language (a sequence of sentences, a single
phrase, or a single word) used by a particular speaker on a particular occasion.
(Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 15)
In written language, an utterance is put between quotation marks.
Ex:- “Hello”
- “Not much”
- “Utterances may consist of a single word, a single phrase, or a single
sentence. They may also consist of a sequence of sentences.”
3. A proposition (mệnh đề) is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a
declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs. (Hurford & Heasley,
1983: 19)
Ex:- Paul turned on the TV.
- I met him at the cinema last night.
Rule: The notion of truth can be used to decide whether two sentences express the
same proposition or different propositions. When one sentence is true and the other is
also true, they express the same proposition. If one sentence is true while the other
may be false, they express different propositions.
True propositions correspond to reality. False propositions do not correspond to
reality.
Ex: (1) Harry took out the garbage.
Harry took the garbage out.
The garbage was taken out by Harry. (3 sentences; same proposition)
(2) John gave Mary a book.
Mary was given a book by John. (2 sentences; same proposition)
(3) Isobel loves Tony.
Tony loves Isobel. (2 sentences; 2 different propositions) (It is not
necessary that Tony loves Isobel)
(4) “Dr Findlay caused Janet to die.”
“Dr Findlay killed Janet.” (2 utterances; 2 different propositions) (In
the case Dr Findlay caused Janet to die, but not intentionally)
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Exercise 1: Answer the following sentences, choosing Yes or No.
1. Does it make sense to talk of the time and place of a sentence? Yes / No
2. Does it make sense to talk of the time and place of an utterance? Yes / No
3. Can one talk of a loud sentence? Yes / No
4. Can one talk of a loud utterance? Yes / No
5. Does it make sense to ask what language a sentence belongs to? Yes / No
6. Does it make sense to ask what language an utterance belongs to? Yes / No
Exercise 2:
1. Fill in the chart with „+‟ or „-„ as appropriate.
Utterances Sentences Propositions
Can be loud or quiet
Can be grammatical
or not
Can be true or false
In a particular
regional accent
In a particular
language
2. Can the same proposition be expressed by different sentences? Yes / No
3. Can the same proposition be realized by different utterances? Yes / No
Exercise 3: Answer the following:

1. Are the following groups of words a sentence or an utterance?
a. John sang wonderfully last night. S/U
b. “John sang wonderfully last night.” S/U
2. Can a sentence be true or false? Yes / No
3. Can an utterance be true or false? Yes / No
4. Is an utterance tied to a particular time and place? Yes / No
5. Is a sentence tied to a particular time and place? Yes / No
III. SEMANTIC PROPERTIES/ FEATURES

1. DEFINITION
Semantic features or properties are ‘the smallest units of meaning in a word.’ (Richards,
Platt & Weber, 1987: 254)
Example: (+: plus; - : minus)
Father + human Each factor Assassin + human

+ male is a + adult
+ mature Semantic + killer
+ married Property / + kill a VIP
+ having children Feature
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Bachelor + human Teacher + human
+ male + adult
+ adult + earn living
+ unmarried by teaching
2. CHARACTERISTICS
a. Primitive elements: basic primitive concepts in linguistics. They are left undefined.
Ex: human, male, animal, color etc.
b. The same semantic feature may be found in the meaning of different words.
Ex: Father, mother, son, daughter, teacher baby … all share the same semantic
feature [+ human].
Mother, daughter, hen, bitch, swine … all share the same semantic feature
[+female].
c. The same semantic feature may be found in words of different parts of speech.
Ex: [+female] is part of the noun mother, the adjective pregnant, the verb breast-
feed.
[+educational] is a semantic feature of the noun teacher, the adjective educated,
the verb teach.
IV. LEXICAL / SEMANTIC FIELD

A semantic field or a lexical field is the organization of related words and expressions into
a system which show their relationship to one another. (Richards. Platt & Weber. 1987:53)
In other words, it is a group of words sharing the same Semantic property.
Ex 1:
Human (B) Hypernym / Super-ordinate
Bachelor Father Mother Baby Uncle Sister Hyponymy
(A) Hyponyms
Hyponym is a word „whose referent is totally included in the referent of another term.
(hypo- means below) (Finegan. 1994:165).
Hypernym is a word whose referent covers all the referents of its hyponyms. (hyper- means
above).
Hyponymy is a one-way relation from hyponyms and hypernym so that
A (hyponym) is a kind of B (hypernym). We can say:
A bachelor is a kind of human. Not: A human is a kind of bachelor.
A boy is a kind of human. Not: A human is a kind of boy.
Ex 2: Male (Hypernym)
Boy Brother Uncle Ram Stallion Ox Bull

(Hyponyms)
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Ways of organizing related words into different lexical / semantic fields.
1. Items related by topics
a. Fruit: apples, oranges, grappes, bananas etc.
b. Clothing: shirts, pants, pajamas, hats etc.
c. Color: green, red, blue, purple, pink etc.
2. Items which are similar in meaning
a. Ways of cooking: stew, boil, fry, steam, roast etc.
b. Ways of walking: limp, tiptoe, stalk etc.
c. Ways of looking: stare, peer, glance, squint etc.
3. Items grouped as an activity or a process
a. Doing housework: cleaning the room, doing washing, ironing clothes, preparing
the meal etc.
b. Doing research: making hypotheses, collecting data, analyzing data, getting
results, coming to a conclusion.
Exercise 4
For each group of words given below, state what semantic property or properties are shared
by the words in group (i) and those in group (ii), and what semantic property or properties
distinguish between the classes of (i) and (ii).
Ex: i/ widow, mother, sister, aunt, seamstress
ii/ widower, father, brother, uncle, tailor
 the shared semantic property is human.
 the different properties are: (i) => female; (ii) => male.
1. i. bachelor, man, son, paperboy, pope, uncle.
ii. bull, rooster, drake, ram, boar.
2. i. bitch, hen, doe, mare, ewe, vixen.
ii. actress, maiden, widow, woman, girl.
3. i. doctor, dean, professor, bachelor, parent.
ii. teenager, child, boy, baby, infant.
4. i. table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship, car.
ii. milk, alcohol, rice, soup, mud.
5. i. book, temple, mountain, road, tractor.
ii. idea, love, charity, sincerity, bravery, fear.
6. i. pine, elm, ash, wiping, willow, sycamore.
ii. rose, dandelion, carnation, tulip, daisy.
7. i. book, letter, encyclopedia, novel, notebook, dictionary.
ii. typewriter, pencil, ballpoint, crayon, quill, charcoal, chalk.
8. i. walk, run, skip, jump, hope, swim.
ii. fly, skate, ski, ride, cycle, canoe, hang-glide.
Exercise 5: Put the following words into different lexical fields. Give each group a
hypernym.
Cup – hammer – glass – nails – red – jug – wineglass – blue – purple – boxing – scissors –
football – knife – plastic cup – yellow – badminton – pink – file – weightlifting – green –
run – motor-racing – crawl – walk – black – swim – vermilion – karate.
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Exercise 6: Give a hypernym to each of the following strings of words. Cross out the
item(s) that does / do not belong to the same lexical field as the others.
1. acquire, buy, collect, win, sell, steal, rob.
2. whisper, talk, narrate, report, tell, instruct, brief.
3. road, path, way, street, method, freeway, avenue.
4. easy-going, sociable, well-mannered, friendly, sad, elegant, courteous, strong.
5. smell, aroma, bouquet, perfume, fragrance, scent, odor, reek.
6. toast, boil, fry, fresh, grill, medium, bake, roast, steam.
7. cow, dog, cat, tiger, lion, ape, human, bird, whale, chicken.
8. sing, talk, dance, speak, shout, whisper, mutter, babble.
9. at, of, in, on, under, below, near.
10. square, circular, triangular, rectangular, spherical, hexagonal, polygonal.
MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS

TEST 1
1. Which of the following is correct about linguistics?
a. Linguistics is the study of language meaning b. Linguistics is the study of English
c. Linguistics is the study of all dialects d. Linguistics is the study of language
2. Which of the following does not belong to linguistics?
a. language skills b. phonology c. semantics d. pragmatics
3. Which of the following is correct about semantics?
a. Semantics is the study of language use b. Semantics is the study of language
c. Semantics is the study of language meaning d. Semantics is an independent subject
4. Which of the following is correct about pragmatics?
a. Pragmatics is the study of language b. Pragmatics is the study of language use
c. pragmatics is an independent subject d. Pragmatics is the study of language meaning
5. Which of the following statements is true?
a. The objective of semantics is the literal meaning of language
b. The objective of linguistics is the meaning of language
c. The objective of semantics is the speaker‟s meaning
d. The objective of semantics is the non-literal meaning of language
6. Which of the following statements is not true?
a. Pragmatics studies the relationship between language and objects
b. Pragmatics studies the relationship between language and the user
c. Pragmatics studies the speaker‟s meaning
d. Pragmatics studies how and what for the speaker uses the language
7. Which of the following statements is true about sentence?
a. A sentence is a group of words grammatically linked to convey a complete meaning
b. A sentence is a group of words containing a finite verb
c. A sentence is a group of words containing a subject and a verb
d. A sentence is a group of words consisting of one clause
8. Which of the following statements is not true about utterance?
a. The meaning of an utterance is the sum of meanings of the constituent words
b. An utterance is context bound / dependent
c. The meaning of an utterance depends on the situation in which it is uttered
d. An utterance is a sentence said in a particular situation
a. It makes sense to talk of the time and place of an utterance.
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b. It makes sense to talk of the time and place of a sentence.
c. It doesn‟t make sense to talk of a loud sentence
d. It makes sense to talk of a true sentence or utterance.
a. The pragmatic meaning is the linguistic meaning
b. The meaning of an utterance is context-bound
c. The semantic meaning is out of context
d. The meaning of a sentence is context-free
11. The following pair: Dr. Findlay caused Janet to die
Dr. Findlay killed Janet consists of:
a. 2 utterances; 2 propositions b. 2 sentences; 1 proposition
c. 2 sentences; 2 propositions d. 2 utterances; 1 proposition
12. The following pair “Paul opened the door”
“The door was opened by Paul” consists of:
a. 2 utterances; 1 proposition b. 2 sentences; 1 proposition
c. 2 utterances; 2 propositions d. 2 sentences; 2 propositions
13. The following pair “Paul loves Mary”
“Mary loves Paul” consists of:
a. 2 utterances; 2 propositions b. 2 sentences; 1 proposition
c. 2 sentences; 2 propositions d. 2 utterances; 1 proposition
14. The following pair They loaded hay onto the truck
They loaded the truck with hay consists of:
a. 2 utterances; 1 proposition b. 2 sentences; 1 proposition
c. 2 sentences; 2 propositions d. 2 utterances; 2 propositions
a. The pragmatic meaning can be defined by the sum of semantic features.
b. The semantic meaning of a word can be analyzed into semantic components.
c. The same semantic property can be found in the meaning of different words.
d. Semantic features are the smallest units of meaning in a word.
a. A lexical field is a group of words sharing the same part of speech.
b. A semantic field is a family of words that share the same semantic feature.
c. There are different ways to organize semantically related words into lexical fields.
d. A lexical field is a group of semantically related words.
17. Which of the following semantic features does not belong to “cat”?
a. [+domestic] b. [+animal] c. [+male] d. [+having a tail]
18. Which of the following semantic properties belongs to “dog”?
a. [+loyal] b. [+intellect] c. [+mature] d. [+female]
19. The relationship between „bachelor‟ and „male‟ is:
a. antonymy b. synonymy c. polysemy d. hyponymy
20. The relationship between „cock‟ and „male‟ is:
a. hyponymy b. synonymy c. polysemy d. antonymy
V. REFERENCE & SENSE
1. Definitions
 Reference is the relationship between language and the world. In other words, that is
the relationship between words and the things, actions, events, and qualities they
stand for. (Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 25)
Ex: My son refers to a person; a dog refers to an animal. (the speaker
establishes a relationship between an expression and an object).
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Referent is the thing the speaker is talking about, the object referred to.
Ex: This page (the page the speaker is reading; Ex: page 15)
The cassette player (the object on the table)
 Sense is the relationship between semantically related expressions in the language to
express the meaning.
Ex: The word „bachelor‟ and „unmarried man‟ have the same sense;
“to buy” and “to purchase” have the same sense.
To express the content / meaning of a word to a learner, we may say the word and show him
an object to make him understand what the word means. In this case we establish a relation
between a word and an object (between language and the world): reference. On the other
hand, we can also give him a synonym or phrase to express the meaning in the form of a
definition. We are establishing a relationship between expressions of the same meaning in
the language to express the sense.
Example: The word „desk‟
rence
R e fe
Desk
Sens
e
an object with a surface and four legs used for writing
2. Types of reference.
1) Variable Reference: the same expression may be used to refer to different objects. In
other words, the referent of an expression varies with the speaker. For example:
“My mother” (referring to the mother of the speaker) may refer to different ladies
depending on different speakers.
“Here” in the sentence “I am here” (referring to the place where the speaker is standing)
can also refer to different places depending on different speakers.
Some clues for Variable Reference

 Possessive adjectives / possessive case: my sister, your brother, the government‟s
decision… Exception: John‟s hat (not a variable reference because it refers to the hat
of John only regardless the speaker).
 Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns: this, that, these, those … (this page, that
book, that car…)
 Personal pronouns: I, You, He, Me, Him…
 Adverbs of place/ time: here, there, then, today, yesterday, now, at the station,
 Articles: the boy in the corner; I want to buy a car.
2) Same Reference / Co-reference: different expressions refer to the same object.
Examples:
 Uncle Hồ – Hồ Chí Minh – Nguyễn Aí Quốc - Nguyễn Sinh Cung – Nguyễn Tất
Thành: all refer to the same person.
 HCM City and Saigòn: both refer to the same city.
 My father is a teacher: both underlined groups of words refer to the same person.
 We chose John leader: John and leader refer to the same person.
 The Morning Star and The Evening Star: both refer to the same star.
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3) Constant Reference: one expression always refers to the same object, (regardless the
speaker).
 Proper names, especially geographical names: John Smith, David, Vietnam,
Cambodia …
 Unique things: the sun, the moon, the earth, the east, the west, Halley‟s Comet…
4) No reference: an expression which is meaningful but does not refer to anything.
 Function words: and, but, if …
 Imaginary characters: Batman, Dragon, Superman, Snow White, Tấm Cám …
 The objects that do not exist now.
Ex: The king of France is bald (France does not have any king nowadays)
The Queen of Vietnam nowadays is a Cambodian. (no VN queen now)
Exercise 7: Answer the following questions.

1. Does the moon normally have constant reference? Yes / No
2. Does The People’s Republic of China normally have constant reference? Yes / No
3. Does Angola normally have constant reference? Yes / No
4. Does Haley’s Comet normally constant reference? Yes / No
5. If we are talking about a situation in which John is standing alone in the
Corner, can John have the same referent as the person in the corner? Yes / No
Exercise 8
What is intended by the word mean, meaning, meant … in the following examples:
reference (R) or sense (S)?
1. When Helen mentioned “the fruit cake”, she meant that rock-hard object in
the middle of the table. R/S
2. When Albert talks about “his former friend” he means me. R/S
3. Daddy, what does unique mean? R/S
4. Purchase has the same meaning as buy. R/S
5. Look up the meaning of apoplexy in your dictionary. R/S
6. If you look out of the window now, you‟ll see who I mean. R/S
7. „‟I‟m sorry to have disturbed you – when I said „Will you move your chair?‟
I didn‟t mean you, I meant Patrick here.” R/S
8. If you look up adieu, you‟ll find it means good bye. R/S
Exercise 9
1. Give an example of an expression that could have variable reference.
2. Give an example of an expression that always has constant reference.
3. Give an example of different expressions that have the same reference.
4. Give an example of an expression that has no reference.
Exercise 10. Which of the following is a correct description of „reference‟?

(a) a relationship between expressions and other expressions which have the same
meaning.
(b) the set of all objects which can potentially be referred to by an expression.
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(c) a relationship between a particular object in the world and an expression used in an
utterance to pick that object out.
Exercise 11: 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 referent, they always have the same sense.
(c) The sense of an expression is its relationship to semantically equivalent or
semantically related expression in the same language.
Exercise 12: Answer the following questions by choosing Yes or No

1. Imagine that you and I are in a room with a man and a woman, and, making no
visual signal of any sort, I say to you, “The man stole my wallet”. In this situation,
can you identify the referent of the expression the man? Yes / No
2. Can the referent of the pronoun I be uniquely identified when this pronoun is
uttered? Yes / No
3. Can the referent of the pronoun you be uniquely identified when this pronoun
is uttered? Yes / No
3. Referring expression
1. Definition: A referring expression „is any expression used in an utterance to refer to
someone or something particular. (Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 35) (On the part of the
speaker)
Ex: + When a speaker says, „My father” he has a particular person in mind.
=>his father is a referring expression.
+ The name Fred in the utterance “Fred hit me”, where the speaker has a particular
person in mind, is a referring expression.
+ Fred in “There is no Fred at this address” is not a referring expression because
in this case the speaker would not have any particular person in mind.
2. Some clues of referring expression
 Possessive: my friend, Paul‟s hat …
 Demonstrative: this book, that machine …
 Proper name: Smith, David, Vietnam …
 Personal pronouns (only when being uttered): I, You, He …
 Constant reference (unique thing): the sun, the moon, the earth, the east, the west,
Halley‟s comet …
 Past tense: helps to recognize Referring Expression
Ex: I saw a boy yesterday
I want to go fishing on the lake
My sister is a singer
Yesterday, I met a singer
I‟m looking for a car to buy
I bought a car in a showroom on Nguyen Hue Street.
3. Not a referring expression

 Something general: family, society, people …
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 Representative of social classes or species: the poor, the rich, the elephant, dogs, cats …
 Profession/ Job: a singer, a teacher, a lawyer …
Ex: A singer in “SilBlack is a famous singer” is a RE because it
refers to a particular person.
A singer in “My sister is a singer” is not a RE because it is a job in general.
Note: Whether an expression is a referring expression or not depends mainly on linguistic
context and on circumstances of the utterance.
Exercise 13
Could the following possibly be used as referring expressions?
1. John yes / no 2. my uncle yes / no
3. and yes / no 4. the girl sitting there yes / no
5. a man yes / no 6. my parents yes / no
7. send yes / no 8. under yes / no
Exercise 14. Underline the referring expressions in the following sentences, if any.
1. A man was in here looking for you last night.
2. The first sign of the monsoon is a cloud on the horizon no bigger than a man‟s hand.
3. Forty buses have been withdrawn from service by the Liverpool Corporation.
4. This engine has the power of forty buses.
5. Yesterday, Nancy married a Norwegian.
6. My sister also wants to marry a Norwegian.
7. John is looking for a car to buy.
8. Dick believes that a man with a limp killed Bo Peep.
9. The police officer said that a man with a limp killed Bo Peep.
10. Every evening at sunset, a swan flew over my house.
11. The man who shot Abraham Lincoln was an unemployed actor.
12. If anyone ever marries Nancy, he‟s in for a bad time.
13. The poor are the ones who suffer most from the disasters all over the world.
14. I saw a boy climb over the fence last night.
15. Don‟t come near the frontier. You may be hurt by a bullet.
16. You can‟t get married with such a boy!
17. My hobby is to go fishing with friends when the sun appears in the East.
18. It was thought for many centuries that the world was flat.
19. The book you gave me on Teacher‟s Day was worth reading.
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20. My parents expected me to send them some gift on their wedding anniversary, but I
didn‟t because of my forgetfulness.
21. The parachute is a device to help people to land safely on the ground.
22. While the soldier was moving through the frontier, a bullet stroke him on the head.
23. Nowadays, there are many TV programs very useful for children‟s education.
24. The teacher let his students come back home early because of the coming storm.
MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST 2

1. Which of the following is not a type of reference?
a. referring expression b. variable reference c. constant reference d. same reference
2. The type of reference in which the same expression is used to refer to different objects is:
a. constant reference b. same reference c. variable reference d. no reference
3. The type of reference in which different expressions are used to refer to the same object is:
a. constant reference b. variable reference c. same reference d. no reference
4. The type of reference in which the same expression always refers to the same object is:
a. same reference b. variable reference c. constant reference d. no reference
5. When an expression has a sense but does not refer to anything, it is said to have:
a. constant reference b. variable reference c. no reference d. same reference
a. All words in a language have sense, but only some words may be used to refer.
b. If two expressions have the same referent, they always have the same sense.
c. Sense is the relationship between expressions and objects.
d. Reference is the set of all objects which can potentially be referred to by an expression.
7. An expression used to refer to someone or something particular is a:
a. referring expression b. variable reference c. constant reference d. same reference
8. The underlined part in „the boy standing at the bus stop‟ has:
a. variable reference b. same reference c. constant reference d. no reference
9. The underlined part in „I saw a boy standing at a bus stop‟ is:
a. same reference b. referring expression c. constant reference d. no reference
10. The underlined part in „I survived from the air crash thanks to a parachute‟ is:
a. referring expression b. not a referring expression
11. The underlined part in „My sweetheart is a teacher‟ is:
a. a referring expression b. not a referring expression
12. The underlined part in „Silk Black is a famous singer from Tay Nguyen‟ is:
a. referring expression b. not a referring expression
13. The underlined part in „I‟m looking for a car to buy‟ is:
a. not a referring expression b. a referring expression
14. The underlined part in „Yesterday, I bought a car in a showroom on NH Street‟ is:
15. The underlined part in „A boy was in here looking for you last night‟ is:
a. a referring expression b. not a referring expression
16. The underlined part in „Paul fell off the horse, wounded by an arrow‟ is:
17. The underlined part in „You cannot kill a tiger with an arrow‟ is:
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VII. TYPES OF MEANING
A. WORD MEANING
1. Denotative / Descriptive / Referential meaning
The denotative meaning of a word is the central meaning of the word found in a dictionary.
It is the meaning that may be described in terms of a set of semantic features that serve to
identify the particular concept associated with the word.
It is also called descriptive because it describes an object, an event, a state or an affair, and
referential meaning as it refers us to something in the world.
Ex: A pig: a domestic animal, 4 legs, hairy, usually raised for meat
A father: a male adult, married, having children …
2. Connotative / Social / Affective meaning

The connotative meaning of a word is the implied, additional meaning that the word has
beyond its denotative meaning. It shows people‟s emotions and / or attitudes towards what
the word refers to. This meaning may vary from individual to individual, and community to
community. That‟s why connotative meaning is also called social or affective meaning. It
is not found in the dictionary
Ex: + The word pig in “He is a pig” may means connotatively:
He is a pig => - Lazy
- Greedy
- Stupid
- Dirty
+ As connotative meaning, the word woman may means positively devotion,
patience, generosity …, and negatively frailty, inconstancy, irrationality …
B. SENTENCE MEANING
1. LINGUISTIC / LITERAL MEANING
The linguistic meaning of a sentence depends on:
- The meanings of the constituent words
- The syntactic functions of the units in the sentence (subject, object,...)
- The semantic / participant roles of the noun phrases in the sentence.
Compare the following sentences:
(1) The lion bit the hunter.
(2) The hunter bit the lion.
(3) The hunter was bitten by the lion
First, to understand the meaning of the sentences, we must know the meanings of the words
„lion, bite, hunter‟. However, we can use exactly the same words to form different
sentences with the same or different meanings.
(1) The lion bit the hunter # (2) The hunter bit the lion
S O S O
The two sentences (1) & (2) have different meanings because the words have different
syntactic functions.
(2) The hunter bit the lion # (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S O S O
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The sentences (2) & (3) have different meanings although the words have the same syntactic
functions.
(1) The lion bit the hunter = (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S O S O
The sentences (1) & (3) have the same meaning although the words have different syntactic
functions. What makes the meaning of the two sentences similar or different? It is what is
called semantic roles, the third factor making up the meaning of a sentence.
SEMANTIC or PARTICIPANT ROLES

a. Definition
A semantic role is the role performed by a noun phrase in relation to the verb.
b. Types
o Agent (A): the one that initiates an action (person/ animal + action verb)
Ex: Paul opened the door
o Patient (P): the one that suffers from or is affected by the action
Ex: Paul opens the door
The door opened at the first blow of wind
Paul is boiling water
Water boils at 100OC
o Experiencer (E): the one that experiences a feeling/ sensation/ perception …
(a person / an animal + a non-action verb)
Ex: Paul loves Mary
I recognize that I‟m wrong
The boy wants a candy
The teacher remembers meeting me somewhere
o Stimulus (S): the one that causes a feeling / sensation (emotion verb)
Ex: Paul loves Mary
I‟m afraid of ghost
The book of the teacher makes me very happy
The film interests me a lot
o Recipient (R) (the receiver): the one that receives a physical object
Ex: He gave me a book last night
o Benefactive (B) : the one that benefits from an action
Ex: I do all this for you
I sent him a gift for his son
o Instrument (I): the one that is used to perform an action (implying a user)
Ex: I open the door with a hammer
Paul used a key to open the door
o Cause (C): the one that causes an action to happen (not implying a user)
Ex: The door opened suddenly at the blow of the wind
Paul was hurt with a knife (implying someone using a knife to hurt him)
I
Paul was hurt by a knife (not implying the user of the knife)
C
o Locative (L): the place where an action happens
Ex: I was born in Đà lạt
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HCM city is a good place to live
o Temporal (T): the time when an action happens
Ex: Yesterday, I saw you at the supermarket
Back to the 3 previous examples, we see:

(1) The lion bit the hunter # (2) The hunter bit the lion
S/A O/P S/A O/P
(2) The hunter bit the lion # (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S/A O/P S/P O/A
The above sentences have different meanings because they have different semantic roles
although they may have the same syntactic functions (2) & (3).
(1) The lion bit the hunter = (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S/A O/P S/P O/A
The two sentences have the same meaning because they have the same semantic roles
although the syntactic functions are different.
Exercise 15: Identify the semantic role of the noun phrases in the following sentences
1. The student couldn‟t finish the assignment because the library was closed.
2. The couple raced the horses through the meadow yesterday morning.
3. The teacher was angered by the rowdy students.
4. I recall hearing my brother say that.
5. Tom lent me enough money to pay the rent.
6. At the reunion he ran into his cousin Karl.
7. The farmer went to the field before dawn.
8. The building was constructed in a commercial zone.
9. A big tree was rooted up by the storm last night.
10. I enjoy reading books in my free time.
11. The immigrants picked strawberries in the early June.
12. He never turned in his budget report on time.
13. The unlucky customer had the undercooked meat sent back to the chef.
14. Traffic was backed up at the intersection because of the accident.
15. I‟m very glad to meet you here after so many years.
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16. The book you gave me on Teacher‟s Day was worth reading.
17. An unfair attitude toward the poor will contribute to the problem of poverty.
18. After the yolk is separated from the white, it must be boiled immediately.
19. Nutritionists recommended that foods from each of the four basic groups be eaten
regularly.
20. It was thought for many centuries that the world was flat.
21. His ingenuity never ceases to amaze me.
22. The hurricane destroyed half of the island.
23. Angela offered the job to her former rival.
24. In the morning we left San Francisco for Austin.
25. Zelda gets angry whenever Scott lies her.
26. The remains will be shipped to Cleveland on Wednesday.
27. The boy seems to be interested in the film shown at NH cinema last night.
28. He hates being disturbed at table.
29. As the storm raged, the waves grew higher and higher.
30. He enjoys going fishing on the lake at sunset.
31. The snow melts at the morning sunshine.
32. The chickens are ready for us to eat in 5 minutes.
33. Do you like the book I sent you?
34. Acid can dissolve a corpse in 5 minutes.
35. The man who loves her must be insane.
36. Alan was sent a special gift on her birthday.
37. Many TV programs today help students to improve their study a lot.
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38. The prisoner killed the guard then disappeared into the forest.
39. The beer made from rice drinks very well.
40. Putting one hand in the pocket, he walked around the front yard.
41. Joining the club is a good way of meeting new people.
42. She wants to know if anyone has an umbrella to lend her.
43. Harold doesn‟t like making speeches in front of the class.
44. Trembling with fear, she opened the letter.
45. Delayed by the bad weather, the plane arrived in Hanoi one hour late.
46. My first job, cleaning the floor, made me exhausted.
47. The door ajar made the girl worried.
48. We watched the brown river swollen with rain.
49. A house surrounded by a large, deep ditch provides us with a safe shelter.
50. This bed sleeps comfortably.

a. The denotative meaning of a word is the meaning that the speaker wants to convey.
b. The denotative meaning of a word can be described in terms of a set of semantic features.
c. The denotative meaning of a word describes an object, an event, a state or an affair.
d. The denotative meaning of a word is the central meaning of that word found in a dictionary.
a. The connotative meaning of a word can be described in terms of a set of semantic features.
b. The connotative meaning of a word shows people‟s emotions and attitudes.
c. The connotative meaning of a word is the meaning that the speaker wants to convey.
d. The connotative meaning of a word is the implied meaning that word has beyond its literal
meaning.
3. Which of the following is not a term used to describe denotative meaning?
a. literal meaning b. referential meaning c. additional meaning d. descriptive meaning
4. Which of the following is not a term used to describe connotative meaning?
a. descriptive meaning b. social meaning c. affective meaning d. additional meaning
5. Which of the following does not belong to the denotative meaning of „woman‟?
a. talkative b. female c. human d. mature
6. Which of the following does not belong to the connotative meaning of „woman‟?
a. female b. irrational c. talkative d. devoted
7. Which of the following does not belong to the denotative meaning of „pig‟?
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a. animal b. domestic c. hairy d. lazy
8. Which of the following does not belong to the connotative meaning of „pig‟?
a. dirty b. greedy c. stupid d. domestic
a. The semantic role of a word is the role performed by that word in relation to the verb
b. The semantic role of a word is its grammatical function in the sentence
c. The semantic role of a word is its syntactic function in the sentence
10. Which of the following is not a type of semantic role?
a. patient b. object c. agent d. locative
11. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „On the river bank sat little Robert,
covered with mud‟ is:
a. patient b. instrument c. cause d. stimulus
12. The semantic role performed by the underlined NP in „This pill can help you sleep deeply‟ is:
a. cause b. instrument c. patient d. stimulus
13. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „Water boils at 1000 C‟ is:
a. patient b. cause c. Instrument d. stimulus
14. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „The door opened suddenly at the first
blow of the wind‟ is:
a. patient b. cause c. instrument d. stimulus
15. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „The door opened suddenly at the first
blow of wind‟ is:
a. Instrument b. cause c. patient d. stimulus
16. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „They loaded the truck with hay‟ is:
a. cause b. patient c. instrument d. stimulus
17. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „Peter recognized his mistakes‟ is:
a. experiencer b. agent c. patient d. stimulus
18. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „My brother is afraid of spiders‟ is:
a. stimulus b. experiencer c. patient d. agent
19. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „The snow melts at the morning
sunshine‟ is:
a. patient b. experiencer c. agent d. stimulus
20. The semantic role performed by the underlined part in „The snow melts at the morning
sunshine‟ is:
a. patient b. temporal c. cause d. stimulus
2. SEMANTIC MEANING & PRAGMATIC MEANING

a. Semantic meaning: the meaning of a sentence out of context or context-free. It is
the linguistic meaning of a sentence.
b. Pragmatic meaning: the meaning of an utterance in a particular situation.

Pragmatic meaning is context-dependent or context bound.
Ex 1: A: Would you like to go out with me?
B: I have a lot of homework to do.
I have a lot of homework to do
⇒semantic meaning: the teacher gave me a lot of assignments to do at home.
⇒pragmatic meaning: I‟m sorry. I‟m very busy. I‟m afraid that I have to
refuse your invitation.
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Ex 2: “Oh! It’s too noisy”
⇒semantic meaning: there is a lot of noise here.
⇒pragmatic meaning: Please, keep silent!
3. Figures of speech
A figure of speech is „a word or phrase which is used for special effect, and which
doesn’t have its usual or literal meaning’. (Richards. Platt & Weber. 1987: 105)
TYPES OF FIGURES OF SPEECH

 Simile /‟sımılı/: direct / explicit comparison using comparison words „like, as’ or
comparison form.
Ex: He eats like a tiger (he eats as much as a tiger does.)
He is as poor as a church mouse (he is very poor)
 Metaphor /‟metǝfǝ/: indirect / implied comparison (no comparison words „like, as‟.
Types of metaphor
 Dead metaphor: a metaphor which has lost its metaphoric characteristic and
become a fixed expression or idiom.
Ex: the eye of a needle; the head quarter; the foot of the mountain; the leg of
the table; the mouth of the river; the face of the table; the back of the chair; the
childhood of the earth etc.
A dead metaphor is used naturally and unconsciously by a native speaker of a
language. Ex: ñaàu giöôøng; chaân gheà; maët traùi xoan; maét boà caâu; traêng löôõi
lieàm; etc,
 Live metaphor: a metaphor used consciously, intentionally by a speaker with
various figurative meanings.
Ex: „He is a pig‟ may be interpreted as he is fat; he is lazy; he is stupid; he is
dirty etc. depending on the situation in which it is used.
Usually there is a metaphor when one
+ puts 2 different species on the same rank.
Ex: He is an old fox (a person = an animal) (he is very wicked)
He is a rock in storm (a person = a thing) (he is a strong-minded
person)
+ applies a feature of one species for another.
Ex: Have you digested the lesson yet?: ‘digest’ is a term usually used
for food, now is used for study: the speaker compares the process of
eating and digesting food with that of learning and understanding
lessons. (Have you carefully understood the lesson yet?)
He apes your betters: „ape’, a term used for animal is here
used for a person: the speaker compares a person who usually
imitates others with an ape whose characteristic is to imitate. (He
imitates your betters.)
He bottled up his feelings: „bottle’ a term usually used for the
process of making different kinds of drink or wine etc. is used here for
feelings. (He hid / concealed his feelings.)
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 Irony: Saying the opposite of one‟s thought for emphasis, for fun or mocking.
Ex: + He is so kind that he let all the housework for me to do. (He is not kind at
all)
+ He is so intelligent that no examiner has agreed to pass him so far.
(He is rather stupid.)
 Sarcasm /‟sa:kæzǝm/ : bitter irony; sneeringly ironical remarks to hurt somebody‟s

feelings.
Ex: + “The more I know about human beings, the more I want to be an animal”
(Jungle Boy) (Human beings are worse than animal!)
+ “Oh yes, we know how clever you are!” “Well, Mr. Know-it-all, What‟s
the answer this time?”
 Synecdoche /sı´nekdǝki/ : substitution of the whole for the part & vice versa
Ex:+ Vietnam won the football match (VN is used to refer to VN football team;
whole for part)
+ I don‟t want you to come under my roof (= my house) (part for whole)
+ This work requires an intelligent brain (= person)
+ The war has robbed 2,000 souls of the village (= people)
 Metonymy /mǝ´tɒnǝmi/: substitution of related words (not whole – part)

Ex: The kettle is boiling. (= the water)
The disease has cut off his breath. (= his life)
Ways to identify a metonymy:
 Container – Contained :
Ex: - Very thirsty, he gulped down the whole bottle (= liquid in the bottle)
- As the teacher entered the room, the whole class stood up to greet
him. (all the students in the class)
 Author – Works
Ex: - Have you read Khái Hưng yet? (= the novels of Khái Hưng)
- This is not a Picasso (= a painting by Picasso)
 Profession – Means
Ex: - I live on my pen (= by writing / I‟m a writer)
- My Tyson lives on his gloves (= by boxing / I‟m a boxer)
 Symbol - Reality / Concrete - Abstract
Ex: - He tries his best to win her heart (= her love)
- He succeeded to the crown. (= the royal office)
- He has the tongue of king. (= the talent of tasting food)
- She has an ear for music. (= the talent for learning, appreciating,
enjoying … music)
 Material – Object made of it
- All our glass is kept in the cupboard. (= vessels and objects made of
glass)
- You can get our gold in the upper drawer. (= jewelry made of gold)
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 Personification: Endowing an inanimate object with human qualities.
Ex: - The leaves are dancing in the morning wind. (= moving)
- The waves tore the ship into pieces. (= destroyed completely)
 Hyperbole /haı´pɜ:bǝli/ (cường điệu): overstatement or exaggeration
Ex: - I‟m so hungry that I can swallow a cow (= extremely hungry)
- I‟ve invited millions of people to my party (= a lot of)
- I haven‟t seen you for ages. (= a long time)
 Euphemism /‟ju:fǝmızǝm/ (uyển ngữ, nói tránh): the use of a pleasant, mild ,
comforting, or indirect expression for one that is taboo, negative, offensive or too
direct.
Ex: - Could you tell me where the restroom is? (= toilet)
- His father has just passed away (= died)
- Caught by a cold, he went to the fathers. (= died)
- She is not beautiful. (= ugly)
- The U.S. decided to help the developing countries. (= poor countries)
- I don’t think you’re right (= you‟re wrong)
- It‟s not bad (= it is fine)
- It wasn’t easy (= it was really difficult)
- Always remember that she is no fool (= she is wise)
Exercise 16: Identify the type of figure of speech used in the following sentences then give
their literal meaning.
1. My hands are as cold as ice.
2. I‟ll make him eat his words.
3. He is the best pen of the day.
4. She has a good head of business.
5. Their Majesty died a year ago.
6. She usually sheds floods of tears whenever she is upset.
7. We need a force of a thousand rifles.
8. You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
9. He washed his hand out of the matter.
10. He looks as though he hasn‟t had a square meal for months.
11. Who brought fire and sword into our country?
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12. Why don‟t you recognize the power of the purse?
13. I found the 52 pounds of books you let for me to carry. Your kindness really moves
me.
14. The man is a demon for work.
15. They organized a fleet of 50 sails.
16. She is a girl of 20 summers.
17. When you take that course, plan to study 30 hours a day.
18. The wind howled angrily around the house all night.
19. Grey hairs should be respected.
20. Spare the rod, spoil the child.
21. Don‟t live in such a sea of doubt.
22. When the White House called, the ambassador came at once.
23. My dormitory room is like a cave.
24. Come to the dormitory and see what a cave I live in.
25. If you are not happy with the service, go and talk to the City Hall.
26. The princess captures the hearts of the nation.
27. He has a kind heart.
28. The river ate the bank away.
29. The captain was in charge of 100 horses.
30. You can depend on Paul; he is a rock when trouble comes.
31. Life is a dream.
32. Research says that these methods are best.
33. Little Susie is a picture of loveliness in her new dress.
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34. There was a storm in Parliament last night.
35. He worked and worked until he breathed his last.
36. We are tired to death of such movies.
37. His words can be trusted.
38. The boss gave her a hot look.
39. He could not bridle his anger.
40. The organization is keeping the brake on pay rises.
41. Death is laying his icy hand on the Queen.
42. The pen is mightier than the sword.
43. A camel is a ship in a desert.
44. Your charm and good looks exceed your wit.
45. With friends like you, who needs enemies?!
46. You have to pay the earth for such a masterpiece!
47. Luck almost always turns back to those who dare not face difficulty.
48. A dead leaf fell in my lap; that was Jack Frost‟s card.
49. The ship plowed the sea.
50. The captain exploded with rage when the soldiers disobeyed him.
1. The figure of speech used in “She has an ear for music” is:
a. metonymy b. metaphor c. synecdoche d. personification
2. The figure of speech used in “A disease has cut his breath” is:
a. euphemism b. metaphor c. synecdoche d. simile
3. The figure of speech used in “I‟ll make him eat his words” is:
a. personification b. metonymy c. synecdoche d. metaphor
4. The figure of speech used in “Hearing the news, the tears stream down her face” is:
a. metaphor b. euphemism c. metonymy d. personification
5. The figure of speech used in “He washed his hands out of the matter” is:
a. personification b. metonymy c. synecdoche d. metaphor
6. The figure of speech used in “Why don‟t you recognize the power of the purse?” is:
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a. metonymy b. euphemism c. personification d. synecdoche
7. The figure of speech used in “She has four mouths to feed” is:
a. metaphor b. metonymy c. synecdoche d. personification
8. The figure of speech used in “He looks as though he hasn‟t had a square meal for months” is:
a. metaphor b. euphemism c. metonymy d. personification
9. The figure of speech used in “He has a kind heart” is:
a. synecdoche b. metonymy c. metaphor d. personification
10. The figure of speech used in “Research says that these methods are best” is:
a. metaphor b. euphemism c. metonymy d. synecdoche
11. Figuratively, the sentence „Life is a dream‟ may mean:
a. Life is fragile b. Life is vulnerable c. Life is short d. Life is not true
12. Figuratively, the sentence „The man is a demon for work‟ may mean:
a. The man is evil b. the man is energetic and works very hard
c. The man is workaholic d. the man is lazy
13. Figuratively, the sentence „Spare the rod, spoil the child‟ may mean:
a. You shouldn‟t use the rod with children
b. You should punish children severely
c. If you don‟t punish the child when he does something wrong, you‟ll spoil his character.
d. You shouldn‟t love children
14. Figuratively, the sentence „When the White House calls, the ambassador comes at once‟ may
mean:
a. When the President calls, the ambassador comes at once.
b. When the U.S. President calls, the ambassador comes at once.
c. When the Government calls, the ambassador comes at once.
d. When the General Officer calls, the ambassador comes at once.
15. Figuratively, the sentence „My dormitory room is like a cave‟ may mean:
a. my dormitory room is attractive b. my dormitory room is small but cozy
c. my dormitory room is not modern d. my dormitory room is small and uncomfortable
16. Figuratively, the sentence „The captain was in charge of one hundred horses‟ may mean:
a. the captain was in charge of 100 cavalries b. the captain has to take care of 100 horses
c. the captain needs 100 horses d. the captain has got 100 horses
17. Figuratively, the sentence „You can depend on Paul; he is a rock when trouble comes‟ may
mean:
a. Paul has strong nerves b. Paul is indifferent c. Paul is pitiless d. Paul is honest
18. Figuratively, the sentence „He is so hardheaded that he won‟t listen to anyone‟ may mean:
a. he is very courageous b. he has a very hard head
c. he is very intelligent d. he is very obstinate
19. Figuratively, the sentence „Right at this minute, I could drink a barrel of water without stopping‟
may mean:
a. I‟m very thirsty and I can drink a lot of water b. I need a barrel of water
c. I stop drinking water d. I can bring a barrel of water for a minute without stopping
20. Figuratively, the sentence „It is amazing what a great mind he is‟ may mean:
a. I‟m amazed by his intellectual power b. he is open-minded
c. he has a very big head d. he is not intelligent at all
VIII. MEANING PROPERTIES / CHARACTERISTICS

1. Anomaly / non-sense
Anomaly is „a violation of semantic rules to create nonsense.‟ (Finegan, 1993: 148)
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Ex: + The toothbrush is pregnant.
Syntactically, this sentence is correct.
Semantically, this sentence is anomalous / meaningless because it contains a contradiction.
(Toothbrush includes the semantic property [- animate] while pregnant includes [+
animate]), so the sentence breaks the semantic rules.
+ My brother is the only child.
The same, syntactically this sentence is correct, but semantically it is anomalous /
meaningless because the word brother requires the semantic feature [+ having at least one
sibling] whereas the only child is [+ having no other sibling].
An anomalous sentence conforms to all the grammar rules of the language. It is
grammatically correct and syntactically perfect, but semantically anomalous because it
breaks the rules of semantics. Literally it is nonsensical, but in some context, it is
understandable, of course figuratively. In contrast, a sentence in which the words are joined
randomly has no meaning / no sense. For example, Ceasar is and or. This type of sentence
is ungrammatical and always meaningless. Here are some more examples of anomaly:
+ Colorless green ideas are sleeping furiously.
+ The sorrow is chewing my bones.
+ John frightened a tree.
+ She sliced the ideas.
+ Honesty plays golf.
+ Christopher is killing phonemes.
+ The tiger remained alive for an hour after the hunter killed it.
+ My brother is a spinster (unmarried woman).
+ The boy swallowed the chocolate and then chew it.
+ Puppies are human.
+ Jack‟s courage chewed the bones.
2. Ambiguity
a. Definition. A word, a phrase, or a sentence is ambiguous when it has more than one
meaning.
Ex: A ring (may mean a phone call or an object offered as a gift to a lover: a gold
ring…)
The bank (may mean the shore of a river or a financial institution)
He greeted the girl with a smile. (the boy was smiling or the girl was smiling)
b. Types of ambiguity
 Lexical Ambiguity: The ambiguity is caused by an ambiguous word.
Ex: She gave me a ring last night
wedding ring
phone call
Don‟t seat on those glasses

drinking glasses
eye-glasses
Lexical ambiguity requires:
- the word is of the same part of speech
- the same sentence structure
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- the word has different meanings
 Structural Ambiguity: The ambiguity is caused by structure.
- different sentence structures.
- different meanings.
 Grouping Ambiguity: the words in the sentence can be put into different groups.
Ex: Old men and women left.
=> [old men] & [women] left
[old] [men & women] left
Ex: An old girl‟s bicycle.
=> [old girl‟s] [bicycle]
[old] [girl‟s bicycle]
Ex: He greeted the girl with a smile.
=> He greeted the girl with a smile
Ex: I met John going to the cinema

=> I met John going to the cinema
 Functional Ambiguity: a sentence containing 1 word with different functions.

Ex: I love Laura more than you S: … more than you love Laura
O: … more than I love you
Ex: Visiting relatives can be boring S: the relatives who are visiting…
O: to visit relatives …
Ex: He gave her dog meat her: determiner / modifier of dog.
her: personal pro / indirect object.
3. Some common forms of structural ambiguity

a. Grouping Ambiguity
 Adj N & N Ex: Old men and women.
=> Repeat the Adj (AN & AN): Old men & old women
=> Change their positions (N & A N): Women and old men.
 Adj N N Ex: A small arms factory.
=> A N PP : A small factory of arms.
=> N PP ( Prep + A + N) : A factory of small arms.
 Adj N‟s N Ex: A large woman‟s garment.
=> A N PP : A large garment for women.
=> N PP (Prep + A + N) : A garment for large women.
 V N PP Ex: I saw the boy with a telescope.
=> PP as nominal modifier : Replace PP by Adj. C. = I saw a boy who had a
telescope.
=> PP as verbal modifier : Move PP to the beginning = With a telescope, I saw the
boy.
 V N -ing P Ex: I met John going to the cinema.
=> -ing P as nominal modifier : Replace –ing P by AC = I met John who was
going to the cinema.
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=> -ing P as verbal modifier : Move –ing P to the beginning = Going to the
cinema, I met John.
 V N N AC Ex: There‟s a café in TB district which I like.
(the AC may modify café or district => change the position of AC)
 In TB district, there‟s a café which I like („which I like‟ modifies café)
 In TB district, which I like, there‟s a café ( AC modifies district)
 V Adv V Ex: Those who sold quickly made a profit.
(quickly may modify sold or made => change the position of the Adverb)
 Those who quickly sold made a profit. (quickly modifies sold)
 Those who sold made a profit quickly. (quickly modifies made)
 N Adv V Ex: My brother especially likes going fishing.
(especially may modifies brother or likes going fishing => change the position of
Adv)
 Especially my brother likes going fishing. (= many people like it, especially my
brother)
 My brother likes going fishing particularly. (= my brother likes different things
especially going fishing)
b. Functional Ambiguity
 -ing Phrase. Ex: Visiting relatives can be boring
+ Visiting: gerund => relatives: DO and visiting relatives is a GP / S
 Replace Gerund by an infinitive: To visit relatives can be boring.
+ Visiting: present participle modifying relatives => visiting relatives is a NP/S
 Replace Present participle by an AC: The relatives who are visiting can be
boring.
 Comparative form (than, as) Ex: I love Mary more than you Subject
Object
 Subject: add auxiliary verb => I love Mary more than you do.
 Object: repeat verb => I love Mary more than I love you.
 Sentence Pattern: one sentence may be of two different patterns
Ex: He found Peter a helper.
 Pattern 8: He found Peter a helper. => He found a helper for Peter.
IO DO
 Pattern 9: He found Peter a helper. => He considered Peter as his helper.
DO OC
 Adj. Pattern: Be – Adj – to Inf. Ex: The chicken is ready to eat. Subject
Object
 S: The chicken is ready to eat food. (the chicken eats food)
 O: The chicken is ready for us to eat. (we eat the chicken)
(The chicken is ready to be eaten.)
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 One word with different parts of speech
Ex: He gave her dog meat Det. modifies dog => He gave meat to her dog
Pronoun IO => He gave dog meat to her
Ex: The detective looked hard Adj (P4): hard / SC: … looked severe / strict.
Adv (P6) hard / M / Aval: …. looked carefully.

1. Which of the following is correct?
a. An anomalous sentence is grammatically correct but breaks the semantic rules
b. An anomalous sentence is syntactically incorrect
c. An anomalous sentence follows semantic rules
d. An anomalous sentence is ungrammatical
2. Which of the following is correct?
a. An anomalous sentence may be figuratively meaningful but semantically nonsensical
b. An anomalous sentence is literally nonsensical but figuratively meaningful
c. An anomalous sentence has more than one meaning
d. An anomalous sentence is literally and figuratively nonsensical
3. A sentence that has more than one meaning is:
a. ungrammatical b. anomalous c. ambiguous
4. A sentence that breaks the semantic rules and creates non sense is:
5. A sentence that is semantically meaningless but may be meaningful figuratively is:
6. A sentence that contains two contradictory semantic features and creates nonsense is:
7. Semantically, the sentence „Christopher is killing phonemes‟ is:
8. Semantically, the sentence „This pen is empty‟ is:
a. ironic b. ambiguous c. anomalous d. metaphoric
9. Semantically, the sentence „Babies can lift one ton‟ is:
10. Semantically, the sentence „My brother is a spinster‟ is:
11. Figuratively, the sentence „James sliced ideas‟ is:
a. metaphoric b. ambiguous c. anomalous d. personified
12. Semantically, the sentence „My brother is a bachelor‟ is:
a. anomalous b. ambiguous c. meaningful d. metaphoric
13. Semantically, the sentence „Puppies are human‟ is:
14. Semantically, the sentence „Bachelors are female‟ is:
15. Semantically, the sentence „That robot is shining‟ is:
16. Figuratively, the sentence „The sorrow is chewing my bones‟ is:
a. contradictory b. ambiguous c. anomalous d. personified
17. Figuratively, the sentence „Ly Duc is so strong that he can lift two tons‟ contains a:
a. personification b. hyperbole c. metaphor d. personification
18. Figuratively, the sentence „Oh, my back is killing me!‟ contains a:
a. personification b. ambiguous c. metaphor d. anomalous
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19. The type of ambiguity in „Are the chickens ready to eat?‟ is:
a. functional b. grouping c. lexical
20. The type of ambiguity in „Do you want to try on the dress in the window?‟ is:
a. grouping b. lexical c. functional
Exercise 17: Identify the type of ambiguity and give two possible paraphrases to make
the meaning clear.
1. This pen is empty.
2. Are the chickens ready to eat?
3. Do you want to try on that dress in the window?
4. This old car needs new brakes and anti-freezer.
5. Don‟t sit on those glasses.
6. I understand money matters.
7. I know clever people like you.
8. The dog looked at the snake longer than the cat.
9. The police searched for the car with broken headlights.
10. I hate the hunter‟s shooting.
11. Visiting relatives can be boring.
12. We need nutritious food and drink.
13. We feed the pigs in clean clothes.
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14. I need the criminal lawyer.
15. I like ice-cream more than you.
16. I found a bat in the attic.
17. He gave her dog meat.
18. Leave the chairs on the veranda.
19. I met a man with a dog that had fleas.
20. Oh, that‟s just a crazy lawyer‟s idea.
21. The FCC intends to eliminate sex and race bias in TV advertising.
22. You should eat more nutritious food.
23. He considered the applicant hard.
24. I found her a doll.
25. They watched the hunter with the binoculars.
26. She spied the dog on the corner.
27. Joan is easy to please.
28. Molly told Angela about herself.
29. She gave him a ring last night.

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30. The car coasted into the garage with the lights on.
31. The dog bit several people in the crowd.
32. Tristan left directions for Isolde to follow.
33. She can‟t bear children.
34. It takes a good ruler to make a straight line.
35. He saw that petrol can explode.
36. Is he really that kind?
37. They are cooking apples.
38. This is not a Raphael‟s painting.
39. The policeman is talking about Mr. Thompson‟s murder.
40. My grandfather is a small farmer.
41. He is a poor student.
42. The guard turned out a drunkard.
43. I am getting her socks.
44. The man gave the library books.
45. It was a little pasty.

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46. He accepted Wednesday.
47. Thorn taught himself during his young manhood.
48. The doctor made them well.
49. She taught the group singing.
50. Our spaniel made a good friend.
51. The judges designated the girl winner.
52. Mary called her mother.
53. My father is a foreign language teacher.
54. My friend is an old car enthusiast.
55. The rabbit also enjoys our lettuce.
56. The members only are allowed to buy beer.
57. I gave her an old girl‟s bicycle.
58. He promised to call me at 10 o‟clock.
59. Paula is a girl hunter.
60. She is a baby sitter.
61. I found a book on HN station.

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62. Everyday passengers enjoy a meal like this.
63. I considered those errors.
64. It was a plot to sell industrial secrets worth millions to the ABC Company.
65. He passed the hammer and saw through the window.

1. The type of ambiguity in „I understand money matters‟ is:
2. The type of ambiguity in „He gave her dog meat‟ is:
a. grouping b. lexical c. functional d. a&c
3. The type of ambiguity in „Tristan left directions for Isolde to follow‟ is:
a. lexical b. grouping c. functional
4. The type of ambiguity in „Is he really that kind?‟ is:
a. functional b. grouping c. lexical
5. The type of ambiguity in „This is not a Raphael‟s painting‟ is:
a. lexical b. grouping c. functional d. a&c
6. The type of ambiguity in „The police are talking about Mr. Thompson‟s murder‟ is:
7. Which of the following may be one meaning of „They are moving sidewalks‟?
a. They are walking on the sidewalks b. These sidewalks are moveable
c. The streets are under repair d. The sidewalks are moving
8. Which of the following may be one meaning of „she is a baby sitter‟?
a. she is a sister b. she is a baby c. this sitter is a baby d. she likes babies
9. Which of the following may be one meaning of „the man gave the library books‟?
a. the man is a librarian b. the man borrowed books from the library
c. the man gave someone the books of the library d. the man is a bookworm
10. Which of the followings may be one meaning of „Paula is a girl hunter‟?
a. Paula is a good hunter b. Paula loves girls
c. Paula is going hunting with a girl d. Paula‟s job is hunting girls
11. Which of the following may be one meaning of „My fiancé is reserved‟?
a. I am engaged b. my fiancé is married c. my fiancé is kept only for me
12. Which of the following may be one meaning of „The doctor made them well‟?
a. the doctor is very talented b. the doctor made a well for them
c. the doctor made the patients healthy d. the doctor is very good
13. Which of the following may be one meaning of „I considered those errors‟?
a. I made a lot of mistakes b. I examined those errors
c. I found many errors d. I corrected the errors
14. Which of the following may be one meaning of „Dick finally decided on the boat‟?
a. Finally, Dick had to decide on the boat b. Dick decided on the boat finally
c. Dick finally made a decision about the boat d. Dick finally decided to buy the boat
15. Which of the following may be one meaning of „He passed the hammer and saw through the
window‟?
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a. He went past the window
b. He climbed through the window
c. He saw a hammer through the window
d. He passed the hammer and the saw through the window
IX. MEANING RELATION

1. WORD RELATION: the relation between the meanings of two words.
 Synonymy: Two words of the same or almost the same denotative meaning.
Test: A= B
Ex: broad = wide; movie = film; deep = profound; buy = purchase
However, these words differ in their connotative / social / affective meaning. For
example, film is usually British, referring to classic movies or art movies; meanwhile,
movie is American.
Partial Synonym: a word that share one of the meanings with another.
Ex1: There are different ways / methods to do this.
But: To go to BH, there is only one way (not method)
Ex2: You have my deep / profound sympathy
But: This river is very deep. (not profound)
Ex3: This cheese is ripe / mature enough for us to eat.
But: This fruit is ripe enough (not mature)
The boy is mature enough (not ripe)
Ex4: We can fill this container with soil / earth.
But: The rocket fell back to earth (not to soil)
 Antonymy: Two words of opposite meanings.

Types of Antonym:
 Gradable Antonym
Two words are „gradable antonyms if they are at opposite ends of a continuous
scale of values‟ (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:118). In other words, there are
intermediate grades / levels between the two extremes. For example:
Cold → cool → lukewarm → warm → Hot
Hate → dislike → be indifferent → like → be fond of → love
Test: very/ how? + Adj/ Adv much / very much / how much? + Verb
Ex: Old # Young => How old is he? – He is very old
Love # Hate => How much do you love her? – Very much!
 Complementary / Non-gradable / Contradictory / Binary Antonym

Two words are complementary antonyms when they exclude each other. In other
words, „if one word is applicable, then the other cannot be.‟ (Hurford & Heasley.
1983:114) Test: A = not B (and vice versa)
This type of antonym cannot be put into comparative form. We cannot say very dead;
very alive (There‟s no degree between them)
Ex: alive # dead => alive = not dead ; dead = not alive
open # close => close = not open ; open = not close
fail # pass => fail = not pass ; pass = not fail
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 Relational Antonym / Converses:
Two words are relational antonyms when „they describe the same relationship but
they are mentioned in the opposite order.‟ (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:116)
Test: if A is … of B; then B is … of A
Ex: husband # wife => If A is husband of B; then B is wife of A.
teacher # student => If A is the teacher of B; then B is a student of A.
buy # sell => If A sells a car to B; then B buys the car from A.
 Incompatibility
There are other words which are mutually opposite or incompatible, but they cannot
be put into one of the three types above. They form a system called system of
multiple incompatibility or oppositions. These systems may have two or many
members. In other words, that is the relation between the hyponyms of the same
semantic field. For example:
- Season system: Spring – Summer – Autumn – Winter.
- Physical state system: Solid – Gas – Liquid.
- University student system: Freshman – Sophomore – Junior – Senior.
- Primary element system: Earth – Air – Water – Fire.
- Flowers: Rose – Tulip – Dandelion – Forget-me- not.
 Homophony
Words of the same sound, but different spellings, and different meanings
Ex: you – ewe; meat – meet; flour – flower
our – hour; too – two; meat – meet
 Homography
Words of the same spelling, but different sounds, and different meanings
Ex: a present /‟preznt/ – to present /prı´zent/
the lead /led/ – to lead /li:d/
the wind /wınd/ – to wind /waınd/
 Homonymy
Words of the same sound, same spelling, but different meanings
Ex: bank (n): ngân hàng – bank (n): bờ sông
bear (n): con gấu – bear (v): mang, chịu đựng
fine (adj): tốt đẹp – fine (n) tiền phạt
Note: There is no relation between the meanings of homonyms.
 Polysemy
One word with different but related meanings (There is some semantic relation
among the meanings)
Ex: fork for eating
for gardening
of a road all share the same form of a fork
of a river
 Hyponymy: The one way relationship from hyponyms to hypernym (see lexical
field). For example:
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Human (B) Hypernym
Hyponymy
Bachelor Father Mother Baby Uncle Sister
(A)Hyponyms
Test: A (hypo) is a kind of B (hyper)
Ex: A bachelor is a kind of human
A baby is a kind of human
Exercise 18: Identify the relation between the words in the following pairs
1. Similar – Different 2. Dead – Alive
3. Love – Hate 4. Married – Unmarried
5. Hot – Cold 6. Buy – Sell
7. Liquid – Gas 8. Male – Female
9. Conceal – Reveal 10. Boy – Girl
11. Movie – Film 12. Rose – Flower
13. Bank (of a river) – Bank (for money) 14. Meet – Meat
15. Oak – Tree 16. A bear – To bear
17. Own – Belong to 18. Clever – Stupid
19. Close – Next to 20. Flourish – Thrive
21. Flog – Whip 22. Casual – Informal
Exercise 19: Decide whether the following words with their different meanings are
homonyms or polysemous.
1. Grass: herbage for grazing animals; marijuana
2. Leech: a bloodsucking worm; a hanger-on who seeks advantage
3. Range: a cooking stove; a series of mountains
4. Key: an instrument to open a clock; an answer sheet for a test
5. Reel: a spool for photographic film; round device at the butt end of a fishing
rod to the line.
6. Race: the act of running competitively; People belonging to the same genetic
group
7. Bark: of a dog of a tree
8. Fork: in a road an instrument for eating
9. Tail: of a coat of an animal
10. Steer: a young bull to guide
11. Lip: of a jug of a person
12. Punch: a blow with a fist a kind of alcoholic drink
Exercise 20: Are the following pairs of words converses?

1. Buy – Sell yes / no 2. Borrow – Lend yes / no
3. Give – Take yes / no 4. Come – Go yes / no
5. Give – Receive yes / no 6. Own – Belong to yes / no
7. Teacher – Student yes / no 8. Father – Mother yes / no
9. Uncle – Aunt yes / no 10. Landlady – Tenant yes / no
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Exercise 21: Decide whether the following pairs of antonyms are complementary,
gradable, or relational.
1. Good – bad 2. Expensive – Cheap
3. Parent – Offspring 4. Beautiful – Ugly
5. False – True 6. Pass – Fail
7. Hot – Cold 8. Legal – Illegal
9. Larger – Smaller 10. Poor – Rich
11. Fast - Slow 12. Asleep – Awake
13. Husband – Wife 14. Rude – Polite
15. Below – Above 16. Grandparent – Grandchild

1. Two words having the same or almost the same denotative meaning are:
a. homonyms b. antonyms c. synonyms d. hyponyms
2. Two words having opposite meanings are:
a. antonyms b. synonyms c. homonyms d. hyponyms
3. Two words having the same sound but different spellings and different meanings are:
a. homophones b. antonyms c. homonyms d. hyponyms
4. Two words having the same spelling but different sounds and different meanings are:
a. homonyms b. homophones c. homographs d. hyponyms
5. Two words having the same sound, the same spelling but different meanings are:
a. homonyms b. antonyms c. homophones d. hyponyms
6. A word having different but related meanings is:
a. homograph b. polysemous c. homonymous d. homophonous
7. The relationship between „you & ewe‟ is:
a. homophony b. homography c. homonymy d. polysemy
8. The relationship between „to flog & to whip‟ is:
a. synonymy b. antonymy c. homophony d. polysemy
9. The relationship between „similar & different‟ is …………..antonymy.
a. relational b. non-gradable c. complementary d. gradable
10. The relationship between „love & hate‟ is …………..antonymy
a. gradable b. non-gradable c. complementary d. relational
11. The relationship between „conceal & reveal‟ is …………..antonymy
a. relational b. gradable c. non-gradable d. converse
12. The relationship between „own & belong to‟ is …………..antonymy
a. relational b. non-gradable c. gradable d. complementary
13. The relationship between „lesser & lessee‟ is …………..antonymy
a. non-gradable b. gradable c. relational d. complementary
14. The relationship between „to wind & the wind‟ is:
a. homography b. homophony c. synonymy d. polysemy
15. The relationship between „a bear & to bear‟ is:
a. homonymy b. homography c. homophony d. polysemy
2. SENTENCE RELATION: The relation between the meanings of two sentences.

 Entailment: A sentence A entails a sentence B if the truth of B follows necessarily
from the truth of A. (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:107)
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Test: A is true ⇒ B is true one-way relation
A entails B
Ex: I bought some roses ⇒ I bought some flowers
John ate my biscuits ⇒ Someone ate something
Paul killed Bill ⇒ Bill died
However,
He eats all my roses ⇐ He eats all my flowers
He did not eat my roses ⇐ He did not eat my flowers
I saw a mouse ⇒ I saw an animal
I saw a big mouse ⇒ I saw an animal
But, I saw a big mouse # I saw a big animal (no entailment of any
direction)
 Contradiction: 2 sentences are contradictory if it is impossible for them both to be

true at the same time and of the same circumstance. (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:119)
In other words, they contradict / exclude each other.
Ex: I am a bachelor & I am a father
This ant is alive & This ant is dead
John killed Bill & Bill is still alive
Mary is my sister & I am the only child in the family
 Paraphrase: A paraphrase of a sentence is a sentence which expresses the same

proposition as another sentence. (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:114)
A paraphrase of a sentence is another sentence that has virtually
the same meaning. (Peccei, 1999:3)
Sentences are paraphrases if they have the same meaning (except
possibly for minor differences in emphasis. (Fromkin & Rodman, 1993: 132)
Types of paraphrase
 Lexical: Paraphrases that contain synonyms (same structure, same meaning,
different words )
Ex: I‟m very happy to see you
I‟m very glad to see you
The house was concealed by the trees
The house was hidden by the trees
 Structural: Two sentences of different structures but same meaning. The
difference in structure is not enough to change the meaning.
Ex: The lion bit the hunter
The hunter was bitten by the lion
Paul opened the door with a key
Paul used a key to open the door
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SOME WAYS TO PARAPHRASE A SENTENCE
a) Voice: Active Passive
Ex: The mother bought her daughter a dress
 The daughter was bought a dress by her mother.
 A dress was bought for the daughter by her mother.
Notes:
 Only transitive verbs can be put into passive, but not any transitive verb can.
 Give –type verbs (give, buy, offer, send, show, lend, hand, throw, etc.) have two
ways of transforming into passive.
Ex: She gave him a book ⇒ He was given a book
⇒ A book was given to him
 Explain-type verbs (explain, deliver, introduce, describe, read, write, sing ) have
only one way of transforming into passive.
Ex: The teacher explained the lesson to the students
⇒ The lesson was explained to the students by the teacher.
Not: The students were explained the lesson.
b) Modifier - Adjectival (Modifier of a noun ⇒ Nominal Modifier)

Phrase Clause
The woman who is wearing a blue dress is my teacher.
AdjC/M/Ajal
wearing a blue dress
Pres PP/M/Ajal
in a blue dress
PP/M/Adjal
dressed in blue
PastP/M/Ajal
c) Modifier - Adverbial (Modifies the other parts of speech except Noun)

 Phrase Clause
Ex: I hate to be disturbed at table
PP/M/Aval
while I was eating
AdvC/M/Aval
I don‟t like to be disturb while having meal
PP/M/Aval
d) Simple Complex Compound basing on the relationship between the

two sentences.
Relationship among different linking units
Type Preposition Coordinate Subordinate Transition

Conj. Conj. Words
Cause- Because of; for (cause); because; since; Therefore,
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Effect due to so (result) as …
Opposition/ In spite of; but; though; however; yet
Concession despite although; nevertheless
even though
Condition with; without; or if; even if otherwise
in case of unless
Note:
 A simple sentence usually needs a preposition and a noun / pronoun / noun phrase
 A complex sentence requires a subordinate conjunction and a subordinate clause
 A compound sentence needs a coordinator preceded by a comma, or a semi-colon
followed by a transition word / conjunctive adverb and a comma.
Ex1: It rains heavily. I stay at home.
+ Simple: Due to heavy rain, I stay at home.
+ Complex: Since it rains heavily, I stay at home.
+ Compound: It rains heavily, so I stay at home.
It rains heavily; therefore, I stay at home.
Ex2: You are beautiful. Nobody can deny it.
+ Simple: Nobody can deny your beauty
Everybody admits your beauty
+ Complex: Nobody can deny that you are beautiful.
Everybody admits that you are beautiful.
It‟s undeniable that you are beautiful.
You are so beautiful that nobody can deny.
+ Compound: You are beautiful, and nobody denies it
e) Formal Subject Real Subject

Ex: To understand you is difficult ⇒ It‟s difficult to understand you.
f) Inf Gerund
Ex: To come late disturbs everybody ⇒ Coming late disturbs everybody
Seeing is believing ⇒ To see is to believe
Note: An infinitive is usually used for something general or particular while a gerund is
used for something general. To talk about something particular with a gerund, we should
use a possessive word.
Ex: To eat a lot of vegetables is good for health. (general)
Eating a lot of vegetables is good for health. (general)
To swim your way is very helpful. (particular)
Not: Swimming your way is very helpful
Coming late is annoying. (general)
Your coming late / John‟s coming late annoys everybody. (formal)
You coming late / John coming late annoys everybody. (informal)
g) Adjective Patterns
 Be –Adj – to inf. (Pat. 1)
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 Be – Adj – PP – to inf (Pat. 2)
 Be – Adj – that clause (Pat. 3)
Ex1: Pat. 1: I am very happy to see you.
Pat. 2: It is very happy for me to see you.
Pat. 3: I am very happy that I see you.
Ex2: It is very cold outside. Nobody can go out.
Pat. 1: It is too cold outside to go out
Pat. 2: It is too cold outside for us (/anybody) to go out
Pat. 3: It is so cold outside that nobody can go out
h) Inversion
 Negative words at the beginning: not only, never, no sooner, in no
circumstances,…
 Semi-negative words at the beginning: hardly, rarely, seldom …
Ex: I not only love you but also want to marry you
⇒ Not only do I love you but also want to marry you
He does not come home until he gets what he wants
⇒ Not until he gets what he wants does he come home
 Only, so, such…
Ex: I only marry you when you graduate from University
⇒ Only when you graduate from University, do I marry you
You are so nice that nobody can help loving you
⇒ So nice are you that nobody can help loving you.
Such a nice girl are you that nobody can help loving you.
 Adverb for emphasis: here, there …. (auxiliary do is not used here)
If the subject is a noun: inversion; If the subject is a pronoun: no inversion
Ex: The wall came down with a crash
⇒ Down came the wall with a crash! (Not: down does the wall come…)
But: Down it came with a crash. (no inversion)
The bus comes there
⇒ There comes the bus (Not: there does the bus come.)
But: There it comes! (no inversion)
 Preposition phrase at the beginning for emphasis
Ex: An old wardrobe cramped with clothes is standing in a corner of the room.
⇒In a corner of the room is standing an old wardrobe cramped with clothes.
i) Opposition (although, though …=> how, much as, however … )

Ex: Although you try very hard, you can never win her heart.
⇒ However hard you may try, you can never win her heart
Although you earn a lot of money, you can never satisfy her needs
⇒ Much as you may earn, you can never satisfy her needs
Although he is very poor, he lives happily
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⇒ Poor as he is, he lives happily
j) Condition: should, were, had

Ex: If there should be something wrong, call me.
⇒ Should there be something wrong, call me.
If I were/ was (informal) you…
⇒ Were I you …
If I had been here yesterday…
⇒ Had I been here yesterday …
X. TYPES OF SENTENCES BASING ON TRUTH VALUE (True/False)

 Analytic: “An analytic sentence is one that is necessarily true, as a result of the
senses of the words in it.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 91-92)
Ex: A cat is an animal
A rose is a kind of flower
 Synthetic: “A synthetic sentence is one that is not analytic, but may be either true or
false, depending on the way the world is.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1984:92)
Ex: Cats can live till 20 years
David is from England.
 Contradictory: A contradictory sentence “is a sentence that is necessarily false, as a
result of the senses of the words in it.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 93) In other
words, the sentence contains words that contradict each other.
Ex: My father is a bachelor
My aunt is a man
Exercise 22
Identify the following sentences as A (analytic); S (synthetic); or C (contradictory)
1. Cats are animals A/S/C
2. Bachelors are unmarried A/S/C
3. Cats never live more than 20 years A/S/C
4. Bachelors cannot form lasting relationships A/S/C
5. Cats are vegetables A/S/C
6. Bachelors are female A/S/C
7. No cats like to bathe A/S/C
8. Bachelors are lonely A/S/C
Exercise 23
In the following sentences, write a C beside the contradictory sentences and an F beside the
sentences that are false due to the circumstance.
1. My aunt is a man
2. Witches are wicked
3. My brother is an only child
4. The evening star isn‟t the morning star
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5. The evening star isn‟t the evening star
6. Babies are adults
7. Babies can lift one ton
8. Puppies are human
9. My bachelor friends are all married
10. My bachelor friends are all lonely
Exercise 24: Identify the relations of the following pairs of sentences as P (paraphrase); E
(entailment); or C (contradiction)
1. a/ John is the parent of James
b/ James is the child of John P/E/C
2. a/ John is the parent of James
b/ James is the parent of John P/E/C
3. a/ My father owns this car
b/ This car belongs to my father P/E/C
4. a/ Some countries have no coastline
b/ Not all countries have a coastline P/E/C
5. a/ No one has led a perfect life
b/ Some people have led a perfect life P/E/C
6. a/ I ran to the house yesterday
b/ I went to the house yesterday P/E/C
7. a/ The house was concealed by the trees
b/ The house was hidden by the trees P/E/C
8. a/ It is hard to lasso elephants
b/ Elephants are hard to lasso P/E/C
9. a/ John murdered Bill
b/ John did not kill Bill P/E/C
10. a/ John murdered Bill
b/ Bill was murdered by John P/E/C
11. a/ I saw Terry at the anniversary party
b/ It was Terry that I saw at the anniversary party P/E/C
12. a/ Jules is Mary‟s husband
b/ Mary is married P/E/C
13. a/ Vera is an only child
b/ Olga is Vera‟s sister P/E/C
14. a/ It is 50 miles to the nearest service station
b/ The nearest service station is 50 miles away P/E/C
15. a/ My cousin Brian teaches at the Community College for a living
b/ My cousin Brian is a teacher P/E/C
Exercise 25: What is the relationship between the A sentences and the B sentences below?
A B
Henry was not chewing a tulip Henry was not chewing a flower
David did not steal a pound of beef David did not take a pound of beef
Denis did not get savaged by a sheep David did not get savaged by an animal
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A B
Henry chewed up all my tulips Henry chewed up all my flowers
All Denis‟s sheep had foot-rot All Denis‟s animals had foot-rot
Exercise 26: What is the relationship between the following sentences?

A B
John saw a big mouse John saw a big animal
A tall pygmy came in A tall person came in
We went in a small bus We went in a small vehicle
Exercise 27: Look at the following sentences and choose C (correct) or I (incorrect)
1. John cooked an egg entails John boiled an egg C/I
2. John boiled an egg entails John cooked an egg C/I
3. I saw a boy entails I saw a person C/I
4. John stole a car entails John took a car C/I
5. His speech disturbed me entails his speech deeply disturbed me C/I
Exercise 28: Paraphrase the following sentences

1. To stay objective in such a situation is really hard.
2. This exercise is a piece of cake for us.
3. He is blamed for not keeping his words.
4. This task is more demanding than the previous one.
5. I met John at the cinema last night.
6. My pencil no longer has an eraser.
7. I bought my sister a dress on her birthday last Monday.
8. They loaded hay onto the truck.
9. She is so nice that nobody can help loving her.
10. You are beautiful. Nobody can deny it.
11. To finish this work within an hour is not easy at all.
12. If only I studied more math.
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13. She hurried out the door, already late for the meeting.
14. To find everything ready was really a pleasant change.
15. Justin spent a year in Spain and came back speaking Spanish fluently.
16. At the snack-bar; that‟s where you can get a good hamburger.
17. I couldn‟t go to the game without a ticket.
18. There are few part-time jobs now available for students.
19. Cindy is a wonderful friend, so thoughtful and sincere.
20. Such an enormous crowd has rarely been at the airport.
21. You are not in any circumstances to reveal the source of information.
22. They were so upset that they could hardly speak.
23. Most of the exam papers were easy enough for all the students to answer.
24. He plays the violin so well that he could perform at a concert.
25. I would have visited you, but I didn‟t know that you were at home.

1. The relationship between the sentences in the following pair…………. is:
i. Paul walked to school yesterday.
ii. Paul went to school yesterday.
a. entailment b. paraphrase c. contradiction d. no relation
2. The relationship between the sentences in the following pair…………. is:
A/ “David did not steal a pound of beef”
B/ “David did not take a pound of beef”
a. A entails B b. B entails A c. paraphrase d. No relation
3. The relationship between the sentences „I saw a big mouse & I saw an animal‟ is:
4. The relationship between the sentences „I saw a big mouse & I saw a big animal‟ is:
a. no relation b. entailment c. contradiction d. paraphrase
5. The relationship between the sentences „John killed the lion & the lion is still alive‟ is:
a. paraphrase b. entailment c. contradiction d. no relation
6. The relationship between the sentences „Paul teaches English at the Community College for a
living & Paul is a teacher‟ is:
7. The relationship between the sentences
A. „He took all the silver in my safe‟ & B. „He took everything in my safe‟ is:
a. A entails B b. B entails A c. paraphrase d. No relation
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8. The relationship between the sentences „Paul teaches English at the Community College for a
living & Paul is an English teacher‟ is:
9. The relationship between the sentences „Vera is the only child & Paul is Vera‟s brother‟ is:
10. The relationship between the sentences „It is hard to lasso elephants & Elephants are hard to
lasso‟ is:
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PART 2: PRAGMATICS
I. DEFINITION
Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics
Syntax is the study of the relationship between linguistic forms, how they are arranged in
sequences, and which sequences are well formed.
Semantics is the study of language meaning. In other words, it is the study of “the
relationships between linguistic forms (language) and entities in the world (Yule, 1996: 4).
This meaning is the meaning expressed by the words in a sentence which is out of context
(context-free) and is called semantic meaning or linguistic meaning / literal meaning.
Pragmatics is the study of language use. In other words, it is “the study of the relationships
between linguistic forms (language) and the users of those forms (Yule, 1996: 4). This
meaning is the meaning that a speaker wants to convey through an utterance in a particular
context (context-bound) and is called pragmatic meaning or speaker‟s meaning.
Pragmatics is thus the study of speaker‟s meaning or the study of contextual meaning
(Yule, 1996: 3).
II. SPEECH ACT

1. Definition
Speech acts are actions performed via utterances. In English, speech acts are commonly
given more specific labels, such as apology, complaint, compliment, invitation, promise, or
request… (Yule, 1996: 47).
People do not only produce utterances containing grammatical structures and words, but
they perform actions through those utterances. For example, when a boss tells an unwanted
guest, “The door is right behind you!” he does not want to make a statement about the
location of the door, but he uses the utterance to perform the act of asking the guest to leave
his room.
2. Components of a speech act

The action performed through an utterance (speech act) consists of 3 related acts:
a. Locutionary act / Locution: the act of making an utterance, of producing a
meaningful linguistic expression.
b. Illocutionary act / Illocution: the intention / purpose of the speaker when
making an utterance (also known as the illocutionary force of the utterance)
c. Perlocutionary act / Perlocution: the effect of the utterance on the hearer
(also known as the perlocutionary effect) (Yule, 1996: 48-49).
Ex: -“Oh, it‟s very cold in here!”
 Locutionary act: the act of making the utterance “Oh, it‟s very cold in here”
 Illocutionary act: the speaker wants someone to close the door and windows.
 Perlocutionary act: someone goes to close the windows and door.
Of these three acts, the most discussed is illocutionary act. The term „speech act‟ is
generally interpreted quite narrowly to mean only the illocutionary force of the utterance.
The illocutionary force of an utterance is what it „counts as‟. The same locutionary act, as
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shown in the example above, may count as a statement, a complaint, a request…. This
depends on the situation in which the utterance is made.
3. Speech event
A speech event / situation is a particular circumstance surrounding the utterance in which
the speaker normally expects that his or her communicative intention will be recognized by
the hearer. In many ways, it is the nature of the speech event that determines the
interpretation of an utterance as performing a particular speech act.
Components of a speech event / speech situation

1. Setting: time + place
2. Participants: people involved in a speech event (speaker, hearer)
3. Role relationships: the relationship between speaker & hearer.
4. The message: what is conveyed.
5. The key: tone, manner, spirit (irony, humor, seriousness …)
It is the speech situation that helps to identify the illocutionary act of the speaker (what the
speaker wants).
Ex: “There‟s a piece of fish on the table.”
Situation 1:
At noon, a girl comes home from school late. Everybody has had lunch. Entering the house,
she addresses her mother,
Girl: “ - Mom, I am very hungry?”
Mother: - There‟s a piece of fish on the table.”
⇒ The mother wants to reassure the daughter that her lunch has not been forgotten and
suggests her having fish for lunch.
Situation 2:
At 10:00, the mother comes home from the market. She puts her bag on the table in the
kitchen and addresses her daughter.
Mother: “Mary, there‟s a piece of fish on the table.”
Daughter: “Yes, Mom.”
⇒ The mother wants her daughter to prepare the lunch.
Situation 3:
A couple enters a restaurant. They come to a table in a corner to take a seat, but on the table,
there‟s some fish left.
Customers: “Waiter, there‟s a piece of fish on the table!”
Waiter: “Ok, I‟ll clean it up right away, Sir.”
⇒ They complain to the waiter that the table has not been cleaned properly and want him to
clean it.
4. Direct and Indirect Speech Act

Direct speech act: When there is a direct relationship between the structure and the
function of the sentence, we have a direct speech act. (The intent of the speaker is expressed
directly, overtly).
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Indirect speech act: When there is an indirect relationship between the structure and the
function of the sentence, we have an indirect speech act.
Ex: a. Keep silent! (Imperative structure; ordering / requesting function: Direct)
b. It is getting noisy! (statement structure; requesting function: Indirect)
c. Do you like tea? (interrogative structure; questioning function: Direct)
d. Would you like some tea? (interrogative structure; offering function: Indirect)
5. Speech Act Classification

One general classification system lists 5 types of general functions performed by speech
acts: declarative, representative, expressive, directive, and commissive.
a. Declarative: A speech act that causes a change in the world via its utterance (blessing,
announcing, arresting, naming, marrying, firing, dismissing…)
Ex: Priest: “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” (Announcement)
Referee: “You‟re out!” (Announcement)
Jury Foreman: “We find the defendant guilty.” (Announcement)
b. Representative: the speech acts that state what the speaker believes to be the case or not
(statement, assertion, conclusion, description, claim, report, hypothesis…)
Ex: The earth is flat. (Statement, fact)
Chomsky didn‟t write about peanuts. (Statement)
It was a warm sunny day. (Statement)
We will have a 3- day holiday. (The leader of the class: report)
The robber might have escaped by the window. (Hypothesis)
c. Expressive: the speech acts that express the speaker‟s feelings and attitudes (statements
of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, sorrow, greetings, apologies, congratulations,
condolences, thanks, wish, complaint, compliment, leave taking, saying goodbye,
admiration, irony, mocking, …)
Ex: I‟m really sorry. (Apology)
Congratulations! (Congratulations)
Oh, yes, great, hmmm! (Joyful approval)
d. Directive: the speech acts that speakers use to get someone else to do something (orders,
commands, requests, suggestions, asking, advice, giving permission, giving way, warning,
offer, complaint, threat, urge, challenge, invitation…)
Ex: Give me a cup of coffee. Make it black. (Request)
Would you like a cup of coffee? (Offer)
I can‟t stand the fans! (Indirect request)
e. Commissive: the speech acts that speakers use to commit themselves to some future
action (promises, vow, threats, refusals, acceptation, offers, …)
Ex: I‟ll be back. (Promise)
I won‟t do it again. (Promise)
I want to, but I have to finish this report right now. (Refusal)
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Exercise 29: Identify the illocutionary act (speaker‟s intent) of the following utterances and
decide whether it is a direct or indirect speech act.
1. May I talk to Mary? =>
2. Clean up this mess. =>
3. I‟m very thirsty. =>
4. There‟s a good film on at NH cinema. =>
5. Would you mind opening the window? =>
6. Do you have to stand in front of the TV? =>
7. -Do you have a minute?

-What‟s up?
-I can‟t start the machine. =>
8. Turn on the fans, please. =>
Exercise 30: Give a possible situation for the following utterances, then identify the
illocutionary acts and classify them into different types of speech act.
1. Clean up this mess.
2. I‟m very thirsty.
3. There‟s a good film on at NH cinema.
4. Would you mind opening the window?
5. Do you have to stand in front of the TV?
6. I love you so much.
7. Do you have a minute? – Yes? - I can‟t start the machine.
8. Out!
9. What a nice girl!
10. I‟ll see you later.
11. Oh, it‟s too hot in here.
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12. I wish I were you!
13. This bag is too heavy. I can‟t carry it.
14. The gun is loaded.
15. There‟s a piece of fish on the table.
16. Would you like a cup of tea?
17. After you, Madam.
18. I‟m awfully sorry. I wasn‟t at the meeting this morning.
19. You can play outside for half an hour.
20. You cannot bring the food into the classroom.
21. Have a good day!
22. Hi, John, Nice to meet you.
23. Mr. John, you are arrested.
24. The robber might have escaped by a helicopter.
25. If you‟ll wait for a minute, I‟ll see if the boss could see you.
26. Why don‟t you ask her for help?
27. If you come late one more time, you‟ll be sacked!
28. I‟ve never really got on with my noisy neighbor.
29. I‟m sorry. I really don‟t understand what you mean.
30. I have to finish this report right now.
31. I don‟t know why she behaved so strangely.
32. If you smoke in here, you‟ll be fined.
33. This is a non-smoking room Sir.
34. May you be happy forever!
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35. The light went out. We can do nothing at home now.
36. We are going to have a 3-month vacation!
37. Tony, don‟t you know what time it is now?
38. You are so beautiful in that purple dress!
39. I‟d love to give you an open-book exam, but we have to follow the regulations of
the school.
40. I love you, but I haven‟t graduated from the university yet.

1. Which of the following is true?
a. A speech act is an action performed via / by an utterance.
b. A speech act is an action performed by the speaker himself.
c. A speech act is an action performed by someone.
d. A speech act is a reported speech
2. Which of the following is not a component of a speech act?
a. speech event b. the speaker‟s intent c. perlocutionary effect d. locutionary act
3. The illocutionary act is:
a. the utterance of the speaker b. the effect on the hearer c. the speaker‟s intent
4. The locutionary act is:
a. the act of making a meaningful utterance
b. the speaker‟s purpose c. the reaction of the hearer to the speaker‟s utterance
5. The perlocutionary act is:
a. the reaction of the hearer to the speaker‟s utterance
b. the act of making a meaningful utterance c. the speaker‟s purpose
a. the illocutionary act is context free b. the illocutionary act is context bound
c. the perlocutionary act depends totally on the speaker
d. the illocutionary act is the linguistic meaning of the speaker‟s utterance
7. Which of the following is not an element of a speech event?
a. role relationships b. participants c. semantic roles d. time & place
8. Which of the following is not an element of a speech event?
a. syntactic functions b. message c. tone d. characters
9. Which of the following may be the illocutionary meaning of „I‟m very thirsty.‟?
a. Could you give me something to drink? b. How about going out for a coffee?
c. Are you thirsty? d. Would you like some drink?
10. Which of the following may be the illocutionary meaning of „Would you mind my opening the
door?‟?
a. Could you open the door please? b. Would you mind opening the door?
c. May I open the door? d. Do you want me to open the door for you?
11. Which of the following may be the illocutionary meaning of „Do you have to stand in front of
the TV?‟?
a. Please don‟t stand in front of the TV; I‟m watching it. b. Don‟t stand to watch TV
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c. Can‟t you stand the TV? d. Sit down, please
12. What may be B‟s intent in the following conversation?
A: The final exam is coming near
B: If you don‟t try your best, you‟ll fail
a. B advises A to try his best to pass the exam b. Many students will fail in this exam
c. A will fail even though he tries his best d. The final exam is very difficult
A: Dinner is almost ready. Can you set the table, dear?
B: I‟m dead tired now
a. B is extremely tired b. B is bored with such a thing
c. B doesn‟t want to have dinner d. B refuses to set the table
A: “Meet me at Hoa Binh Park at midnight.”
B: “I‟ll bring a bodyguard in that case.”
a. Hoa Binh park is not safe at midnight.
b. B refuses to go to Hoa Binh park at midnight.
c. B asks A to call a bodyguard for her.
d. B wants A to take her there.
A: “May I talk with you for a few minutes, Sir?”
B: “Right now I‟m busy. I‟ll see you later.”
a. B doesn‟t want to see A b. B refuses to see A
c. B has no free time to see A d. B promises to see A later
A: “Anything new in the entertainment program for today?”
B: “There‟s a good film on at NH cinema.”
a. B reports to A what he knows about entertainment
b. B suggests going to the cinema
c. NH cinema always has good films
d. B wants A to buy him a ticket to the cinema
A: “Can you bring that bag home for me, please?”
B: “Oh, this bag is too heavy. I can‟t carry it.”
a. B asks A to help him carry the bag b. B refuses to carry the bag
c. B complaints about A‟s buying too many things d. the bag weighs many kilos
A: “I love you so much. Let‟s get married”
B: “I love you too, but I haven‟t graduated from the university yet.”
a. B refuses to get married with A right now b. B is busy with preparing the graduation exam
c. B failed in the graduation exam d. B doesn‟t love A any more
A: “We are very tired, Sir”
B: “A 20 minute break is OK.”
a. B gives A the permission to take a 20 minute break b. B refuses to give A a break
c. Usually a break of 20 minutes is enough d. B asks A to take a break
A: “Hey, let‟s stop for lunch”
B: “I have to finish this report right now.”
a. B refuses to have lunch with A b. the boss wants the report immediately
c. B hasn‟t finished the report yet d. B promises to finish the report as soon as possible
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21. The type of speech act of B‟s utterance in the following conversation is:
A: The final exam is coming near
B: If you don‟t try your best, you‟ll fail
a. declarative b. expressive c. directive d. representative
A: Dinner is almost ready. Can you set the table, dear?
B: I‟m dead tired now
a. declarative b. directive c. commissive d. representative
A: “Meet me at Hoa Binh Park at midnight.”
a. representative b. directive c. commissive d. declarative
A: “May I talk with you for a few minutes, Sir?”
B: “Right now I‟m busy. I‟ll see you later.”
a. commissive b. directive c. declarative d. representative
A: “Anything new in the entertainment program for today?”
B: “There‟s a good film on at NH cinema.”
a. commissive b. directive c. representative d. declarative
IV. THE COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLES / CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS

Conversation to be effective needs the cooperation of the speaker and the hearer. In other
words, successful conversation proceeds according to principles called Cooperative /
Conversational Maxims. According to these principles, we interpret language on the
assumption that the speaker is obeying 4 maxims (sub-principles) as shown in the following:
Here are the 4 maxims:
Quantity: be brief
 Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the
exchange)
 Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
Quality: Try to make your contribution one that is true: be true
 Do not say what you believe to be false.
 Do not say what for which you lack adequate evidence.
Relation / Relevance: Be relevant.
Manner: Be perspicuous.(express yourself clearly): be clear
 Avoid obscurity of expression.
 Avoid ambiguity.
 Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity).
 Be orderly.
(Yule, 1996: 37 following Grice 1975)
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Test 10: Are the following conversations cooperative? Which maxim is violated?
1. - Policeman at the front door: “Is your father or mother at home?”
- Small boy (who knows that his father is at home): “Either my mother‟s gone out
shopping or she hasn‟t.”
a. quality b. quantity c. relevance d. manner
2. - Traffic garden to motorist parked on double yellow line: “Is this your car?”
- Motorist (looking at the black clouds): “I think it‟s going to rain.”
3. - Customer in stationery shop: “Could you tell me where I could buy some felt-tip
pens?”
- Shop girl (who knows she has felt-tip pens in stock): “Yes, you could get some at
Woolworths, down the street.”
4. - Mother: “Now tell me the truth. Who put the ferret in the bathtub?”
- Son (who knows who did it): “Someone put it there.”
5. Which cooperative maxim is violated in the following conversation?
A: „I really like that dinner‟
B: „I‟m a vegetarian.‟
A: „Would you like a cocktail?‟
B: „Well, it‟s not that we don‟t drink.‟
A: „How are you?‟
B: „I‟m dead.‟
A: „We‟re going to the movies.‟
B: „I‟ve got an exam tomorrow.‟
9. Which maxim is violated in the following conversation?
- Tom: „Shall we go out tonight, Mary?‟
- Mary: „I am having a cold!”
a. relation. b. quantity c. quality d. manner.
10. Which maxim is violated in the following conversation?
- Tom: „How about a coffee after class?‟
- Mary: „I have the final exam tomorrow”
a. relation. b. quantity c. quality d. manner.
11. Which of the following statements is not true about cooperative maxims?
a. They are tactics to convince the hearer
b. They are principles which control the way in which a conversation may proceed
c. They are guidelines for the efficient and effective use of language in conversation
d. They are principles that the speaker and the hearer should follow to make a conversation
effective
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12. Which of the following is not a cooperative maxim?
a. frequency b. quantity c. quality d. relevance
V. IMPLICATURE
1. Definition
Implicature is used by Grice (1975) to account for what a speaker can imply, suggest,
or mean, as from what the speaker literally says. Implicature is an additional conveyed
meaning.
Ex: - Students: “Sir, how are our final exams?”
- Teacher: “Few of you passed.”
Implicature: Not many of you passed. (Most of you failed)
2. Types of Implicature
a. Conversational implicature
An implicature based on the assumption that the participants respect the
cooperative principles.
Ex 1: A: “I hope you brought the bread and the cheese.”
B: “I brought the cheese.”
Implicature: B did not bring the bread (quantity maxim)
Ex 2: A: “Is the boss in?”
B: “The light in his office is still on.”
Implicature: Maybe the boss is still in the office (relation / relevance maxim)
b. Scalar implicature
An implicature based on scales: when any form in a scale is asserted, the negative
of all forms higher on the scale is implicated.
 Quantity scale: No one – Few – A few – Some – Many – Most – All
 Frequency scale: Never – Rarely – Seldom – Sometimes – Often – Usually – Always.
 Possibility scale: Possible – probable – Almost certain – Certain.
Ex 1: “Some students visited me yesterday”
Implicature: Not many / Not all … visited me yesterday
Ex 2: “I seldom go to KyDong swimming pool.”
Implicature: I do not go to KD swimming pool very often.
3. Conventional implicature
An implicature based on the convention associated with specific words.
Ex 1: “I tried my best to get the ticket.”
Implicature: I didn‟t get the ticket (tried conventionally implicates failure)
Ex 2: “The teacher hasn‟t come yet.”
Implicature: The teacher is expected to come later. (Yet implicates to be true later)
Ex 3: “Even the President came to the party.”
Implicature: That the President came to the party is out of expectation. (Even
implicates contrary to expectation.
Exercise 34
Give a possible implicature of B‟s utterance in each of the following situations.
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1. A: “Did you buy salt?”
B: “I tried to.”
Implicature:
2. A: “Do any of John‟s daughters speak a foreign language?”
B: “Mary speaks French.”
Implicature:
3. A: “Did many students visit you last weekend?”
B: “Some of the students came.”
Implicature:
4. A: “You and Jim must come to my house some evening.”
B: “Yes, we‟d like to.”
A: “Of course, you two don‟t drink, do you?”
B: “Well, we don‟t not drink.”
Implicature:
5. A: “Do you love me?”
B: “I‟m quite fond of you.”
Implicature:
6. A: “Was there a fiddler at the bar last night?”
B: “There was a man scraping a bow across a violin.”
Implicature:
7. A: “Do you like my new carpet?”
B: “The wallpaper‟s much better.”
Implicature:
8. A: “Do you go to swimming pool every day?”
B: “Rarely.”
Implicature:
9. A: “How are Mr. John‟s daughters?”
B: “The youngest is OK.”
Implicature:
10. A: “My car‟s broken down.”
B: “There is a garage round the corner.”
Implicature:
11. A: “What subjects is Jack taking?”
B: “He‟s not taking Linguistics.”
Implicature:
12. A: “Have you brushed your teeth and tidied your room?”
B: “I‟ve brushed my teeth.”
Implicature:
13. A: “Who was that man you were talking to?”
B: “That was my mother‟s husband.”
Implicature:
14. A: “Has Betty gone to bed?”
B: “Her desk lamp is still on.”
Implicature:
15. A: “Let‟s try the new Arab restaurant round the corner.”
B: “I‟m a vegetarian.”
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Implicature:
16. A: “Meet me at Piccadilly Circus at midnight”
Implicature:
17. A: “Do you use your local swimming pool very much?”
B: “The salt water hurts my eyes.”
Implicature:
18. A: “How much do I owe you now?”
B: “I‟ll have to get my calculator.”
Implicature:
Exercise 35: Choose the one that is the best implicature for the following situations.
1. - Did you hear that Jeff has passed his oral exam?
- Finally.
a. Jeff agreed to take the oral exam again.
b. Jeff passed the oral exam and went on a vacation.
c. It took Jeff a long time to pass his oral exam.
d. Jeff didn‟t take the oral exam.
2. - How do you like the new librarian at the information desk?
- You mean Ron? He‟s been here as long as I have!
a. He has been waiting for Ron for a long time.
b. Ron is not a new librarian .
c. Ron did a lot of work for the man.
d. He needs to collect some information from Ron.
3. - Mary is going to give me a ride to the party.
- How could she? She doesn‟t have her license yet.
a. Mary is going to the airport. b. Mary is not going to the party.
c. Mary is not very kind. d. Mary should not be driving.
4. -Would you like me to call a night escort?
- If possible.
a. She doesn‟t need an escort. b. She will call a night escort by herself.
c. She would like the man to get a night escort for her.
d. She‟s afraid the man won‟t help her.
5. -Do you accept credit card?
- Only if the charge is more than $15.
a. The fee for charging is more than $15.
b. He cannot use a credit card if he spends less than $15.
c. The store does not accept credit cards. d. She cannot accept cash.
6. - I hope I can still register for the speech class.
- I heard there was a long waiting list.
a. The woman has to wait in line to register.
b. It may be too late for the woman to get into the speech class.
c. The woman needs to take another class before registering for this class.
d. The woman should go by herself to sign up for the class.
7. - Dr. John, is it possible for the exam to be an open book exam?
- Well it would be OK with me, but we have to follow the department regulations.
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a. Students can bring their books to the exam.
b. Dr. John will be the next department chairman.
c. Dr. John will probably not give an open book exam d. It‟s up to the students
8. - Could you take my phone calls for me while I am away?
- Sure, when will you be back?
a. He does not know how to take care of the phone. b. He‟s going to leave too.
c. He will answer the telephone for the woman. d. He is coming back soon.
9. - Shall we sit here and talk?
- There is no better place than here.
a. It‟s not a good place or time to talk.
b. I‟m thinking about making this place better.
c. This is a good place for a conversation. d. You‟d better leave this place now.
10. - Maria, why did you get up so early today?
- I thought someone was coming over.
a. She was expecting someone to visit. b. She didn‟t like to get up early.
c. She got up early and went out. d. Someone called her early in the morning.
11. - Usually Jim washes his car himself.
- Yeah, but this time he took his car to the carwash.
a. Jim washed his friend‟s car. b. Jim‟s was not very well cleaned.
c. Jim didn‟t wash his car this time. d. Jim once had a job washing cars.
12. - I was hoping to take this class last fall.
- Me too, but we‟re lucky to get in now.
a. The school offers more classes now. b. This is a small section.
c. It‟s difficult to get into this class. d. Last fall the class was better.
13. - Bob, you‟d better get down to the museum tomorrow if you want to see the
exhibit.
- Yeah, I don‟t want to miss it again.
a. I will sit down and rest. b. I will pay the money.
c. I will take the boat tour. d. I will visit the exhibit.
14. - Do you usually drink so much water?
- Only after this much exercise.
a. He drinks a lot of water during the day.
b. He doesn‟t usually drink so much water.
c. He has never been so thirsty. d. He likes soft drinks more than water.
15. - Hi, how‟s it going?
- OK, but I can‟t stand all the homework.
a. He is tired of standing up all day. b. He is finishing his homework.
c. He has a lot of school work. d. He has been working at home.
16. - Do you carry containers for a microwave oven?
- Umm … check the grocery store next to the gas station to see if they have any.
a. This grocery store does not accept checks.
b. Check your shopping list while you are shopping.
c. This store doesn‟t have what he wants.
d. Check to see if the grocery store is next to the gas station.
17. - Mr. Blake misread the bus schedule.
- So he was not able to get there in time.
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a. He used the wrong bus schedule. b. He‟s going to get a bus schedule.
c. He likes to ride a bus. d. He missed the bus.
18. - John has his hair cut every two weeks.
- But Peter has his hair cut every month.
a. John has his hair cut every month.
b. John has his hair cut twice as often as Peter does.
c. John had a hair cut two weeks ago. d. This month Peter hasn‟t had his hair cut.
19. - Pat, are your parents still supporting you?
- I‟m on my own now.
a. She is financially independent now. b. She needs a financial advisor.
c. She applied for a job last year. d. She‟s happy with her financial plan.
20. - How often do the buses run?
- Every half hour on weekdays, but I‟m not sure about weekend.
a. The woman should check the bus schedule.
b. The buses stop running on Fridays.
c. The bus doesn‟t stop at the corner. d. The schedule on the corner is out-of-date.
VII. PRESUPPOSITION
1. Definition
A presupposition is:
-„what a speaker or writer assumes that the receiver of the message already knows‟
(Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 228)
-„anything the speaker assumes to be true before making the utterance.‟ (Pecci,
1999: 19)
2. Types of presupposition
a. Existential presupposition: assumes the existence of the entities named.
Ex:
 Mary‟s dog is cute >> (presupposes) Mary has a dog (the dog exists)
 Your car is nice >> You have a car.
b. Factive presupposition: assumes something to be a fact (usually with the verbs
as „know, realize, regret, be aware of, be glad‟ …)
 We regret telling him the news >> We told him the news
 She didn‟t realize he was ill >> He was ill.
 I wasn‟t aware that she was married >> She was married.
 It is odd that he left early >> He left early.
 I‟m glad that it‟s over >> It‟s over.
c. Lexical presupposition: the use of some words that conventionally assume the
understood meaning.
 He stopped smoking >> He used to smoke.
 They started complaining >> They weren‟t complaining before.
 You‟re late again >> You were late before.
d. Structural presupposition: the use of some structures that assume something to be
true: A Wh-question ⇒ a completed action
 When did he leave? >> He left.
 Where did you buy the bike? >> You bought the bike.
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 When did she get married? >> She got married.
e. Non-factive presupposition: one that is assumed not to be true (the verbs like:
dream, imagine, pretend…)
 I dreamed that I was rich >> I was not rich.
 We imagined we were in Hawaii >> We were not in Hawaii.
 He pretends to be ill >> He is not ill.
f. Counter-factual presupposition: one that is presupposed not only not to be true, but
also is the opposite of what is true (contrary to facts)
Ex: If you were my friend, you would have helped me >>You are not my
friend.
Exercise 37: Give a possible presupposition for the following utterances.
1. I wish I were rich.
2. How was your wedding?
3. I remember posting your letter.
4. I won‟t do it again.
5. Where did you see that film?
6. Try to give up smoking.
7. What subjects are you taking?
8. John‟s cat is missing.
9. The garage on the corner is still open.
10. He pretends to be ill.
11. He tried to catch the train.
12. Had I been here yesterday,
13. Have some more tea.
14. The film was terrible.
15. You shouldn‟t have seen that film.
16. My former sweetheart has just left for America.
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17. I regret saying „no‟ to your request.
18. Who broke the vase?
19. I‟m going to apply for a job.
20. My sister is coming back to VN next week.
21. They are happy with the results of the final exam.
22. How fast was the car going when it ran the red light?
23. Where is the car you took from John‟s house?
24. Then you can give Monica a lift.
25. My neighbor is a widow.
26. When I get married, I will invite all of you.
27. They act as if they were my parents.
28. I regret sending that letter to you.
29. Suppose you were a teacher.
30. They act as if they were my parents.
31. I regret sending that letter to you.
32. She keeps complaining like an old woman.
33. It‟s a shame that you lie again.
34. It is going to be hot for some more weeks.
TEST 11
1. The utterance “When did you give up teaching” presupposes:
a. the hearer gave up teaching b. the hearer doesn‟t like teaching
c. the hearer is going to give up teaching d. the hearer will be dismissed
2. The utterance “I tried to finish the test” presupposes:
a. I didn‟t take the test b. I couldn‟t finish the test
c. I did my best to finish the test d. I managed to finish the test
3. The utterance “The exam is not so difficult” presupposes:
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a. The speaker already knows what the exam is b. The speaker passed the exam
c. the exam is too easy d. the exam was scored
4. The utterance “She is not happy about the chemistry course she‟s taking.” presupposes:
a. she‟s taking a chemistry course b. she doesn‟t like the chemistry course
c. she will give up the course d. she is not good at chemistry
5. The utterance “Have you heard anything from Barbara?” presupposes:
a. Barbara was kidnapped b. Barbara was lost
c. Barbara is traveling d. the hearer knows Barbara
6. The utterance “Can you stop playing with your cat?” presupposes:
a. the hearer is playing with the cat b. the speaker doesn‟t like cats
c. the hearer likes cats d. the speaker asks the hearer not to play with cats
7. The utterance “She was not aware that her son had an accident.” presupposes:
a. she didn‟t know the accident b. she was very sorry for the accident
c. her son was badly injured in the accident d. her son had an accident
8. The utterance “I wish I had not booked the tickets” presupposes:
a. the speaker filed to buy the tickets b. the speaker didn‟t book the tickets
c. the speaker is going to see a film d. the speaker booked the tickets
9. The utterance “Tom might find the chocolate cake in the kitchen” presupposes:
a. There is a chocolate cake in the kitchen
b. Tom is going to the kitchen to get the chocolate cake
c. Tom likes chocolate cakes very much
d. It‟s not sure that Tom can find the chocolate cake
10. The utterance “It‟s going to rain for a long time” presupposes:
a. It has been raining b. the speaker hates the rainy season
c. the rainy season hasn‟t finished yet d. the weather will be fine in a long time
11. The utterance “I tried to catch the train” presupposes:
a. the speaker did his best to catch the train b. the speaker missed the train
c. the speaker didn‟t catch the train d. the speaker misread the train schedule
12. The utterance “You‟re late again!” presupposes:
a. the hearer is always late b. the hearer is not serious about the time
c. the hearer was late before d. the speaker warns the hearer not to be late again
13. The utterance “He pretended to be ill to stay at home” presupposes:
a. he is a lazy boy b. he stayed at home because of illness
c. he wasn‟t ill d. he was seriously ill
14. The utterance “Mr. John‟s youngest daughter is OK.” presupposes:
a. Mr. John has got at least 3 daughters b. Mr. John has got one daughter
c. Mr. John has got two daughters d. Mr. John‟s other daughters are not beautiful
15. The utterance “They are very happy with the results of the final exam” presupposes:
a. their final exams were scored b. they passed the final exam
c. they are eager to know the results of the exam d. they will have a party
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REFERENCES
Blake N.F. and Moorhead J. 1993. Introduction to English language. HongKong: The
Macmillan Press LTD.
Fromkin, Victoria et al. 1990. An Introduction to Language. Sedney: Harcourt.
Hurford, J.R. and B. Heasley. 1983. Semantics, A Course Book. Cambridge University
Press.
Hudson, G. 2000. Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Kieu Kim Lan. 2001. Semantics and Pragmatics. Dai Hoc Mo TP HCM.
Lyons, J. 1971. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
Pecci, J.S. 1999. Pragmatics. Routledge.
Richards, J., Platt, J. and Weber, H. 1987. Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics.
Longman Group Limited.
Stageberg, N.C. 1983. An Introductory English Grammar. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Swan, Michael. 1995. Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press.
To Minh Thanh. 2007. Ngu Nghia Hoc Tieng Anh. NXB DAI HOC QUOC GIA TP Ho Chi
Minh.
Yule, G. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
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ANSWER KEY
KEY TO EXERCISES
Exercise 1: 1: no; 2: yes; 3: no; 4: yes; 5: yes; 6: yes
Exercise 2:
Utterances Sentences Propositions
Can be loud or quiet + _ _
Can be grammatical + + _
or not
Can be true or false + + +
In a particular + _ _
regional accent
In a particular + + _
language
2. yes 3. yes
Exercise 3: 1a: S; 1b: U; 2: yes; 3: yes; 4: yes; 5: no
Exercise 4: 1: i & ii => male; i. human, ii. animal; 2: i & ii => female; i. animal, ii. human;
3: i. & ii. => human; i. mature, ii. immature; 4: i. & ii. => noun; i. countable, ii. uncount;
5: i. & ii. => noun; i. concrete; ii. abstract; 6: i. & ii. => plant; i. tree; ii. flower;
7: i. & ii. => stationery; i. for reading; ii. for writing; 8: i. & ii => motion; i. without means; ii.
with means.
Exercise 5
1. Tool: hammer, nails, scissors, knife, file.
2. Color: red, blue, purple, yellow, pink, green, vermilion.
3. Vessel: cup, glass, jug, wineglass, plastic cup.
4. Motion: run, crawl, walk, swim.
5. Sport: boxing, football, badminton, weightlifting, motor-racing, karate.
Exercise 6: 1. hypernym: to acquire / get sth; not belong to the group: sell
2. hyper: vocalization / talking ; not of the group: brief
3. hyper: way ; not of the group: method.
4. hyper: behavior; not of the group: sad, strong.
5. hyper: odor / smell; not of the group: bouquet, perfume.
6. hyper: cooking; not of the group: fresh, medium.
7. hyper: mammal; not of the group: bird, chicken.
8. hyper: talking; not of the group: dance.
9. hyper: location preposition; not of the group: of.
10. hyper: plane shape; not of the group: spherical.
Exercise 7: all of them are yes
Exercise 8: 1: R; 2: R; 3: S; 4: S; 5: S; 6: R; 7: R; 8: S
Exercise 9: the answers may vary
Exercise 10: c
Exercise 11: c
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Exercise 12: 1: yes, thanks to the article the; 2: yes; 3: yes, when there are only a
speaker & a hearer; no, when the speaker addresses a group of people / audience.
Exercise 13: 1: yes; 2: yes; 3: no; 4: yes; 5: yes; 6: yes; 7: no; 8: no
Exercise 14: 1: a man, here, you, last night; 2: no RE; 3: 40 buses, Liverpool Cor.; 4: this engine; 5:
yesterday, Nancy, a Norwegian; 6: my sister; 7: John; 8: Dick, Bo Peep; 9: The police officer, a
man with a limp, Bo Peep; 10: my house; 11: the man. Abraham Lincoln, an unemployed actor;
12: Nancy; 13: the world; 14: I, a boy, the fence, last night; 15: the frontier, You; 16: you, such a
boy; 17: my hobby, the sun, the east; 18: the world; 19: the book, you, me, Teacher‟s Day,; 20:
my parents, me, them, their wedding anniversary, I, my forgetfulness; 21: no RE; 22: the soldier,
the frontier, a bullet, him, the head; 23: no RE; 24: the teacher, his students, the coming storm; 25:
the four basic groups.
Exercise 15. Identify the semantic role of the noun phrases in the following sentences
1. the student: A; the assignment: P; the library: P
2. the couple: A; the horses: P; the meadow: L; yesterday morning: T
3. the teacher: E; the rowdy students: S
4. I : E; my brother: A; that: P
5. Tom: A; me: R; money: P; the rent: P
6. the reunion: T; he: A; his cousin Karl: P
7. the farmer: A; the field: L; dawn: T
8. the building: P; a commercial zone: L
9. a big tree: P; the storm: C; last night: T
10. I: E; books: P; free time: T
11. the immigrants: A; strawberries: P; the early June: T
12. He: A; his budget report: P;
13. The unlucky customer: A; the undercooked meat: P; the chef: R
14. traffic: P; the intersection: L; the accident: C.
15. I : E; you: P; many years: T.
16. the book: P; you: A; me: R; Teacher‟s day: T.
17. an unfair attitude toward the poor: C; the problem of poverty: P.
18. the yolk: P; the white: P; it: P.
19. Nutritionists: A; foods from each of the 4 basic groups: P.
20. many centuries: P; the world: P.
21. His ingenuity: S; me: E.
22. The hurricane: C; half of the island: P.
23. Angela: A; the job: P; her former rival: R
24. the morning: T; we: A; San Francisco: L; Austin: L.
25. Zelda: E; Scott: A; her: P.
26. the remains: P; Cleveland: L; Wednesday: T.
27. the boy: E; the film: P; NH cinema: L; last night: T.
28. He: E; meal: P.
29. the storm: C; the waves: P.
30. he: E; the lake: L; sunset: T.
31. the snow: P; the morning sunshine: C.
32. the chickens: P; us: A; 5 minutes: T.
33. you: E; the book: P; I : A; you: R.
34. acid: C; the corpse: P ; 5 minutes: T.
35. the man: E; her: S.
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36. Alan: R; a special gift: P; her birthday: T.
37. many TV program today: I; students: A; their study: P.
38. the prisoner: A; the guard: P; the forest: L.
39. the beer: P; rice: I.
40. one hand: P; the pocket: L; he: A; the front yard: L.
41. the club: L; a good way: I; new people: P.
42. she: E; anyone: A; an umbrella: P; her: R
43. Harold: E; speeches: P; the class: L.
44. fear: C; she: A; the letter: P.
45. the bad weather: C; the plane: A; Hanoi: L; one hour: T.
46. my first job: S; the floor: P; me: E.
47. the door ajar: S; the girl: E.
48. We: A; the brown river: P; rain: C.
49. a house: P; a large, deep ditch: I; us: R/B; a safe shelter: P
50. this bed: L.
Exercise 16 (the answers may vary)

1. Simile: my hands are very cold
2. Metaphor: I‟ll make him admit that what he said is wrong.
3. Metonymy: he is the best writer of the day.
4. Metonymy: he is very good at dealing with business.
5. Synecdoche: Their king died a year ago.
6. Hyperbole: She cries a lot …
7. Metonymy: …thousand soldiers.
8. Metaphor: you come and leave so hastily / quickly.
9. Metaphor: He refused to have anything more to do with the matter / he denied all
responsibilities for the matter.
10. Metaphor: ….a big and satisfying meal…
11. Metonymy: Who brought the war into our country?
12. Metonymy: … the power of money.
13. Irony: you‟re not kind at all.
14. Metaphor: the man is an energetic person who works very hard.
15. Synecdoche: …. 50 ships.
16. Synecdoche: … 20 years of age / she is 20 years old / she is a girl of 20.
17. Hyperbole: … study long hours every day.
18. Personification: the wind blew strongly…
19. Synecdoche / metonymy: old people ….
20. Metonymy: If you do not punish the child when he does wrong, you‟ll spoil his character.
21. Hyperbole / Metaphor: Don‟t be too suspicious / don‟t be always doubtful
22. Metonymy: When the US President …
23. Simile: my dormitory room is small and uncomfortable.
24. Metaphor: I live in a small and uncomfortable room.
25. Metonymy: ….. to the City‟s Mayor.
26. Metonymy: All the people of the country love the princess.
27. Synecdoche: He is a kind person.
28. Personification: The river eroded / gradually destroyed the bank.
29. Metonymy: ….. 100 cavalries.
30. Metaphor: …; he is a strong-minded person / …he has strong nerves / he is brave & stable
31. Metaphor: Life is short / life passes quickly / life is beautiful
32. Metonymy (research) / personification (says): researchers say …
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33. Metaphor: Little Susie is very lovely.
34. Metaphor: There was a terrible conflict / argument / debate
35. Euphemism: …… until he died.
36. Hyperbole: we are extremely bored with such movies.
37. Metonymy: you can trust him. / he can be trusted
38. Metaphor: ….. an angry look / looked angrily
39. Metaphor: he could not control his anger.
40. Metaphor: …. Is trying to control pay rises.
41. Personification: the Queen is about to die / in agony
42. Metonymy: the pen = the writer; the sword = the soldier => the writer is mightier than the
soldier / the words are more effective than violence
43. Metaphor: in a desert, a camel is as useful for transportation as a ship at sea.
44. Irony: You are beautiful but not intelligent
45. Sarcasm: you are not my friend at all / you are as bad as my enemy.
46. Hyperbole: you have to pay a lot of money for such a masterpiece.
47. Personification: those who dare not face difficulty usually fail in life.
48. Metaphor / Personification: the winter is coming near.
49. Metaphor: the ship crossed the sea.
50. Metaphor: the captain got angry suddenly when the ….
Ex. 17: Ambiguity

1. Lexical Am. (pen) => This handwriting instrument / this fountain pen is empty.
This chicken enclosure is empty.
2. Struct. Am. => Are the chicken ready to eat food?
Are the chicken ready for us to eat?
3. Sruct. Am. => Do you want to try on the dress which is in the window?
Do you want to get into the window to try on that dress?
4. Sruct. Am. => This old car needs new brakes and a new anti-freezer.
This old car needs anti-freezer and new brakes.
5. Lex. Am. => Don‟t sit on those vessels / drinking glasses.
Don‟t sit on those eye-glasses.
6. Struct. Am. => I understand the problems of money.
I know that money may cause problems.
7. Struct. Am. => I know some clever people as you.
I know that clever people love you.
8. Struct. Am. => The dog looked at the snake longer than the cat did.
The dog looked at the snake longer than at the cat.
9. Struct. Am. => With broken headlights, the police searched for the car.
The police searched for the car that had broken headlights.
10. Struct. Am. => I hate the hunter who is shooting.
I hate to shoot the hunter / I hate the hunter who was shot.
11. Struct. Am. => To visit relatives can be boring / it is boring to visit relatives.
The relatives who are visiting can be boring.
12. Struct. Am. => We need nutritious food and nutritious drink.
We need drink and nutritious food.
13. Struct. Am. => We feed the pigs which are in clean clothes.
Wearing clean clothes, we feed the pigs.
14. Lex. Am. => I need the lawyer who is a criminal.
I need a lawyer specializing in criminals.
15. Struct. Am. => I like ice-cream more than you do.
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I like ice-cream more than like you.
16. Lex. / grouping Am. => I found a bat (a kind of animal) in the attic.
I found a baseball stick in the attic.
17. Struct. Am. => He gave meat to her dog.
He gave dog meat to her.
18. Struct. / lexical Am. => Go away from the chairs which are on the veranda.
Take the chairs and put them on the veranda.
19. Struct. Am. => I met a man with a dog which had fleas.
The man with a dog that I met had fleas / I met a dog with a man who had fleas.
20. Struct. Am. => Oh, that‟s just a crazy idea of the lawyer.
Oh, that‟s just an idea of a crazy lawyer.
21. Struct. Am. => The FCC intends to eliminate sex bias and race bias in TV
advertising.
The FCC intends to eliminate race bias and sex in TV advertising.
22. Struct. Am. => You should eat more food which is nutritious.
You should eat food which is more nutritious.
23. Struct. Am. => He considered the applicant carefully. (P. 7)
He thought the applicant was unsuitable. (P. 9)
24. Struct. Am. => I found a doll for her. (P. 8)
I considered her as a doll. (P. 9)
25. Struct. Am. => With the binoculars, they watched the hunter.
They watched the hunter who had the binoculars.
26. Struct. Am. => On the corner, she spied the dog.
She spied the dog which was on the corner.
27. Struct. Am. => It is easy to please Joan.
It is easy for Joan to please others,
28. Struct. Am. => Molly told Angela about Molly herself.
Molly told Angela about Angela herself.
29. Lex. Am. => She gave him a phone call last night.
She offered him a gift (a ring) last night.
30. Struct. Am. => The car coasted into the garage which had the lights on.
With the lights on, the car coasted into the garage.
31. Struct. Am. => In the crowd, the dog bit several people.
The dog bit several people who were in the crowd
32. Struct. Am. => Tristan left directions for Isolde to do. (follow the directions)
Tristan left directions for Isolde to follow him (Tristan)
33. Lex. Am. => She can‟t give birth / She is sterile / she can‟t be pregnant.
She can‟t tolerate / stand children.
34. Lex. Am. => We need a good instrument to make a straight line.
It takes a good governor to make a straight line.
35. Struct. Am. => He saw that can of petrol explode.
He knew that petrol may explode.
36. Struct. Am. => Is he really so nice?
Is he really that kind of person?
37. Struct. Am. => These are the apples for cooking.
Apples are being cooked.
38. Lex. Am. => This is not a painting by Raphael.
This painting does not belong to Raphael.
39. Lex. Am. => The policeman is talking about Mr. Thompson who is the murderer.
The policeman is talking about Mr. Thompson who was killed.
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40. Lex. Am. => My grandfather is a farmer who is a small person.
My grandfather is a farmer with a small farm.
41. Lex. Am. => He is a pitiful / miserable student.
He is a student without a penny.
42. Struct. Am. => The guard became a drunkard (P. 5)
The guard forced the drunkard to leave. (P. 7)
43. Struct. Am. => I am getting the socks for her (P. 8)
I am getting the socks of hers (P. 7)
44. Struct. Am. => The man gave the books of the library (P. 7)
The man gave the books to the library (P. 8)
45. Struct. Am. => It was pretty pale (P. 1)
It was a small pie (P. 3)
46. Struct. Am. => On Wednesday, he accepted. (P. 6)
Wednesday was accepted. (P. 7)
47. Struct. Am. => Thorn himself taught during his young manhood. (P. 6)
Thorn self-studied during his young manhood. (P. 7)
48. Struct. Am. => The doctor made those things perfectly (P. 7)
The doctor made the patients healthy (P. 9)
49. Struct. Am. => She taught the group who were singing. (P. 7)
She taught the group how to sing (P. 8)
50. Struct. Am. => Our spaniel was a good friend (P. 5)
Our spaniel found a good friend (P. 7)
51. Struct. Am. => The judges designated the female singer (P. 7)
The judges designated the girl to be winner. (P. 9)
52. Struct. Am. => Mary called Mary‟s mother. (P. 7)
Mary considered that woman as mother (P. 9)
53. Struct. Am. => My father is a teacher of foreign languages.
My father is a foreign teacher of language.
54. Struct. Am. => My friend is an old enthusiast of cars.
My friend is an enthusiast of old cars.
55. Struct. Am. => Even the rabbit enjoys our lettuce
The rabbit enjoys our lettuce, too.
56. Struct. Am. => Only the members are allowed to buy beer.
The members are allowed to buy beer only.
57. Struct. Am. => I gave her an old bicycle for girls.
I gave her a bicycle for old girls.
58. Struct. Am. => At 10 o‟clock, he promised to call me.
He promised that at 10 o‟clock he would call me.
59. Struct. Am. => Paula is a female hunter.
Paula is a hunter of girls.
60. Struct. Am. => She is a sitter who is a baby.
She is the one that takes care of babies.
61. Lex. Am. => On HN station, I found a book.
I found a book (written) about HN station.
62. Struct. Am. => Daily passengers enjoy a meal like this.
Passengers enjoy a meal like this every day.
63. Struct. Am. => I examined the errors (P. 7)
I thought that those are errors (P. 9)
64. Struct. Am. => It was a plot to sell to the ABC Co. industrial secrets that are worth
millions of dollars.
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It was a plot to sell industrial secrets that cost the ABC company
millions of dollars.
65. Struct. Am. => He passed the hammer and the saw through the window.
He passed the hammer and then saw through the window.
Ex 18. 1: gradable antonym 2: compl. Ant, 3: rel, ant, 4: comp. ant.

5: grad. Ant 6: rel. ant. 7: incompatibility 8: comp. Ant. 9:comp. ant. 10: incompatibility
11: synonym 12: hyponymy 13: homonym 14: homophone; 15: hyponymy
16: homonym 17: rel. ant. 18: grad. Ant. 19: synonym 20: synonym 21: synonym
22: synonym.
Exercise 19: 1: poly. 2. poly. 3: homo 4: poly 5: poly 6: homo 7: homo

8: poly 9: poly 10: homo 11: poly 12: homo
Exercise 20: 1: yes 2: yes 3: no 4: no 5: yes 6: yes 7: yes 8: no 9: no 10:yes
Exercise 21: 1: grad 2: grad 3: relat 4: grad 5: compl 6: compl 7: grad 8: compl
9: rel 10: grad 11: grad 12: compl 13: relat 14: grad 15: rel 16: rela
Exercise 22 1: A; 2: A; 3: S; 4: S; 5: C; 6: C; 7: S; 8: S
Exercise 23: 1: C; 2: F; 3: C; 4: F; 5:C; 6:C; 7: C; 8: C; 9: C; 10: F
Exercise 24: 1: P; 2: C; 3: P; 4: P; 5: C; 6: E; 7: P; 8: P; 9: C; 10: P; 11: P; 12: E;
13: C; 14: P; 15: E
Exercise 25: B sentences entail A sentences
Exercise 26: No relation
Exercise 27: 1: I; 2: C; 3: C; 4: C; 5: I
Exercise 28: the answers will vary
Exercise 29: The answers may vary with the situation given.
Suggested answers:
1: A request: the speaker asks to talk to Mary => Indirect
2: A command / request: the speakers asks someone to clean up the mess => Direct
3: A request: the speaker wants to have some drink => Indirect
4: A suggestion: the speaker suggests going to the cinema => Indirect
5: A polite request: the speaker asks someone to open the window => Indirect
6: An order: the speaker tells someone to move away from the TV => Indirect
7: A request: the speaker asks someone to help him/her start the machine => Indirect
8: A request: the speaker asks someone to turn on the fans => Direct
Exercise 30: The answers will wary with the situation given.
Exercise 31: All of the conversations are not cooperative.

1. Quantity maxim is violated (not enough information)
2. Relation maxim is violated (not of the same topic)
Exercise 32: Different answers are possible

1: B could not buy salt.
2: The other daughters do not speak any foreign languages
74
3: Not all the students came.
4: We drink, but moderately.
5: B does not love A.
6: The fiddler at the bar played badly last night.
7: B does not like A‟s new carpet.
8: B does not usually go to swimming pool.
9: The other daughters are not beautiful.
10: A can have his car fixed at the garage.
11. B does not know exactly which subjects Jack is taking.
12. B has not tidied his room.
13: The man was B‟s step father.
14: Betty is probably still working.
15: B refuses A‟s suggestion because Arab restaurants are likely not to serve vegetarian food.
16: Piccadilly Circus is not a safe place to be at midnight.
17: B rarely uses the local swimming pool because it has salt water.
18: A‟s debt to B is large and complicated to work out / A owes B too much.
Exercise 33: 1: c; 2: b; 3: d; 4: c; 5: b; 6: b; 7: c; 8: c; 9: c; 10: a

11: c; 12: c; 13: d; 14: b; 15: c; 16: c; 17: d; 18: b; 19: a; 20: a
Exercise 34: The answers may vary
1. I am not rich / I am poor.
2. You‟ve just got married.
3. I posted your letter.
4. I did it before.
5. You saw that film
6. You smoke a lot.
7. You are studying some subjects
8. John has got a cat.
9. There‟s a garage on the corner.
10. He isn‟t ill.
11. He did his best to catch the train.
12. I wasn‟t here yesterday.
13. You are having tea.
14. I saw the film
15. You saw that film
16. She used to be my sweetheart
17. I refused your request.
18. The vase was broken / someone broke the vase.
19. I am jobless.
20. My sister is abroad now / my sister isn‟t in VN now.
21. They took the exam and their papers were scored.
22. The car ran the red light.
23. You were not ill.
24. You took the car from John‟s house.
25. You‟ve got a car.
26. My neighbor‟s husband died.
27. You are not a teacher.
28. I haven‟t got married yet / I am still single.
29. You are not a teacher.
30. They are not my parents.
75
31. I sent that letter to you.
32. They were complaining before.
33. You lied before.
34. It has been hot.
KEY TO MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS
Test 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
D A C B A A A A A A C A A B A A C A D A
Test 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
A C C C C A A A B A B A A B A B A
Test 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
A A C A A A D D A B C B A A B B A A A C
Test 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
A A D A D A C A A C C B C B D A A D A A
Test 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
A A C B B B B B C C A C C C B D B A A A
Test 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
C D B A D C B C C D C C V C D
Test 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
C A A C A B A A D A C A C A A
Test 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A B A A C A B A C A
Test 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A A C A A A A A A A A A A A A
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A A A A A B C A A C
Test 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A B A A C A B A C A
76
Test 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A A C A A B C A A C A A D A D
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A B A A C C A A A C
Test 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
B C B B C D A C A A A A
Test 11
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A C A A D A D D A A A C C A A
77

Giao Trinh NG Nghĩa NG D NG - 230822 - 161244 - 230928 - 213420

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GIAÙO TRÌNH

NGÖÕ NGHÓA – NGỮ DỤNG HOÏC TIEÁNG ANH

ENGLISH SEMANTICS & PRAGMATICS

COMPILED BY NGUYEN THUY NGA

VI. MEANING PROPERTIES / CHARACTERISTICS 27

VIII. TYPES OF SENTENCE BASING ON TRUTH VALUE 45

II. SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, AND PROPOSITIONS

Exercise 3: Answer the following:

III. SEMANTIC PROPERTIES/ FEATURES

Example: (+: plus; - : minus)

Father + human Each factor Assassin + human

IV. LEXICAL / SEMANTIC FIELD

Bachelor Father Mother Baby Uncle Sister Hyponymy

Boy Brother Uncle Ram Stallion Ox Bull

MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS

Some clues for Variable Reference

Exercise 7: Answer the following questions.

Exercise 10. Which of the following is a correct description of „reference‟?

Exercise 11: Which of the following is a correct statement about „sense‟?

Exercise 12: Answer the following questions by choosing Yes or No

3. Not a referring expression

MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST 2

2. Connotative / Social / Affective meaning

SEMANTIC or PARTICIPANT ROLES

Back to the 3 previous examples, we see:

3. The teacher was angered by the rowdy students.

4. I recall hearing my brother say that.

5. Tom lent me enough money to pay the rent.

6. At the reunion he ran into his cousin Karl.

7. The farmer went to the field before dawn.

8. The building was constructed in a commercial zone.

9. A big tree was rooted up by the storm last night.

10. I enjoy reading books in my free time.

11. The immigrants picked strawberries in the early June.

12. He never turned in his budget report on time.

14. Traffic was backed up at the intersection because of the accident.

21. His ingenuity never ceases to amaze me.

22. The hurricane destroyed half of the island.

23. Angela offered the job to her former rival.

24. In the morning we left San Francisco for Austin.

25. Zelda gets angry whenever Scott lies her.

26. The remains will be shipped to Cleveland on Wednesday.

28. He hates being disturbed at table.

30. He enjoys going fishing on the lake at sunset.

31. The snow melts at the morning sunshine.

32. The chickens are ready for us to eat in 5 minutes.

33. Do you like the book I sent you?

34. Acid can dissolve a corpse in 5 minutes.

35. The man who loves her must be insane.

36. Alan was sent a special gift on her birthday.

39. The beer made from rice drinks very well.

41. Joining the club is a good way of meeting new people.

42. She wants to know if anyone has an umbrella to lend her.

43. Harold doesn‟t like making speeches in front of the class.

44. Trembling with fear, she opened the letter.

46. My first job, cleaning the floor, made me exhausted.

47. The door ajar made the girl worried.

48. We watched the brown river swollen with rain.

50. This bed sleeps comfortably.