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    Testing For Entailments

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    Ali Üzümcü

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Testing For Entailments

    Uploaded by

    Ali Üzümcü
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    Testing for Entailments

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    12 views5 pages

    Testing For Entailments

    Uploaded by

    Ali Üzümcü

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    Testing for Entailments

    Understanding the meanings of sentences in terms of their truth conditions


    allows us to investigate certain semantic relations that hold between sentences.

    (1) a. Sally tried to leave on time.


    b. Sally left on time.

    • can you imagine a situation in which (1a) and (1b) are both true? YES
    • can you imagine a situation in which (1a) is true and (1b) is false? YES

    (2) a. Sally managed to leave on time.


    b. Sally left on time.

    • can you imagine a situation in which (2a) and (2b) are both true? YES
    • can you imagine a situation in which (2a) is true, but (2b) is false? NO

    3) a. Kim allegedly kissed Sandy. T T


    b. Kim kissed Sandy. T F

    • can you imagine a situation in which (3a) and (3b) are both true? YES
    • can you imagine a situation in which (3a) is true and (3b) is false? YES

    (4) a. Kim passionately kissed Sandy. T T


    b. Kim kissed Sandy. T F

    • can you imagine a situation in which (4a) and (4b) are both true? YES
    • can you imagine a situation in which (4a) is true, but (4b) is false? NO

    What we see:

    • in (1) & (3), the truth of the (a)-sentence tells us nothing about whether the
    (b)-sentence is true or false

    • in (2) & (4), the truth of the (a)-sentence requires that the (b)-sentence be true

    • in other words, it’s impossible for (2a)/(4a) to be true while (2b)/(4b) is false
    Special term for the relationship that holds between (2a)/(4a) and (2b)/(4b):

    A sentence A entails a sentence B just in case whenever A is true, B is also true.


    (In other words, the truth of A guarantees the truth of B.) If A entails B, then B is
    an entailment of A.

    Entailment is usually a one-way relation between sentences:

    (4) a. Kim passionately kissed Sandy.


    b. Kim kissed Sandy.

    But occasionally, two sentences will mutually entail each other:

    (5) a. Kim lied to Sandy.


    b. Kim said something untrue to Sandy.

    How can we tell whether a sentence A entails another sentence B?

    Can you imagine a situation in which A is true but B is false?


    ⇒ if “yes”, then A does not entail B
    ⇒ if “no”, then A does entail B
    Two linguistic tests for entailment:

    (A) If A entails B, then a speaker cannot assert A and deny B without


    contradicting himself. (Non-deniability of entailments)

    (6) Sally tried to leave on time. But, she didn’t leave on time.
    (not contradictory)
    (7) #Sally managed to leave on time. {But, In fact}, she didn’t leave on time.
    (contradictory)

    When using Test A, but gives the best results, so try it first. If the resulting
    sentence doesn’t sound “weird” and contradictory, you can immediately
    conclude that the first sentence does not entail the second sentence (as in (6)
    above). If using but yields something that sounds “weird” and possibly
    contradictory, then try using in fact. If in fact still yields a “weird” result, then
    you can safely conclude that there is a contradiction, so the first sentence entails
    the second sentence (as in (7) above). On the other hand, if in fact yields an
    acceptable, non-contradictory result, then you should conclude that the first
    sentence does not entail the second sentence. Here’s an example:

    (8) a. I have to arrive at work by 7am.


    b. I don’t have to arrive at work before 7am.

    Let’s first try our test with but:

    (9) #I have to arrive at work by 7am. But I have to arrive at work before 7am.
    Sounds pretty weird, right? So let’s try using in fact instead:

    (10) I have to arrive at work by 7am. In fact, I have to arrive at work before 7am.

    Now, (10) sounds perfectly acceptable. So we should conclude that (8a) does not
    entail (8b).

    Here’s a “decision tree” for Test A:


    􀀁􀀁 􀀁
    But Doesn’t sound “weird”? No entailment
    Sounds “weird”? in fact Doesn’t sound “weird”? No entailment
    Sounds “weird”? Entailment
    In the vast majority of cases, using but and in fact will yield the same results.
    (B) If A entails B, then a speaker who first asserts A and then B will sound
    redundant. (Non-reinforcement of entailments)

    (11) Kim allegedly kissed Sandy. In fact, she did kiss Sandy.
    (not redundant)

    (12) #Kim passionately kissed Sandy. {In fact, But}, she did kiss Sandy.
    (redundant)

    When using Test B, in fact gives the best results, so try it first. If the resulting
    sentence doesn’t sound “weird” and redundant, you can immediately conclude
    that the first sentence does not entail the second sentence (as in (11) above). The
    phrase not only that also works well:

    (11’) Kim allegedly kissed Sandy. Not only that, she did kiss Sandy.
    (not redundant)

    If using in fact or not only that yields something that sounds “weird” and possibly
    redundant, then try using but. If but still yields a “weird” result, then you can
    safely conclude that there is a reduncancy, and so the first sentence entails the
    second sentence (as in (12) above). On the other hand, if but yields an acceptable,
    non-redundant result, then you should conclude that the first sentence does not
    entail the second sentence. Here’s an example:

    (13) a. I don’t always go to class.


    b. I sometimes go to class.

    Let’s first try our test with in fact (or not only that):

    (14) #I don’t always go to class. In fact, I sometimes go to class.


    Sounds pretty weird, right? So let’s try using but instead:

    (15) I don’t always go to class. But, I sometimes go to class.


    Now, (15) sounds perfectly acceptable. So, we should conclude that (13a) does
    not entail (13)b.

    Here’s a “decision tree” for Test B:

    In fact, Doesn’t sound “weird”? No entailment


    Not only that
    Sounds “weird”? but Doesn’t sound “weird”? No entailment
    Sounds “weird”? Entailment
    In the vast majority of cases, using in fact/not only that and but will yield the same
    results.
    Note that the “decision trees” for Test A and Test B differ only in whether we
    should start with but or in fact/not only that.

    Why does the choice between but or in fact even matter? Perhaps somewhat
    surprisingly, but and in fact convey certain meanings of their own, which are
    concerned with the amount of “contrast” that exists between the two sentences
    that they join together. It’s these extra bits of meaning that sometimes interfere
    with our (otherwise quite nifty) tests. (It’s also these extra bits of meaning that
    make but the initial choice for Test A, and in fact the initial choice for Test B.) As
    the course proceeds, we’ll actually read more about the meaningful contributions
    of but (though unfortunately, not in fact).

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