Bài Thi Semantics - 1 Đáp án Semantics - 4 Lý Thuyết Semantics - 14 Thi Hết Môn Semantics - 18 1. Semantics
* What is polysemy? Give one example to illustrate your presentation?
Polysemy is a sense relation in which a single word has two or more slightly different but closely related meanings.
* What is anomaly? To illustrate your presentation, give a semantically anomalous sentence and
explain why it is semantically anomalous.
* What is entailment? Give one example to illustrate your presentation?
* Compare the following terms and give one example to illustrate : a- hononymy/synonymy
b- live metaphors/dead metaphors
* Compare the following terms and give one example to illustrate : a- antonymy/synonymy
b- lexical ambiguity/structural ambiguity
* What are the four maxims of the cooperative principle?
* Identify the difference between denotation and connotation. Give one example to illustrate each.
* What is deixis? Give examples?
* Identify the semantic properties of the following words : aunt, crawl, virtue, cygnet.
* Identify the relationship (hyponymy, homography, homophony, homonymy, synonymy, binary
antonymy, gradable antonymy, relational antonymy, polysemy) between the following pairs of
italicized words. The words given in brackets are to clarify the meaning in question of the italicized words.
a- pass – fail e- sight – site
b- love – hate f- employer – employee
c- sigh – vision g- sight (to ability to see) – sight (a thing one can see)
d- clothes – jeans h- desert (as in the Sahara desert) – desert (abandon)
* What are semantic features? How can you distinguish the words given in the following table
from one another, considering their semantic features?
Malay English Vietnamese Chinese sadara Brother Anh Huynh em Đệ Sister Muội chị tỷ
* What is the connotation of a word? Identify three possible (positive or negatibe) connotations of the word Titanic.
* What are proforms? Give two example to illustrate.
2. Distinguish an utterance from a sentence? Give two examples to illustrate each.
* Distinguish an explicit performative from an implicit performative? Give one examples to illustrate each.
* Distinguish locution from illocution? Give one examples to illustrate each.
* Distinguish binary antonymy from gradable antonymy?. Give one example to illustrate each.
* Distinguish presupposition from entailment
* Distinguish true synonymy from partial synonymy? Give two examples to illustrate each.
3. Indentify the persupposition(s) in the following utterances:
- The CD you gave me is quite interesting
- I regret mising the last lecture
- Can you stop coming home after midnight?
- I’m going to buy some milk for the little child
- My wife pretended to be pleased with my answer
- On the occasion of my friend’s birthday, I intend to buy her a vase.
- He didn’t manage to support himself
- It’s odd how tricky the final exam is.
- He pretended to be pleased with the gift
- When will she graduate from high school?
- The didn’t manage to hand in their paper on time
- I wish I hadn’t turned down his proposal - John was quite unpopular
- He didn’t realize he had been taken in - When did you quit smoking?
- The examination in Semantics is so easy this time.
- I am not able to go to Hanoi this weekend.
- Did you return the book to the library?
- She pretended that the gift had pleased her - They were rich.
- You will be amazed when you see the view - Their son is not naughty.
- You can try asking Martin for help
- I regret drinking so much last night
- Even Bill could solve that problem
- She pretended she was not at home when the bell rang.
- I’ve been dreaming of having a house of my own
- If they hadn’t waited until the last minute, they would have passed the exam.
- Where did you buy the motorbike?
- You are late for the meeting again.
4. Interpret the following sentences and identify the fingure(s) of speech employed
- Why don’t you recognize the power of her purse?
- Never in a million years will he admit defeat.
- I don’t know much about the childhood of the world - Take the bad with the good.
- One more old Forsyte went to his long rest… wonderfully how he had held on.
- The skinheads have constituted a social problem in the west.
- Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. (Lady
Macbeth is remorseful over the murder of the king).
- She is a girl of twenty summers
- A cloud appeared over their friendship.
- When the speaker finished his talk, we knew that we had been listening to a great mind.
- I want to take part in the contest bit I don’t have the nerve
- As we are sailing into this millennium, we should know there are still many difficulties.
- I know he’s your brother, but you shouldn’t let your personal feelings cloud your judgment
- The president claimed that his administration contained the best brain in the country. - Duty commanded and he obeyed - He said it to my face
- Her beloved father was laid to rest in this cemetery
- Don’t live in such a sea of doubt.
5. For each of the following utterances, provide two situations so that one utterance performs
two different acts. Interpret the utterances and identify the acts performed in the light of the situations you provide.
- Who will pay for such a loss? - The gun is loaded. - It’s cold in here
- Why don’t you study French?
- What a nice hat you’re wearing ! - Look before you leap. - Do you know what time is it?
- Smoking is strictly prohibited here. - We’re running out of time.
- The ice cream is in the fridge. - The ticket cost 50 dollars
- There’s a lot of humor in the story. - What are you waiting for?
- He needs some ice for his sore shoulder.
- These two books are due tomorrow
- None of the supermarkets in our town sells fresh fish today.
- Why don’t you live with your parents? - You’re home early.
6. What is the implicature you can draw from Mrs Nelson’s final utterance?
Mrs Nelson : “You’ve misspelled the customer’s name. It should be Snelling not Smelling”. Debbie: “Hee - hee”
Mrs.Nelson: “It’s not funny, Debbie. If I hadn’t noticed it, we could have lost the order ”
7. Interpret meaning of the following sentences, and identify the kinds of figurative language employed.
- Their next strategy is to expand their business to less developed countries.
- The huge locomotive snorted and belched its way across the plain.
- Don’t substitute the good for the bad.
- The man is a demon of energy.
8. Give situation, interpret the meaning and then classify the following utterances into
different kinds of speech acts : - It’ll be ready tomorrow - We are going to turn you in
- Authors always pay their debts - The food is really awful
- We are going to be in the rainy season!
- What time is it according to your watch?
- We always call him “Jack of all the trades”
9. Write down one implicature that can be drawn from the second speaker’s response in each of these two dialohues.
a- A : “Did you finish your report?” B : “ I started it” b- A: “Coffee?”
B: “It would keep me awake all night”.
a- A: Did the band play for two hours?
B: I left in the middle of the performance
b- A : The library is open on Saturday, isn’t it? B: Let’s find out.
a- A: Shall we sit here and talk?
B: There’s no better place than here
b- A: How do you like the new librarian at the information desk?
B: You mean Ron? He’s been here as long as I have.
10. Which of the sentences is lexically ambiguous? Which is structurally ambiguous? Provide
two sentences that paraphrase the two meanings of each ambiguous sentence. - They are cooking apples
- They didn’t recognize the new Prime Minister.
11. Explain why the following sentences are said to be semantically anomalous
- What are your intentional plans for the summer holidays?
- He stormed out of the room, slamming the door silently behind him.
12. Decide whether each of the utterances below is performative; it not, why not. - You congratulate me - I envy you
13. Using the locution, illocution, perlocution analysis, analyse Steve’s utterance - You interrupted me again - I was ride
14. In each of the following decide whether the interference in brackets is a presupposition or
an implicature derived from the underlined utterance. State the kind of the presupposition
or the implicature and explain.
a- John : My girlfriend lives in Luton
Bill: My girlfriend lives in Paris (Bill has a girlfriend)
b- Jane: Did you finish the report?
Mary: I started it (mary didn’t finish the report).
15. Read the following sentence carefully and answer the questions
English is spoken in more parts of the world than in any other language by more people
than any other tongue except Chinese.
1. Is there any instance of synonymy in the above sentence?
2. What is the sense relation between the terms English, language, Chinese in the above sentence?
3. Like many other words in English, tongue is a polysemous word, which can lead to
lexical ambiguity when it is used in a certain utterance. Is the word tongue in the
above sentence an instance of ambiguity?
4. What is the figure of speech expressed through the use of tongue in the above sentence?
16. Identify the speech acts performed in the following underlined utterances.
1. A: Hey buddy! There’s a big hole in front of our classroom! B : Thanks
2. A : You know what I found on he first day of my new school year? There’s a big hole in front of our classroom! B : Really?
3. A : Oh my God! There’s a big hole in front of our classroom!
B : It’s not unusual around here. Đáp án đề 1
Part one : SEMANTICS ( 6 marks ) 1. Polysemy ( 1 m )
Polysemy is a sense relation in which a single word has two or more slightly different but closely related meanings.
The English noun chip, for example, can have the three following meanings:
( i ) a small piece of some hard substance which has been broken off from something larger : a chip of wood / glass.
( ii ) a small cut piece of potato which is fried for eating : can I try one of your chips ?
( iii ) a small but vital piece of a computer : Thí computer has got a faster hip than the old one.
The three meanings are closely related because they all contain the semantic feature [ + small piece ].
2. Utterance vs. sentence ( 1 m )
An UTTERANCE is the USE by a particular speaker, on a particular occasion, for a particular
purpose, of a piece of language, such as a sequence of sentences, or a single phrase, or even a single word.
A SENTENCE is a string of words put togetther by the grammatical rules of a language. It is an
IDEAL string of words behind various realizations in utterances and inseriptions.
Jane : “ Coffee? ” Would you like some coffee ?
Steve : “ Sure! ” I’m sure to love it.
Jane : “ white? ” Would you like ( black coffee or ) white coffee?
Steve : “ Black. ” I’d like black coffe, please.
( one – word utterances ) ( Well – formed sentences ) 3. Presuppositions ( 1 m )
( a ) The utterance presupposes that you gave me a CD
( b ) The utterance presupposes that I missed the last lecture
( c ) The utterance presupposes that you often come home after midnight
(d ) The utterance presupposes that the little child drink milk 4. Figures of speech (1m)
(a) Pure, which is [+ container], stands for money, which is [+ what is kept]
This is a metonymy. The whole sentence means you should recongnize the power that is accompanied by her money
(b) Never in a milion years is an overstatement/ a hyperbole.
The whole sentence means he will never admit defeat 5. Speech acts (2m)
(Anwers to this part of the test vary depending on the situations provided by the student)
(a) “Who will pay for such a loss? ” SITUATION 1
A: “Who will pay for such a loss? ” B: “I will”
A direetly asks B for a piece of information. This is A ROGATIVE. SITUATION 2
A: “We have to do it depite ane loss”
B: “Who will pay for such a loss? ”
(I’m afraid that I can hardly agree with you).
B indirectly rejects A’s suggestion. This is AN EXPRESSIVE (b) “The gun is loaded” SITUATION 1
A: “Be careful! The gun is loaded” (= “Stay away from the gun”)
B: “Thanks for your timely warning ”
A indireetly asks B to stay away from the gun. This is A DIRECTIVE SITUATION 2
Robber “Raise your hands!The gun is loaled” (= “I’ll kill you”) Passer – by: “OK! OK! ”
(By stating the fact the gun is loaded) The robber indirectly thereatens to kill or injure the passer –
by (if the latter does not raise his/ her hands). This is A COMMISSIVE. Part two: WRITING (4 marks)
Organization (1m): Clear outline as follows:
1. Introduction: Thesis statement 2. Body:
Developmental paragraphs: topic sentence, transision, coherent supporting ideas, comcluding sentence. 3. Conclusion
• Contents ( 1 m ) : informative, abundant, clear.
• Vocabulary ( 1 m ) : precise.
• Grammar ( 1 m ) : right sentence patterns, no grammar mistakes. ĐÁP ÁN ĐỀ 2
Part one : SEMANTICS ( 6 marks ) 1. Anomaly ( 1 m )
Anomaly is a violation of semantie rules to create nonsense.
That bachelor is pregant, for example, is semantically anomalous because the meaning of
bachelor ineludes the semantic feature [ + male ] whereas pregnant is [ + feamale ].
2. Explicit performtives vs implicit performatives ( 1 m )
Explicit performatives are those that contain A PERFORMATIVE VERB while impicit
performatives are those that do not. For “ I hereby WARN you that you will fail ” is an explicit performative. 3. Presuppositions ( 1 m ) :
( a ) The utterance presupposes that my wife was not pleased with my answer.
( b ) The utterance presupposes that I have a friend, and soon comes her birthday.
( c ) The utterance presupposes that he tried to support himself.
( d ) The utterance presupposes that the final exam is tricky. 4. Figures of speech ( 1 m ) :
( a ) The childhood of the world is an expression of personification / a metaphor meaning the
period of time during which the world was formed.
( b ) The sentence consists of two metonymies : the bad stands for the neative aspects of life and
the good stands for the positive ones. 5. Speech acts ( 2 m ) :
( Answers to this part of the test vary depending on the situations provided by the student. )
( a ) : “ It’s cold in here .” STUATION 1 :
A : “ It’s cold in here. ” ( = “ Do something to warm the room up, please .” )
B : “ I’ll shut the windows .”
A indirectly asks / requests B to do something to warm the room they are in up . This is A DIRECTIVE. SITUATION 2 :
A : “ I don’t think I stay in. It’s cold in here .”
B : “ All right. Let’s go out for some exercise .”
A directly gives the reason why / explains why he / she doesn’t like to stay in. This is A REPRESENTATIVE.
( b ) “ Why don’t you study French ? ” SITUATION 1 :
A: “ Why don’t you study French ? ” ( = “ You should study French .”)
B : “ That’s what I thought. Too ”
A indirectly advises B to take a course in French. This is A DIRECTIVE. SITUATION 2 :
A : “ Why don’t you study French ? ”
B : “ Because I don’t have time for it right now .”
A directly asks for the reason why B refuses to take a course in French. This is A ROGATIVE. ĐÁP ÁN ĐỀ 3
Part one : SEMANTICS ( 6 marks ) 1. Entailment (1m)
Entailment relationship that applies between two sentences, where the truth of one implies the
truth of the orther beacause of meanings of the words involved.
There are two types of entailment. One way entailment:
Alferd saw a bear asymmetrically entails (=>) Alferd saw an animal.
If Alferd saw a bear then he necessarily saw an animal; but if Alferd saw an animal, he could
have seen a bear but not necessarily. It could be a big bad wolf, for example. Two way entailment:
Paul borrowed a car from Sue symmetrically entails () Sue lent a car to Paul.
The entailments between this pair of sentences are mutual since the truth of either sentence
guarantees the truth of the other. 2. Locution vs illocution (1m)
The locution of a speech act is it’s basic litearl meaning, which is conveyed by its particular words and structures.
The illocution of a speech act is it’s intended effect(s): accusing, announcing, admitting,
apologizing, begging, ordering, etc.
Take the utterance “I’m thirsty” as an example. Sam: “I am thirsty”
Annie: I’ll bring you a glass of water.
The locution of “I am thirsty” is my body dose not obitain enough water.
The illocution of “I am thirsty” is Sam requests Annie to give him something to drink. 3. Presuppsitions (1m)
( a ) The utterance presupposes that he was not pleased with the gift
( b ) The utterance presupposes that she will graduate from high school
( c ) The utterance presupposes that they tried to hand in their paper on time
( d ) The utterance presupposes that. I turned down his proposal. 4. Figures of speech (1m)
(a) Went to his long rest is a metaphor/a cuphemism which means died or breathed his last.
The whole sentence means it was wonderful how long old Forsyte had been on his death –
bed before he breathed his last.
(b) The skinheads which is [+ part] is a syneedoche meaning young people with very short hair, which is [+whole] 5. Speech acts (2m)
(Answers to this part of the test vary depending on the situations provided by the student.)
( a ) : “ What a nice hat you’re wearing .” STUATION 1 :
A : “What a nice hat you’re wearing”
B : “ Thanks for your nice comliment .”
A directly compliments B on her new hat. This is AN EXPRESSIVE. SITUATION 2 :
A : “What do think of this hat.”
B : “ What a nice hat you’re wearing.” (= “Get rid of such an awful hat”)
(Since nice may be an expression o irony which means quite opposite)
B indirectly asks A to get rid of such an awful hat. This is A DIRECTIVE.
( b ) “ Look before you leap ” SITUATION 1 :
Teacher : “ John, read the first sentence on page 14 ? ”
John : “ Look before your leap ”
John just reads aloud what the teacher asks him to do, describing the content of the first snetence
on page 14. This is A REPRESSENTATIVE SITUATION 2 :
A : “ Look before your leap ”
B : “ Thanks for your advice .”
A directly gives a piece of advice. This is A DIRECTIVE ĐÁP ÁN 4. Part one: SEMANTICS (6 marks) 1a. Homonymy vs synoymy (1m)
Homonymy is a relation in which various words have the same (written and sound) from
but have different meanings. For example, the noun bear, which refers to a large heavy animal with thick fur, the verb bear 1
, which means give birth to and the verb bear 2 means tolerate, are homonymy.
Synonymy is a relation which variuos words have different (written and sound) forms but
have the same or nearly the same meaning. For example, the four E noun kind type, sort and
variety are synonymys: they all refer to a group having similar chcaracteristics.
1b A live metaphors vs a dead metaphor (1m)
A dead metaphor is used so often that is has lost its metaphoric characteristics, the face of
the table, the back of the chair, the mouth of the river, the head of the state.etc.
A live metaphor is an implied or indirect comparion which has a variety of figurative
meanings through it’s endless use. For example: Tom is a pig may be interpreted as Tom is short
and fat. Tom is slow and lazy. Tom is greedy, Tom is not intelligent. Tom is neither intelligent nor ambitious.etc 2a. Presuppsitions (1m)
( a ) The utterance presupposes that the hearee already knows who John is
( b ) The utterance presupposes that he hea been taken in.
( c ) The utterance presupposes that you quit smoking
( d ) The utterance presupposes that.there have been a number of examinations in Semantics so far. 2b. Figures of speech (1m)
The smell of blood is implicitly compared to the murder of the king. This is a metaphor.
The little hand, which is [+ part] is a syneedoche referring the Queen herself, which is
[+whole]. This sentence means there is nothing that can completely erase the terrible sin of murdering the king.
Summer, which is [+ part] is a syneedoche which stands for years, which is [+whole]. This
sentence means she was twenty years old/ twenty years of age. 3. Speech acts (2m)
(Answers to this part of the test vary depending on the situations provided by the student.)
( a ) : “ Do you know what time it is? .” STUATION 1 :
Mary : “Oh, I forget my watch. Do you know what time it is” Tome : “ It ‘s 7:05 .”
Mary asks Tom for the time. This is ROGATIVE. SITUATION 2 :
John : “Hurry up or else we’ll miss the train. Do you know that time it is?.” Linda : “Wait a minute!”
A is really upset because B is too slow. This is AN EXPRESSIVE
( b ) “ Smoking is strictly prohibited here ” SITUATION 1 :
Jack : “ Dose my smoking bother you? ”
Gina : “ It doesn’t matter to me, but smoking is strictly prohibited here ”
Gina directly informs Jack of the prohibition of smoking in that place. This is A REPRESNTATIVE. SITUATION 2 :
Alfred : “ Don’t you know that smoking is stictly prohibited here ” (= Do not smoke in here) Kevin : “ Sorry .”
Alfred indirectly orders Kevin not to smoke in the place . This is A DIRECTIVE Đáp án đề số 5 Part one: SEMANTICS (6 marks)
1a. Synonymy vs. Antonymy (1 m)
Synonymy is a relation in which various words have different (written and sound) forms but
have the same or nearly the same meaning.
For example, the four English nouns kind, type, sort and variety are synonyms; they all refer
to a group having similar characteristict.
Antonymy is a relation in which words have different (written and sound) forms and are opposite in meaning.
For example, true false, big small and buy sell are three pairs of antonyms.
1b. Lexical ambiguity vs. structural ambiguity (1 m)
A sentence is considered as structurally ambiguous when its structure permits more than one interpretation.
For example, Fred said that he would pay me on Thursday is structurally ambiguous
because the adverbial on Thursday can modify either said or would pay.
Any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of a word is lexical ambiguity.
For example, that robot is bright is lexically ambiguous because the adjective bright has two
slightly different but closely related meanings: shining and intelligent. 2a. Presupposition (0.5m)
(i) The utterance presupposes that the speaker is supposed to go to Hanoi this weekend.
(ii) The utterance presupposes that the hearer had borrowed a book from the library
2b. Conversational implicatures (0.5 m)
Mrs. Thompson’s final utterance may implicate that Debbie is not allowed to misspell her customers’ names. 3. Figures of speech (1 m)
(i) A cloud was implicitly compared to something that had happened and threatened to
destroy their friendship. This sentence is a metaphor which means there was something wrong with their friendship.
(ii) A great mind. Which is [+ part]. Is a synecdoche meaning an erudite scholar, which is [+ whole]. 4. Speech acts (2 m)
(answers to this part of the test vary depending on the situations provided by the student.)
(a) ‘We’re running out of time’ SITUATION 1:
A: ‘How much time have we got for the project?’
B: ‘We’re running out of time’
B states the fact that there is no time left. This is A REPRESENTATIVE.
B gives a piece of information (to answer A’s question). This is A REPRESENTATIVE SITUATION 2:
Janet: ‘Our oral presentation is not as well-prepared as it should be.’
Mary: ‘We’re running out of time’
(By stating the fact that there is no time left to do anything more to their oral presentation),
Mary indirectly suggests that Janet should accept what they’ve done for the presentation. This is A DIRECTIVE.
(b) ‘The ice cream is in the fridge’ SITUATION 1:
A: ‘Where’s the dessert?’
B: ‘The ice cream is in the fridge’
B directly informs A of what is prepared for dessert and where it is kept. This is A REPRESENTATIVE SITUATION 2:
A: ‘The ice cream is in the fridge’ (= ‘Have some ics cream, please’)
B: ‘No, thanks, I’m full.’
A indirectly invites B to have some ice cream. This is A DIRECTIVE. Đáp án đề 6 Part one: SEMANTICS (6 m)
1a. Maxims of the cooperative principle (1 point)
The four conversational maxims of the co-operative principle are:
1. The maxim of Relevance: what we say should be relevant.
2. The maxim of Quality: what we say should be true.
3. The maxim of Quantity: what we say should be brief.
4. The maxim of Manner: what we say should be clear.
In fact, these conversational maxims are not always observed.
1b. denotation vs. connotation (1 point)
The denotation of a word is the core, central or referential 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.
The connotation of a word is the additional meaning that the word has beyond its denotative
meaning. It shows people’s emotions and/or attitudes towards what the word refers to.
For example, woman is denotatively described as [+ human], [+ mature] and [+ female].
Ubder a certain circumstance, woman may positively be connoted as [+ devoted]. Under another
circumstance. woman may negatively be connoted as [+ talkative]. 2a. Presupposition (1 m)
(i) The utterance presupposes that the gift did not please her.
(ii) The utterance presupposes that the hearer already knows who they are. 2b. Figures of speech (1 m)
(i) Less developed countries is a euphemism which really means poor countries.
(ii) The huge locomotive is given two human actions: snorted and belched.
The sentence in questions an expression of personification which means the huge locomotive
made a string of strange, irritating sounds and released a lot of smoke while it was moving across the plain. 3. Speech acts (2 m)
(Answers to this part of the test vary depending on the situations provided by the student.)
(a) ‘It’ll be ready tomorrow.’
Mary’s boss: ‘When will I have your report?’
Mary: ‘It’ll be ready tomorrow.’ (= ‘I’ll finish it tomorrow.’)
Mary indirectly promises to finish the report the next day. This is A COMMISSIVE.
(b) ‘You’ll be too hot in the sun.’
A: ‘I think I’ll put on the wool suit.’
B: ‘You’ll be too hot in the sun.’ (= You shouldn’t wear the wool suit.’)
B indirectly advises A not to wear the wool suit. This is A DIRECTIVE.
(c) ‘Authors always pay their debts’
A: ‘Authors always pay their debts’ B: ‘I can’t agree more.’
A directly states the fact that no one can avoid paying his/her own debt(s). This is A REPRESENTATIVE
(d) ‘The food is really awful.’
A: ‘I love this pizza. Why don’t you try it?’
B: ‘Already. And the food is really awful to me.’
B directly shows that he/she extremely dislikes the food. This is AN EXPRESSIVE. Đáp án đề 7 Part one: SEMANTICS (6 m) 1. Deixis and examples (1 m)
A word/phrase which directly relates an utterance to a time, place or person. Person deixis, time deixis, space deixis. 2. Semantic properties (1 m)
Aunt (human, ascending generation, female)
Crawl (motion, horizontal, four limbs involved, two limbs always on surface)
Virtue (abstract notion, moral goodness) Cygnet (animate, young, swan) 3. Presuppositions (0.5 m)
a. The utterance presupposes that there is a beautiful view somewhere.
b. The utterance presupposes that they have a son.
4. Conversational implicatures (0.5 m)
a. B’s utterance may implicate that he/she didn’t finish the report.
b. B’s utterance may implicate that he/she won’t have any coffee. 5. Figures of speech (1 m)
a. I want to take part in the contest but I don’t have the nerve.
Metonymy Being one of the groups of the fibers controlling our movement, feelings and
mental states such as fear or determination (literal meaning), “the nerve” is figuratively used to
substitute for “determination”, “bravery” or “courage”. In this case. The controller substitutes for the controlled.
b. As we are sailing into this millennium, we should know there are still many difficulties. Đáp án đề 11
Part two: Semantics (30 điểm = 3/10)
1. Semantics features (6 điểm)
Semantics features are the smallest units of meaning in a word.
The meaning of a word may be described as a combination of its smallest units of meaning – its semantics features
a. Sibling has only one semantic feature: [+ born by the same parents].
b. Brother and sister both have two semantic features: [+ born by the same parents] and [ male].
c. Anh and chị both have three semantic features: [+ born by the same parents], [ male] and [ older].
d. Em has only two semantic features: [+ born by the same parents] and [younger].
e. Huynh, đệ, muội and tỷ all have three semantic features: [+ born by the same parents], [ male] and [ older].
2. True synonymy vs. Partial synonymy (6 điểm)
2.1 True synonymy is a relation in which various wors have different (written and sound)
forms but have the same or nearly the same meaning.
For example, the four English nouns kind, type, sort and variety are synonyms; they all refer
to a group having similar characteristics.
2.2 Partial synonymy is a relation in which a polysemous word shares one of its meanings with another word.
For example, one meaning of broad is synonymous with wide: This river is very broad/ wide at this point. 3. Presuppositions (6 điểm)
(3a) I haven’t had/onwed/possessed any house (yet).
(3b) They waited until the last minute (and thus they failed the exam)