lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
VB2 SE 2023.06.13 nguyenthisongthuong
English Semantics (Đại học Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh) lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY
Full name: .................................................................................
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Student ID: ...............................................................................
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE
Class code: ..............................................................................
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
Test Room: …………….………
FINAL EXAMINATION IN SEMANTICS
Time Allotted: 60 minutes
Exam Date: June 13, 2023 Approved by Proctor Dept. Chair (CBCT) Examiner Total Score (100%) 1. 1. Score in figures: 2. 2. Score in words:
Note: No materials or dictionaries are allowed.
1. State whether the following statements are true or false. Then write T for true statements and F
for false statements in the blanks provided. (10m) ……………
a. The linguistic expression book has both sense and reference. ……………
b. Analyticity is a sense relation between sentences. ……………
c. The two linguistic expressions Vietnam’s highest mountain and Vietnam’s prime
minister have variable reference. ……………
d. In the sentence A strong storm is hitting the west coast, there is one predicator,
and there are four other words which can be predicates.
…………… e. The presupposition of the utterance “My book is interesting” is the same as that of “My book is not interesting”. .
2. Fill in each blank with ONE appropriate word. (10m)
a. A book in the sentence He just read a book is a _________________ expression.
b. Like love, the adjective different is a __________________ predicate.
c. The _________________ of the predicate fish is included in that of the predicate salmon.
d. The two utterances “I saw a moving movie yesterday” and “What I saw yesterday was a
moving movie” express the same ____________________.
e. The utterance “Clean the floor right now” may be a __________________ act as the hearer’s
image may be affected negatively.
3. What is the sense relation in each of the following pairs? If the relation is antonymy, specify the
type of antonymy. (10m) a. faithful / loyal _________________ b. cutlery / spoon ____________________ c. give /receive ____________________ d. observe / watch ____________________ e. bring /take ____________________ 1 lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
4. State whether the following sentences are analytic, contradictory or synthetic. Write A(nalytic),
C(ontradictory) or S(ynthetic) in the blanks provided. (10m) a. ________ Semantics is semantics. b. ________
Canada is the second largest country in the world. c. ________
The action is legal, and it is illegal. d. ________
You’ll either pass the exam or fail it. e. ________ This test lasts 60 minutes. 5.
Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it is an entailment of the sentences printed
before it (⇒ is used to show one-way entailment, and ⇔ is two-way entailment. (10m)
Example: Ted borrowed a bike from Jim.
⇔ Jim lent a bike to Ted.
a.The boy surfed the net all day. ⇒
__________________________________________________________ b. He likes modern machines. ⇒
__________________________________________________________ c.
The boy passed the exam. . ⇔
__________________________________________________________ d. I bought the tool from John. ⇔
__________________________________________________________ e.
They taught her how to use ChatGPT.
⇔__________________________________________________________
6. Identify one core presupposition in each of the following sentences.
(10m) a. How much time did you spend on social networks?
_________________________________________________________________
b. She’ll visit France again soon.
__________________________________________________________________
c. He blamed the boy for dirtying the walls.
__________________________________________________________________
d. Helen pretended to be pleased with her life.
__________________________________________________________________
e. But for his regular practice, he would not have got such a good result.
__________________________________________________________________ 2 lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667
7. Decide whether the following utterances are performative or constative. Then write P for
performative utterances and C for constative utterances in the space provided. (10m) a. ________
“We are requested to move ahead once we have submitted the paper.” b. ________
“I object to everything you’ve just said.” c. ________
“I guarantee that you’ll get access to the building.” d. ________
“I have admitted spending too much time on social networks.” e. ________
“You are authorized to sign all the documents.”
8. What does B imply in the following dialogues? Which maxim of the Cooperative
Principle is being flouted by B. (10m.)
a. A: Did all the courses meet your expectations?
B: The course on research methodology is useful to me.
Maxim flouted: __________________________________________________________
Conversational implicature:
_______________________________________________
________________________________________________
b. A: Should I get information from the internet for our project? B: Books are more reliable.
Maxim flouted: ___________________________________________________________
Conversational implicature:
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
9. For the following utterance, give 2 situations so that the utterance performs 2 different types of
acts. Then interpret the utterance in light of the situations you provide and classify it according
to the intended acts. (20m)
“The street is flooded after heavy rains.” SITUATION 1
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Interpretation:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….…………………
Classification: ………………………………………………………………………………… 3 lOMoAR cPSD| 40799667 SITUATION 2
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Interpretation:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Classification: ………………………………………………………………………………… 4