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The Speaker Is Just Looking For A Pencil To Buy in The Shop, He Doesn't Know Which One Is

This document discusses referring expressions and equative sentences. It provides examples of referring expressions, such as proper nouns like "Mary" and definite descriptions like "the table," and explains that they refer to particular individuals or objects. Non-referring expressions like abstract nouns or unreal entities are also discussed. The document then analyzes sample sentences to determine whether noun phrases are referring expressions or not and whether sentences are equative or not, providing tests and explanations. Key concepts of referring expressions, opacity, and equative sentences are covered through examples.

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764 views

The Speaker Is Just Looking For A Pencil To Buy in The Shop, He Doesn't Know Which One Is

This document discusses referring expressions and equative sentences. It provides examples of referring expressions, such as proper nouns like "Mary" and definite descriptions like "the table," and explains that they refer to particular individuals or objects. Non-referring expressions like abstract nouns or unreal entities are also discussed. The document then analyzes sample sentences to determine whether noun phrases are referring expressions or not and whether sentences are equative or not, providing tests and explanations. Key concepts of referring expressions, opacity, and equative sentences are covered through examples.

Uploaded by

Phát
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2.

Which of the following could be used as


referring expressions? Be able to explain why or
why not
e. or
a. my table
=>Not referring expression. b/c it isn’t a
=>Referring expression. b/c it is a particular thing
particular thing
which appears in speaker’s mind
f. Mary
b. a unicorn
=> Referring expression. ‘Mary is attacked by
=>Not referring expression. b/c a unicorn is unreal
my dog’, Mary in this sentence is a particular
thing in the world so it doesn’t appear in speaker’s
person in speaker’s mind
mind
g. a book
c. no love
=> Referring expression. b/c a book, used in
=>Not referring expression. b/c no love is an
‘a book which is in my table is very beautiful’
abstract word and it isn’t a particular thing
is a referring expression
d travel
h. Abraham Lincoln
=> Not referring expression. b/c in speaker’s mind
=>Referring expression. b/c Abraham Lincoln
has many travel so his/her mind doesn’t appear a
is the president in 18th century so that the
particular travel.
speaker knows him
For sentences 3–6 below decide whether the italicized noun phrases are
referring expressions or not, and explain why (or why not). If the sentence is
ambiguous explain why it is ambiguous.

3. His father married a dancer


=>Not referring expression. A dancer is an ambiguous noun phrase b/c the speaker just know
that woman is a dancer
4. John wants to marry a dancer
=>Not referring expression. He wishes to marry a dancer but he doesn’t know who is she in the
future
5. The whale is the largest mammal
=> Referring expression. We can use ‘reversal test’ method in this sentence
6. The man who shot Kennedy was Lee Harvey Oswald
=> Referring expression. The speaker has particular person in mind
7. Explain the ambiguity in: I am looking for a pencil
=>The speaker is just looking for a pencil to buy in the shop, he doesn’t know which one is
suitable for him

8. Create a set of circumstances under which the sentence Dan believes that . . .
signed the bill is an opaque context. Use the referring expressions George
W. Bush and the President of the United States in your answer.
- Dan believes that George W.Bush signed the bill
=>
- Dan believes that the President of the United States singned the bill
=>I think it is an opaque context. B/c Dan doesn’t know exactly president
9. Which of the following are equative sentences? Explain why.
a. Fred is the man with the gun
=>Fred is a referring expression and the man with the gun is referring expression so this sentence
is equative sentence
b. William the Conqueror is the current King of England
=> William the Conqueror is a referring expression and the current King of England is referring
expression so this sentence is equative sentence
c. Detroit is a nearby city
=> Detroit is a referring expression and a nearby city is not referring expression so this sentence
isn’t equative sentence
d. Mary is a genius
=>Mary is a referring expression and a genius is not referring expression so this sentence isn’t
equative sentence
e. A box of cookies is what I would like
=> We use reversal test method to check this sentence. This is equative sentence
f. Detroit is not the largest city in the US
=> Detroit is a referring expression and the largest city in the US is a referring expression but
this sentence contains ‘not’ so this isn’t equative sentence

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