Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 218 views

    Chapter 4 Semantic Roles - NOTES

    Uploaded by

    Waad Majid
    The document discusses the differences between sentences, utterances, and propositions. A proposition is the semantic meaning or content conveyed, which can be expressed through different sentences or parts of sentences. An utterance refers to a specific use of language by a speaker in a context. While sentences must follow grammatical rules, propositions and utterances are defined semantically rather than syntactically.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Chapter 4 Semantic Roles - NOTES

    Uploaded by

    Waad Majid
    218 views2 pages
    The document discusses the differences between sentences, utterances, and propositions. A proposition is the semantic meaning or content conveyed, which can be expressed through different sentences or parts of sentences. An utterance refers to a specific use of language by a speaker in a context. While sentences must follow grammatical rules, propositions and utterances are defined semantically rather than syntactically.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document discusses the differences between sentences, utterances, and propositions. A proposition is the semantic meaning or content conveyed, which can be expressed through different sentences or parts of sentences. An utterance refers to a specific use of language by a speaker in a context. While sentences must follow grammatical rules, propositions and utterances are defined semantically rather than syntactically.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    218 views2 pages

    Chapter 4 Semantic Roles - NOTES

    Uploaded by

    Waad Majid
    The document discusses the differences between sentences, utterances, and propositions. A proposition is the semantic meaning or content conveyed, which can be expressed through different sentences or parts of sentences. An utterance refers to a specific use of language by a speaker in a context. While sentences must follow grammatical rules, propositions and utterances are defined semantically rather than syntactically.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    SEMANTICS, Fall 2021/2022 Dr.

    Najib Ismail Jarad

    Chapter 4: Semantic Roles

    Sentence vs. utterance vs proposition

    A sentence contains certain information, but the information can be presented in different
    sentences and in parts of sentences. The information presented is called a proposition.
    A proposition can be seen as consisting of a predicate and various noun phrase (referring
    expressions), each of which has a different role.

    A sentence could be generated by the grammatical rules of a language. For example:

    1. You’re studying the difference between utterance, sentence, and different proposition.
    (Grammatically correct).
    2. Your between utterance, sentence and proposition difference the studying. (Violate English
    Grammar).

    A traditional definition of a sentence says that "a sentence is something that expresses a complete
    thought".
    Compare the following:
    3. We walk in the park.
    4. Our walk in the park.
    5. For us to walk in the park.

    3 is a complete sentence but 4 and 5 are not. But all three expressions have the same semantic
    content. The difference between them is grammatical. 3 makes a statement, but 4 and 5 can be parts
    of sentences, as in:

    4. We enjoyed our walk in the park.


    5. It’s not too late for us to walk in the park.

    The formal differences among the three expressions are a matter of grammar, not semantics. The
    semantic content shared by the three expressions is a proposition.
    A simple statement such as “We walk in the park” expresses a single proposition.

    The following sentences convey the same message- they express the same proposition:

    Richard wrote the report


    Richard is the one who wrote the report
    The report was written by Richard
    It is the report that Richard wrote.
    The report is what Richard wrote.
    What Richard did was write the report.
    1
    SEMANTICS, Fall 2021/2022 Dr. Najib Ismail Jarad

    The above sentences express a single proposition, but they differ in focus. This means that a
    proposition can be realized in several different sentences.

    Consider the following example:

    Richard wrote the paper and Helen did, too.

    The above sentence contains two propositions, the first is expressed in a full semtence ehile the
    second (Helen did, too) expresses another proposition through the function words “did” & “too”.

    A preposition is something abstract but meaningful. It can be expressed in different sentences and
    in parts of sentences but with different syntactic focus.

    An utterance, on the other hand, is the use of a particular piece of language by a particular speaker
    in a particular context, as in:

    Goodbye
    Please open the window
    Mary applauded John
    Mary applauded John because she admired him.

    You might also like