Entrega 1

Third Assignment
1. Ambiguous sentences.
These four sentences are ambiguous. Two readings are possible. Explain why. You will need to
use criteria from Morphology, Syntax, Lexical semantics and Propositional Semantics in your
classification.
1.1. - The lady hit the man with an umbrella.
This sentence is ambiguous as it can mean that the lady hit the man with the help of an umbrella
(first analysis) or that the lady hit the man who had an umbrella (second analysis).
Subject Verb Direct Object Adverb

The lady Hit The man With an umbrella
The lady Hit The man with an umbrella
1.2. - He gave her cat food.

This sentence can be understood in two ways: the first analysis is about someone giving a
woman cat food and the second is that someone gave a woman’s cat food.
Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object

He Gave Her Cat food
He Gave Her cat Food
1.3. - I love hunting dogs.

This sentence can be understood as someone loving dogs that hunt or someone loving to hunt
dogs.
Subject Verb Direct object Direct object

Noun Phrase -ING complement
clause
I Love Hunting dogs
I Love Hunting dogs
1.4. - Will Will will Will’s will to Will?

In this case the analysis is very complex because of the obvious confusion of will.
The first will is used as a modal verb that indicates probability or doubt.
The second Will is the subject of the phrase.
The third will is the verb will with the sense of leave something in last wishes.
The fourth Will is a second person also called Will that act in this sentence as the one who gives
his will away.
The fifth will is the document of the previous Will.
And the sixth Will is the receiver of the bequest.
The second interpretation of this sentence is to confuse the person Will, in this case the first
person Will and the second person Will would be the same.
To understand this sentence better we can substitute the name Will by other: Will Bill leave in
legacy Harry’s testament to Adam?
This sentence has lexical ambiguity, which means that a word can have one or more meanings.
2. Figurative language.
Explain the semantic meaning of these sentences. You will have to mention the concepts
true/false, literal meaning and figurative meaning to account for what these expressions mean.
2.1.- The toast jumped out of the toaster.
Figurative meaning because the toast is toasted and comes out of the toaster as if
it jumps. It is a personification because a toast cannot jump as if it were an
animated object. The concept of the sentence is true because the prepositional
meaning is true.
2.2.- I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
Figurative meaning; this expression means that you are very hungry but you would not really
eat a horse. It is a hyperbole that exaggerates your hunger. The preopositional concept is false
because the prepositional meaning cannot happen in real life. No one
can eat an entire horse alone.
2.3.- America is a melting pot.
Figurative meaning. This sentence is a Metaphor that sees America as a
country that welcomes people from many different countries, races, and
religions. The prepositional concept is true as America is a place where a lot of different people
with different nationalities cohabit.
2.4.- You snore louder than a freight train Hyperbole Figurative
Figurative meaning. This sentence means you make a lot of noise while you sleep, so much that
it is comparable to the noise that a freight train makes. It is hyperbole because it extremely
exaggerates the sounds a sleeping person makes. The prepositional concept is false because a
person cannot make more of noise than a freight train.
3. Lexical Semantics and Propositional Semantic.
3.1.- Define these words using those semantic features you consider necessary to provide a
synthetic and clear classification of these items.
Forest [+LIVING] [+COLLECTIVE], [-MATERIAL], [+LOCATION]

Tree [+LIVING] [+COLLECTIVE], [-MATERIAL], [-LOCATION]
Oak [+LIVING] [-COLLECTIVE], [+MATERIAL], [-LOCATION]
Branch [+LIVING] [-COLLECTIVE], [+MATERIAL], [-LOCATION]
Wood [-LIVING] [+COLLECTIVE], [+MATERIAL], [-LOCATION]
Timber [-LIVING] [+COLLECTIVE], [+MATERIAL], [-LOCATION]
3.2.- Which would be the hyperonym of these 6 lexical items?

A hyperonym is word whose meaning is included in the meaning of another word, for example,
dog is a hyperonym of animal. In this case all the 6 lexical items are hyperonyms of Nature.
3.3.- Which words are near synonymous?
A synonym is a word that means the same. In this case timber and wood are near synonyms as
both indicate the material of trees.
3.4.- Which words are related metonymically?
A metonym s a word closely linked to something particular. For example, “Crown”
metonymically means power and authority. It goes beyond the normal meaning. In this case Oak
is a metonym of tree because an oak is a type of tree.
4. Pragmatic Interpretation
important but the message of the poster is uncompromising: 'Tell nobody -
not even Her'.

As if fighting the Nazis was not enough, British troops faced danger on the home front too...
from their gossiping girlfriends.
The hazards of confiding details of military manoeuvres to the fairer sex during the Second
World War prompted a poster propaganda campaign depicting women as incapable of keeping
sensitive information to themselves, as not to be trusted and sometimes even as spies.
Today some would be condemned for their 'politically incorrect' portrayal of women, but in a
time when television was suspended and before the internet they were an eye-catching and
sometimes amusing way of spreading a vital message.

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Third Assignment

Subject Verb Direct Object Adverb

1.2. - He gave her cat food.

Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object

1.3. - I love hunting dogs.

Subject Verb Direct object Direct object

1.4. - Will Will will Will’s will to Will?

Forest [+LIVING] [+COLLECTIVE], [-MATERIAL], [+LOCATION]

3.2.- Which would be the hyperonym of these 6 lexical items?

important but the message of the poster is uncompromising: 'Tell nobody -

not even Her'.

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