Name: Indra Cahya Vanleon.

NIM: 2211422031.

English Semantics (Midtest)

1.
I pick two words from a handy dictionary, that are ”Job” and “Help”
1. Job: This word has several meanings, ranging from a specific task done as part of one's occupation,
a position of employment, a duty or responsibility, to more specific uses in slang and computing.
The semantic concern here would focus on how "job" denotes various types of work or tasks,
whether in the context of employment, responsibilities, or specific projects. The common thread
across these definitions is the concept of an activity or duty that has a purpose or objective,
reflecting the multifaceted ways in which language captures the nuances of work and responsibility.
2. Help: As a verb, "help" covers actions aimed at providing assistance or making a task easier for
someone. It involves contributing to achieving a goal, rescuing, facilitating a process, being of use,
and even serving food. Semantically, the essence of "help" revolves around the concept of
providing assistance or support, whether physically, emotionally, or in specific tasks. This reflects
the broad applicability of the term in contexts where one entity is aiding another, highlighting the
versatile nature of support and assistance in human interactions.
For a question about Semantics, itfocus on how each word can have multiple meanings depending on
context, yet there's a core concept that ties these meanings together. For "job," it's the idea of work or a
task, while for "help," it's the concept of assistance. This illustrates a key interest in Semantics:
understanding not just the dictionary definitions of words, but how their meanings can vary in different
contexts while still being related to a central theme.

2.
a. Can John have some cake / John has some cake

• Propositional Content: Different

• Explanation: The first is asking if John can eat cake, and the second says he already has some.
They're not saying the same thing.

b. Take out the garbage / You will take out the garbage

• Propositional Content: Same

• Shared Proposition: You will take out the garbage.

• Explanation: Both suggest you're going to take out the garbage. The first is a command, and the
second is more like stating it will happen, but the idea is the same.

c. Can you pass the salt? / The salt shaker is nearly empty
 • Propositional Content: Different

• Explanation: The first is asking for the salt to be passed, and the second is just stating the salt
shaker is almost empty. They're about different things.

3.
Imagine you have a bunch of sentences or phrases (expressions) that actually mean something (they're not
just random words thrown together). This sentence is saying two main things about those meaningful
expressions:

• Every meaningful expression has "sense": Think of "sense" as the idea or concept behind the
words. It's like the vibe or the general meaning you get from the expression. So, if an expression
means something to you, it's because you understand the idea or concept it's trying to convey.
• Not every expression has "reference": "Reference" is about pointing to something specific in the
real world. For example, when you say "the tallest building in the world," you're referring to a
specific building out there. But not all expressions point to something you can find or touch in the
real world. Some expressions are more about ideas or feelings, and you can't point to those in the
same way.

So, in simpler terms, the sentence means: If an expression makes sense to you, it's because it has
an underlying idea or concept. But not all expressions are about something specific you can identify or
point to in the real world.

4.
When you look up "The Evening Star" and "The Morning Star" in a dictionary, you'll probably find that
both terms refer to Venus, but at different times. "The Evening Star" is Venus seen in the evening, and
"The Morning Star" is Venus seen in the morning.

But, there's more to these terms than just this basic fact. Most people know a bit more about them, like:

• Stories and Myths: Different cultures have cool stories and beliefs about Venus.

• Science Stuff: Some know that these names are for the same planet, Venus, just seen at different
times.

• In Books and Poems: Writers often use these terms in special ways to add beauty to their work.

So, the dictionary tells you what they are in a basic way, but many people also think about the stories,
science, and artistic uses tied to these terms.
5.
The correct description of the term 'reference' is:

c. It's about how a word or phrase can point to something specific in the real world, like a landmark, a
person, or anything else you can think of.

Why? Because 'reference' means using words to specifically talk about or point to real things out there.
When you say "the Eiffel Tower," you're clearly talking about that one famous tower in Paris, not just any
tower. This option (c) gets right to the heart of that idea: words can pick out specific things in our world.

6.
It's called Equative Sentence.

An equative sentence is used when you want to say that two different names or phrases actually refer to
the same thing or person.

Example: The sentence "Clark Kent is Superman" is an equative sentence because it tells us that the
names "Clark Kent" and "Superman" refer to the same individual. This kind of sentence helps us
understand that two different labels or descriptions can be about the same person or thing.

7.
The option that is NOT a referring expression is:

d. The whale in 'The whale is the largest mammals.'

Reason: A referring expression is used to pick out a specific individual or entity in the world. In the cases
of "John," "He," and "it's," each expression refers to a particular person or thing: "John" refers to a
specific individual known as my best friend, "He" refers to their bank manager, and "it's" refers to a
specific battleship being discussed. However, "The whale" in the given sentence does not refer to a
specific whale but to whales in general as a category or species. This statement makes a general claim
about whales as a group, not about an individual entity, so it does not function as a referring expression in
the context of this sentence.

8.
It's called Opaque Text

Reason/Example: Opaque contexts are parts of sentences where substituting one referring expression for
another, even if they refer to the same entity, can change the meaning of the sentence. This is often seen
in sentences involving belief, desire, or knowledge statements, where the perspective of the subject
matters.

For example, consider the sentences involving belief about Superman's identity:

• Lois believes that "Clark Kent is a journalist."

Even if "Clark Kent" and "Superman" refer to the same person, the meaning of these sentences can
change because Lois might not know that Clark Kent is Superman. The substitution of "Clark Kent" with
"Superman" changes the informational content of what Lois believes, illustrating an opaque context. The
difference lies in how the information is understood or interpreted by the person holding the belief, not
just in the factual accuracy of the referring expressions themselves.

9.
Reason/Example: In a sentence, the predicator refers to the part that is typically the main verb or verb
phrase, which contributes the most specific action or state being described. It doesn't act as a referring
expression (like nouns or pronouns that point to specific entities or persons) but rather explains what is
happening in the sentence or what condition the subject is in.

For example, in the sentence "The cat sleeps on the mat," the word "sleeps" is the predicator. It tells us the
specific action taking place. "The cat" and "the mat" are referring expressions pointing to specific entities,
but "sleeps" gives us the crucial information about what action is occurring. It specifies the nature of the
activity involving the subject, making it the most specific contributor to the sentence's meaning beyond
merely identifying the participants or objects involved.

10.
In semantics, the predicate tells you about the action or state of the subject, often focusing on the
meaning or concept behind the action. In grammar, the grammatical predicate is the part of the sentence
that includes the verb and tells you what the subject does or what happens to the subject, including all
modifiers and objects. The semantic predicate dives deeper into the meaning, making it more revealing
about what's really going on or the nature of the relationships in the sentence. The grammatical predicate
gives you the structure, showing how the sentence is built around the subject's action or state.