Semantics hmwk

1. (6 points) Classify the following pairs of words as complementary antonyms, gradable antonyms, or relational antonyms. relational employer/employee complementary innocent/guilty gradable wide/narrow complementary dead/alive gradable near/far relational teacher/student 2. (4 points) Find one homonym in each of the following sentences and highlight or underline it and give it’s meaning as well as at least one other meaning. a. Mary was wearing a red bow . = a knot tied with two loops and two loose ends a. bow = a weapon b. John liked to lead reading groups. = be in charge of a. lead = first place in a contest c. The dove flew over the house. = bird a. dove = a person who advocated peaceful policies d. Ben was a big sports fan . = a person with interest in a particular thing a. fan = a machine for ventilation 3 (10 points) Identify the thematic roles of the underlined items below. Your choices are : agent theme instrument source goal location experience a. Ellen heard the music coming out of the speaker . experiencer source b. Ellen listened to the music while sitting by the speaker . agent location c. The children ran from the playground to the wading pool agent source goal d. One of the men unlocked all the doors with a paper clip. agent theme instrument 4. (3 points) Underline all the indexical/deictic expressions in each of the following sentences?

They searched for it here and there . He remembered it yesterday . We never go to that neighborhood. 5. (5 points) For each pair of sentences X and Y below, indicate whether X entails Y. a. X: I speak French y: I am from France no b. X: 30 people will come to the party. Y: At least 20 people will come to the party. yes c. X: My last name is Jones. Y: My father’s last name was Jones. no d. X: Mary was seen by John near the square. Y: Mary saw John. no e. X: Fifi is a poodle. Y: Fifi is a dog. yes 6. (10 points) You’ve just missed your bus and are standing at the bus stop waiting for the next one. The time is 2 p.m. and the next bus is due at 2:15 p.m. but you don’t know that. You ask 6 different people at the bus stop when the next bus is due, and receive 6 different answers. Each reply you receive may or may not violate one or more conversational maxims. For each reply, identify which maxim (s) if any, have been violated. You: When’s the next bus? Person A: at 2:30 (he’s lying) Is there a violation? Yes If so, of what maxim(s)? Maxim(s) of Quality You: When’s the next bus? Person b: When I was little, I was obsessed with buses. I wanted to be a bus driver. I had hundreds of different kinds of buses. Little buses, bit buses, red buses, blue buses, and even double-decker buses. Did you know that in England, many buses are double decker? I have made a study of buses. I think the next bus will be here in 15 minutes. Did you know I wanted to be a bus driver? Did you know… Is there a violation? Yes If so, of what maxim(s)? Maxim(s) of Relevance, Quantity You: When’s the next bus? Person c: Let me think! If the last bus was here at 1:50 and if they run every 20 minutes or so, then the next bus should be here at 2:10. (He has no idea). Is there a violation? no If so, of what maxim(s)? Maxim(s) of none