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Semantics Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

A Cheatsheet for the Semantics Final Exam

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Referring vs Non-re­ferring

Referring
With a definite descri­ption. The speaker has a specific entity in mind
CUHK's president
Non-re­ferring
Anyone­/an­ything matches the descri­ption
a question about semantics

Polysemy vs Homonymy

What is a Polysemy?
related meaning, the same entry
What is a Homonymy?
unrelated meaning, separate entries

Colloc­ations

What is colloc­ations?
We use a pair of synonyms in different context

Antonymy

Comple­mentary antonyms
tempor­ary­/pe­rma­nent; open/shut, presen­t/a­bsent
Gradable antonyms
clean/­dirty
Reverses
advanc­e/r­etreat; assemb­le/­dis­mantle
Converses
borrow­/lend, buyer/­seller
Comple­men­tar­y/G­radable Dignostics
Can it be not A and/but not B at the same time?

Meronymy

Meronymy
A is a part of B, A is a meronym of B
Transitive
If A is a meronym of B and B is a meronym of C, then A is a meronym of C
Intran­sitive
A is a meronym of B and B is a meronym of C, but A isn't a meronym of C

Compos­iti­onality and RHHR

Compos­iti­onality
Word meaning= the meaning of the two compon­ents?
RHHR
right one is the head

Speech acts

canonical sppech act for Interr­ogative
question
commun­icating other speech acts e.g.
invitation
 
request
 
approval

Explicit and implicit perfor­matives

explicit perfor­matives
I suggest that you should stop right there
implicit perfor­matives
Stop!
 

Indirect Speech Acts

Literal Speech Act
surface
Primary Speech Act
interp­ret­ation
Candidates for indirect speech acts: predic­tion, request, offer, refusal, order

Candidates for Literal speech acts: statement, question, request

Theta grids

<Roles that occur in the senten­ce> The underline role is a typical subject for the verb

e.g.,
Loki reported the incident to Thor. report <"AG­ENT­", THEME, GOAL>
Superman fell from the sky. fall <"TH­EME­", SOURCE>
The Stark Tower will remain in Manhattan, NYC. remain <"TH­EME­", LOCATI­ON>
Joker noticed a loud noise. notice <"EX­PER­IEN­CER­", STIMUL­US>

Thematic Roles

Roles
Definition
Example
AGENT
The ACTOR who does something intent­ion­ally.
"­Sup­erm­an" baked a cake.
GOAL
Destin­ation of the action
Hulk sent a postcard "to Loki".
THEME
Moved by an action, or whose location is described
Hawkeye shot "an arrow" at Batman. "The Metrop­olitan Museum of Art" is next to the Central Park.
LOCATION
Where the action takes place.
Hulk smashed Loki "in the Stark Tower".
EXPERI­ENCER
The one experi­ences emotion, perception or cognition, sometimes not in control of what does happen.
"That White Walker­" felt cold.
STIMULUS
that stimulates the experi­encer
Loki didn’t like "the cold rain".
PATIENT
The one being affected by the action, undergoing some change in shape/­state
Thor drank up the "­bee­r".
RECIPIENT
The new possessor
The pawn shop loaned "­Jok­er" two grand.
INSTRUMENT
ACTOR use it to complete actions
Batman baked a cake with "Iron Man’s reacto­r".
BENEFI­CIARY
The one benefit from the action
Batman baked a cake for "­Jok­er".
SOURCE
the starting point of the actino
Loki came from "the planet of Asgard­".
FORCE
Non-living existense that causes something
"­Lig­hte­nin­g" destroyed the house.
 

Middle voice

Reflexive
the subject’s action affects the subject him/he­rself
Bodily activi­ty/­emo­tions
the activity involves the body or emotions of the subject.
Neuter intran­sitive
The subject can't control the change.
Autobe­nef­actives
The action is done for the subject's own benefit.

Inclusive and exclusive "­or"

DISJUN­CTION REDUCTION
e.g.,You can say yes or no = You can say yes or you can say no

Inclusive disjun­ction = In comple­mantory distru­bution


Exclusive disjun­ction = Can be true simult­ane­ously

Logical formulae

¬
negation
p → q
p → q is only false when p is true and q is false.
p ¬p
T F
F T

p q p ∧ q
T T T
F T F
T F F
F F F

p q p ∨ q = inclusive or = choose either one or both
T T T
F T T
T F T
F F F

p q p ∨_ q = exclusive or = must choose one and only one
T T F
F T T
T F T
F F F

p q p → q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

Entailment

Mutual entailment
T -> T
F <- F
F -> F
T <-T

Entailment and presup­pos­ition

presup­pos­ition
p is T/F, q is T
Projection test/P­-family test (Chierchia & McConn­ell­-Ginet 2000)
If p presup­poses q, the presup­pos­ition q is inherited by “not p”, “p?”, “if p, then r”, “perhaps p”.

Passive and impersonal passive

Passive
Subject is demoted. Other role becomes the Subject.
Impersonal passive
SUBJECT is being remove­d/d­emoted. The OBJECT remains the same.