Week 3: implicatures

Each of the following single statements has at least one implicature in the situation described. What is it?

1. Statement: You make a better door than a window.

Situation: Someone is blocking your view.

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1. Statement: It’s getting late.

Situation: You’re at a party and it’s 4 A.M.

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1. Statement: The restaurants are open until midnight.

Situation: It’s 10 o’clock and you haven’t eaten dinner.

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1. Statement: I thought I saw a fan in the closet.

Situation: It’s sweltering in the room.

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1. Statement: If you’d diet, this wouldn’t hurt so badly.

Situation: Someone is standing on your toe.

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1. Statement: Mr. Smith dresses neatly, is well groomed, and is always on time to class.

Situation: The summary statement in a letter of recommendation to graduate school.

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Presupposition –

The following sentences have certain presuppositions that ensure their appropriateness. What are they?

Example: The minors promised the police to stop drinking.

Presupposition: The minors were drinking.

1. We went to the ballpark again.
2. Valerie regretted not receiving a new T-bird for Labor Day.

 

1. That her pet turtle ran away made Emily very sad.
2. The administration forgot that the professors support the students.

 

Entailment –

Describe the entailment relationships (A entails B, B entails A, synonymous, contradictory) between the following groups of sentences.

 

1. A) My mom lives in Toronto.
   B) My mom lives in Canada
2. A) Josh kissed Emily.
   B) Emily was kissed by Josh.
3. A) Tony goes to school every day.
   B) Tony didn’t go to school last week.
4. A) Jack and Jill went up the hill.
   B) Jack went up the hill.
   C) Jack didn’t go up the hill
5. A) Nick plays sports
   B) Nick plays baseball
   C) Nick doesn’t play baseball

Compositional semantics –     

1. Suppose that the reference (meaning) of swims points out the set of individuals consisting of Anna, Lu, Paul, and Benjamin. For which of the following sentences are the truth conditions produced by Semantic Rule I met? (i.e., is the member of NP is a member of the meaning of VP?)
2. Anna swims.
3. Jack swims.

• Benjamin swims.

1. Suppose the reference (meaning) of loves points out the set consisting of the following pairs of individuals: <Anna, Paul>, <Paul, Benjamin>, <Benjamin, Benjamin>, <Paul, Anna>. Determine what is the meaning of the verb phrase (e.g., loves Anna à the meaning of the VP loves Anna is the set of individuals consisting of Paul)
2. loves Paul
3. loves Benjamin

• loves Jack

 

1. Given the information in (B), for which of the following sentences are the truth conditions produced by Semantic Rule I met?
2. Paul loves Anna.
3. Benjamin loves Paul.

• Benjamin loves himself.

1. Anna loves Jack.

 

1. CHALLENGE QUESTION:

Consider the sentence Jack kissed Laura. How would the actions of Semantic Rules (I) and (II) determine that the sentence is false if it were true that:

1. Nobody kissed Laura.

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2. How about if it were true that: ii. Jack did not kiss Laura, although other men did.

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