Word Meaning, Sentence Relation and Truth

1. Grammatical Categories

names, common nouns, pronouns, logical words, etc.

2. Lexical Relations

Homonymy: unrelated senses of the same phonological word. Homographs (written) vs.
homophones (spoken)
Polysemy: related senses of the same word. They are listed in the same lexical entry in
the dictionary
Synonymy: different phonological words with same or similar meaning. may belong to
different registers: formal, colloquial, literary, etc.
Opposites (Antonymy):

--- simple antonyms (complementary or binary antonyms), e.g., dead vs. alive, pass vs. fail,
etc.

--- gradable antonyms: not binary antonyms, e.g., rich vs. poor, slow vs. fast, etc.

--- reverse: opposite directions, e.g., left vs. right, up vs. down, come vs. go, pull vs. push,
etc.

--- converse: alternative viewpoints, e.g., own vs. belong to, employer vs. employee, etc.
Only those items that observe the following rule form a converse relation: given two nouns X
and Y, if X and Y form one relation specified by one of the two items in question, then they can
be swapped when using the other item. For example, if X is the employer of Y, then Y is the
employee of X. We can conclude that employer and employee form a converse relation.

--- taxonomic sisters: e.g., orange, blue, yellow, etc.

Hyponymy: a relation of inclusion, e.g., tool includes hammer, saw, chisel, etc. The
general term is called superordinate or hypernym.
Meronymy: describe part-whole relation.
Member collection: unit vs collection, e.g. book vs library, ship vs. fleet, etc.

3. Derivational Relations

causative verbs: a state vs. beginning or change of state, e.g. red vs redden, wide vs
widen, etc.
 agentive nouns: derived from verbs with endings -er or -or, e.g. walker, murderer,
commentator, etc.

Elsewhere condition: a general condition that applies only if the more specific conditions do
not apply.

English comparative formation: for two syllable adjectives, add -er, but for more than two
syllable adjectives add more. But words like glad, apt, etc. we have to use more. Hence the
condition for two syllable words is the following:

--- for words like glad, apt, etc., add more;

--- otherwise, add -er. <---------- this part is the else where condition.

4. Logic and Truth, Necessary Truth, Analytic Truth, etc.

Truth value: semantists call a sentence's being true or false its truth value.
Truth conditions: the facts that have to obtain in reality to make a sentence true or false.
Truth tables for logical operators: conjunction and, disjunction or (inclusive), exclusive
or, material implication (or conditional), biconditional, and negation.
In a conditional sentence like if p then q, p and q are the antecedent and consequent,
respectively. P is a sufficient condition for q but not a necessary condition. I.e. even
though p is false, it is not necessarily the case that q is false.
Conditionals: conditional (if p then q), biconditional (if p then q and if q then p, or p iff q,
where iff means if and only if), and counterfactual. In a biconditional sentence q iff p, p
is the necessary condition for q.
Necessary truth: cannot be denied (Leibniz's distinction), e.g. mathematical laws like 2 +
2 = 4, either he is alive or he is dead.
Contingent truth: con be contradicted, depending on the facts.
Tautology: always true. It is also analytic if the truth follows from the sentence meaning
only, i.e., it does not depend on the things outside of the sentence.
A synthetic statement is a statement true or false, depending on whether it accords with
the facts of the world.
A priori truth, is the truth that does not depend on our experience. It is contrasted with
posteriori truth which can only be known on the basis of the empirical testing.

Question: what is the relationship between synthetic, analytic, a priori, posteriori, necessary
truth?
5. Entailment and Presupposition

Entailment: p entails q = if p then q and if not q then not p. Hyponymy always gives us
entailment relation, e.g. dog entails animal: if x is a dog, then it is an animal and if x is
not an animal, then it is not a dog.
Paraphrase: mutual entailment.
Two approaches to presupposition: (a) as truth relation; and (b) as a strategy of the
speaker to organize the information for maximal clarity.
Presupposition failure: the presupposition of a sentence is not true in the real world.
Note that presupposition failure is a problem for approach (a) but not necessarily so for
(b).
Presupposition trigger: cleft or pseudo-cleft sentences, subordination, lexical verbs like
regret, realize, etc.
Projection problem: some presupposition does not survive when embedded in a larger
context.
Differences between entailment and presupposition: (a) negating the entailing sentence,
then the entailment fails, but negating the presupposition, the presupposition survives;
and (b) presupposition changes with context, while entailment does not. We have
semantic and pragmatic presuppositions the latter of which is related to common ground
(Stalnaker 1974), and accommodation (Lewis 1979).

6. Progressive, Stative and Dynamic verbs

THE PROGRESSIVE FORMS OF A VERB INDICATE THAT SOMETHING IS HAPPENING or was

happening or will be happening. When used with the past, the progressive form shows the
limited duration of an event: "While I was doing my homework, my brother came into
my room." The past progressive also suggests that an action in the past was not entirely
finished. (Compare "I did my homework." to "I was doing my homework.") This is even
more evident in the passive progressive construction: "He was being strangled in the
alley" suggests an action that was not finished, perhaps because the act was interrupted
by a good citizen, whereas the simple past "He was strangled in the alley" suggests an
action that was finished, unfortunately.
A neat categorization of the uses of the progressive can be found on the page describing
the "To Be" Verb.
The progressive forms occur only with dynamic verbs, that is, with verbs that show
qualities capable of change as opposed to stative verbs, which show qualities not capable
of change.* For instance, we do not say, "He is being tall" or "He is resembling his
mother" or "I am wanting spaghetti for dinner" or "It is belonging to me." (We would say,
instead: "He is tall," "He resembles his mother," "I want spaghetti," and "It belongs to
me.") The best way to understand the difference between stative and dynamic verbs is to
 look at a table that lists them and breaks them into categories and then to build some
sentences with them, trying out the progressive forms to see if they work or not.
These categories and lists are derived from Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum's A
University Grammar of English (used with the publisher's permission). The examples are
our own. The lists are not meant to be complete.

DYNAMIC VERBS
Activity Verbs
I am begging you. I was learning French. They will be playing
upstairs..
Virtually identical in meaning to simple tense forms:
I beg you. I learned French. They will play upstairs.
abandon eat play throw
ask help rain whisper
beg learn read work
call listen say write
drink look at slice
Process Verbs
The corn is growing rapidly. Traffic is slowing down.
Virtually identical in meaning to simple present tense forms:
The corn grows rapidly. Traffic slows down.
change grow slow down widen
deteriorate mature
Verbs of Bodily Sensation
"I feel bad" and "I am feeling bad" are virtually identical in
meaning.
ache feel hurt itch
Transitional Events Verbs
Progressive forms indicate the beginning of an event,
as opposed to the simple present tense.
"She was falling out of bed [when I caught her]" as opposed to
"She falls out of bed every night."
arrive fall leave lose
die land
Momentary Verbs
Progressive forms indicate little duration and suggest
repetition.
She is hitting her brother.
He is jumping around the house.
hit kick nod tap
jump knock

STATIVE VERBS
Verbs of Inert Perception and Cognition*
I detest rudabaga, but not I am detesting rudabaga.
I prefer cinnamon toast, but not I am preferring cinnamon
toast.
abhor guess mind satisfy
adore hate perceive see
astonish hear please smell
believe imagine prefer suppose
desire impress presuppose taste
detest intend realize think
dislike know recall understand
doubt like recognize want
feel love regard wish
forgive mean remember

Relational Verbs
I am sick, but not I am being sick.
I own ten acres of land, but not I am owning ten acres.
My brother owes me ten dollars" but not
My brother is owing me ten dollars.
be* depend on involve possess
belong to deserve lack require
concern equal matter require
consist of fit need resemble
contain have owe seem
cost include own sound

*Kolln suggests that we think of the difference between stative and dynamic in terms of
"willed" and "nonwilled" qualities. Consider the difference between a so-called dynamic
adjective (or subject complement) and a stative adjective (or subject complement): "I am
 silly" OR "I am being silly" versus "I am tall." I have chosen to be silly; I have no choice
about being tall. Thus "tall" is said to be a stative (or an "inert") quality, and we cannot
say "I am being tall"; "silly," on the other hand, is dynamic so we can use progressive
verb forms in conjunction with that quality.
The same applies to verbs. Two plus two equals four. Equals is inert, stative, and cannot
take the progressive; there is no choice, no volition in the matter. (We would not say,
"Two plus two is equalling four.") In the same way, nouns and pronouns can be said to
exhibit willed and unwilled characteristics. Thus, "She is being a good worker" (because
she chooses to be so), but we would say "She is (not is being) an Olympic athlete"
(because once she becomes an athlete she no longer "wills it").