truth-based semantic relations

Question 1

Tautological statements

Answer 1

statements that are always true. inherently true
“Pete is an unmarried bachelor”
“boys will be boys”
> Sentences exemplify ANALYTIC statements, true independently of facts.
> contrast with SYNTHETIC (contingent) statements

Tautologies NOT informative

Rhetorical effect: pragmatic re-interpretation

Question 2

Contradiction

Answer 2

statements that are always false
“married bachelor”, “male woman”
> applied to a same individual, they create propositions that are contradictory
> John cannot (literally) be a bachelor and married at the same time

> > Again, sometimes possible re-interpretations based on context/speaker’s intention

Question 3

Semantic properties and relations: implication

Answer 3

implication is an important relation between sentences
2 Semantic Types:
1. ENTAILMENT
2. PRESUPPOSITION
(different from pragmatic implicature)

Question 4

Entailment

Answer 4

A entails B (definition): Whenever A is true, B is true;
» The information that B conveys is contained in the information that A conveys;
» A situation describable by A must also be a situation describable by B;

> ‘A and not B’ is contradictory (cannot be true in any situation).
Jack killed the wasp.
The wasp is dead.
#Jack killed the wasp and the wasp is not dead/is alive.
(# = grammatical but semantically unacceptable)

ENTAILMENT = restricted type of implication between two sentences
> Truth is preserved by virtue of the meaning of the sentences alone
> Doesn’t depend on context

Question 5

Testing for Entailment

Answer 5

NEGATION TEST

- entailments cannot survive negation because ‘A and not B’ is contradictory (cannot be true in any situation).