Week 2

Question 1

What does it mean that ‘p and q are contrary’

Answer 1

the set of worlds in which p is true is disjoint from the set of worlds in which q is true; the intersection is empty

Question 2

What is the relation between the following two sentences: “I have blue eyes” “I have purple eyes”?

Answer 2

the sentences are contrary

Question 3

What does it mean if p entails q?

Answer 3

if p is true then q must be true; if q is true this doesn’t mean that p is true

Question 4

What are intuitive semantic relationships?

Answer 4

• easily definable in the truth-conditional framework

- truth-conditions may be constructed as sets of possible worlds

Question 5

What does it mean that ‘p and q are synonymous’?

Answer 5

the set of possible worlds in which p is true equals to the set of possible worlds in which q is true

Question 6

What does it mean when two propositions are contrary?

Answer 6

p and q can’t be simultaneously true but they both could be false

Question 7

What does it mean when two propositions are contradictory?

Answer 7

if p is true, q must be false and vice versa

Question 8

What is a tautology?

Answer 8

p is a tautology if p must always be true

Question 9

What is the meaning of a question?

Answer 9

the set of its possible answers

Question 10

What is the meaning of an imperative?

Answer 10

an instruction as to what truth conditions are desirable to hold in the relevant world

Question 11

What is the meaning of an exclamative?

Answer 11

the sentence is true in the set of possible worlds in which the speaker values

Question 12

What is meant by compositionality?

Answer 12

The meaning of the whole is systematically determined by the meaning of its parts

Question 13

What is the meaning of names?

Answer 13

their reference (in the actual or a possible world)

Question 14

What is an individual?

Answer 14

something that refers; can be an object or a person

Question 15

What is intension?

Answer 15

the function determining the reference of a word/phrase

Question 16

What is extension?

Answer 16

the value of the function determining the reference of a word/phrase

Question 17

THE CURRENT TEMPERATURE. give intension and extension

Answer 17

INTENSION:WHATEVER THE THERMOMETER SAYS EXTENSION: -4°C (OR WHATEVER)

Question 18

What is saturation?

Answer 18

making an incomplete semantic object (like a property) more complete by filling in a missing par
-predication brings about the saturation of a property

Question 19

What is predication?

Answer 19

the grammatical relationship between a predicate and a subject

Question 20

What is a property?

Answer 20

• a semantic object
• the sort of thing which a predicate denotes
• an unsaturated proposition
• typically the noun phrase which comes before the predicate

Question 21

predication is saturation. intuitively, ____ skis is true only if after we fill the gap with a ___, we get something that is ___

Answer 21

referent, true

Question 22

two points

____ skis

Answer 22

1. we know that this is an incomplete proposition

2. we know what we need to fill in to get a complete proposition

Question 23

Do you think that subjects combine with V by the same process of saturation that complements combine with V?

Answer 23

yes, subjects are selected by V

Question 24

What is the syntactic position of adjuncts?

Answer 24

daughter to bar level, sister to bar level

Question 25

What word BEST fills in the blank “X can semantically saturate Y only if X is a _______ of Y”

Answer 25

sister

Question 26

When does subject combine to the rest of the sentence in the process of saturation?

Answer 26

after the verb is combined with the complement and adjuncts

Question 27

What is a predicate?

Answer 27

unsaturated proposition, property

Question 28

What is needed as the input for a one-place predicate? What is the output of a one- place predicate?

Answer 28

individual; whether it is true or false

Question 29

What is the semantic type of a property?

Question 30

What is the semantic type of an entity/individual?

Answer 30

e

Question 31

What is the semantic type of truth-condition?

Answer 31

t

Question 32

:

Answer 32

a function which input is e and the output is t