Sentences, Utterances, Propositions: Virtue Is Its Own Reward
Sentences, Utterances, Propositions: Virtue Is Its Own Reward
Sentences, Utterances, Propositions: Virtue Is Its Own Reward
based on
J R Hurford, B Heasley & M B Smith
Semantics. A Coursebook 2nd edition CUP 2007
same sentence in 2 readings, but 2 different utterances, i.e. 2 unique physical events
UTTERANCE = any stretch of talk, by 1 person, before & after which there is silence on the
part of that person; i.e. the use by a particular speaker, on a particular occasion, of a piece
of language, e.g. a sequence of sentences, single phrase, single word
SENTENCE
neither physical event, nor physical object
string of words put together by the grammatical rules of some L
ideal string of words, abstraction behind various realizations in utterances
7. Does it make sense to say that a SENTENCE is in a particular accent (i.e. a particular way of
pronouncing words)?
8. Does it make sense to say that an UTTERANCE is in a particular accent?
Not all utterances are “copies” of sentences; some only of parts of sentences, e.g. phrases or
single words
‘When did Goethe die?’ — ‘In 1832’ utterances between single quotes
‘Would you like tea or coffee?’ — ‘Coffee, please’
‘Who won the battle of Waterloo?’ — ‘Wellington’
PROPOSITION
sentence a sentence b
Harry took out the cat Harry took the cat out
utterance 1 utterance 1
Harry took out the cat Harry took the cat out
utterance 2 utterance 2
…… ……
utterance ∞ utterance ∞
Sentences in different Ls correspond to the same proposition if the two are perfect translations
E. I’m cold, Ger. Mir ist kalt, Ru. Mne xolodno, Hu. Fázom correspond to the same
proposition (to the extent to which they are perfect translations)
family tree relationship between these notions shown in diagram: a single proposition could be expressed by using several different
sentences (say, Prince William will inherit the throne, or The throne will be inherited by Prince William) and each of these sentences
could be uttered an infinite number of times.
PROPOSITION
9
sentence sentence sentence
9
utterance utterance utterance
Complete the table
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