Exercise Scalar Implicatures

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The following material is an adapted form of material created by student participants of the project e-Learning Resources for Semantics (e-LRS).
Involved participants: Stephanie C., Stephie R., Jenny, Anna P.

Implicatures

Scalar Implicatures

This exercise deals with Scalar Implicatures. A linguistic scale consists of a set of linguistic alternates, or contrastive expressions of the same grammatical category, which can be arranged in a linear order by degree of informativeness or semantic strength. (Take a look at the participants' Prezi presentation if you need help with the scalar implicatures.)

1 Indicate the relative strength of the quantifiers in the following sentences.

strongest ---> ---> weakest
All of the boys went to the party.
Many of the boys went to the party
Some of the boys went to the party.
Most of the boys went to the party.

2 Indicate the relative strength of the connectives.

strongest -> weakest
Alex likes books and movies.
Alex likes books or movies.

3 Indicate the relative strength of the matrix predicates with respect to the subject's commitment to the truth of the complement clause.

strongest ---> weakest
Pat believes that Chris loves semantics.
Pat doubts that Chris loves semantics.
Pat knows that Chris loves semantics.


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