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Material for the seminar ''Semantics 1'', summer term 2014, Goethe University, Frankfurt a.M.
Material for the seminar ''Semantics 1'', summer term 2014, Goethe University, Frankfurt a.M.


Mock exam file: [[File:mock-exam-sose14.pdf]]
* [[Semantics 1, SoSe 2014: Mock exam|Mock exam with solutions]]
 
* [[Semantics 1, SoSe 2014: Wiki-based term papers|Wiki-based term papers]]
The examples in the text are based on Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth''. The full text of the play is available on [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2264 Projekt Gutenberg].
 
'''Task 1:''' Ambiguity
 
Consider the following ambiguous sentences.
# For '''each''' of these, determine the type of ambiguity.
# Provide an unambiguous paraphrase for the possible readings.
 
(1)
a. Duncan trusted Macbeth because he was a thane.
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# Type of ambiguity: referential ambiguity
# Reading 1: ''he'' refers to ''Macbeth''. Paraphrase: ''Duncan trusted Macbeth because Macbeth was a thane.''<br />Reading 2: ''he'' refers to ''Duncan''. Paraphrase: ''Duncan trusted Macbeth because Duncan was a thane.''
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b. Every king trusts a thane.
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# Type of ambiguity: scope ambiguity
# Reading 1: ''every'' takes scope over ''a''. Paraphrase: ''For every king there is at least one thane such that the king trusts that thane.''<br />Reading 2: ''a'' takes scope over ''every''. Paraphrase: ''There is one particular thane such that each king trusts this thane.''
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b. Macbeth and Macduff are married.
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# Type of ambiguity: collective-distributive ambiguity
# Reading 1: collective reading. Paraphrase: ''Macbeth and Macduff are married to each other''<br />Reading 2: distributive reading. Paraphrase: ''Macbeth and Macduff are both married, but not to each other.''
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b. Macbeth killed a king with a dagger.
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# Type of ambiguity: structural ambiguity
# Reading 1: the PP ''with a dagger'' is a modifier of the verb ''kill'' Paraphrase: ''Macbeth used a dagger to kill a king.''<br />Reading 2: the PP ''with a dagger'' is a modifier of the noun ''king''. Paraphrase: ''Macbeth killed a king who had a dagger.''
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Latest revision as of 07:42, 4 July 2014

Material for the seminar Semantics 1, summer term 2014, Goethe University, Frankfurt a.M.

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