Graduation Examination In Linguistics - December 9, 2012

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Graduation Examination In Linguistics - December 9, 2012
Duration: 150 minutes

Big Pushistik_© Mechtaniya

Part I : SEMANTICS (6 marks)

1. Identify the homonyms, homophones and homographs in each of the following sentences.

a. I won’t shed a tear if you tear my old shirt into shreds.
(Tôi sẽ không rơi một giọt nước mắt nếu bạn xé áo cũ của tôi thành từng mảnh.)
→tear (n), tear (v)
→homonyms
b. We must raze the old buildings before the sun’s rays can raise the temperature.
(Chúng ta phải phá hủy tòa nhà cũ này trước khi trời nắng.)
→ raze, rays
→ homphones
c. If the judges are fair, our rabbit will win a ribbon at the fair.
(Nếu các giám khảo công bằng, con thỏ của chúng tôi sẽ giành dải băng chiến thắng tại cuộc mua bán.)
→fair (adj), fair (n)
→homonyms
d. I found it hard to believe that he planned to found a new church.
(Tôi thấy ông ta có kế hoạch để xây dựng một nhà thờ thật là điề khó tin.)
→found, found
→homonyms

2. What are the semantic features of the following words ?

a. man
→“man” may have the following semantic features: [+human], [+male / -female], [+mature / -immature]
b. girl
→ “girl” may have the following semantic features: [+human], [+female], [-mature / +young / +immature], [+innocent]
c. mother
→ “mother” may have the following semantic features: [+human], [+female], [+mature / -young / -immature], [+maternal]
d. mare
→ “mare” may have the following semantic features: [+animate], [+horse], [+female], [+fully grown]

3. Identify the word(s) used figuratively, name the figure of speech and provide its meaning.

"That club is blossoming now."

→“Blossoming now” is a metaphor which means “the club with a growing membership” .The sentence means “that club has a large membership now, and it will be larger in the future”

4. Identify the presupposition(s) in the following sentence.

The actress described the photographs of her as an invasion of privacy.
→The utterance presupposes that there is an actress
or
→The speaker assumes that the hearer already knows who the actress is and what the photographs are.

5. In the following conversation, what maxim(s) of conversation does B not follow ? Is B cooperative ?

A: “ Is Peter a good cook ?”
B: “ He’s a nice guy.”
(B's response violates the maxim of relevence.)
(B doesn't say whether Peter is a good cook or not.)
→B is cooperative so that A may infer that Peter is a good nice.

6. What illocutionary act might the utterance “It’s hot in here” in the following conversation perform? What type of speech act is it? Is it a direct or indirect speech act ? Is there a performative verb? If there is, what is it ?

A: “ It’s hot in here.”
B: “Let me open the window.”
A: “ Thank you”
→ Illocutionary act: Resquesting
→ Type of speech act:Directive
→ Indirect
→ Performative verb: (không có)

Part 2 : WRITING (4 marks)