Created by irhamia
SENTENCE MEANING
A.
SENTENCES BASED PREDICATE
According to Chafe (1981), a
sentence is basically a structure of
predication. An element that must be present in all sentences is the predicate.
The predicate may be accompanied by one
or more arguments; or it may not have an argument at all. When a predicate is
accompanied by one or more arguments, the predicate dictates the nature and
type of the argument, or arguments that accompany that predicate. For example,
the predicate drink requires an argument that is animate, animals or humans,
and another argument which is liquid. The predicate die requires an argument
that is animate.Chafe (1981) identifies the following kinds of predicates:
1. Predicates
showing states. Some examples are:
The house is large
Verb
Predicate
The river is wide
Verb
Predicate
The door is open
Verb
Predicate
Predicates
showing states, like: large, wide, narrow, small, young, old, low, high, tall,
short, thin, thick, etc. are said to be relative,
while predicates showing states, like: open, shut, closed, dead, alive, single,
married, male, female are absolute or fixed. Another kind of predicate
showing a state is a predicate noun.
Some examples are:
Albert
is a doctor
Verb
Predicate
Jim
is an engineer
Verb
Predicate
Robert
and Allan are students.
Verb
Predicate
The next kind of predicate showing a state is a locat predicate. Some examples are:
The
coats is in the cupboard
Verb
Predicate
The
dictionary is on the table
Verb
Predicate
The
painting is on the wall.
Verb
Predicate
2. Predicates
showing actions. Some examples are:
Mr. Hubert Winston teaches
history.
Verb
Predicate
Susan sings.
Verb
Predicate
My father killed
a goat.
Verb
Predicate
My neighbor drives
a taxi.
Verb
Predicate
Tom sat in the
char.
Verb
Predicate
3. Predicates
showing a process. Some examples
are:
The clothes are
drying
Verb
Predicate
Her body has been weakening
Verb
Predicate
The rope broke
Verb
Predicate
The ship sank into
the sea.
Verb
Predicate
4. Predicates
showing a process and an action. Some examples are:
The maid dried the
clothes
Verb
Predicate
The sailor tightened
the rope.
Verb
Predicate
The tiger killed
a zebra.
Verb
Predicate
The people are widening
the road
Verb
Predicate
5. Predicates
showing states but ambient. An
ambient predicate is a predicate that does not have an argument. The predicte
is an all-encompassing state. Some examples are:
It is hot
Verb
Predicate
It is windy
Verb
Predicate
It is Wednesday
Verb
Predicate
In these sentences it
does not refer to an object in the world.
6. Predicates
showing an action but ambient. Some
examples are:
It is raining
Verb
Predicate
It is snowing
Verb
Predicate
It is drizzling
Verb
Predicate
B.
DEEP STRUCTURE CASES
As
for the arguments that accompany a predicate, Fillmore (1968) in his
semantic-based “Case Grammar” identifies ten kinds of arguments which he calls deep structure cases. The ten arguments
are:
1. Agentive (V) : actor of some activity; animate
Some examples are: John
opened the box
Agentive
The employes start work at 8 o’clock
Agentive
2. Experience
(E) : being affected; animate.
Examples : John believed that he would
win.
Experiencer.
She saw a book on the table
Experiencer
3. Instrumental
(I) : inanimate force or object causally involved in the action.
Examples: A hammer broker the window
Instrumental
This knife does not cut the wood well
Instrumental
4. Objective
(O) : the semantically most neutral
case
Examples : John
is strong
Objective
Mary opened a
tin with a tin opener
Objective
5. Source
(S) : the case of origin
Examples : The house was mad out of bamboo
Source
My uncle
sent the bicycle from Jakarta
Source
6. Goal
(G) : the case of ultimate objective or
end
Examples : These
packages will be sent to Medan
Goal
Ted went to
Canada by plane
Goal
7. Locative
(L) : the case of location or
spatial orientation
Examples: Chicago is windy
Locative
It is hot in Surabaya
Locative
8. Temporal
(T) : the case of the time
orientatio
Example : classes begin at 7 o’clock
in indonesia
Temporal
The guest arrived in the afternoon
Temporal
9. Comitative
(C) : the case of ‘being together’
Example : the cheirwoman outlined the
conference with her staff
Comitative
: my dougther is going to the store with
her friend
Comitative
10. Benefactive
(B) : the case of ‘getting the
benefit’
Example : Mr. Romualdez bought a car
for his son
Benefactive
: the mothe gave her maid a
present.
Benefactive
C.
CHAVES ARGUMENT
Quiet
similar to fillmore,chafe (1981) identifies the following kinds of argument :
1.
Agent.
An
agent accompanies an action verb or a process an action verb.
Examples
:
The mechanic is repairing
a car
Agent
predicate
Marry teaches English
Agent predicate
2.
Patient. A patient argument is an argument that
accompanies a verb which is specified
as
a state or a process. Some examples are :
The women
was sick.
Patient predicate
Frederick
is a student.
Patient predicate
The coat
is in the cupboard.
Patient
predicate
3. Experiencer
Examples
:
Tom wanted a drink
Experiencer predicate patient
Rudi knew the answer
Experiencer predicate patient
the man saw a snake
experiencer predicate patient
4. Beneficiary
Examples
:
My father owns two houses
Beneficiary predicate patient
Jim
found his wallet.
Beneficiary
predicate patient
My uncle sent his son a motorcycle
Agent predicate beneficiary patient
5. Instrument
Examples
:
The lumberjacks cut trees with a saw.
Agent predicate patient instrument
My
friend opened the
door with a key.
Agent predicate patient instrument
6. Complement
Examples
:
Mary sang a song
Agent predicate complement
The
children played a game
agent predicate complement
The
infantry fought the
war.
Agent predicate complement
7. Location
Examples :
The knife is in the
box
Patient predicate location
The
cat is on the roof
Patient predicate location
The
family photo is on the wall
Patient predicate location
D.
CLASSIFICATION OF PREDICATES
Connecting the number of arguments that accompany a
predicate, predicates are classified
into several kind , such us :
1. Ambient predicates. These
are predicates that do not have any obligatory arguments.
Examples
:
It
is snowy.
Predicate
It
is foggy
Predicate
It
is cold
Predicate
it
is drizzling
predicate
2. One-place predicates. These
are predicates that have two obligatory argument
Examples
:
Peter is tall
Argument predicate
Miss
Nancy Smith is
a doctor
Argument predicate
Peggy smiles very often
Argument predicate adjunct
Mr.
Johnson resigned
Argument predicate
3. Two-place predicates. These
are predicates that have two obligatory arguments.
Examples
:
The
secretary is making out a cheque.
Argument predicate argument
The
workers are building a hotel
Argument predicate argument
The
driver drove his taxi very fast
Argument predicate argument adjunct
My
father mended a broken chair
Argument predicate argument
4.
Three-place predicates
Examples
:
John gave Mary a bicycle
Argument predicate argument argument
My
mother bought my
sister a necklace
Argument predicate argument argument
My
friend sent me a book
Argument predicate argument argument
(Kreidler,
op.cit :210)
The
company sent its distributor ten cars
Argument predicate argument argument
From
Jakarta to Denpasar via
Surabaya by ship
Argument argument argument argument
(source) (goal) (path) (instrument)
E.
TYPE OF PREDICATION
Although there are
seven arguments in the last sentence above, there are only three obligatory
arguments, they ae : company,
distributor, and cars. The other arguments : Jakarta (source), Denpasar (goal), Surabaya (path), and ship (instrument) are optional, not obligatory.
This type of predication is also a three-place predicate.
1.
Paraphrase
or synonymy. A paraphrase or synonymy is a sentence
or position that has the same meaning as another proposition. A proposition is
an assertion or statement that has a predicate with or without an argument.
Almost always however, a proposition is an assertion that has a predicate with one or more arguments. For
example, the paraphrase of :
Ted is very
intelligent, can be :
Ted is very brilliant
Ted is very clever
Ted is very witty
Ted is smart
Ted is not stupid
The paraphrase of tom is always
punctual, can be :
Tom is always on time
Tom is never early
Tom is never late
The paraphrase of barbara is a
teacher, can be :
Barbara is an
intructor
Barbara is an
educator
Barbara is a
preceptor
2.
Entailment.
A
entailment is a proposition that following another proposition. For example:
the entailment of :
Andrew is a bachelor,
can be:
Andrew is unmerried
Adrew is a single
The entailment of :
Greg’s grandfather
died yesterday, can be:
Greg’s does not have
a grandfather anymore
The entailment of :
Paul is an orphan,
can be :
Paul does not have a
father anymore
Paul does not have a
mother anymore
Paul does not have a
father and mother anymore
3. Presupposition.
Presupotition is a proposition that precedes another proporition. For example,
the proposition of patricia’s pen-friend visited her last week, can be
patricia has a pen-friend.
The
presupposition of Patrick stoppe smoking, can be Patrick smoked
The
presupposition of ambrose was arrested by the police, can be amborse
committed wrong doing.
4.
Contradiction.
For
example:
The orphan has a mother
The rich man cannot buy
his food
The spinter lived with her husband in Tokyo
5. Tautology.
Tautology is a statement or a proposition which is necessarily true. It cannot
be false. For example:
My father is a man
My mother is older then
me
A mountain mounts
Water is wet
Heat is hot
6. Inconsistency.
For examples:
I am an orphan
is inconsistent with I have a fatrher.
Ronalds is a bachelor
is in consistent with Ronald has a daughter
Hubert is an unemployed
person is in consistent with Hubert teaches french
Adam is a badly
off is consistent with adam bought a helicopter
7.
Anomaly
The orphan’s mother
lives in new York (leech, 1981: 74)
The beggar’s palace
costs $10,000,000,000,000
My friend eats a lot of
stones
8. Ambiguity.
A proposition is ambiguous when there re two interpretations of meaning
For
examples :
The athlete is standing up, may mean
1. The
athlete is in the position of standing up, or
2. The
athlete is in the process of assuming a standing position (chafe,170)
The
police beat the man with a stick, may mean:
1. The
police beat the man with a stick as an instrument to beat, or
2. The
police beat the man who had a stick probably to help to walk
Eric is drawing a cart,
may mean:
1. Eric
is making a picture of a cart,or
2. Eric
is pulling a cart
F.
KIND OF SENTENCES
Finally,
it is necessary to mention the kinds of sentences. Radford (2005)
differentiates four kinds of sentences, they are :
1. Declarative
sentences : to make statements
Example : he went home
2. Interrogative
sentences : to make questions
Example : are youn feeling allright?
3. Imperative
sentences : to issues an order or command
Example : you be quiet !
4. Exclamative
sentences : to exclaim surprise or delight
Example : what a greet idea that is
REFERENCE
Adisutrisno, D. Wagiman. 2003. Semantics an
introduction to the basic concepts. Surabaya. ANDI JOKJAKARTA
