Ch. 6 | Exercise 6

Chapter 6
Lexical Semantics

Exercise 6.6
Semantic Features (Verbs)

1.

Analyze the predicates in the following sentences using the inherent verbal features [±STATIVE] [±DURATIVE] [±TELIC] [±VOLUNTARY]

a.

The skaters are practicing.

b.

She skated around the rink.

c.

She skates gracefully.

d.

She bumped into another skater.

e.

He polished her skates for her.

f.

Pam has a cold.

g.

Pam recently recovered from her illness.

h.

Pam caught a cold last week.

i.

Pam was coughing loudly.

j.

Pam cured herself with large doses of vitamin C.

k.

Charles and Julia got married yesterday.

l.

The ceremony lasted an hour.

m.

They have been engaged a long time.

n.

Julia's mother was crying.

o.

He studied for the test.

p.

The test began at 9:00.

q.

While studying, he drank lots of coffee.

r.

He is happy with the results.

s.

After the exam, he got drunk.

2.

Often the same verb can denote a number of different situations. Below are verbs used in several different ways. Analyze using the four inherent features of verbs.

a.
HEAR

I heard a strange noise.

I hear well.

I heard a Mozart symphony last night.

I hear the waves.

b.
LIE

The book is lying on the desk.

He is lying on the bed.

Then he lay down.

c.
HELP

She is helping him.

She is helping him wash the car.

d.
IDENTIFY

He finally identified the insect.

She identifies with her idol.

e.
DRESS

She dresses well.

It took ten minutes for her to dress.

f.
SINK

The house is sinking.

The ship is sinking

g.
REGRET

She regrets her words.

She regretted it as soon as she said it.

h.
TASTE

The dinner tastes good.

He bent over and tasted the soup.

Then he tasted the mint in the drink.

3.

Any particular verb may fit into a number of different syntactic contexts, and as a result may form different situation types. For example, the verb write may appear in a sentence of the form N – V (He is writing) or N – V – N (He writes songs), both of which are activities. Or it may appear in a sentence of the form N – V – PP (He writes on the board), which is likewise an activity

Answer the following using the verb play.

a.
i.

Give a sentence of the form N – V (– N) which is an activity.

ii.

Give a sentence of the form N – V – PP which is an activity.

iii.

Give a sentence of the form N – V – Prt which is an activity.

b.
i.

Give a sentence of the form N – V – N [+COUNT] [+SINGULAR] which is an accomplishment.

ii.

Give a sentence of the form N – V – N [+COUNT] [+PLURAL] which is an accomplishment.

iii.

Give a sentence of the form N – V – PP which is an accomplishment.

c.

Give a sentence of the form N – V – N [–COUNT] which is an activity.

4.

Answer the questions in (3) in respect to the verb read.

1.
a. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
b. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
c. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
d. [–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [±VOLUNTARY]
(bumping may be either intentional or not)
e. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
f. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
g. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
h. [–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
i. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
(Presumably, coughing is involuntary in this case, though in He coughed to catch her attention, it is voluntary.)
j. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
k. [–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
l. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
m. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
(Engagement might seem [+TELIC] since it leads up to marriage, but even if marriage does not occur, the couple can be said to have been engaged.)
n. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
o. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
p. [–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
q. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
r. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
s. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
(Although drinking (to excess) is voluntary and durative, getting drunk is not really voluntary but is a change of state that simply happens.)
2.
a. [–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
b. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
c. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
d. [–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
[+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
e. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
f. [–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
g. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
h. [+STATIVE] [+DURATIVE] [–TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [+VOLUNTARY]
[–STATIVE] [–DURATIVE] [+TELIC] [–VOLUNTARY]
3.
a.
i.

Adele is playing (the piano).

ii.

Adele played on the piano.

iii.

Adele played on.

b.
i.

Adele played a game of chess.

ii.

Adele played two sets of tennis.

iii.

Adele played from 3 o’clock to 4 o’clock.

c.

Adele played popular music on the piano.

4.
a.

i.

Adrian read yesterday.

ii.

Adrian read in the novel.

iii.

Adrian read on.

b.

i.

Adrian read a novel.

ii.

Adrian read two novels.

iii.

Adrian read to the end of the novel.

Adrian read out the words. (actually N B V B Prt B N)

c.

Adrian read science fiction.