Name: Muhammad Younus

Enrollment No: 02-117211-057

Class: BS English 4 B
Subject: Semantics
Assignment#07

Q1:
Ans: Deictic words (deictics)
○ Deictic words are the type of words which are used during utterances, and
who’s ‘meanings’ vary systematically according to the ‘person’ using them, or
the ‘time’ in which they are used. Whenever a setting will change, the
meaning of deictic words will change. The context plays a very important role
in determining the meaning of deictic words, such as ‘Get lost’ uttered
between friends, and ‘Get lost’ uttered by the employee’s boss. So, the
elements upon which the deictic words (spoken during an utterance) depend,
are stated as follows:
■ the speaker
■ the addressee (to whom the speaker ‘speaks’ or ‘refers to’ when talking
about something)
■ the time
■ the place

● Reported speech
○ Reported speech is meant by the act of telling a person about what someone
else has said, whether in ‘exact’ manner, or a much ‘simplified’ manner.
These types can be classified as ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ speech. In the former,
the speaker uses quotation marks to tell the exact wordings about one person,
to another, whereas the latter scenario makes the speaker convey the
information with his own interpretation, without the exact wordings aka
quotation marks.
○ When a reported speech is uttered, there are deictic terms within it (such as
today, tomorrow, here, there, etc).
○ So when a direct speech is uttered, the deictic terms remain the same.
○ But when an indirect speech is uttered, the deictic terms are likely to be
translated into non-deictic terms (for the sake of keeping the original
reference intact and preserved.)
■ Example:
● Direct: — Sahar said, “I will meet you tomorrow!”
● Indirect: — Sahar said that she will meet me the next day.

● Context
○ In a classroom setting, all people are in the universe of discourse of
semantics. This universe of discourse has subcomponents, having facts such
as
■ The topic of conversation: Deixis + pronouns, adverbs, tenses, direct &
indirect speech
■ The situation of conversation taking place: a student forgot his mobile
phone, the room is humid, the students are sleepy
○ The ‘context’ of an utterance is meant by the small subpart (subcomponent) of
the universe of discourse, which is shared by the speaker and the hearer.
○ The ‘context’ includes the facts about the topic of the conversation which is
taking place between the speaker and the hearer, all of WHICH occur within
an utterance.
○ The ‘context’ also includes the facts about the situation in which the
conversation itself is taking place.

● Definiteness
○ Definiteness is meant by the notion existing in the field of semantics and
pragmatics, where the use of the definite article ‘the’ is used to signify a
particular object.
○ Definiteness is a feature of noun phrase which is selected by a speaker to
convey his assumption that the hearer / addressee would be able to identify
the referent of the noun phrase.
○ Example:
■ That book
● This is a definite noun phrase
● It is able to be appropriately used when the speaker assumes
that the hearer / addressee can tell / does know which book is
being referred to.
■ She — a personal pronoun (Noun Phrase)
■ The Earth — unique in the normal universe of discourse
Q2:
Ans;
● The following parts of speech function as deictics:
○ Personal Pronouns
■ I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them

○ Demonstratives
■ This, that, these, those

○ Adverbs
■ Adverbs of Place:
● Near, there, here, somewhere, inside, outside, ahead, away, top,
high, bottom, up, down, left, right, east, west, north, south, etc.
■ Adverbs of Time:
● Now, then, today, yesterday, tomorrow, late, early, tonight,
again, soon etc.

○ Verbs aka Deictic Motion Verbs (indicating motion towards / away from
something)
■ Go, bring, take, carry, arrive, walk, run, swim, fly, drag, haul, heave,
heft, hoist, kick, lug, pull, push, schlep, shove, tote, tow, tug. barge,
bus, cart, drive, ferry, fly, row, shuttle, truck, wheel, wire (money)

○ Prepositions
■ Above, across, along, among, around, at, behind, below, beside, close
to, over, through, toward, up, down, between, by, inside, in, near, next
to, on, onto, off, past, under

○ Tenses
■ Past, present, future
● Sarah will go to school in 2025 — utterance before event
● My parents got married in 1995 — utterance after event
● I am going to visit the Northern areas — utterance before
event
● He is living in Italy — utterance at the time of event
Q3:
Ans:
● Deictic words are definitely a useful device in language, rather than burdening the
speaker. The reason is that WITHOUT deictic words, the communicative needs of
language users cannot be served or fulfilled. This is why all existing languages in the
world have deictic terms.
● Illustration / Example:
○ With Deictic Words: I will bring the tea to the table
○ Without Deictic Words: I will ___ the tea to the table
● Conclusion:
○ It is evident from the example above, that without the usage of deictic words,
such as bring (verb) from normal utterances would not help the speaker and
addressee understand the meaning of the utterance fully i.e. there would not
Be any sense involved.
Q4:
Ans:
a. You noticed me standing there
● You - a personal pronoun, pointing towards the addressee
● Me - a personal pronoun, pointing towards the speaker
● There - an adverb of place, pointing towards a particular place far from the
speaker

b. This book was written by that author over there

● This - a demonstrative, pointing towards a particular object (book)
● That - a demonstrative, pointing towards a particular person (author)
● There - an adverb of place, pointing towards a particular place far from the
speaker

c. Just set your briefcase to the right of mine

● Your - a possessive pronoun, pointing towards a particular object (briefcase)
belonging to someone (addressee)
● Right - an adverb of place, pointing towards a direction that leads to an object
(briefcase)
● Mine - a possessive pronoun, pointing towards a particular object (briefcase)
belonging to someone (speaker)

d. Now we have to make plans for next week

● Now - an adverb of time, pointing towards a particular point in time (now)
● We - a personal pronoun, pointing towards a particular person(s) (we)
● Next week - an adverb of time, pointing towards a particular point in time
(next week)

e. Her best friend was standing behind John

● Her - a possessive pronoun, pointing towards a particular object (bestfriend)
belonging to someone (her, third person)
● Behind - a preposition, pointing towards a particular direction of an object (her
best friend)

f. All the guests arrived two hours ago

● Arrived - a verb of past tense, pointing towards the appearance of an object
(all the guests)
● Two hours ago - an adverb of time, pointing towards a particular point in time
when the object (all the guests) appeared at the place where the speaker
supposedly is present at.

Q5:
Ans:
a. Fred: ‘I will do that assignment tomorrow.’
i. Fred said that he would do that assignment the next day.
b. Mary: ‘I don’t see any good books here.’
i. Mary said that she did not see any good books there.
c. Fred: ‘Why couldn’t you help me last week?’
i. Fred asked why Mary could not helped him that week.

Q6:
Ans:
● No, it is NOT POSSIBLE to know the truth value of a sentence (containing a deictic
expression) WITHOUT considering the context (in which it is uttered). The reason
lies with the fact that when individual sentences are read (exactly as they are), such as
“You are rubbing your nose!” then we are not able to actually perceive the content of
the utterance with the present situation that we are in.
○ You - implies that I, am rubbing my nose
■ And that is NOT the truth (when the context is not considered)
● If such an expression is used in a hypothetical situation of utterance, then we can
know the truth value of the sentence BUT WITH the context in which it is uttered. It
cannot be understood or perceived correctly IF the context / background of the
hypothetical situation of utterance is NOT considered.
● Therefore, the truth value of a sentence depends entirely on the day / time in which it
is uttered by the speaker, to the addressee.

Q7:
Ans: The appropriateness of the definite article ‘the’ and the indefinite articles ‘a / an’ is
dependent upon the context in which it is used.
● When something is introduced for the first time in a conversation, then it is
appropriate to use the indefinite article ‘a / an’.
● When something is already established within the context of the conversation, then it
is appropriate to use the definite article ‘the’.
● To simply put it:
○ Definite article ‘the’ is appropriate to use when the speaker and the addressee
/ hearer already know the exact entity (person, place, object) which is referred
to, in a context.
○ Indefinite article ‘a’ is appropriate to use when the speaker and the addressee
/ hearer DO NOT know the exact entity (person, place, object) which is being
referred to, in a context.

Q8:
Ans:
a. ‘I have to read an article for class tomorrow.’
● Appropriate Context: The addressee / hearer is not aware of a particular
article which is to be read by the speaker. It is probable that the speaker may
also not know of the particular article which is to be read by him.
● Inappropriate Context: The addressee / hearer is aware of a particular
article which is to be read by the speaker.

b. ‘Mary wants to check out the book.’

● Appropriate Context: The hearer / addressee is aware of the particular book
that Mary (a third person) wishes to check out.
● Inappropriate Context: The hearer / addressee and / or the speaker are NOT
aware of the particular book that Mary (a third person) wishes to check out.

c. ‘Did you meet her at a university?’

● Appropriate Context: The hearer / addressee is NOT aware of the particular
university which is being referred to by the speaker. The speaker is also most
likely to NOT be aware of the particular university which is being referred to
by himself
● Inappropriate Context: The hearer / addressee is aware of the particular
university which is mentioned by the speaker. The speaker is also aware which
university he is mentioning in the context of the conversation.

Q9:
Ans:
● The is not the only word that signals definiteness. Noun phrases stated and
categorised as follows, do signal definiteness.
○ Proper names: Samra, Ashaz, Noor
○ Personal pronouns: I, she, he
○ Possessive pronouns: mine, his, hers, theirs
○ Demonstratives: this, that [written before noun phrases]
Q10:
Ans:
● Yes, all definite noun phrases are referring expressions as they both specify and point
towards a particular ‘referent’, that is known by the speaker, as well as the addressee.
However, all noun phrases with the definite article ‘the’ must not be assumed to
ALWAYS be semantically ‘definite’.
● Generic sentences are sentences containing an unrestricted class of individuals, rather
than just a particular individual. So, the articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ are frequently used
within generic sentences. It is important to know that since generic sentences do not
point towards a particular individual, they DO NOT have a referent within them.
● Normally, when the article ‘the’ is used, many assume the noun phrase written after
it, points towards a particular thing [a referent]. But in the case of generic sentences,
this is NOT the case, as the hearer / addressee is not able to identify the referent,
because there is no referent (any specific object).
● Example:
○ The bird flies
○ The water is transparent
○ The shark has sharp teeth
○ The tulip is a flower
○ The diamond is carbon allotrope
○ Superstore is abundant in keeping the fish

Q11
Ans:
a. ‘I just drove a car through a plate glass window.’
i. THIS ONE to Police — as the police do not know which car is being referred
to, neither do they know which plate glass window is being referred to [not
until AFTER it is reported].
b. ‘I just drove the car through a plate glass window.’
i. THIS ONE to Parents — as the parents know which car is being referred to,
BUT NOT which plate glass window is being referred to [not until AFTER
they are told details about it, by their child who crashed the car].
c. ‘I just drove a car through the plate glass window.’
d. ‘I just drove the car through the plate glass window.’

Q14:
Ans: It tells the place of the speaker going is used when what’s the position of the speaker at
the time of utterance that means the speaker is not at the desired place.

a. I just called to see if you will be coming to see me tomorrow

● Come conveys the notion of ‘towards the speaker’.
● Now, the reason why the speaker uses ‘come’ is because the addressee / hearer
will be ‘coming’ aka moving towards the speaker’s location tomorrow.

b. I just called to see if you will be going to see me tomorrow

● Go conveys the notion of ‘away from the speaker’.
● At the time of utterance, the speaker is not at the place where he intends to be
tomorrow.
● The speaker is using ‘go’ as he is referring to a location where the speaker,
and the addressee, will be separately travelling towards, to meet each other.
● The phenomena of psychological shifting is taking place here.

c. She asked me to come to her party, but I didn’t go

● ‘I’ denotes the speaker of indirect speech as 1st person
● ‘She’ and ‘her’ denotes the 3rd person, as the utterer of the direct speech

● Come conveys the notion of ‘towards the 3rd person’ who invited the 1st
person speaker to her party.
○ So this 3rd person (as a speaker), invited the 1st person (speaker of
indirect speech) to a location where the 3rd person was already at, at
the time of utterance.
○ The invitation was made when the 3rd person was present at the
location, where the 1st person was invited at.
○ Therefore, the first clause is an indirect form of speech.

● Go conveys the notion of ‘moving towards a place / location’ where the 1st
person speaker was invited by the 3rd person.
○ So this 1st person (as a speaker) confesses that she did not oblige to the
invitation and move towards where she was invited at.
○ The 1st person did not move away from her current location to go to
the 3rd person’s party.

d. Please come in
● Come conveys the notion of ‘allowing or requesting a 2nd person/addressee to
move to a location that is towards the speaker’
● So basically, the speaker is asking the addressee/hearer to move towards the
speaker.

e. Please go in
● Go conveys the notion of ‘allowing or requesting a 2nd person/addressee to
move to a location that is away from the speaker’
● So basically, the speaker is asking the addressee/hearer to move away from the
speaker.
f. Don’t bring any food with you
● Bring conveys the notion of ‘carrying some object with the 2nd person /
addressee towards the speaker’
● So basically, the speaker is indicating that the hearer / addressee is told to not
carry any food towards the location of the speaker.

The End