Homework 4

1.

i. Try doing semantic decomposition of the words dog, puppy, cat and kitten.

ii. How are the pairs do-puppy and cat-kitten different from man-boy and woman-girl?

2. Each of the following examples contains a conversational implicature.

a) A: Have you washed the floor and done the dishes?

B: I’ve washed the floor

b) A: Did you get hold of Carl yet?

B: I tried to call him yesterday

c) A: What did you think of the movie?

B: Well, the supporting actor was great.

d) A: Do you have any pets?

B: I have two cats.

What is the implicature of each example?

3. Look at the Assamese data below:

i. ei-to tar ghor

this-det his house

“This is his house”

ii. xei-to tar ghor

that-det his house

“That is his house” (not visible to the speaker)

iii. xou-to tar ghor

that-det his house

“That is his house” (visible to the speaker)

How do the Assamese that differ from the English that?

4. Read the joke below:

Recently, the Psychic Hotline and Psychic Friends Network have launched hotlines for frogs. Here is the story of one frog and his discussing with his psychic. A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline and is told, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."

The frog says, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?"
"No," says the psychic. "Next semester, in her biology class."

What makes it funny? How does this joke violate different MAXIMS?