ENG502 Final Term Solved Papers Fall 2020 by Maha Malik

Q. Syntax (Topic 123)

The word ‘syntax’ comes originally from Greek and literally means ‘a putting together’ or arrangement. There was an attempt to produce an accurate description of the sequence or ordering ‘arrangement’ of elements in the linear structure of the sentence. In the more recent attempts to analyze syntactic structure, there has been a greater focus on the underlying rule system that we used to produce or ‘generate’ sentences.

Q. Tree Diagram (Topic 133)

The most common way to create a visual representation of syntactic structures is through tree diagrams. We can use the symbols introduced (Art=article, N = noun, NP = noun phrase) to label parts of the tree as we try to capture the hierarchical organization of those parts in the underlying structure of phrases and sentences. At the top of the tree diagram, we begin with a sentence (S), and divide it into two constituents (NP and VP). In turn, the NP constituent is divided into two other constituents (Art and N) and VP into V and NP. At the top of the tree diagram, we begin with a sentence (S) and divide it into two constituents (NP and VP). In turn, the NP constituent is divided into two other constituents (Art and N).

Q. Two Phrase Structure Rule: (Topic 134)

These are the rules that form phrases of different types e.g., noun phrase, verb phrase, and adjective phrase etc. A tree diagram can have two different ways: simply as a static representation of the structure of the sentence shown at the bottom of the tree diagram. Every single sentence can have a tree diagram. The other one is the dynamic format which is a way of generating not only that particular sentence, but a very large number of other sentences with similar structures. This second approach is very appealing because it would enable us to generate a very large number of sentences with what looks like a very small number of rules. These rules are called phrase structure rules.

These rules state that the structure of a phrase of a specific type will consist of one or more constituents in a particular order. Phrase structure rules present the information of the tree diagram in another format.

•  S → NP VP
•  NP → {Art (Adj) N, Pro, PN}
•  VP → V NP (PP) (Adv)
•  PP → Prep NP

Q. Types of Meaning (Topic 141)

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. There is more interest in certain aspects of meaning than in others. There are different types of meanings. We can have the following types of meaning:

•  Lexical meaning refers to the meaning of words that belong to one of the four lexical word classes. It is the aspect of meaning usually given in a dictionary.
•  Grammatical meaning includes the meaning of grammatical items (e.g., function words and inflectional affixes), grammatical functions (e.g., subject and object), and different sentence-types (e.g., declarative and interrogative). Taking into account certain non- linguistic aspects of meaning, Geoffrey Leech (1981) lists seven different types of meaning.
•  Referential meaning (also called denotative meaning, descriptive meaning, conceptual meaning, or sense) refers to the logical, cognitive, or denotative content of an expression.
•  Connotative meaning (associative meaning) denotes the associations and secondary meanings the expression evokes.
•  Social meaning (stylistic meaning) is the information that the linguistic expression conveys about certain social characteristics.
•  Emotive or affective component of the expression is referred to as its affective meaning. Social meaning and affective meaning together are sometimes called connotation.
•  Reflected meaning refers to certain associations with another sense of the same expression, whereas collocative meaning (collocation) is conveyed by characteristic word combinations.
•  Thematic meaning denotes the organization of a message in terms of information structure.

Q. briefly explain Denotative meaning (Topic 142)

Conceptual meaning or denotative meaning covers those basic, essential components of meaning that are conveyed by the literal use of a word. It is the type of meaning that dictionaries are designed to describe. Some of the basic components of a word like ‘needle’ in English might include “thin, sharp, steel instrument.” These components would be part of the conceptual meaning of needle. However, different people might have different associations or connotations attached to a word like needle. They might associate it with “pain,” or “illness,” or “blood,” or “drugs,” or “thread,” or “knitting,” or “hard to find” (especially in a haystack), and these associations may differ from one person to the next. These types of associations are not treated as part of the word’s conceptual meaning. In a similar way, some people may associate the expression low-calorie, when used to describe a product, with “healthy,” but this is not part of the basic conceptual meaning of the expression (i.e., “producing a small amount of heat or energy”).

Q. Connotatice mean? (Topic 143)

Write a brief note: Connotative meaning is what people think about two words and find whether it is possible or impossible for the word to have two different meanings from its denotative meaning. Based on it, the meaning depends on personal interpretation. Sometimes, people have the same or different thought. Sometimes when a word has both positive and negative sense value, the word is called a connotative meaning word. It is also pointed out that connotation meaning is subjective, in notion that there is a shift from common meaning because it has been added by sense and certain value, for example, bookworm is used for a person who always read books, with a negative sense. Connotative meaning is the communicative value that an expression has, by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content. It can vary from age to age, from society to society, and from individual to individual.

Q. explain Prosody (Topic 145)

Prosody is the study of the tune and rhythm of speech, and the way these features contribute to meaning. Prosody features apply to a level above that of the individual phoneme and very often to sequences of words. Speech contains various levels of information that can be described as;

•  Linguistic - direct expression of meaning
•  Paralinguistic - may indicate attitude or membership of a speech community
•  Non-linguistic - may indicate something about a speaker's vocal physiology, state of health or emotional state.

In linguistics, prosody is concerned with properties of syllables and larger units of speech. These contribute to linguistic functions such as intonation, tone, stress, and rhythm. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: The emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus or other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or by the choice of vocabulary.

Q. Role of instruments in Semantics: (Topic 150)

If an agent uses another entity in order to perform an action, that other entity fills the role of instrument.

•  The boy cut the rope with an old razor.
•  He drew the picture with a crayon.