English 421
Semantics and Pragmatics
Sentences vs. Utterances Notes
Goals/Objectives:
1) To examine the differences between sentences vs. utterances and to practice a bit
Questions/Main Ideas
(Please write these down as
Sentences vs. Utterances
you think of them)
Read/say the following out loud:
Virtue is its own reward
Now say it out loud again
The same sentence was involved in the two readings, but you made two different
utterances, i.e. two unique physical events took place
Sentences vs. Utterances
An utterance is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is silence on
the part of that person
An utterance is the USE by a particular speaker, on a particular occasion, of a piece of
language, such as a sequence of sentences, or a single phrase, or even a single word
Sentences vs. Utterances
Now decide whether the following could represent utterances
1) ‘Hello’
Yes
2) ‘Not much’
Yes
Sentences vs. Utterances
3) ‘Utterances may consist of a single word, a single phrase or a single sentence. They may
also consist of a sequence of sentences. It is not unusual to find utterances that consist of one
or more grammatically incomplete sentence-fragments. In short, there is no simple relation
of correspondence between utterances and sentences.’
Yes
Sentences vs. Utterances
4) ‘pxgotmgt’
From a linguistic analysis point-of-view, no – this string of sounds is not from any language
5) ‘schplotzenpflagaaaaargh’
No, for the same reason
Sentences vs. Utterances
Utterances are physical events. Events are ephemeral. Utterances die on the wind.
A Sentence is neither a physical event nor a physical object.
It is, conceived abstractly, a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a
language
Sentences vs. Utterances
A sentence can be thought of as the IDEAL string of words behind various realizations in
utterances and inscriptions.
Here are some questions to help differentiate:
1) Do all (authentic) performances of Macbeth begin by using the same sentence?
Yes
Sentences vs. Utterances
2) Do all (authentic) performances of Macbeth begin with the same utterance?
No
3) Does it make sense to talk of the time and place of a sentence?
No
Sentences vs. Utterances
4) Does it make sense to talk of the time and place of an utterance?
Yes
5) Can one talk of a loud sentence?
No
6) Can one talk of a loud utterance?
Yes
Sentences vs. Utterances
Loosely defined, a sentence is a string of words
A given sentence always consists of the same words, and in the same order
For the purposes of linguistic analysis, any change in the words, or in the word order, makes
a different sentence
Sentences vs. Utterances
It would make sense to say that an utterance was in a particular accent
However, it would not make strict sense to say that a sentence was in a particular accent,
because a sentence itself is only associated with a phonetic characteristic such as accent and
voice quality through a speaker’s act of uttering it
Sentences vs. Utterances
Accent and voice quality belong strictly to the utterance, not to the sentence uttered
Here’s another wrinkle: Not all utterances are actually tokens of sentences, but sometimes
only of parts of sentences, e.g. phrases or single words
Sentences vs. Utterances
A more formal definition of a sentence can be – a grammatically complete string of words
expressing a complete thought
This very traditional definition is unfortunately vague, but it is hard to arrive at a better one
for the purposes of semantic/pragmatic analysis
Sentences vs. Utterances
It is intended to exclude any string of words that does not have a verb in it, as well as other
strings
I would like a cup of coffee is a sentence
Coffee, please is not a sentence
In the kitchen is not a sentence
Sentences vs. Utterances
Please put it in the kitchen is a sentence
Which of the following are whole sentences (S) and which are not (NS)
1) ‘John’
NS
2) ‘Who is there?’
S
Sentences vs. Utterances
3) ‘Mine’
NS
4) ‘It’s mine’
S
5) ‘Where shall I . . . ?’
NS
Sentences vs. Utterances
Utterances of non-sentences, e.g. short phrases or single words, are used by people in
communication all the time
People do not converse wholly in well-formed sentences
But the abstract idea of a sentence is the basis for understanding even those expressions
which are not sentences
Sentences vs. Utterances
In the overwhelming majority of cases, the meanings of non-sentences can best be analyzed
by considering them to be abbreviations, or incomplete versions, of whole sentences
Here are some example conversations
In each case the second utterance is not a full sentence
Sentences vs. Utterances
Come up with a full sentence expressing the intended meaning more fully
1) Magnus: ‘When did Shakespeare die?’
Fred: ‘In 1616’
What is the full sentence that the utterance is based on? (that is, what does your intuition tell
you the full sentence is?)
Sentences vs. Utterances
2) Hostess: ‘Would you like tea or coffee?’
Guest: ‘Coffee, please’
The full sentence?
3) Teacher: ‘Who won the battle of Waterloo?’
Student: ‘Wellington’
The full sentence?
Sentences vs. Utterances
Ultimately, then, to give a full account of “meaning,” semantics must be concerned with the
meanings of non-sentences, such as phrases and incomplete sentences, just as much as whole
sentences
Summary/Minute Paper: