ENG 227 Final, Fall 2003

Eng] 227 Fall 2003-2004 Prof. Lina Choueiri January 27, 2004 Final Exam Remember to pace yourself. Answer ALL the questions. Enjoy! PartI Short Answer Questions 1. Define the following terms and provide an example where it is relevant: (15 pss) Idiom, semantic role, metathesis 2. Think of three uses our society can make of speech synthesis. (9pss) 3, Garden Path sentences like While Mary was mending the sock fell off her lap have been related to bottom-up theories of language processing. Explain briefly how that can be the case. (10 pis) 4. We have observed three semantic relations among sentences: P(araphrase), E(ntailment), and C(ontradiction). Which of these relations is exemplified in each of the following pairs? (Hint: use N, for N(one}) (5pts) (a) All the boys went home. Some of the boys went to the movies. (b) I am from Russia. I speak Russian. (c) John remembered to send Mary a gift. John didn’t send Mary a gift. (d)John didn’t manage to reach the summit. John tried to reach the summit. (e) Flipper likes chocolate. Flipper is a chocolate lover. 5. The following utterances were made either by Broca’s aphasics ot Wetnicke’s aphasics. Explain briefly why you think which utterance is made by which type of aphasic. (12pés) a. Oh, ... if I could I would, and a sick old man diflined a sinter, minter. b. Words... words... words ... two, four, six, eight, ... blaze am he. c. Well... sunset... uh ... horses nine, no, uh, two, tails want swish... 6. For each of the following excerpts name a (Gricean) maxim that has been violated and explain how. What is the intended meaning in each case? (14pts) (a) Queen Victoria was made of iron. (b) A: Teheran’s in Turkey, isn’t it teacher? B: And London’s in Armenia, I suppose. (c) A: Excuse me —how much is this screwdriver? B: $9.95. The saw is $39.50, and the power drill there on the table is $89.00. (d) A: You’re soaked! It must be raining pretty hard outside. B: Youw’re a regular Sherlock Homes. Part IT Long Answer Question (35pss) Elements of language comprehension When it comes to language comprehension and understanding, people are by far superior to machines. This can partly be attributed to the fact that meaning is not always literal. Write a meaningful essay discussing the complexity of meaning making in language. You essay should include a discussion of the following points: (a) Two different types of evidence that meaning is not always literal (b) What other type of complexity do we have to resolve in order to understand linguistic input? (c) Provide an evidence from language processing experiments that show the complexity of language comprehension. (da) What do you think is the main problem that computers have to overcome in order to reach the level of humans in language comprehension?