Semantics I acknowledgements
The Quantifiers All and Some
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| 4. 9. 2 The Quantifiers All and Some The existential quantifier all (to give them their usual name, leech noted that they are the type of contrast called an inverse opposition. The rules are illustrated as : 1. (not : (a . all : (a : Pa. some (not : (a : P The mark means there is a relation of synonymy. Example Not all paint is soluble Some paint is not soluble. A in the rule is argument, Pis predicate. As we see in the example all paint and is soluble. (not : (a. some. (a : Pa. all. (not : (a : P ))) SEMANTICS Page Example Nobody is perfect. Every body is not perfect. (i.e. Every person is imperfect). If we notice, this example is not fixed to the rule. Our example should be Not some persons are perfect >< All people are not perfect. (the mark >< means no relation of synonymy). We can analyze, the first has no relation of synonymy with the second. Not some people are perfect is not grammatical. Suppose it is, the meaning is that some people are perfect. While ; All people are perfect means that No people are perfect. Why then leech used nobody in the scope of some The reason is, if we interpret the no of nobody to mean not + any, any being the form which some takes when it is within the scope of negation, thus no is seen to be equivalent to not + some. On the other hand, every of everybody is a universal quantifier in combination with singular meaning. If the case that no of nobody interpreted as not + any (on apart with not + some, the rule will not be on effect. In other words, that it cannot be applied as general rule. As we have proved above that the relation of synonymy does not exist. Therefore, the rule is just fixed if we interpreted anything to mean something. If it is not done the type of contrast or inverse opposition still occurs. In these two examples Not all girls like sailors. All nice girls do not like sailors. Are found the negations of which they are the negation of All nice girls like sailor. SEMANTICS Page According to Leech, the first negation expresses the true negation, because its meaning is inconsistent with that the corresponding positive sentence. He applied the term of scope in this, where the first negation : the quantifier is in the scope of negative, whereas the second ; the negative is in the scope of the quantifier. If the first sentence (Not all girls like sailor) is inconsistence with its positive, the second is also the same. The differences is that ; Not all girls like sailors means some girls like sailors, whereas All nice girls do not like sailors means ; No girl likes sailor . Download 332.89 Kb. Share with your friends:
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