HW3 Answer Key and Score Distribution

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The HW3 answer key is now available. Just as before, I’ve put the answer key in the password-protected “Readings” section of our website. (Remember that the password is listed on the syllabus.) For those of you who have enjoyed our class discussions of the interactions between logic and pragmatic inferences, have a look at the discussion of the “unless” question–understanding the meaning of “unless” turns out to be trickier than you might have thought.

Here’s the overall class performance on HW3:

HW3 Distribution (65 points total; 36 assignments submitted)

Score…..# of Students

61-65…..11

56-60…..13

51-55…..7

40-50…..5

Reading for Tu 10/6 & Th 10/8: Levinson 4.0-4.2 (167-185)

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I’ve posted a PDF containing the entirety of Levinson, Chapter 4 in the “Readings” section.  For next week, read sections 4.0-4.2.

(Remember that the readings are password-protected.  You can find the password on your printed copy of the syllabus.)

The Levinson chapter deals with presupposition, a type of inference distinct from both entailment and implicature.  Next Tuesday, we’ll wrap up our discussion of propositional logic and implicature, and then take an initial look at presupposition.

Handout on Propositional Logic and Truth Tables

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I heard from some of you that today’s discussion of constructing truth tables went by a little too quickly for you to copy everything down into your notes.  Since this task figures prominently in your homework assignment for this Thursday, I’ve put together a brief handout on the topic.  It includes a full definition of the language of propositional logic, as well as the examples we went through today for constructing the truth tables for complex formulas.

Handout on PL and Truth Tables

Homework 2 Answer Key Now Posted

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The HW2 answer key is now available.  Just as before, I’ve put the answer key in the password-protected “Readings” section of our website.  (Remember that the password is listed on the syllabus.)

In the answer key, I’ve tried to address some of the more common errors that we saw in Part II (“Deriving Conversational Implicatures”).  In particular, I’ve given a lengthier discussion of why the implicature in (2) cannot be derived from Relevance.  (My in-class discussion of this was somewhat rushed, since I wanted to leave time to discuss conversational implicatures and perjury.)  I’ve also included some discussion of why the implicature in (4) cannot be derived from Quantity.

Finally, I also included  brief summary of the discussion re: conversational implicatures and perjury in Part III.