6.2.x. Exercise questions

1. Analyze each of the following sentences in as much detail as possible.
a. Reagan’s vice president was the 41st president.
  b. Tom found a fly in his soup and he called the waiter.
  c. Tom found the book everyone had talked to him about and he bought a copy of it.
d. Wabash College is located in Crawfordsville, which is the seat of Montgomery County.
e. Sue and Tom set the date of their wedding but didn’t decide on its location.
2. Synthesize idiomatic English sentences that express the propositions associated with the logical forms below by the intensional interpretations that follow them.
a. (Sab ∧ ¬ Sa(fc)) → ¬ b = fc
[S: λxy (x has spoken to y); f: λx (x’s father); a: Ann; b: Bill; c: Carol]
b. (B(fa)(mb) ∨ S(ma)(fb)) → Cab
[B: λxy (x is a brother of y); C: λxy (x and y are cross-cousins); S: λxy (x is a sister of y); f: λx (x’s father); m: λx (x’s mother); a: Ann; b: Bill]
c. Pab(m(sb)(sc)) ∧ Pac(m(sb)(sc))
[P: λxyz (x persuaded y to accept z); m: λxy (the best compromise between x and y); s: λx (x ’s proposal); a: Ann; b: Bill; c: Carol]
Glen Helman 25 Aug 2005