8.1.x. Exercise questions

1. Analyze the sentences below in as much detail as possible. For the most practice using existentials, avoid using universals in your analyses.
  a. Someone is missing.
  b. No one found the loot.
  c. There is a tavern in the town.
  d. Some winner of the lottery has not come forward.
  e. Tod watched a dance troop from India.
  f. The search turned up no car fitting the description.
  g. There is a button behind you that will open the door.
  h. If Tom doesn’t find anything, he’ll be disappointed.
  i. Al went to a restaurant no one he knew had heard of.
2. Synthesize idiomatic English sentences that express the propositions associated with the logical forms below by the intensional interpretations that follow them.
  a. ∃x Bx [B: λx (x is burning)]
  b. (∃x: Px) Axd [A: λxy (x is at y); P: λx (x is a person); d: the door]
  c. (∃x: Fx) Rtx [F: λx (x is a fire); R: λxy (x reported y); t: Tamara]
  d. ¬ (∃x: Px ∧ Nxr) Kxs [K: λxy (x knew y); N: λxy (x was in y); r: the room; s: Sam]
  e. (∃x: Vx) (Tvx ∧ Sx) [S: λx (x shattered); T: λxy (x touched y); V: λx (x is a vase); v: Vic]
  f. ∃x (Hx ∧ Ljx) [H: λx (x had happened); L: λxy (x left to deal with y); j: Jane]
  g. ∃x (Fax ∧ Rbx) [F: λxy (x forgot y); R: λxy (x remembered y); a: Ann; b: Bill]
  h. (∃x: Fx ∧ Hx) Dix [D: λxy (x detected y); F: λx (x was fast); H: λx (x was heavy); i: the instrument]
Glen Helman 25 Aug 2005