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🔠intro to semantics and pragmatics review

key term - Goal

Citation:

Definition

In semantics, a goal refers to the intended outcome or destination that a participant aims to achieve in a given event or action. It plays a significant role in predicate-argument structure by helping to clarify the relationships between verbs and their arguments, particularly in understanding actions and their respective purposes.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

  1. Goals can be expressed through various grammatical structures, including infinitives and prepositional phrases, which indicate what the agent is trying to achieve.
  2. In predicate-argument structure, understanding the goal helps to determine how different participants are involved in an action and how they relate to the outcome.
  3. The concept of goals is essential for analyzing sentences involving verbs that imply intentions, such as 'want,' 'try,' or 'plan.'
  4. Goals can vary in specificity; for instance, one might have a general goal like 'to travel' or a more specific goal like 'to visit Paris.'
  5. Analyzing goals helps clarify ambiguities in sentences, especially when multiple potential outcomes are possible based on different interpretations of the goal.

Review Questions

  • How does understanding the goal in a predicate-argument structure enhance our comprehension of a sentence's meaning?
    • Understanding the goal within predicate-argument structure is crucial because it clarifies what the agent intends to achieve through their actions. By identifying the goal, we can better interpret how different elements in the sentence interact with one another. For example, if we know someone’s goal is to finish a project, we understand not only their motivation but also how other participants relate to that action.
  • In what ways can goals differ in complexity or specificity, and how does this affect sentence interpretation?
    • Goals can differ significantly in complexity or specificity, impacting how we interpret sentences. A broad goal like 'to improve' lacks detail and may lead to multiple interpretations, while a specific goal like 'to win the championship' gives clear direction. This distinction is essential when analyzing language because it influences expectations about what an agent will do and how they will do it.
  • Evaluate the role of goals in determining sentence structure and how they contribute to overall meaning-making in communication.
    • Goals play a critical role in determining sentence structure as they guide the selection of verbs and arguments used in communication. When constructing sentences, speakers often tailor their language to reflect specific goals, shaping how information is presented. By evaluating how goals influence linguistic choices, we gain insights into not just what is being communicated but also why certain structures are chosen over others, enhancing our understanding of meaning-making processes in language.