Predicat

e
Property
 Referring
Expression
Questions:
• Who is the King of Brunei?
• What tells you the dates?
• What instruments do you use to send messages?
Answer
Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah
Calendar
Letter, whatsapp, Short massage, etc
 Referring
Expression
Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah, Calendar,
Letter, whatsapp, Short massage, etc
are referring Expression
A referring expression is any expression
used in an utterance to refer to
something or someone (or a clearly
delimited collection of things or people)
i.e. used with particular referent in mind.
(Referring Expression is word, or phrase
which refers to the real entity in the real
world)
Delete the referring
expression
1. My cats bits the postman
2. Mrs. Wenny is writing the mayor’s
speech
3. Cairo is in Africa
4. Singapore is between Indonesia and
Malaysia
5. John’s car is red
6. Einstain was genius
 Delete the referring
expression
(hapus referring expression
nya)
1. My cats bits the postman
2. Mrs. Wenny is writing the mayor’s
speech
3. Cairo is in Africa
4. Singapore is between Indonesia and
Malaysia
5. John’s car is red
6. Einstain was genius
 Remainder
(yang tersisa)
Remainder (tersisa)  Core (Inti)
1. bits bits
2. is writing writing
3. is in in
4. is between and between
5. is red red
6. was genius genius
The core are the predicator
 Predicator
• The predicator of a simple declarative
sentence is the word (or words) which
does not belongs to any of the
referring expression and which, of the
remainder, makes the most specific
contribution to the meaning of the
sentence
 Predicate
• A PREDICATE is any word (or
sequence of words) which (in a given
single sense) can function as the
predicator of a sentence
• Predicate properties
 SYMMETRIC
Do the pairs of sentences entail each other?
1.a. Kenya is different from Tanzania.
b. Tanzania is different from Kenya.
If it is true that Kenya is different from Tanzania, it is also
true that Tanzania is different from Kenya. The reverse
still follows. If Tanzania is different from Kenya, it is
also true that Kenya is different from Tanzania.

2 sentences with identical meaning  paraphrase

The predicate property is symmetric
 1.a. Kenya is different from
Tanzania.
b. Tanzania is different from
Kenya.

Given a two-place predicate P, if the

sentence XPY ENTAILS the sentence
YPX, so P is SYMMETRIC
DIFFERENT: x DIFFERENT y = y
DIFFERENT x
DIFFERENT = Symmetric
 ASYMMETRIC
What is the relation of the following sentences?
2.a. John is taller than Bill.
b. Bill is taller than John.
If it is true that John is taller than Bill, it is
impossible for Bill to be taller than John.

2 sentences with opposite meaning 

contradiction
The predicate property is Asymmetric
Given a two-place predicate P, if the
sentence XPY is a CONTRADICTORY of
YPX, then P is an ASYMMETRIC
predicate.
TALLER: x TALLER y  ~y TALLER x
TALLER = Asymmetric
 REFLEXIVE
This sentence is A/S/C?
3. John is as tall as himself.
Sentence (3) is automatically true as a
result of the relation of meaning
between John, as tall as, and himself.
1 sentence which is authomatically true
 synthetic.
The predicate property is Reflexive
• If the sentence XPX is ANALYTIC, then
P is a REFLEXIVE predicate
 Not Reflexive
4. John LOVES himself (A/S/C)
Sentence (4) can be true or false
depends on the reality in the real world
whether John loves himself or not.
1 sentence which can be true or false
depends on the real world  synthetic
The Predicate property is NOT reflexive
• If the sentence XPX can be true or
false depends on the real world
(synthetic), then P is a REFLEXIVE
predicate
 IRREFLEXIVE

5. Fred is SHORTER THAN himself

This sentence is automatically false, It is
impossible for Fred to be shorter than
himself.

1 sentence which is automatically false is

contradiction
The predicate property is Irreflexive
• If the sentence XPX is
CONTRADICTORY, then P is a
IRREFLEXIVE predicate
 TRANSITIVE
5.a. Jim is fatter than Ben and Ben is fatter than
Neil.
b. Jim is fatter than Neil

If it is true that Jim is fatter than Ben and Ben is

fatter than Neil, than it is also true that Jim is fatter
than Neil
BUT THE REVERSE DOES NOT FOLLOW
If we know that Jim is fatter than Neil, we cannot
conclude that Jim is fatter than Ben and Ben is
fatter than Neil
2 sentences which cannot be reversed  Entailment
The predicate property is Transitive
• If for any trio of referring expressions
X, Y, Z, the compound XPY and YPZ
ENTAILS the sentence XPZ then P is
TRANSITIVE
 INTRANSITIVE
7.a. Mary’s cat is the FATHER OF Gill’s cat and
Gill’s cat is the FATHER OF Gerald’s cat.
b. Mary’s cat is the FATHER OF Gerald’s cat.

If it is true that Mary’s cat is the FATHER OF Gill’s cat

and Gill’s cat is the FATHER OF Gerald’s cat, than it is
impossible that Mary’s cat is the FATHER OF Gerald’s
cat.
(because Mary’s cat is the grandfather of Gerald’s cat)
2 sentence with opposite meaning  contradiction
The predicate property is intransitive
• If for any trio of referring expressions
X, Y, Z, the compound XPY and YPZ is
a CONTRADICTORY of XPZ, then P is
INTRANSITIVE
 LATIHAN
What is the predicate properties of the
following items
1.a. Socrates was wiser than Plato, and Plato
was wiser than Aristotle.
b. Socrates was wiser than Aristotle
2. Mary is different from herself.
3. Jill admires herself.
4. I am as old as myself
5.a. Hans divorces Jilly
b. Jilly is divorced by Hans
6. The terorist explodes himself.
7. a. Naomi is slimmer than Julia, and
Julia is slimmer Jilly.
b. Jilly is slimmer than Naomi.
8. The paper is thinner than itself.
9. One of the earthquake victims helped
himself.
10. a. Elsa is slimmer than Anna, Anna
is slimmer than Betty
b. Betty is slimmer than Elsa
The end