# Q3a · Semantics, pragmatics and two ambiguities

Subject: Natural Language Processing

Exam: TEE

Reader: https://deep-learning-study-room.vercel.app/nlp/#tee/papers/legacy-r23/q3a

Canonical: https://deep-learning-study-room.vercel.app/read/nlp/tee/papers/legacy-r23--q3a/

Previous examination · complete worked answers

**Question. Differentiate semantics and pragmatics. Explain ambiguity in “Time flies like an arrow” and “He crushed the key to my heart”.** [10 marks]

### Answer

**Semantics** concerns conventional meaning and composition; **pragmatics** interprets an utterance using speaker intention and situation. “It is cold here” can semantically report temperature and pragmatically request closing a window.

| Sentence | Readings / cause |
| --- | --- |
| Time flies like an arrow | Ordinary reading: time(N) flies(V), with like an arrow as comparison. Alternative imperative: time(V) the flies(N) as one times an arrow; lexical-category and structural ambiguity. |
| He crushed the key to my heart | Literal key/crushing versus figurative destruction of affection or emotional access. Lexical/semantic ambiguity and metaphor need pragmatic context; there is no supplied situation proving a single intended reading. |