问答题 How would you describe the oddness of the following sentences, using semantic features?(浙江大学2004研)(a)The television drank my water.(b)His dog writes poetry.
【正确答案】正确答案:(a)The verb drink represents a behavior of the animate beings, therefore, it is required that the subject of this verb should have a semantic feature as(+ ANIMATE), however, the word television, which is in position of subject, has an opposite feature:(- ANIMATE). That"s why such a collocation results in oddness. (b)The action of writing poetry is normally one which only human beings could do, therefore, the subject is required to have a semantic feature as(+ HUMAN); however, the word dog in the subject position is featured as(-HUMAN). Therefore, the sentence is odd.
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