语言引论5

SemanticsThe meaning of languageDefinitionSemantics: the study of the linguistic meaning of morphemes, words, phrases and sentences▪Lexical semantics: the study of the meaning of words and the meaning relationships among words▪Phrasal/Sentential semantics: the study of the meaning of syntactic units larger than the wordLexical Semantics♦Word meaning (agreed-upon):▪All the speakers of a language share a basic vocabulary –the sounds and meanings of morphemes and words♦Lexicon:▪a speaker’s mental storeh ouse of information about words and morphemes; a speaker’s mental dictionarySemantic Properties♦Semantic properties:the components of meaning of a worde.g.:―human‖ is a semantic property of boy, girl, man, woman Semantic Properties♦Each word has different semantic properties▪e.g.: the word father has the properties ―human‖, ―male‖, ―adult‖ and ―parent‖♦The same semantic property may be part of the meaning of many words▪e.g.: ―young‖ is a semantic property of the words baby, puppy, and lamb♦The same semantic property may occur in words of different categories▪e.g.: ―female‖ is part of the meaning of the noun mother, of the verb breast-feed, and of the adjective pregnantSemantic Properties♦Words that share a semantic property are in a semantic class▪e.g.: the semantic class of ―male‖ words –father and bull♦Semantic classes may intersect▪e.g.: the class of words with the properties ―young‖ and ―female‖ –girl and filly♦The presence of one semantic property can be inferred from the presence or absence of another▪e.g.: words with the property of ―human‖ also have the property ―animate‖, and lack the property ―equine‖.Componential analysis♦Componential analysis defines the meaning of a lexical element in terms of semantic components or semantic features which are a formal or notational device that indicates the presence or absence of semantic properties by pluses and minusese.g.:♦father= +human +male –young +parent♦woman= +human –male –young♦girl= +human –male +young♦mare= – human –male –young +equineSense and Reference♦Sense (intension)▪Sense relates to the complex system of relationships that hold between the words themselves; it is concerned only with intra-linguistic relations.♦Reference (extension)▪Reference deals with the relationship between the words (symbol) and the things (referent).Semantic TriangleThe ―symbol‖ of a word signifies the ―thing‖ by virtue of the ―concept‖ associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker.Sense and Reference♦Two different noun phrases may have the same referent, but differ in sense (coreferential)e.g.: ―the morning star‖ and ―the evening star‖♦The reference of a noun phrase can vary, but its sense is more enduringe.g.: ―the president of the United State‖——―head of state of the United States of America‖ vs. Obama♦Some noun phrases lack a reference but have sensee.g.: ―By the year 3000, our descendants will have left Earth.‖Sense Relationships♦Synonymy♦Antonymy♦Hyponymy♦Homonymy♦Polysemy♦MetonymySynonymy♦Synonymy:▪sameness or close similarity of meaning♦Synonyms:▪Words that sound different but have the same or nearly the same meaninge.g.: A sign in the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal ParkSynonymy♦The degree of semantic similarity between words depends largely on the number of semantic properties they share▪Partial synonymye.g.: deep & profound▪Words that are ordinarily opposites can mean the same thing in certain contextse.g.: a fat chance & a slim chance♦Lexical paraphrase:▪the use of synonyms in otherwise identical sentencesAntonymy♦Antonymy:▪oppositeness of meaning♦Antonyms:▪words that are opposite in meaning♦Antonyms share all but one semantic property▪The property they don’t share is present in one and absent in the other.Antonymy♦Different kinds of oppositeness:▪Complementary pairs•The denial of the one implies the assertion of the other, and the assertion of one implies the denial of the othere.g.: alive/dead, present/absent, awake/asleep▪Gradable pairs•The antonyms are gradable, because there are often intermediate forms between the pairse.g.: happy/sad, big/small, hot/cold▪Relational opposites•The antonyms exhibit a reversal of relationship between them and display symmetry in their meaninge.g.: buy/sell, employer/employee, teacher/studentAntonymy♦Formation of antonyms▪Add the prefix un-,non-,in-, mis-, dis-, etc.e.g.:likely/unlikelyentity/nonentitytolerant/intolerantbehave/misbehaveplease/displeaseAntonymy♦Autoantonyms:Some words are their own antonyms.e.g.:cleave: to split apart/to cling togetherdust: to remove something/to spread something♦Antiautonyms:Words with negative prefixes have the same or nearly the same meaning as the original forms.e.g.:flammable/inflammablevaluable/invaluableExercise:identify the kinds of antonymy in the followin g pairs♦male/female♦single/married♦old/young♦fast/slow♦give/receive♦husband/wife♦true/false♦high/low♦above/belowHyponymy♦Hyponymy:▪The relationship of hyponymy is between the more general term and the more specific instances of it♦Hyponyms:▪When X is a kind of Y, the lower term X (which is more specific) is the hyponym, and the upper term Y (which is more general) is the superordinate▪Two hyponyms having the same superordinate are called co-hyponyms♦The notion of meaning inclusion♦A matter of class membershipHyponymyHomonymy♦Homonyms:▪words that are pronounced the same, but may or may not be spelled the same, and have different meanings▪e.g.: bat/bat, tale/tail♦Heteronyms:▪words that are spelled the same, but pronounced differently, and have different meanings▪e.g.: lead/lead, wind/wind♦Homographs:▪words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings.▪e.g.: bat/bat, lead/leadHomonymyHomonyms Heteronyms Homographs Pronounced Yes No Yes/NoidenticallySpelled Yes/No Yes Yesidentically♦Exercise: Are the following pairs of words homonyms, heteronyms or homographs?▪bear/bare▪tear/tear▪bank/bankPolysemy♦Polysemy:▪(of a word) having two or more closely related meaningse.g.:He hurt his foot.She stood at the foot of the stairs.Polysemy♦Polysemy vs. homonymye.g.:▪Bear:•To tolerate•To carry•To support▪Bear:•A kind of animal•A falling stock marketMetonymy♦Metonyms:▪A metonym is a word that substitutes for an object the name of an attribute or concept associated with that object.▪ e.g.:Kremlin, Whitehouse, WashingtonPhrasal/Sentential Semantics♦The Principle of Compositionality:▪The meaning of a phrase or sentence depends both on the meaning of its words and how those words are combined structurally♦Semantic relationships between sentences▪Words may be synonyms; sentences may be paraphrases▪Words have antonyms; sentences can be negated▪Words may be homonyms, hence ambiguous when spoken; sentences may be ambiguous because they contain homonymo us words or due to their structure▪Words are used for naming purposes; sentences can also be used to refer to objects/eventsPhrasal Meaning–Noun-centered Meaning♦Noun-phrase meanings are combinations of meanings of nouns, adjectives, articles, and even sentences.e.g.:▪the blue ball▪a big bag, a small house▪the man who knows too much▪a housedog, a doghousePhrasal Meaning–Verb-centered Meaning♦Thematic roles:The semantic relationships between the verb and the noun phrases of a sentence▪e.g.:The boy found a red ball in the yard.Agent Theme LocationPhrasal Meaning–Verb-centered Meaning♦Other thematic roles:▪Goal Put the book on the desk.▪Source He jumped from the tree.▪Instrument Jo cuts his hair with a razor.▪Experiencer Sue heard Bob playing the piano.▪Causative The wind damaged the roof.▪Possessor The tail of the dog wagged furiously.Phrasal Meaning–Verb-centered Meaning♦Thematic roles are determined in deep structure and are not affected by transformations▪The boy opened the door with the key.▪The door was opened by the boy.▪The key opened the door.▪The door opened.Sentential Meaning♦The ―truth‖ of sentences:▪The truth conditions / the sense / the intension▪The truth value / the reference / the extensione.g.:▪The PRC was founded in 1949.▪The PRC was founded in 1940.▪Mary believes that the PRC was founded in 1940.Sentential Meaning♦Paraphrase:▪Two sentences are paraphrases if they have the same truth conditions.e.g.:▪The horse threw the rider.▪The rider was thrown by the horse.c.f.:▪Every person in this room speaks two languages.▪Two languages are spoken by every person in this room. Sentential Meaning♦Entailment:▪The relationship between two sentences where the truth of one necessarily implies the truth of the other.e.g.:▪Corday assassinated Marat.▪Marat is dead.If the first sentence is true, the second is necessarily true. The first entails the second.Sentential Meaning♦Contradiction:▪Negative entailment: the truth of one sentence necessarily implies the falseness of another sentence.e.g.:▪Scott is a baby.▪Scott is an adult.If the first sentence is true, the second is necessarily false. The first contradicts the second.To Mean or Not to Mean♦The meaning of an expression is not always obvious♦Three ways in which meaning may be veiled▪anomaly▪metaphor▪idiomsTo Mean or Not to Mean♦Anomaly:no sense and nonsense▪Contradictory semantic properties•e.g.: Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.▪Nonsense words•e.g.: All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe.(―Jabberwocky‖ by Lewis Carroll)▪Violation of semantic rules•e.g.: a grief ago (c.f. a month ago)To Mean or Not to Mean♦Metaphor:nonliteral, indirect, but often creative meaning▪Interpreted literally, metaphors may appear anomalou s•e.g.: Walls have ears.▪Metaphors are not necessarily anomalous when taken literally •e.g.: Dr. Brown is a butcher.▪To interpret metaphors, we need to understand both the literal meaning and facts about the world•e.g.: Time is money.▪Metaphors have a strong cultural componentTo Mean or Not to Mean♦Idioms:fixed expressions with meanings that cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words▪Idioms tend to be frozen in form•e.g.: She put her foot in her mouth.* Her foot was put in her mouth.▪Idioms can break the rules on combining semantic properties •e.g.: The CEO never throws his weight around.▪Most idioms originate as metaphorical expressions that establish themselves in the language and become frozen in their form and meaning.。