Chapter 5 Semantics教材练习题答案
语言学第五章语义学考研真题
Chapter Five: SemanticsI. 名词解释1.（南开大学2001，中山大学2004年考题）hyponymy考点分析：考查“上下义关系”的定义Answer: Hyponymy refers to the sense relations between a more general, more inclusive words and a more specific word. The word that is more general in meaning is called the superordinate, and the more specific words are its hyponyms.2. (南开大学2000年考题) sense考点分析：“意义”的定义Answer: Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of a linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and decontextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in. for example, the word dog is given the definition ―a domestic canine animal, occurring in many breeds that show a great variety in size and form‖. This does not refer to any particular dog that exists in the real world, but applies to any animal that meets the features described in the definition. So this is the sense of the word dog.3. (华南理工大学2004年考题) reference考点分析“所指/参照”的定义Answer: Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the nonlinguistic world of experience. If we say ―The dog is barking‖, we must be talking about a certain dog existent in the situation; the word dog refers to a dog known to both speaker and the hearer. This is the reference of the word dog in this particular situation.4.(华南理工大学204年考题) interlanguage考点分析“中介语”的定义Answer: The type of language constructed by second or foreign language learners who are still in the process of learning a language is often referred to as interlanguage. As the name suggests, interlanguage is a language system between the target language and the learner’s native language. It is imperfect compared with the target language, but it is not mere translation from the learner’s native language.5.(中山大学2003年考题)error analysis考点分析：“错误分析”的定义Answer: Error analysis is the study and analysis of error and is confined to the language learner. Here, ―error‖ refers generally to the learner’s grammatical or pragmatic misuse or misunderstanding of the target language.II. 判断正误1.（大连外国语学院2001年考题）―Kids‖and ―children‖are synonyms despite their stylistic difference考点分析：同义关系的辨别Answer: T2. (大连外国语学院2002年考题) In the following pair of sentences, Sentence (a) presupposes Sentence (b)（a）John managed to finish in time（b）John tried to finish in time.考点分析：判断句子之间有何种意义关系Answer: T3. (东南大学2003年考题)If a word has sense, it must have reference.考点分析：考查sense 和reference之间的对应关系.(Note: Every word has a sense, but not every word has a reference.)Answer: F4. (上海外国语大学2000年考题) Regardless of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds, children of all colors and societies follow roughly the same route/order of language development, though they may differ in the rate of learning.考点分析：语言习得过程的普遍特点Answer: T5. (吉林大学2000年考题)Overgeneralization is a common error made by an early foreign language learner.考点分析：考查“语法规则过度概括”在什么情况下产生。
语言学第五章Semantics
语⾔学第五章SemanticsChapter Five SemanticsTeaching Focus1. What is semantics2. Meanings of “meaning”3. Sense and reference4. Sense relations5. Componential analysis --- a way to analyze lexical meaning6. Predication analysis --- a way to analyze sentence meaning1. What is semantics?Semantics is the study of meaning in language.Or specifically, it is the study of the meaning of linguistic units, words and sentences in particular.Different focus of the study in semantics:Logical semantics/philosophical semantics: Logicians and philosophers have tended to concentrate on a restricted range of sentences (typically, statements, or …propositions?) within a single language.Linguistic semantics: The linguistic approach is broader in scope, aiming to study the properties of meaning in a systematic and objective way, with reference to as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible.2. Meanings of “Meaning”The word “meaning” has different meanings.It has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, logicians and linguists.The naming theory: Plato & AristotleWords are just names or labels for things.Can you show the limitations of this theoryThe semantic triangle: C. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards (1923) → The Meaning of Meaning.There is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to. In the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. ?thought/reference (concept)symbolizes refers tosymbol/form referent(word, phrase) stands for(object)Geoffrey Leech (1974, 1981). Semantics: The Study of Meaning. Seven types of meaning:Conceptual meaningConnotative meaningSocial meaningAffective meaning associative meaningReflected and meaningCollocative meaningThematic meaning(1) Conceptual meaningIt makes the central part of meaning.Refers to logical, cognitive or denotative content.Concerned with the relationship between a word and the thing it denotes, or refers to.(2) Connotative meaningThe communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.A multitude of additional, non-criterial properties, including not only physical characteristics but also psychological and social properties, as well as typical features. ?Involving the …real world? experience one associates with an expression when one uses or hears it.Unstable: they vary considerably according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual.Any characteristic of the referent, identified subjectively or objectively, may contribute to the connotative meaning of the expression which denotes it.(3) Social meaningWhat a piece of language conveys about the social circumstances of its use.Dialect: the language of a geographical region or of a social class.Time: the language of the 18th c., etc.Province: language of law, of science, of advertising, etc.Status: polite, colloquial, slang, etc.Modality: language of memoranda, lectures, jokes, etc.Singularity: the style of Dickens, etc.domicile: very formal, official steed: poeticresidence: formal horse: generalabode: poetic nag: slanghome: general gee-gee: baby language (4) Affective meaningReflecting the personal feelings of the speaker, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about.Youre a vicious tyrant and a villainous reprobate, and I hate you for it!Im terribly sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voices a little. orWill you belt up.(5) Reflected meaningArises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. When you hear …click the mouse twice, you think of Gerry being hit twice by Tom so you feel excited.Many taboo terms are result of this.(6) Collocative meaningThe associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment.pretty: girl, boy, woman, flower, garden, colour, village, etc.handsome: boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.(7) Thematic meaningWhat is communicated by the way in which a speaker or writer organizes the message, in terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis.Mrs Bessie Smith donated the first prize.The first prize was donated by Mrs Bessie Smith.They stopped at the end of the corridor.At the end of the corridor, they stopped.3. Sense and referenceSense and reference are two terms often encountered in the study of word meaning. They are two related but different aspects of meaning.Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in.Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.Every word has a sense, but not every word has a reference.Grammatical words like but, if ,and do not refer to anything. And words like God, ghost and dragon refer to imaginary things. Therefore it is suggested that we should study meaning in terms of sense rather than reference.4. Sense relationsSynonymygradableAntonymy complementaryconverseHyponymyPolysemy4.1 SynonymySynonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. Complete synonyms are rare. According to the way they differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups:i. Dialectal synonyms --- used in different regional dialectsBritish English American Englishautumn falllift elevatorflat apartmenttube undergroundii. Stylistic synonyms --- differing in stylekid, child, offspringkick the bucket, pop off, die, pass away, deceaseiii. Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaningcollaborator, accompliceiv. Collocational synonymsaccuse, chargev. Semantically different synonymssurprise, amaze, astound4.2 AntonymyThe term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning. Words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms.There are three types of antonyms.i. Gradable: Can be modified by adverbs of degree like very; Can have comparative forms; Can be asked with how. good, badyoung, oldhot, coldii. Complementary: the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other.alive, deadmale, femalepresent, absentiii. Converse or relational: exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the pair; one presupposes the other. husband, wifebuy, sellbefore, after4.3 HyponymyHyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general word and a more specific word. It is a kind of inclusiveness. Superordinate: the more general wordHyponyms: the more specific wordsCo-hyponyms: hyponyms of the same superordinateflower, rose, lilyanimal, cat, dogfurniture, bed, desk4.4 PolysemyPolysemy refers to the sense relation that the same one word has more than one meaning. Such a word is called a polysemic word.table: a piece of furniture; orderly arrangement of facts, figures5. Componential analysis---a way to analyze lexical meaningComponential analysis is a way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyze word meaning.The approach is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, calledsemantic features.HUMANman (ADULT, MALE)woman (ADULT, FEMALE)boy (NON-ADULT, MALE)girl (NON-ADULT, FEMALE)father: PARENT (x, y) & MALE (x)x is a parent of y, and x is male.take: CAUSE (x, (HA VE (x, y)))x causes x to have y.give: CAUSE (x, (~HA VE (x, y)))x causes x not to have y.Componential analysis provides an insight into the meaning of words and a way to study the relationships between words that are related in meaning.6. Predication analysis --- a way to analyze sentence meaningThe meaning of a sentence is obviously related to the meanings of the words used in it, but it is also obvious that sentence meaning is not simply the sum total of the words.Predication analysis: proposed by the British linguist G. LeechThe basic unit in this method is called prediction. It is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate.An argument is logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in a sentence.A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence. Tom smokes.Tom is smoking.Tom has been smoking. TOM (SMOKE)Does Tom smokingTom does not smoke. argument predicateKids like apples. → KID, APPLE (LIKE)It is hot. → (BE HOT)AssignmentsHow can words opposite in meaning be classified To which category does each of the following pairs of antonyms belong?north/south vacant/occupiedliterate/illiterate above/belowdoctor/patient wide/narrowpoor/rich father/daughterhonest/dishonest normal/abnormalExercisesI. Multiple choice.1. The naming theory seems applicable to ___ only.A. verbsB. adjectivesC. adverbsD. nouns2. Hyponyms of the superordinate “flower” do not include “___”.A. wardrobeB. tulipC. lilyD. rose3. Predication analysis is a way to analyze ___ meaning.A. phonemeB. wordC. phraseD. sentenceII. Make judgments (true or false)1. In the diagram of the classic semantic triangle, the word “symbol” refers to the object in the world of experience.2. When the same one word has more than one meaning we call it a polysemic word.3. Complete synonyms, i.e. synonyms that are mutually substitutable under all circumstances, are rare in English.。
《英语语言学概论》配套习题(五)(问答题)
《英语语言学概论》配套习题（五）（问答题）Chapter 1 Introduction to Linguistics1.What are design features of language?2.What are the characteristics of human language?3.Explain the characteristic of arbitrariness. What are the relationship betweenarbitrariness and convention?4.What does productivity mean for language?5.What functions does language have?6.Explain the metalingual function of language.7.What is the difference between synchronic linguistics and diachronic linguistics?8.What distinguishes prescriptive studies of language from descriptive studies oflanguage?Chapter 2 Phonology1.What does phonetics concern?2.How do the three branches of phonetics contribute to the study of speech sounds?3.How is the description of consonants different from that of vowels?4.In which two ways may consonants be classified?5.How do phoneticians classify vowels?6.To what extent does phonology differ from phonetics?7.What do minimal pair refer? Give an example to illustrate.8.What kind of phenomenon is complementary distribution?Chapter 3 Morphology1.What is a free morpheme? What is a bound morpheme?2.What is the difference between inflectional affixes and derivational affixes?3.What is compounding?4.What are the criteria of a compound word?5.What is acronymy?6.What is blending?7.Decide which way of word formation is used to form the following words.comsatmotellasememonightmareASEANROMbitbabysitcock-a-doodle-dogrunt8.What are closed-class words and open-class words?Chapter4 Syntax1.What is syntax?2.What is a simple, compound, or complex sentence?3.What is the hierarchical structure?4.How to distinguish immediate constituents from ultimate constituents?5.What are subordinate and coordinate constructions?6.What are deep and surface structures?7.Can you describe the syntactic structure of the sentence “The old tree swayed inthe wind” by using a tree diagram?8.How to reveal the differences in sentential meaning in the sentence “The motherof the boy and the girl will arrive soon” by drawing tree diagrams?Chapter 5 Semantics1.What is a semantic field? Can you illustrate it?2.What are the major types of synonyms in English?3.In what way do the following pairs offer contrast?4.Categorize the following pairs: child-kid, alive-dead, big-small, husband-wife.5.What is hyponymy composed of? Illustrate whether there is always asuperordinate to hyponyms, or hyponyms to a superordinate.6.How is meronymy different from hyponymy?7.Why may a sentence be ambiguous?8.What predication analysis? What is a no-place, one-place, two-place, orthree-place predicate? Give examples.Chapter 6 Pragmatics1.What does pragmatics study? How does it differ from traditional semantics?2.How are sentence meaning and utterance meaning related, and how do they differ?3.What is contextual meaning?4.Explain the meanings of locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary actthrough examples.5.What is cooperative principle(CP)?6.What is conversational implicature?7.How does the violation of the maxims of CP give rise to conversationalimplicature?8.What is adjacency pair?Chapter 8 Language and Society1.What is sociolinguistics?2.What is speech community?3.What is dialect?4.What is Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?5.What is speech variety?6.What is standard language?7.What is pidgin?8.What is bilingualism?9.What is multilingualism?Chapter 10-11 Language Acquisition1.What is psycholinguistics?2.What is bottom-up processing and what is top-down processing?3.What are the six major types of speech error? Give examples of each.4.What is the critical period for language acquisition?5.What is language acquisition and what is L2 language acquisition? What is learnerlanguage and what is target language?6.What is interlanguage(IL)?7.What are the different views on language transfer?8.What is the difference between input and intake?。
Chapter-5-Semantics(语义学)
• Three types of connotative meanings: • positive(褒义), neutral(中性),negative(贬义)
• A good meal, • A good car, • A good movie, • a good road, • A good child, • good weather • A good umbrella
• A fast road, • a fast typist • A fast book • A fast decision.
the hearer (stimulus—response)
Jill is hungry and wants Jack to pick the
apple for her from the tree:
Jill
Jack
• S-------------r…….s---------------R
• 证实论：一个句子只有得到经验证实才有 意义：John is outside。
Chapter 5 Semantics(语义学）
5.1 what is semantics
• Semantics（语义学）is the study of meaning.
• What is meaning? Love, friendship， truth, fact, democracy, good, chair, ghost, unicorn；真善美，justice, soul
新编简明英语语言学教程 何兆熊 第五章笔记和习题
Chapter 5 Semantics⏹Semantics----the study of language meaning.⏹Semantics is defined as the study of meaning. However, it is not the only linguistic discipline that studiesmeaning.⏹Semantics answers the question “what does this sentence mean”. In other w ords, it is the analysis ofconventional meanings in words and sentences out of context.⏹Meaning is central to the study of communication.⏹Classification of lexical meanings. Here are G. Leech’s seven types of meaning. ( British linguist)⏹ 1. Conceptual meaning (also called denotative or cognitive meaning) is the essential and inextricable part ofwhat language is, and is widely regarded as the central factor in verbal communication. It means that the meaning of words may be discussed in terms of what they denote or refer to.⏹ 2. Connotative meaning – the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, embracesthe properties of the referent, peripheral⏹ 3. Social meaning (stylistic meaning) –what is conveyed about the social circumstances of the use of alinguistic expression⏹ 4. Affective meaning (affected meaning)– what is communicated of the feeling or attitude of the speaker/writertowards what is referred to⏹ 5. Reflected meaning – what is communicated through association with another sense of the same expression ⏹Taboos⏹ 6. Collocative meaning – the associated meaning a word acquires in line with the meaning of words whichtend to co-occur with it⏹(2, 3, 4, 5, 6 can be together called associative meaning–meaning that hinges on referential meaning, lessstable, more culture-specific )7. Thematic meaning—what is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order⏹What is meaning?---- Scholars under different scientific backgrounds have different understandings of language meaning.Some views concerning the study of meaning⏹Naming theory (Plato)⏹The conceptualist view⏹Contextualism (Bloomfield)⏹BehaviorismNaming theory (Plato): Words are names or labels for things.The linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for; words are just names or labels for things⏹Limitations:1) Applicable to nouns only.2) There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world, e.g. ghost, dragon, unicorn, phenix…3) There are nouns that do not refer to physical objects but abstract notions, e.g. joy, impulse, hatred…The conceptualist view⏹The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e. between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.⏹⏹The referent refers to the object in the world of experience;⏹Thought or reference refers to concept.⏹The symbol or a word signifies things by virtue of the concept associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker; and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word.⏹Meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context—elements closely linked with language behavior. Two types of contexts are recognized:⏹Situational context: spatiotemporal situation⏹Linguistic context: the probability of a word’s c o-occurrence or collocation.⏹For example, “black” in black hair& black coffee,or black sheep differs in meaning; “The president of the United States” can mean either the president or presidency in different situation.calls forth in the hearer⏹Behaviorists attempted to define meaning as “the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer”.⏹The story of Jack and Jill:Jill JackS_________r--------s_________RLexical meaning⏹Sense and reference are both concerned with the study of word meaning. They are two related but different aspects of meaning.⏹Sense---- is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in.⏹Reference----what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between thelinguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.⏹Linguistic expressions stand in a relation to the world. There are two aspects of meaning.⏹Reference is the relation by which a word picks out or identifies an entity in the world. But the referentialtheory fails to account for certain kinds of linguistic expression.⏹Some words are meaningful, but they identify no entities in the real world, such as the words dragon, phoenix,unicorn, and mermaid.⏹It is not possible for some words to find referent in the world, such as the words but, and, of, however, the, etc.⏹Speakers of English understand the meaning of a round triangle although there is no such graph.⏹Sense is the relation by which words stand in human mind. It is mental representation, the association withsomething in t he speaker’s or hearer’s mind. The study of meaning from the perspective of sense is called the representational approach.Note:⏹Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations; on the other hand, there are also occasions, when linguistic forms with the same reference might differ in sense, e.g. the morning star and the evening star, rising sun in the morning and the sunset at dusk.Major sense relations⏹Synonymy, Antonymy, Polysemy, Homonymy, HyponymySynonymy⏹Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms.1) Dialectal synonyms---- synonyms used in different regional dialects, e.g. autumn - fall, biscuit - cracker, petrol –gasoline，lift/elevator, flat/apartment…2) Stylistic synonyms----synonyms differing in style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin, commence; gentleman/guy…3) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning, e.g.collaborator- accomplice, attract/seduce4) Collocational synonyms, e.g. accuse…of, charge…with, rebuke…for; …5) Semantically different synonyms, e.g. amaze, astound,…◆Synonyms are frequently used in speaking and writing as a cohesive device. In order to avoidrepetition the writer/speaker needs to use a synonym to replace a word in the previous co-text whenhe/she wants to continue to address that idea. The synonyms together function to create cohesion ofthe text.Antonymy◆Antonyms are words which are opposite in meaning.⏹Gradable antonyms----there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, …⏹Complementary antonyms----the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, …⏹Relational/ Reversal opposites----exhibits the reversal of the relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-wife, father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent, employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, … Gradable antonyms⏹Gradable antonyms ----there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, …Complementary antonyms⏹Complementary antonyms ----the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, …⏹Antonymy is frequently utilized as a rhetorical resource in language use. Oxymoron and antithesis based onantonymy. Gradable antonyms may give rise to fuzziness.Polysemy⏹Polysemy----the same one word may have more than one meaning, e.g. “table” may mean:⏹A piece of furniture⏹All the people seated at a table⏹The food that is put on a table⏹A thin flat piece of stone, metal wood, etc.⏹Orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.Homonymy⏹Homonymy---- the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, e.g. different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.⏹Homophone ---- when two words are identical in sound, e.g. rain-reign, night/knight, …⏹Homogragh ---- when two words are identical in spelling, e.g. tear(n.)-tear(v.), lead(n.)-lead(v.), …⏹Complete/full homonym---- when two words are identical in both sound and spelling, e.g. ball, bank, watch, scale, fast, …⏹Note: Rhetorically, homonyms are often used as puns.⏹A polysemic word is the result of the evolution of the primary meaning of the word (the etymology of the word); while complete homonyms are often brought into being by coincidence.Hyponymy⏹Hyponymy----the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.⏹Superordinate: the word which is more general in meaning.⏹Hyponyms: the word which is more specific in meaning.⏹Co-hyponyms: hyponyms of the same superordinate.Hyponymy⏹Superordinate: flower⏹Hyponyms: rose, tulip, li ly, chrysanthemum, peony, narcissus, …⏹Superordinate: furniture⏹Hyponyms: bed, table, desk, dresser, wardrobe, sofa, …⏹This kind of vertical semantic relation links words in a hierarchical work.Sense relations between sentences⏹(1) X is synonymous with Y⏹(2) X is inconsistent with Y⏹(3) X entails Y⏹(4) X presupposes Y⏹(5) X is a contradiction⏹(6) X is semantically anomalousX is synonymous with Y⏹X: He was a bachelor all his life.Y: He never got married all his life.⏹X: The boy killed the cat.Y: The cat was killed by the boy.⏹If X is true, Y is true; if X is false, Y is false.X is inconsistent with Y⏹X: He is single.⏹Y: He has a wife.⏹X: This is my first visit to Beijing.⏹Y: I have been to Beijing twice.⏹If X is true, Y is false; if X is false, Y is true.X entails Y⏹X: John married a blond heiress.⏹Y: John married a blond.⏹X: Marry has been to Beijing.⏹Y: Marry has been to China.⏹Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y, then the meaning of X is included in Y.⏹If X is true, Y is necessarily true; if X is false, Y may be true or false.X presupposes Y⏹X: His bike needs repairing.⏹Y: He has a bike.⏹Paul has given up smoking.⏹Paul once smoked.⏹If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is still true.X is a contradiction⏹*My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor.⏹*The orphan’s parents are pretty well-off.X is semantically anomalous⏹*The man is pregnant.⏹*The table has bad intentions.⏹*Sincerity shakes hands with the black apple.⏹Analysis of meaning :⏹Componential analysis⏹Predication analysis⏹Componential analysis⏹Componential analysis---- a way to analyze lexical meaning. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. For example,⏹Man: [+HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE]⏹Boy: [+HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE]⏹Woman: [+HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]⏹Girl: [+HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]⏹Father: +HUMAN +MALE +ADULT →PARENT⏹Daughter: +HUMAN –MALE 0ADULT ←PARENTPredication analysis⏹1) The meaning of a sentence is not to be worked out by adding up all the meanings of its component words, e.g “The dog bites the man”is semantically different from “The man bites the dog” though their components are exactly the same.⏹2) There are two aspects to sentence meaning: grammatical meaning and semantic meaning, e.g.⏹*Green clouds are sleeping furiously.⏹*Sincerity shook hands with the black apple.⏹Whether a sentence is semantically meaningful is governed by rules called selectional restrictions.⏹Predication analysis---- a way to analyze sentence meaning (British G. Leech).⏹Predication----the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence. A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate.⏹An argument is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal elements in a sentence. ⏹A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence.⏹According to the number of arguments contained in a predication, we may classify the predications into the following types:⏹One-place predication: smoke, grow, rise, run, …⏹Two-place predication: like, love, save, bite, beat,…⏹Three-place predication: give, sent, promise, call, …⏹No-place predication: It is hot.Predication analysis⏹Tom smokes.→ TOM (SMOKE)⏹The tree grows well.→ TREE (GROW)⏹The kids like apples.→ KIDS (LIKE) APPLE⏹I sent him a letter.→ I (SEND) HIM LETTERSupplementary Exercises to Chapter 5 SemanticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:1. Dialectal synonyms can often be found in different regional dialects such as British English and American English but cannot be found within the variety itself, for example, within British English or American English.2. Sense is concerned with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience, while the reference deals with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.3. Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations.4. In semantics, meaning of language is considered as the intrinsic and inherent relation to the physical world of experience.5. Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts.6. Behaviourists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.7. The meaning of a sentence is the sum total of the meanings of all its components.8. Most languages have sets of lexical items similar in meaning but ranked differently according to their degree of formality.9. “it is hot.” is a no-place predication because it contains no argument.10. In grammatical analysis, the sentence is taken to be the basic unit, but in semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is predication, which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:11. S________ can be defined as the study of meaning.12. The conceptualist view holds that there is no d______ link between a linguistic form and what it refers to.13. R______ means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.14. Words that are close in meaning are called s________.15. When two words are identical in sound, but different in spelling and meaning, they are called h__________.16.R_________ opposites are pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items.17. C ____ analysis is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be divided into meaning components.18. Whether a sentence is semantically meaningful is governed by rules called s________ restrictions, which are constraints on what lexical items can go with what others.19. An a________ is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in a sentence.20. According to the n ____ theory of meaning, the words in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for.III. There are four choices following each statement. Mark the choice that can best complete the statement:21. The naming theory is advanced by ________.A. PlatoB. BloomfieldC. Geoffrey LeechD. Firth22. “We shall know a word by the company it keeps.” This statement represents _______.A. the conceptualist viewB. contexutalismC. the naming theoryD.behaviourism23. Which of the following is not true?A. Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.B. Sense is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form.C. Sense is abstract and de-contextualized.D. Sense is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are not interested in.24. “Can I borrow your bike?” _______ “ You have a bike.”A. is synonymous withB. is inconsistent withC. entailsD. presupposes25. ___________ is a way in which the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features.A. Predication analysisB. Componential analysisC. Phonemic analysisD. Grammatical analysis26. “alive” and “dead” are ______________.A. gradable antonymsB. relational oppositesC. complementary antonymsD. None of the above27. _________ deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world ofexperience.A. ReferenceB. ConceptC. SemanticsD. Sense28. ___________ refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form.A. PolysemyB. SynonymyC. HomonymyD. Hyponymy29. Words that are close in meaning are called ______________.A. homonymsB. polysemyC. hyponymsD. synonyms30. The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by _______.A. grammatical rulesB. selectional restrictionsC. semantic rulesD. semantic featuresIV. Define the following terms:31. semantics 32. sense 33 . reference 34. synonymy35. polysemy 36. homonymy 37. homophones 38. Homographs39. complete homonyms 40. hyponymy 41.antonymy 42 componential analysis43.grammatical meaning 44. predication45. Argument 46. predicate47. Two-place predicationV. Answer the following questions:48. Why do we say that a meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components?49. What is componential analysis? Illustrate it with examples.50. How do you distinguish between entailment and presupposition in terms of truth values?51. How do you account for such sense relations between sentences as synonymous relation, inconsistent relation in terms of truth values?52. According to the way synonyms differ, how many groups can we classify synonyms into? Illustrate them with examples.53. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning? How they differ?Suggested answers to supplementary exercises:IV. Define the following terms:31. Semantics: Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language.32. Sense: Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de -contextualised.33. Reference: Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience34. Synonymy :Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning.35. Polysemy :Polysemy refers to the fact that the same one word may have more than one meaning.36. Homonymy :Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form,i.e. , different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.37. homophones :When two words are identical in sound, they are called homophones38. homographs :When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs.39. complete homonyms.:When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are called complete homonyms.40.Hyponymy :Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.41. Antonymy :Antonymy refers to the relation of oppositeness of meaning.42. Componential analysis : Componential analysis is a way to analyze word meaning. It was proposed by structural semanticists. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a -word can be divided into meaning components, which are called semantic features.43.The grammatical meaning : The grammatical meaning of a sentence refers to its grammaticality, i.e. , its grammatical well-formedness . The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by the grammatical rules of the language.44. predication :The predication is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.45. argument : An argument is a logical participant in a predication. It is generally identical with the nominal element (s) in a sentence.46. predicate : A predicate is something that is said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence.47. two-place predication : A two-place predication is one which contains two arguments.Answer the following questions:48. Why do we say that a meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components?The meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components because it cannot be worked out by adding up all the meanings of its constituent words. For example;(A) The dog bit the man. (B) The man bit the dog.If the meaning of a sentence were the sum total of the meanings of all its components, then the above two sentences would have the same meaning. In fact they are different in meanings.As we know, there are two aspects to sentence meaning: grammatical meaning and semantic meaning. The grammatical meanings of “the dog” and “the man” in (A) are different from the grammatical meanings of “the dog” and “the man” in (B). The meaning of a sentence is the product of both lexical and grammatical meaning. It is the product of the meaning of the constituent words and of the grammatical constructions that relate one word syntagmatically to another.49. What is componential analysis? Illustrate it with examples.Componential analysis, proposed by structural semanticists, is a way to analyze word meaning. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be divided into meaning components, which are called semantic features. Plus and minus signs are used to indicate whether a certain semantic feature is present or absent in the meaning of a word, and these feature symbols are usually written in capitalized letters. For example, the word “man” is ana lyzed as consisting of the semantic features of [+ HUMAN, + ADULT, + ANIMATE, +MALE]50. How do you distinguish between entailment and presupposition in terms of truth values?Entailment is a relation of inclusion. Suppose there are two sentences X and Y:X: He has been to France.Y: He has been to Europe.In terms of truth values, if X is true, Y is necessarily true, e.g. If he has been to France, he must have been to Europe.If X is false, Y may be true or false, e. g. If he has not been to France, he may still have been to Europe or he has not been to Europe. If Y is true, X may be true or false, e.g. If he has been to Europe, he may or may not have been to France.If Y is false, X is false, e.g. If he has not been to Europe, he cannot have been to France.Therefore we conclude that X entails Y or Y is an entailment of X.The truth conditions that we use to judge presupposition is as follows:Suppose there are two sentences X and YX: John' s bike needs repairing.Y: John has a bike.If X is true, Y must be true, e.g. If John' s bike needs repairing, John must have a bike.If X is false, Y is still true, e. g. If John' s bike does not need repairing, John still has a bike. If Y is true, X is either true or false, e.g. If John has a bike, it may or may not need repairing. If Y is false, no truth value can be said about X, e.g. If John does not have a bike, nothing can be said about whether his bike needs repairing or not. Therefore, X presupposes Y, or Y is a presupposition of X.51. How do you account for such sense relations between sentences as synonymous relation, inconsistent relation in terms of truth values?In terms of truth condition, of the two sentences X and Y, if X is true, Y is true; if X is false, Y is false, therefore X is synonymous with Ye.g. X; He was a bachelor all his life.Y: He never married all his life.Of the two sentences X and Y, if X is true, Y is false; if X is false, Y is true, then we can say A is inconsistent with Ye.g. X: John is married.Y: John is a bachelor.52. According to the ways synonyms differ, how many groups can we classify synonyms into? Illustrate them with examples.According to the ways synonyms differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups.i. Dialectal synonymsThey are synonyms which are used in different regional dialects. British English and American English are the two major geographical varieties of the English language. For examples:British English American Englishautumn falllift elevatorThen dialectal synonyms can also be found within British, or American English itself. For example, "girl" is called "lass" or "lassie" in Scottish dialect, and "liquor" is called "whisky" in Irish dialect.ii. Stylistic synonymsThey are synonyms which differ in style or degree of formality. Some of the stylistic synonyms tend to be more formal, others tend to be casual, and still others are neutral in style. For example:old man, daddy, dad, father, male parentchap, pal, friend, companioniii. Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaningThey are the words that have the same meaning but express different emotions of the user. The emotions of the user indicate the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about . For example, “collaborator”and “accomplice”are synonymous, sharing the meaning of "a person who helps another", but they are different in their evaluative meaning. The former means that a person who helps another in doing something good, while the latter refers to a person who helps another in a criminal act.iv. Collocational synonymsThey are synonyms which differ in their collocation. For example, we can use accuse, charge, rebuke to say that someone has done something wrong or even criminal, but they are used with different prepositions accuse. . . of, charge. . . with, rebuke. . .for. v. V. Semantically different synonymsSemantically different synonyms refer to the synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean. For example, "amaze" and "astound" are very close in meaning to the word "surprise," but they have very subtle differences in meaning. While amaze suggests confusion and bewilderment, " astound" implies difficulty in believing. "53. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning? How do they differ?One of the oldest was the naming theory, proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato, who believed that the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to. The form and the meaning are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are recognized; the situational context and the linguistic context.For example, the meaning of the word "seal" in the sentence "The seal could not be found" can only be determined according to the context in which the sentence occurs:The seal could not be found. The zoo keeper became worried.(seal meaning an aquatic mammal)The seal could not be found. The king became worried.(seal meaning the king's stamp)Behaviorism drew on behaviorist psychology when he tried to define the meaning of linguistic forms. Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as " the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer".。
semantics
Chapter 5 Semantics1. Different Approaches to Meaning1.1 Meaning as naming◆The meaning of an expression is what it refers to, or names.(1) One of your friends Holly, a philosophy major, frequently comes up with language questions for you. Recently, she asked, ―Do George Washington and the first president of the United States mean the same thing?‖ What will you tell her?Answer: The two expressions have the same referent, but the fact that two expressions refer to the same entity does not necessarily entail that they mean the same.(2) a. the evening starb. the morning star.◆Weaknesses of the approach1.2 Meaning as concept◆The meaning of an expression is viewed by some linguistics as the concept or idea associated with it. Any symbol is psychologically associated with a particular concept. So when the word chair is spoken, the concept of chair is called upon in the mind of the speaker or the hearer. According to this view, there is no direct link between symbol and referent, that is, between language and world. The link is via thought, the concepts in our minds.Relation between Concept and LanguageFrom concept to lexical conceptsLexical concepts are linguistically encoded concepts. Unlike the sort of mental entities referred to by psychologists as ‗concepts‘ that cannot find linguistic expressions, lexical concepts are concepts that have a corresponding linguistic expression, or that can be ―externalized via language‖/coded as linguistic expressions. They constitute the semantic pole/value of lexical items.Language only covers part of the world of concepts which humans have or may have. Lexical concepts are only part of the conceptual world of the human mind, for we have many more concepts and thoughts than there are linguistic expressions to express them. […] Concepts which structure our world of thought are conceptual categories, i.e., concepts of a set as a whole.◆Weaknesses of the approach1.3 Meaning as behaviorThis approach was adopted by American linguist L. Bloomfield.The well-known story of Jill and Jack (See Language: 22-26)◆The meaning of an expression is the observable behaviors connected with the expression when uttered.1.4 Meaning as context(3) I went to the bank yesterday.◆Context determines meaning of words. Or the meaning of expressions is determined not only by theliteral meaning of the expressions but by the context in which they occur.◆Two kinds of context are recognized: linguistic context and situational context.i) linguistic context: the discourse or text that surrounds an expression and helps to determine itsmeaning. ―We shall know a word by the company it keeps.‖ (J. R. Firth)(4) a. loud musicb. loud colorii) situational context: all the circumstances that are involved when an expression is used/uttered.◆Fillmore：Frame semanticsThe frame idea is this: there are certain schemata or frameworks of concepts or terms which link together as a system, which impose structure or coherence on some aspect of human experience, and which may contain elements which are simultaneously parts of other such frameworks. (Fillmore 1975: 123)These facts about context and perception are relevant to the theory of language in two ways. First, the meanings of words may, more than we are used to thinking, depend on contexted experiences, that is, the contexts within which we have experienced the objects, properties or feelings that provide the perceptual or experiential basis of our knowledge of the meaning of a word (or phrase, or grammatical category)may be inseparable parts of those experiences. (Fillmore 1976a: 24-25)Second, the process of interpreting an utterance may depend, more than we are used to thinking, on our perception of the context in which the utterance is produced and our memories of the contexts for earlier experiences with the utterance or its constituent parts.A particularly important notion, figuring especially in recent work in linguistics, cognitive psychology, and artificial intelligence, is the notion that goes by such names as ―frame,‖ ―schema,‖ and ―scenario.‖Briefly, the i dea is that people have in memory an inventory of schemata for structuring, classifying, and interpreting experiences.The concept of frame does not depend on language, but as applied to language processing the notion figures in the following ways. Particular words or speech formulas, or particular grammatical choices, are associated in memory with particular frames, in such a way that exposure to the linguistic form in an appropriate context activates in the perceiver‘s mind the particular frame—activation of the frame, by turn, enhancing access to the other linguistic material that is associated with the same frame.(1) Greeting frameParticipantsSocial status: initiator; formalityTopicsDistanceLinguistic expressionsGood morning!Hi! John. How are you doing?Hello!Hi, there!您好！白老师，您好！亲爱的（谭）主任，您好！红哥，哪去？张老师，你好！好久不见了。
《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版课后练习题答案
《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版练习题参考答案Chapter 1 Introduction1. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language.答：Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.2. What are the major branches of linguistics? What does each of them study?答：The major branches of linguistics are:(1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;(2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication;(3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words;(4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages;(5) semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language;(6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.3. In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?答：The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language over the years is roughly referred to as “traditional grammar.”Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second, modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.Then, modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.4. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic? Why?答：In modem linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.5. For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing? 答：Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented”by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in today's world there are still many languagesthat can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. And also, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is only the “revised”record of speech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.6. How is Saussure's distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance?答：Saussure's distinction and Chomsky's are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.7. What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?答：First of all, language is a system, i.e., elements of language are combined according to rules.Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for.Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound. Fourth, language is human-specific, i. e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.8. What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett toshow that it is essentially different from animal communication system?答：The main features of human language are termed design features. They include:1) ArbitrarinessLanguage is arbitrary. This means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. A good example is the fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages.2) ProductivityLanguage is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never heard before.3) DualityLanguage consists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there is a structure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system.4) DisplacementLanguage can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This is what “displacement”means.5) Cultural transmissionWhile human capacity for language has a genetic basis, i.e., we were all born with the ability to acquire language, the details of any language system are not geneticallytransmitted, but instead have to be taught and learned.9. What are the major functions of language? Think of your own examples for illustration. 答：Three main functions are often recognized of language: the descriptive function, the expressive function, and the social function.The descriptive function is the function to convey factual information, which can be asserted or denied, and in some cases even verified. For example: “China is a large country with a long history.”The expressive function supplies information about the user’s feelings, preferences, prejudices, and values. For example: “I will never go window-shopping with her.”The social function serves to establish and maintain social relations between people. . For example: “We are your firm supporters.”Chapter 2 Speech Sounds1. What are the two major media of linguistic communication? Of the two, which one is primary and why?答：Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.Of the two media of language, speech is more primary than writing, for reasons, please refer to the answer to the fifth problem in the last chapter.2. What is voicing and how is it caused?答：V oicing is a quality of speech sounds and a feature of all vowels and some consonants in English. It is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords.3. Explain with examples how broad transcription and narrow transcription differ?答：The transcription with letter-symbols only is called broad transcription. This is thetranscription normally used in dictionaries and teaching textbooks for general purposes. The latter, i.e. the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics is called narrow transcription. This is the transcription needed and used by the phoneticians in their study of speech sounds. With the help of the diacritics they can faithfully represent as much of the fine details as it is necessary for their purpose.In broad transcription, the symbol [l] is used for the sounds [l] in the four words leaf [li:f], feel [fi:l], build [bild], and health [helθ]. As a matter of fact, the sound [l] in all these four sound combinations differs slightly. The [l] in [li:f], occurring before a vowel, is called a dear [l], and no diacritic is needed to indicate it; the [1] in [fi:l] and [bild], occurring at the end of a word or before another consonant, is pronounced differently from the clear [1] as in “leaf”. It is called dark [?] and in narrow transcription the diacritic [?] is used to indicate it. Then in the sound combination [helθ], the sound [l] is followed by the English dental sound [θ], its pronunciation is somewhat affected by the dental sound that follows it. It is thus called a dental [l], and in narrow transcription the diacritic [、] is used to indicate it. It is transcribed as [helθ].Another example is the consonant [p]. We all know that [p] is pronounced differently in the two words pit and spit. In the word pit, the sound [p] is pronounced with a strong puff of air, but in spit the puff of air is withheld to some extent. In the case of pit, the [p] sound is said to be aspirated and in the case of spit, the [p] sound is unaspirated. This difference is not shown in broad transcription, but in narrow transcription, a small raised “h”is used to show aspiration, thus pit is transcribed as [ph?t] and spit is transcribed as [sp?t].4. How are the English consonants classified?答：English consonants can be classified in two ways: one is in terms of manner of articulation and the other is in terms of place of articulation. In terms of manner of articulation the English consonants can be classified into the following types: stops, fricatives, affricates, liquids, nasals and glides. In terms of place of articulation, it can be classified into following types: bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.5. What criteria are used to classify the English vowels?答：V owels may be distinguished as front, central, and back according to which part of the tongue is held highest. To further distinguish members of each group, we need to apply another criterion, i.e. the openness of the mouth. Accordingly, we classify the vowels into four groups: close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels, and open vowels. A third criterion that is often used in the classification of vowels is the shape of the lips. In English, all the front vowels and the central vowels are unfounded vowels, i. e., without rounding the lips, and all the back vowels, with the exception of [a:], are rounded. It should be noted that some front vowels can be pronounced with rounded lips.6. A. Give the phonetic symbol for each of the following sound descriptions:1) voiced palatal affricate2) voiceless labiodental fricative3) voiced alveolar stop4) front, close, short5) back, semi-open, long6) voiceless bilabial stopB. Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds:1) [ t ] 2) [ l ] 3) [?] 4) [w] 5) [?] 6) [?]答：A. (1) [?] (2) [ f ] (3) [d ] (4) [ ? ] (5) [ ?:] (6) [p]B. (1) voiceless alveolar stop (2) voiced alveolar liquid(3) voiceless palatal affricate (4) voiced bilabial glide(5) back, close, short (6) front, open7. How do phonetics and phonology differ in their focus of study? Who do you think will be more interested in the difference between, say, [l] and [?], [ph] and [p], a phonetician or a phonologist? Why?答：(1) Both phonology and phonetics are concerned with the same aspect of language ––the speech sounds. But while both are related to the study of sounds,, they differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics is of a general nature; it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified, etc. Phonology, on the other hand, aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.(2) A phonologist will be more interested in it. Because one of the tasks of the phonologists is to find out rule that governs the distribution of [l] and [?], [ph] and [p].8. What is a phone? How is it different from a phoneme? How are allophones related to a phoneme?答：A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. A phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments arecalled the allophones of that phoneme. For example, the phoneme /l/ in English can be realized as dark [?], clear [l], etc. which are allophones of the phoneme /l/.9. Explain with examples the sequential rule, the assimilation rule, and the deletion rule. 答：Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules.There are many such sequential rules in English. For example, if a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. That is why [lbik] [lkbi] are impossible combinations in English. They have violated the restrictions on the sequencing of phonemes.The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying”a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar. Assimilation of neighbouring sounds is, for the most part, caused by articulatory or physiological processes. When we speak, we tend to increase the ease of articulation. This “sloppy”tendency may become regularized as rules of language.We all know that nasalization is not a phonological feature in English, i.e., it does not distinguish meaning. But this does not mean that vowels in English are never nasalized in actual pronunciation; in fact they are nasalized in certain phonetic contexts. For example, the [i:] sound is nasalized in words like bean, green, team, and scream. This is because in all these sound combinations the [i:] sound is followed by a nasal [n] or [m].The assimilation rule also accounts for the varying pronunciation of the alveolar nasal [n] in some sound combinations. The rule is that within a word, the nasal [n] assumes the same place of articulation as the consonant that follows it. We know that in English the prefix in- can be added to ma adjective to make the meaning of the word negative, e.g.discreet –indiscreet, correct –incorrect. But the [n] sound in the prefix in- is not always pronounced as an alveolar nasal. It is so in the word indiscreet because the consonant that follows it, i.e. [d], is an alveolar stop, but the [n] sound in the word incorrect is actually pronounced as a velar nasal, i.e. [?]; this is because the consonant that follows it is [k], which is a velar stop. So we can see that while pronouncing the sound [n], we are “copying”a feature of the consonant that follows it.Deletion rule tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. We have noticed that in the pronunciation of such words as sign, design, and paradigm, there is no [g] sound although it is represented in spelling by the letter g. But in their corresponding forms signature, designation, and paradigmatic, the [g] represented by the letter g is pronounced. The rule can be stated as: Delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. Given the rule, the phonemic representation of the stems in sign –signature, resign –resignation, phlegm –phlegmatic, paradigm –paradigmatic will include the phoneme /g/, which will be deleted according to the regular rule if no suffix is added.10. What are suprasegmental features? How do the major suprasegmental features of English function in conveying meaning?答：The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features. The main suprasegmental features include stress, intonation, and tone. The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. There are two kinds of stress: word stress and sentence stress. For example, a shift of stress may change the part of speech of a word from a noun, to a verb although its spelling remains unchanged. Tones are pitch variations which can distinguish meaning just like phonemes.Intonation plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost every language, especially in a language like English. When spoken in different tones, the same sequence of words may have different meanings.Chapter 3 Morphology1. Divide the following words into their separate morphemes by placing a “+”between each morpheme and the next:a. microfile e. telecommunicationb. bedraggled f. forefatherc. announcement g. psychophysicsd. predigestion h. mechanist答：a. micro + file b. be + draggle + edc. announce + mentd. pre + digest + ione. tele + communicate + ionf. fore + fatherg. psycho + physics h. mechan + ist2. Think of three morpheme suffixes, give their meaning, and specify the types of stem they may be suffixed to. Give at least two examples of each.Model: -orsuffix: -ormeaning: the person or thing performing the actionstem type: added to verbsexamples: actor, “one who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, etc.”translator, “one who translates”答：(1) suffix: -ablemeaning: something can be done or is possiblestem type: added to verbsexamples: acceptable, “can be accepted”respectable, “can be respected”(2) suffix: -lymeaning: functionalstem type: added to adjectivesexamples: freely. “adverbial form of ‘free’”quickly, “adverbial form of 'quick' ”.(3) suffix: -eemeaning: the person receiving the actionstem type: added to verbsexamples: employee, “one who works in a company”interviewee, “one who is interviewed”3. Think of three morpheme prefixes, give their meaning, and specify the types of stem they may be prefixed to. Give at least two examples of each.Model: a-prefix: a-meaning: “without; not”stem type: added to adjectivesexamples: asymmetric, “lacking symmetry”asexual, “without sex or sexorgans”答：(1) prefix: dis-meaning: showing an oppositestem type: added to verbs or nounsexamples : disapprove, “do not approve”dishonesty, “lack of honesty”.(2) prefix: anti-meaning: against, opposed tostem type: added to nouns or adjectivesexamples : antinuclear, “opposing the use of atomic weapons and power”antisocial, “opposed or harmful to the laws and customs of an organized community. ”(3) prefix: counter-meaning: the opposite ofstem type: added to nouns or adjectives.examples: counterproductive, “producing results opposite to those intended”counteract, “act against and reduce the force or effect of (sth.) ”4. The italicized part in each of the following sentences is an inflectional morpheme. Study each inflectional morpheme carefully and point out its grammatical meaning.Sue moves in high-society circles in London.A traffic warden asked John to move his car.The club has moved to Friday, February 22nd.The branches of the trees are moving back and forth.答：(1) the third person singular(2) the past tense(3) the present perfect(4) the present progressive5. Determine whether the words in each of the following groups are related to one another by processes of inflection or derivation.a) go, goes, going, goneb) discover, discovery, discoverer, discoverable, discoverabilityc) inventor, inventor’s, inventors, inventors’d) democracy, democrat, democratic, democratize答：(略)6. The following sentences contain both derivational and inflectional affixes. Underline all of the derivational affixes and circle the inflectional affixes.a) The farmer’s cows escaped.b) It was raining.c) Those socks are inexpensive.d) Jim needs the newer copy.e) The strongest rower continued.f) She quickly closed the book.g) The alphabetization went well.答：(略)Chapter 4 Syntax1. What is syntax?Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences.2. What is phrase structure rule?The grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement of elements (i.e. specifiers, heads, and complements) that make up a phrase is called a phrase structure rule.The phrase structural rule for NP, VP, AP, and PP can be written as follows:NP →(Det) N (PP) ...VP →(Qual) V (NP) ...AP →(Deg) A (PP) ...PP →(Deg) P (NP) ...The general phrasal structural rule ( X stands for the head N, V, A or P):The XP rule: XP →(specifier) X (complement)3. What is category? How to determine a word's category?Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as a sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.To determine a word's category, three criteria are usually employed, namely meaning, inflection and distribution. A word's distributional facts together with information about its meaning and inflectional capabilities help identify its syntactic category.4. What is coordinate structure and what properties does it have?The structure formed by joining two or more elements of the same type with the help of a conjunction is called coordinate structures.Conjunction exhibits four important properties:1) There is no limit on the number of coordinated categories that can appear prior to the conjunction.2) A category at any level (a head or an entire XP) can be coordinated.3) Coordinated categories must be of the same type.4) The category type of the coordinate phrase is identical to the category type of the elements being conjoined.5. What elements does a phrase contain and what role does each element play?A phrase usually contains the following elements: head, specifier and complement. Sometimes it also contains another kind of element termed modifier.The role of each elementHead:Head is the word around which a phrase is formed.Specifier:Specifier has both special semantic and syntactic roles. Semantically, it helps to make more precise the meaning of the head. Syntactically, it typically marks a phrase boundary. Complement:Complements are themselves phrases and provide information about entities and locations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head.Modifier:Modifiers specify optionally expressible properties of the heads.6. What is deep structure and what is surface structure?There are two levels of syntactic structure. The first, formed by the XP rule in accordancewith the head's subcategorization properties, is called deep structure (or D-structure). The second, corresponding to the final syntactic form of the sentence which results from appropriate transformations, is called surface structure (or S-structure).7. Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences. a) The old lady got off the bus carefully.Det A N V P Det N Advb) The car suddenly crashed onto the river bank.Det N Adv V P Det Nc) The blinding snowstorm might delay the opening of the schools.Det A N Aux V Det N P Det Nd) This cloth feels quite soft.Det N V Deg A（以下8-12题只作初步的的成分划分，未画树形图, 仅供参考）8. The following phrases include a head, a complement, and a specifier. Draw the appropriate tree structure for each.a) rich in mineralsXP(AP) →head (rich) A + complement (in minerals) PPb) often read detective storiesXP(VP) →specifier (often) Qual + head (read) V + complement (detective stories) NPc) the argument against the proposalsXP(NP) →specifier (the) Det + head (argument) N + complement (against the proposals) PPd) already above the windowXP(VP) →specifier (already) Deg + head (above) P + complement (the window) NP9. The following sentences contain modifiers of various types. For each sentence, first identify the modifier(s), then draw the tree structures.（划底线的为动词的修饰语，斜体的为名词的修饰语）a) A crippled passenger landed the airplane with extreme caution.b) A huge moon hung in the black sky.c) The man examined his car carefully yesterday.d) A wooden hut near the lake collapsed in the storm.10. The following sentences all contain conjoined categories. Draw a tree structure for each of the sentences. （划底线的为并列的范畴）a) Jim has washed the dirty shirts and pants.b) Helen put on her clothes and went out.c) Mary is fond of literature but tired of statistics.11. The following sentences all contain embedded clauses that function as complements ofa verb, an adjective, a preposition or a noun. Draw a tree structure for each sentence. （划底线的为补语从句）a) You know that I hate war.b) Gerry believes the fact that Anna flunked the English exam.c) Chris was happy that his father bought him a Rolls-Royce.d) The children argued over whether bats had wings.12. Each of the following sentences contains a relative clause. Draw the deep structure and the surface structure trees for each of these sentences. （划底线的为关系从句）a) The essay that he wrote was excellent.b) Herbert bought a house that she lovedc) The girl whom he adores majors in linguistics.13. The derivations of the following sentences involve the inversion transformation. Give the deep structure and the surface structure of each of these sentences.a) Would you come tomorrow? (surface structure)you would come tomorrow (deep structure)b) What did Helen bring to the party? (surface structure)Helen brought what to the party (deep structure)c) Who broke the window? (surface structure)who broke the window (deep structure)Chapter 5 Semantics1. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning?答：(1) The naming theory proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things.(2) The conceptualist view has been held by some philosophers and linguists from ancient times. This view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i. e., between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.(3) The contextualist view held that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context ––elements closely linked with language behaviour. The representative ofthis approach was J.R. Firth, famous British linguist.(4) Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.”This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest.2. What are the major types of synonyms in English?答：The major types of synonyms are dialectal synonyms, stylistic synonyms, emotive or evaluative synonyms, collocational synonyms, and semantically different synonyms.Examples（略）3. Explain with examples “homonymy”, “polysemy”, and “hyponymy”.答：(1) Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, i.e., different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones.When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs.When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are complete homonyms (2) While different words may have the same or similar meaning, the same one word may have more than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called a polysemic word. There are many polysemic words in English, The fact is the more commonly used a word is, the more likely it has acquired more than one meaning.(3) Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word. The word which is more general in meaning is called the superordinate, and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponyms of the same superordinate are co-hyponyms to each other. Hyponymy is a relation of inclusion; in terms of meaning, the superordinate includes all its hyponyms.。
Chapter 5 Meaning
Differences between conceptual and connotative meaning
Compared with conceptual meaning, connotative meaning is relatively unstable, that is, it may vary according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual. In addition, connotative meaning is indeterminate and open-ended in a sense in which conceptual meaning is not.
Leech的七分法 的七分法
1. 概念意义（conceptual） 概念意义（ ） 2. 内涵意义（connotative） 内涵意义（ ） 3. 社会意义（social） 社会意义（ ） 联想意义 4. 情感意义（affective） 情感意义（ ） (associative) 5. 反射意义（reflective） 反射意义（ ） 6. 搭配意义（collocative） 搭配意义（ ） 7. 主题意义（thematic） 主题意义（ ）
5.3.2.2 Connotative meaning 内涵意义） （内涵意义） Connotative meaning is the communicative value that an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content. It can vary from age to age, from society to society, and from individual to individual.
【语言学导论】第05章练习与答案解析)
SemanticsI. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False.1.Dialectal synonyms can often be found in different regional dialects such as British English and American English but cannot be found within the variety itself，for example，within British English or American English.2.Sense is concerned with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience，while the reference deals with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.3.Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations.4.In semantics，meaning of language is considered as the intrinsic and inherent relation to the physical world of experience.5.Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts.6.Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.7.The meaning of a sentence is the sum total of the meanings of all its components.8.Most languages have sets of lexical items similar in meaning but ranked differently according to their degree of formality.9.“it is hot.” is a no-place predication because it contains no argument.10.In grammatical analysis，the sentence is taken to be the basic unit，but in semantic analysis of a sentence，the basic unit is predication，which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given.11.S________ can be defined as the study of meaning.12.The conceptualist view holds that there is no d______ link between a linguistic form and what it refers to.13.R______ means what a linguistic form refers to in the real，physical world；it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.14.Words that are close in meaning are called s________.31. Semantics：Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language.32. Sense：Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form；it is abstract and de -contextualized.33. Reference：Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real，physical world；it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience34. Synonymy：Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning.35. Polysemy：Polysemy refers to the fact that the same one word may have more than one meaning.36. Homonymy：Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words having different mean-ings have the same form，i.e. different words are identical in sound or spelling，or in both.37. Homophones：When two words are identical in sound，they are called homophones.38. Homographs：When two words are identical in spelling，they are homographs.39. Complete homonyms：When two words are identical in both sound and spelling，they are called complete homonyms.40. Hyponymy：Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general，more inclusive word and a more specific word.41. Antonymy：Antonymy refers to the relation of oppositeness of meaning.42. Componential analysis：Componential analysis is a way to analyze word meaning. It was proposed by structural semanticists. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be divided into meaning components，which are called semantic features.43. The grammatical meaning：The grammatical meaning of a sentence refers to its grammaticality，i.e. its grammatical well-formedness. The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by the grammatical rules of the language.44. Predication：The predication is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.45. Argument：An argument is a logical participant in a predication. It is generally identical with the nominal element （s）in a sentence.46. Predicate：A predicate is something that is said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence.47. Two-place predication：A two-place predication is one which contains two arguments.V. Answer the following questions.48. Why do we say that a meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components？The meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components because it cannot be worked out by adding up all the meanings of its constituent words. For example：（A）The dog bit the man.（B）The man bit the dog.If the meaning of a sentence were the sum total of the meanings of all its components，then the above two sentences would have the same meaning. In fact they are different in meanings.As we know，there are two aspects to sentence meaning：grammatical meaning and semantic meaning. The grammatical meanings of “the dog” and “the man” in （A）are different from the grammatical meanings of “the dog” and “the man” in （B）. The meaning of a sentence is the product of both lexical and grammatical meaning. It is the product of the meaning of the constituent words and of the grammatical constructions that relate one word syntagmatically to another.49. What is componential analysis？Illustrate it with examples.Componential analysis，proposed by structural semanticists，is a way to analyze word meaning. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be divided into meaning components，which are called semantic features. Plus and minus signs are used to indicate whether a certain semantic feature is present or absent in the meaning of a word，and these feature symbols are usually written in capitalized letters. For example，the word “man” is analyzed as consisting of the semantic features of [+ HUMAN，+ ADULT，+ ANIMATE，+MALE]50. How do you distinguish between entailment and presupposition in terms of truth values？Entailment is a relation of inclusion. Suppose there are two sentences X and Y：X：He has been to France.Y：He has been to Europe.In terms of truth values，if X is true，Y is necessarily true，e.g. if he has been to France，he must have been to Europe.If X is false，Y may be true or false，e. g. if he has not been to France，he may still have been to Europe or he has not been to Europe. If Y is true，X may be true or false，e.g. if he has been to Europe，he may or may not have been to France.If Y is false，X is false，e.g. If he has not been to Europe，he cannot have been to France.Therefore we conclude that X entails Y or Y is an entailment of X.The truth conditions that we use to judge presupposition is as follows：Suppose there are two sentences X and Y：X：John's bike needs repairing.Y：John has a bike.If X is true，Y must be true，e.g. if John's bike needs repairing，John must have a bike.If X is false，Y is still true，e. g. If John's bike does not need repairing，John still has a bike. If Y is true，X is either true or false，e.g. if John has a bike，it may or may not need repairing. If Y is false，no truth value can be said about X，e.g. if John does not have a bike，nothing can be said about whether his bike needs repairing or not. Therefore，X presupposes Y，or Y is a presupposition of X.51. How do you account for such sense relations between sentences as synonymous relation，inconsistent relation in terms of truth values？In terms of truth condition，of the two sentences X and Y，if X is true，Y is true；if X is false，Y is false，therefore X is synonymous with Y.e.g. X：He was a bachelor all his life.Y：He never married all his life.Of the two sentences X and Y，if X is true，Y is false；if X is false，Y is true，then we can say A is inconsistent with Y.e.g. X：John is married.Y：John is a bachelor.52. According to the ways synonyms differ，how many groups can we classify synonyms into？Illustrate them with examples.According to the ways synonyms differ，synonyms can be divided into the following groups.i. Dialectal synonyms53.What are the major views concerning the study of meaning？How do they differ？One of the oldest was the naming theory，proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato，who believed that the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to. The form and the meaning are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are recognized：the situational context and the linguistic context.For example，the meaning of the word "seal" in the sentence "The seal could not be found" can only be determined according to the context in which the sentence occurs：The seal could not be found. The zoo keeper became worried.（‘seal’ meaning an aquatic mammal）The seal could not be found. The king became worried.（‘seal’ meaning the king's stamp）Behaviorism drew on behaviorist psychology when he tried to define the meaning of linguistic forms. Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as "the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer".。
新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案
新编简明英语语言学教程第二版课后参考答案 Last updated on the afternoon of January 3, 2021《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版练习题参考答案Chapter 1 Introduction1. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language.答： Linguistics is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data, conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure. In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, the linguists has to collect and observe language facts first, which are found to display some similarities, and generalizations are made about them; then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure. The hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity. In linguistics, as in any other discipline, data and theory stand in a dialectical complementation, that is, a theory without the support of data can hardly claim validity, and data without being explained by some theory remain a muddled mass of things.2. What are the major branches of linguistics What does each of them study答： The major branches of linguistics are:(1) phonetics: it studies the sounds used in linguistic communication;(2) phonology: it studies how sounds are put together and used to convey meaning in communication;(3) morphology: it studies the way in which linguistic symbols representing sounds are arranged and combined to form words;(4) syntax: it studies the rules which govern how words are combined to form grammatically permissible sentences in languages;(5) semantics: it studies meaning conveyed by language;(6) pragmatics: it studies the meaning in the context of language use.3. In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?答： The general approach thus traditionally formed to the study of language over the years is roughly referred to as “traditional grammar.” Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in several basic ways.Firstly, linguistics is descriptive while traditional grammar is prescriptive.Second, modem linguistics regards the spoken language as primary, not the written. Traditional grammarians, on the other hand, tended to emphasize, maybe over-emphasize, the importance of the written word, partly because of its permanence.Then, modem linguistics differs from traditional grammar also in that it does not force languages into a Latin-based framework.4. Is modern linguistics mainly synchronic or diachronic Why答： In modem linguistics, a synchronic approach seems to enjoy priority over a diachronic one. Because people believed that unless the various states of a language in different historical periods are successfully studied, it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development.5. For what reasons does modern linguistics give priority to speech rather than to writing? 答： Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication. Modem linguistics regards the spoken language as the natural or the primary medium of human language for some obvious reasons. From the point of view of linguistic evolution, speech is prior to writing. The writing system of any language is always “invented” by its users to record speech when the need arises. Even in today's world there are still many languages that can only be spoken but not written. Then in everyday communication, speech plays a greater role than writing in terms of the amount of information conveyed. And also, speech is always the way in which every native speaker acquires his mother tongue, and writing is learned and taught later when he goes to school. For modern linguists, spoken language reveals many true features of human speech while written language is o nly the “revised” record of speech. Thus their data for investigation and analysis are mostly drawn from everyday speech, which they regard as authentic.6. How is Saussure's distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance?答： Saussure's distinction and Chomsky's are very similar, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of langue is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.7. What characteristics of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language?答： First of all, language is a system, ., elements of language are combined according to rules.Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol stands for.Third, language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound. Fourth, language is human-specific, i. e., it is very different from the communication systems other forms of life possess.8. What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C. Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?答：The main features of human language are termed design features. They include:1) ArbitrarinessLanguage is arbitrary. This means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. A good example is the fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different languages.2) ProductivityLanguage is productive or creative in that it makes possible the construction and interpretation of new signals by its users. This is why they can produce and understand an infinitely large number of sentences, including sentences they have never heard before.3) DualityLanguage consists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there is a structure of sounds, which are meaningless by themselves. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system.4) DisplacementLanguage can be used to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past, present, or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. This is what “displacement” means.5) Cultural transmissionWhile human capacity for language has a genetic basis, ., we were all born with the ability to acquire language, the details of any language system are not genetically transmitted, but instead have to be taught and learned.9. What are the major functions of language Think of your own examples for illustration. 答： Three main functions are often recognized of language: the descriptive function, the expressive function, and the social function.The descriptive function is the function to convey factual information, which can be asserted or denied, and in some cases even verified. For examp le: “China is a large country with a long history.”The expressive function supplies information about the user’s feelings, preferences, prejudices, and values. For example: “I will never go window-shopping with her.”The social function serves to establish and maintain social relations between people. . For example: “We are your firm supporters.”Chapter 2 Speech Sounds1. What are the two major media of linguistic communication Of the two, which one is primary and why答： Speech and writing are the two major media of linguistic communication.Of the two media of language, speech is more primary than writing, for reasons, please refer to the answer to the fifth problem in the last chapter.2. What is voicing and how is it caused?答： Voicing is a quality of speech sounds and a feature of all vowels and some consonants in English. It is caused by the vibration of the vocal cords.3. Explain with examples how broad transcription and narrow transcription differ?答： The transcription with letter-symbols only is called broad transcription. This is the transcription normally used in dictionaries and teaching textbooks for general purposes. The latter, . the transcription with letter-symbols together with the diacritics is called narrow transcription. This is the transcription needed and used by the phoneticians in their study of speech sounds. With the help of the diacritics they can faithfully represent as much of the fine details as it is necessary for their purpose.In broad transcription, the symbol [l] is used for the sounds [l] in the four words leaf [li:f], feel [fi:l], build [bild], and health [helθ]. As a matter of fact, the sound [l] in all these four sound combinations differs slightly. The [l] in [li:f], occurring before a vowel, is called a dear [l], and no diacritic is needed to indicate it; the [1] in [fi:l] and [bild], occurring at the end of a word or before another consonant, is pronounced differently from the clear [1] as in “leaf”. It is called dark [] and in narrow transcription the d iacritic [] is used to indicate it. Then in the sound combination [helθ], the sound [l] is followed by the English dental sound [θ], its pronunciation is somewhat affected by the dental sound that follows it. It is thus called a dental [l], and in narrow transcription the diacritic [、] is used to indicate it. It istranscribed as [helθ].Another example is the consonant [p]. We all know that [p] is pronounced differently in the two words pit and spit. In the word pit, the sound [p] is pronounced with a strong puff of air, but in spit the puff of air is withheld to some extent. In the case of pit, the [p] sound is said to be aspirated and in the case of spit, the [p] sound is unaspirated. This difference is not shown in broad transcription, but in narrow transcription, a small raised “h” is used to show aspiration, thus pit is transcribed as [pht] and spit is transcribed as [spt].4. How are the English consonants classified答： English consonants can be classified in two ways: one is in terms of manner of articulation and the other is in terms of place of articulation. In terms of manner of articulation the English consonants can be classified into the following types: stops, fricatives, affricates, liquids, nasals and glides. In terms of place of articulation, it can be classified into following types: bilabial, labiodental, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal.5. What criteria are used to classify the English vowels?答： Vowels may be distinguished as front, central, and back according to which part of the tongue is held highest. To further distinguish members of each group, we need to apply another criterion, . the openness of the mouth. Accordingly, we classify the vowels into fourgroups: close vowels, semi-close vowels, semi-open vowels, and open vowels. A third criterion that is often used in the classification of vowels is the shape of the lips. In English, all the front vowels and the central vowels are unfounded vowels, i. e., without rounding the lips, and all the back vowels, with the exception of [a:], are rounded. It should be noted that some front vowels can be pronounced with rounded lips.6. A. Give the phonetic symbol for each of the following sound descriptions:1) voiced palatal affricate2) voiceless labiodental fricative3) voiced alveolar stop4) front, close, short5) back, semi-open, long6) voiceless bilabial stopB. Give the phonetic features of each of the following sounds:1) [ t ] 2) [ l ] 3) [] 4) [w] 5) [] 6) []答：A. (1) [] (2) [ f ] (3) [d ] (4) [ ] (5) [ :] (6) [p]B. (1) voiceless alveolar stop (2) voiced alveolar liquid(3) voiceless palatal affricate (4) voiced bilabial glide(5) back, close, short (6) front, open7. How do phonetics and phonology differ in their focus of study Who do you think will be more interested in the difference between, say, [l] and [], [ph] and [p], a phonetician or a phonologist Why答： (1) Both phonology and phonetics are concerned with the same aspect of language ––the speech sounds. But while both are related to the study of sounds,, they differ in their approach and focus. Phonetics is of a general nature; it is interested in all the speech sounds used in all human languages: how they are produced, how they differ from each other, what phonetic features they possess, how they can be classified, etc. Phonology, on the other hand, aims to discover how speech sounds in a language form patterns and how these sounds are used to convey meaning in linguistic communication.(2) A phonologist will be more interested in it. Because one of the tasks of the phonologists is to find out rule that governs the distribution of [l] and [], [ph] and [p].8. What is a phone How is it different from a phoneme How are allophones related to a phoneme答： A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phones. A phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme. For example, the phoneme /l/ in English can be realized as dark [], clear [l], etc. which are allophones of the phoneme /l/.9. Explain with examples the sequential rule, the assimilation rule, and the deletion rule. 答： Rules that govern the combination of sounds in a particular language are called sequential rules.There are many such sequential rules in English. For example, if a word begins with a [l] or a [r], then the next sound must be a vowel. That is why [lbik] [lkbi] are impossible combinations in English. They have violated the restrictions on the sequencing of phonemes. The assimilation rule assimilates one sound to another by “copying” a feature of a sequential phoneme, thus making the two phones similar. Assimilation of neighbouring sounds is, for the most part, caused by articulatory or physiological processes. When we speak, we tend to increase the ease of articulation. This “sloppy” tendency may become regularized as rules of language.We all know that nasalization is not a phonological feature in English, ., it does not distinguish meaning. But this does not mean that vowels in English are never nasalized in actual pronunciation; in fact they are nasalized in certain phonetic contexts. For example, the [i:] sound is nasalized in words like bean, green, team, and scream. This is because in all these sound combinations the [i:] sound is followed by a nasal [n] or [m].The assimilation rule also accounts for the varying pronunciation of the alveolar nasal [n] in some sound combinations. The rule is that within a word, the nasal [n] assumes the same place of articulation as the consonant that follows it. We know that in English the prefix in- can be added to ma adjective to make the meaning of the word negative, . discreet –indiscreet, correct – incorrect. But the [n] sound in the prefix in- is not always pronounced as an alveolar nasal. It is so in the word indiscreet because the consonant that follows it, . [d], is an alveolar stop, but the [n] sound in the word incorrect is actually pronounced as a velar nasal, . []; this is because the consonant that follows it is [k], which is a velar stop. So we can see that while pronouncing the sound [n], we are “copying” a feature of the consonant that follows it. Deletion rule tells us when a sound is to be deleted although it is orthographically represented. We have noticed that in the pronunciation of such words as sign, design, and paradigm, there is no [g] sound although it is represented in spelling by the letter g. But in their corresponding forms signature, designation, and paradigmatic, the [g] represented by the letter g is pronounced. The rule can be stated as: Delete a [g] when it occurs before a final nasal consonant. Given the rule, the phonemic representation of the stems in sign –signature, resign – resignation, phlegm – phlegmatic, paradigm – paradigmatic will include the phoneme /g/, which will be deleted according to the regular rule if no suffix is added. 10. What are suprasegmental features How do the major suprasegmental features of English function in conveying meaning答： The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segments are called suprasegmental features. The main suprasegmental features include stress, intonation, and tone. The location of stress in English distinguishes meaning. There are two kinds of stress:word stress and sentence stress. For example, a shift of stress may change the part of speechof a word from a noun, to a verb although its spelling remains unchanged. Tones are pitchvariations which can distinguish meaning just like phonemes.Intonation plays an important role in the conveyance of meaning in almost everylanguage, especially in a language like English. When spoken in different tones, the samesequence of words may have different meanings.Chapter 3 Morphology1. Divide the following words into th eir separate morphemes by placing a “+” between eachmorpheme and the next:a. microfile e. telecommunicationb. bedraggled f. forefatherc. announcement g. psychophysicsd. predigestion h. mechanist答：a. micro + file b. be + draggle + edc. announce + mentd. pre + digest + ione. tele + communicate + ionf. fore + fatherg. psycho + physics h. mechan + ist2. Think of three morpheme suffixes, give their meaning, and specify the types of stem theymay be suffixed to. Give at least two examples of each.Model: -orsuffix: -ormeaning: the person or thing performing the actionstem type: added to verbsexamples: actor, “one who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, etc.” translator, “onewho translates”答：(1) suffix: -ablemeaning: something can be done or is possiblestem type: added to verbsexamples: acceptable, “can be accepted”respectable, “can be respected”(2) suffix: -lymeaning: functionalstem type: added to adjectivesexamples: freely. “adverbial form of ‘free’ ”quickly, “adverbial form of 'quick' ”.(3) suffix: -eemeaning: the person receiving the actionstem type: added to verbsexamples: employee, “one who works in a company”interviewee, “one who is interviewed”3. Think of three morpheme prefixes, give their meaning, and specify the types of stem they may be prefixed to. Give at least two examples of each.Model: a-prefix: a-meaning: “without; not”stem type: added to adjectivesexamples: asymmetr ic, “lacking symmetry” asexual, “without sex or sex organs”答：(1) prefix: dis-meaning: showing an oppositestem type: added to verbs or nounsexamples : disapprove, “do not approve”dishonesty, “lack of honesty”.(2) prefix: anti-meaning: against, opposed tostem type: added to nouns or adjectivesexamples : antinuclear, “opposing the use of atomic weapons and power”antisocial, “opposed or harmful to the laws and customs of an organized community. ”(3) prefix: counter-meaning: the opposite ofstem type: added to nouns or adjectives.examples: counterproductive, “producing results opposite to those intended”counteract, “act against and reduce the force or effect of (sth.) ”4. The italicized part in each of the following sentences is an inflectional morpheme. Study each inflectional morpheme carefully and point out its grammatical meaning.Sue moves in high-society circles in London.A traffic warden asked John to move his car.The club has moved to Friday, February 22nd.The branches of the trees are moving back and forth.答：(1) the third person singular(2) the past tense(3) the present perfect(4) the present progressive5. Determine whether the words in each of the following groups are related to one another by processes of inflection or derivation.a) go, goes, going, goneb) discover, discovery, discoverer, discoverable, discoverabilityc) inventor, inventor’s, inventors, inventors’d) democracy, democrat, democratic, democratize答：(略)6. The following sentences contain both derivational and inflectional affixes. Underline all of the derivational affixes and circle the inflectional affixes.a) The farmer’s cows escaped.b) It was raining.c) Those socks are inexpensive.d) Jim needs the newer copy.e) The strongest rower continued.f) She quickly closed the book.g) The alphabetization went well.答：(略)Chapter 4 Syntax1. What is syntax?Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences.2. What is phrase structure rule?The grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement of elements . specifiers, heads, and complements) that make up a phrase is called a phrase structure rule.The phrase structural rule for NP, VP, AP, and PP can be written as follows:NP →(Det) N (PP) ...VP →(Qual) V (NP) ...AP → (Deg) A (PP) ...PP → (Deg) P (NP) ...We can formulate a single general phrasal structural rule in which X stands for the3. What is category How to determine a word's category?Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as a sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.To determine a word's category, three criteria are usually employed, namely meaning, inflection and distribution.若详细回答，则要加上：Word categories often bear some relationship with its meaning. The meanings associated with nouns and verbs can be elaborated in various ways. The property or attribute of the entities denoted by nouns can be elaborated by adjectives. For example, when we say that pretty lady, we are attributing the property ‘pretty’ to the lady designated by the noun.Similarly, the properties and attributes of the actions, sensations and states designated by verbs can typically be denoted by adverbs. For example, in Jenny left quietly the adverb quietly indicates the manner of Jenny's leaving.The second criterion to determine a word's category is inflection. Words of different categories take different inflections. Such nouns as boy and desk take the plural affix -s. Verbs such as work and help take past tense affix -ed and progressive affix -ing. And adjectives like quiet and clever take comparative affix -er and superlative affix -est. Although inflection is very helpful in determining a word's category, it does not always suffice. Some words do not take inflections. For example, nouns like moisture, fog, do not usually take plural suffix -s and adjectives like frequent, intelligent do not take comparative and superlative affixes -er and -est.The last and more reliable criterion of determining a word's category is its distribution. That is what type of elements can co-occur with a certain word. For example, nouns can typically appear with a determiner like the girl and a card, verbs with an auxiliary such as should stay and will go, and adjectives with a degree word such as very cool and too bright.A word's distributional facts together with information about its meaning and inflectional capabilities help identify its syntactic category.4. What is coordinate structure and what properties does it have?The structure formed by joining two or more elements of the same type with the help of a conjunction is called coordinate structures.It has (或写Conjunction exhibits) four important properties:1) There is no limit on the number of coordinated categories that can appear prior to theconjunction.2) A category at any level (a head or an entire XP) can be coordinated.3) Coordinated categories must be of the same type.4) The category type of the coordinate phrase is identical to the category type of theelements being conjoined.5. What elements does a phrase contain and what role does each element play?A phrase usually contains the following elements: head, specifier and complement. Sometimes it also contains another kind of element termed modifier.The role each element can play:Head:Head is the word around which a phrase is formed.Specifier:Specifier has both special semantic and syntactic roles. Semantically, it helps tomake more precise the meaning of the head. Syntactically, it typically marks a phrase boundary.Complement:Complements are themselves phrases and provide information about entities andlocations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head.Modifier:Modifiers specify optionally expressible properties of the heads.6. What is deep structure and what is surface structure?There are two levels of syntactic structure. The first, formed by the XP rule in accordance with the head's subcategorization properties, is called deep structure (or D-structure). The second, corresponding to the final syntactic form of the sentence which results from appropriate transformations, is called surface structure (or S-structure).（以下几题只作初步的的成分划分，未画树形图, 仅供参考）7. Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences.a) The old lady got off the bus carefully.Det A N V P Det N Advb) The car suddenly crashed onto the river bank.Det N Adv V P Det Nc) The blinding snowstorm might delay the opening of the schools.Det A N Aux V Det N P Det Nd) This cloth feels quite soft.Det N V Deg A8. The following phrases include a head, a complement, and a specifier. Draw the appropriate tree structure for each.a) rich in mineralsXP(AP) → head (rich) A + complement (in minerals) PPb) often read detective storiesXP(VP) →specifier (often) Qual +head (read) V +complement (detective stories) NP c) the argument against the proposalsXP(NP) →specifier (the) Det +head (argument) N +complement (against theproposals) PPd) already above the windowXP(VP) →specifier (already) Deg +head (above) P +complement (the window) NP d) The apple might hit the man.S →NP (The apple) + Infl (might) +VP (hit the man)e) He often reads detective stories.S →NP (He) +VP (often reads detective stories)9. The following sentences contain modifiers of various types. For each sentence, first identify the modifier(s), then draw the tree structures.（斜体的为名词的修饰语，划底线的为动词的修饰语）a) A crippled passenger landed the airplane with extreme caution.b) A huge moon hung in the black sky.c) The man examined his car carefully yesterday.d) A wooden hut near the lake collapsed in the storm.10. The following sentences all contain conjoined categories. Draw a tree structure for each of the sentences.（划底线的为并列的范畴）a) Jim has washed the dirty shirts and pants.b) Helen put on her clothes and went out.c) Mary is fond of literature but tired of statistics.11. The following sentences all contain embedded clauses that function as complements of a verb, an adjective, a preposition or a noun. Draw a tree structure for each sentence.a) You know that I hate war.b) Gerry believes the fact that Anna flunked the English exam.c) Chris was happy that his father bought him a Rolls-Royce.d) The children argued over whether bats had wings.12. Each of the following sentences contains a relative clause. Draw the deep structure and the surface structure trees for each of these sentences.a) The essay that he wrote was excellent.b) Herbert bought a house that she lovedc) The girl whom he adores majors in linguistics.13. The derivations of the following sentences involve the inversion transformation. Give the deep structure and the surface structure of each of these sentences. （斜体的为深层结构，普通字体的为表层结构）a) Would you come tomorrow?you would come tomorrowb) What did Helen bring to the party?Helen brought what to the partyc) Who broke the window?who broke the windowChapter 5 Semantics。
Chapter5Semantics教材练习题答案
Chapter 5 Semantics1. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning?答：(1) The naming theory proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things.(2) The conceptualist view has been held by some philosophers and linguists from ancienttimes. This view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i. e., between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.(3) The contextualist view held that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use,context ––elements closely linked with language behaviour. The representative of this approach was J.R. Firth, famous British linguist.(4) Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “situation inwhich the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.” This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest.2. What are the major types of synonyms in English?答：The major types of synonyms are dialectal synonyms, stylistic synonyms, emotive or evaluative synonyms, collocational synonyms, and semantically different synonyms.Examples（略）3. Explain with examples “homonymy”, “polysemy”, and “hyponymy”.答：(1) Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, i.e., different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones.When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs.When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are complete homonyms(2) While different words may have the same or similar meaning, the same one word may havemore than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called a polysemic word. There are many polysemic words in English, The fact is the more commonly used a word is, the more likely it has acquired more than one meaning.(3) Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and amore specific word. The word which is more general in meaning is called the superordinate, and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponyms of the same superordinate are co-hyponyms to each other. Hyponymy is a relation of inclusion;in terms of meaning, the superordinate includes all its hyponyms.Examples（略）4. How can words opposite in meaning be classified? To which category does each of the following pairs of antonyms belong?north/south vacant/occupied literate/illiterate above/belowdoctor/patient wide/narrow poor/rich father/daughter答：They can be gradable antonyms, complementary antonyms and relational opposite Gradable antonyms: literate/illiterate wide /narrow poor/richComplementary antonyms: vacant/occupiedRelational opposite: north/south, doctor/patient, father/daughter, above/below5. Identify the relations between the following pairs of sentences:Tom's wife is pregnant. My sister will soon be divorced'Tom has a wife. My sister is a married woman.He likes seafood, They are going to have another baby.He likes crabs. They have a child.答：“Tom's wife is pregnant” presupposes “Tom has a wife.”“My sister will soon be divorced” presupposes “My sister is a married woman.”“He likes seafood” is entailed by “He likes crabs.”“They are going to have another baby” presupposes “They have a child.”6. In what way is componential analysis similar to the analysis of phonemes into distinctive features?答：They both base on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components.7. What is grammaticality? What might make a grammatically meaningful sentencesemantically meaningless?答：Grammaticality refers to the grammatical well-formedness of a sentence. The violation of the selectional restrictions, i.e., constrains on what lexical items can go with what others, might make a grammatically meaningless.8. Try to analyze the following sentences in terms of predication analysis:The man sells ice-cream. Is the baby sleeping?It is snowing. The tree grows well.答：The man sells ice-cream.MAN, ICE-CREAM (SELL)Is the baby sleeping?BABY (SLEEP)It is snowing.(SNOW)The tree grows well.TREE (GROW)【理财规划师基础知识】第七章理财计算基础一、单项选择题1．下面事件是必然事件的是（）。
语言学笔记5
Chapter 5 Semantics一、定义1.命名论The naming theoryThe naming theory, one of the oldest notions concerning meaning, and also a very primitive one was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words,the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for, so words are just names or labels for things.2.意念论The conceptualist viewIt holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to; rather ,in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.3.语境论ConceptualismIt’s based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. her are two kinds of context: the situational and the linguistic context.4.行为主义论BehaviorismIt refers to the attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the” situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer”.this theory somewhat close to conceptualism emphasizes on the psychological response.5.意义SenseIt’s concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It’s the collection of all the features of the linguistic form, it’s abstract and de-contextualized.6.所指意义ReferenceIt means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world, it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.7.同义词SynonymyIt refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning or we can say that words are close in meaning are called synonyms.8.多义词PolysemyIt refers to different words may have the same or similar meaning, the same one word may have more than one meaning.9.同音(形)异义HomonymyIt refers to the phenomenon that words have different meanings have the same form, i.e, different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.10.同音异义HomophonesIt refers to two words are identical in sound. e.g. rain/reign.11.同形异义HomographsIt refers to two words are identical in form .e.g. tear v./tear n.12.上下义关系HyponymyIt refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word. the word which is more general in meaning is called superordinate, and the more specific words are called its hyponyms.13.反义词AntonymyIt’s the term used for oppositeness of meaning on different dimension.14.成分分析法Componential Analysis----分析词汇抽象意义It’s a way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyz e word meaning.this approach is based upon the belief that meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features.15.述谓结构分析Predication Analysis 由British Linguist G.Leech提出It’s a new approach for sentential meaning analysis.Predication is usually considered an important common category shared by propositions, questions, commands ect.通过对论元argument和谓语predicate的分析，达到对句子意义进行分析的许多模式中的一种。
5.semantics(2)
the famous account of Jack and Jill (P71)
Jill
S
r
Jack
s
R
Events before speech
Events after e
“I am thirsty, Jack.” apple to Jill.
• 1. Absolute or complete synonyms are words identical in meaning in all its aspects, i.e. words that are mutually substitutable under all circumstances.
5.3.2 Major sense relations
§ Synonymy (同义关系) § Antonymy (反义关系) § Polysemy (多义关系) § Homonymy (同音/形异义) § Hyponymy (上下义关系)
Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms.
Thought or Reference concept
Symbol Linguistic elements such as words or sentences
Referent The object, etc, in the world of experience
Weakpoints ?
We may still ask what are the concepts that “and” or “but” stand for?
Chapter 5 Semantics课后答案
Chapter 5 SemanticsPreview: The Study of MeaningSemantics:The meaning of words: Lexical semanticsThe meaning of sentences: Propositional meaning, compositional meaning Linguistic semantics vs. Logical semantics/philosophical semantics Pragmatics:The meaning of utterances5.1 What is Semantics?Semantics is the study of meaning in language.Meaning has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, logicians and linguists. E.g. Plato & Aristotle.5.2 Approaches to meaningC. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards (1923). The Meaning of Meaning.John means to write.A green light means to go.Health means everything.His look was full of meaning.What is the meaning of life?What does …capitalist‟ mean to you?What does …cornea‟ mean?Geoffrey Leech (1974, 1981). Semantics: The Study of Meaning. Seven types of meaning:Conceptual meaningConnotative meaningSocial meaningAffective meaningReflected and meaningCollocative meaningThematic meaningSome views concerning the study of meaningNaming theory (Plato)The conceptualist view (Ogden and Richards)Behaviorism (Bloomfield)Contextualism (J.R.Firth)Truth Conditionalism5.2.1Meaning as namingThe meaning of an expression is what it refers to, or names, is often calledreferential theory or naming theory. cat→Nouns name objects or events and adjectives name the properties of those objects or events. Verbs name actions and adverbs name their properties.In this view, words are “names” or “labels” for things in our mind or in our experience. unicornProblems:1) Applicable to nouns only.2) There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world,e.g. ghost, dragon, unicorn…3) There are nouns that do not refer to physical objects but abstract notions, e.g. joy, impulse, hatred…5.2.2 Meaning as conceptDef.: Expressions actually mean the concept or idea associated with them. Any particular sound image is psychologically associated with a particular concept. [chair]→{chair}(signifier vs signified)Merits: The classification of objects in the world, for example, need not be natural or universal, but only conceptual. So it solves the concrete and abstract ideas.Dismerits: Yet still not the functional word classes in language such as and or but.5.2.3 Meaning as behaviourL. Bloomfield: meaning exists in the relation between speech and the practical events that precede and follow it. The meaning of a linguistic form is thus defined as observable behaviour. Such an approach to meaning is called behaviourism, or behaviourist theory, which clearly draws on psychology. Jack & JillPhysical physical/linguistic linguistic/physical physicalProblems: the practical stimulus S is not always obvious, so how to identify it?5.2.4 Meaning as contextI was near that bank yesterday.The context determines the meaning. we can derive meaning from, or reduce it to, the observable context.Two kinds of context : a linguistic context and a situational context.the situational context:(i) the setting (formal, informal, …)(ii) the speaker and hearer (relationship, position,…)(iii) the activities they are engaged in at the time(iv) the presence or absence of other participan ts (relationship, position,…) (v) the presence of various external objects and eventsBritish linguist J. R. Firth advanced a contextual view of meaning embodying both linguistic and situational contexts. “we shall know a word by the company it keeps”.Like Bloomfield, he was concerned with reducing meaning to a set of observable features.Unlike Bloomfield, he chose to focus on a more sociological view rather than a psychological one.Problems: what are we actually observing in a context? How many factors are relevant and how many of those are internal to the participants that cannot be easily observed?5.2.5 Meaning as truth conditionsThe Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.(true)The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1976.(false)knowing the meaning of a sentence is the same as knowing the conditions under which the sentence is true or false. And knowing the meaning of a word or expression is knowing the part that it plays in the truth or falsehood of the sentence containing it. (formal logic)(7) S is true if and only if P (peter is married)S is a sentence. P is the set of conditions which guarantees the truth ofS.Problems: declaratives/statements(The temperature is below freezing) interrogatives and imperatives? question or a command?5.3 Word MeaningThe meaning of a word is its use in the language‟. (Ludwig Wittgenstein) Meaning is studied by making detailed analyses of the way words and sentences are used in specific contexts.Reference: how language refers to this external worldSense: the way people relate words to each other within the framework of their languageLexical gap:The family tree舅父= …mother‟s brother‟叔叔= …father‟s younger brother‟伯父= …father‟s elder brother‟姨母= …mother‟s sister‟姑母= …father‟s sister‟5.3. 5.1 Conceptual meaningAlso called …denotative‟ or …cognitive‟ meaning.Refers to logical, cognitive or denotative content.Concerned with the relationship between a word and the thing it denotes, or refers to.5.3. 5.2 Connotative meaningThe communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.A multitude of additional, non-criterial properties, including not only physical characteristics but also psychological and social properties, as well as typical features.Involving the …real world‟ experience one associates with an expression when one uses or hears it.Unstable: they vary considerably according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual.Any characteristic of the referent, identified subjectively or objectively, may contribute to the connotative meaning of the expression which denotes it. 5.3. 5.3 Social meaningWhat a piece of language conveys about the social circumstances of its use. Dialect: the language of a geographical region or of a social class.Time: the language of the 18th c., etc.Province: language of law, of science, of advertising, etc.Status: polite, colloquial, slang, etc.Modality: language of memoranda, lectures, jokes, etc.Singularity: the style of Dickens, etc.domicile: very formal, officialresidence: formalabode: poetichome: generalsteed: poetichorse: generalnag: slanggee-gee: baby language5.3. 5.4 Affective meaningReflecting the personal feelings of the speaker, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about.You‟re a vicious tyrant and a villainous reprobate, and I hate you for it!I‟m terribly sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voices a little. orWill you belt up.5.3. 5.5 Reflected meaningArises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense.When you hear …click the mouse twice‟, you think of Gerry being hit twice by Tom so you feel excited.Many taboo terms are result of this.5.3. 5.6 Collocative meaningThe associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment.pretty: girl, boy, woman, flower, garden, colour, village, etc.handsome: boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.5.3.5.7 Thematic meaningWhat is communicated by the way in which a speaker or writer organizes the message, in terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis.Mrs Bessie Smith donated the first prize.The first prize was donated by Mrs Bessie Smith.They stopped at the end of the corridor.At the end of the corridor, they stopped.5.3.3 Semantic fields(13)Set 1: cup, mug, wine glass, tumbler, plastic cup, gobletSet 2: hammer, cloud, tractor, eyeglass, leaf, justiceThe words of set 1 constitute a semantic field or lexical field—a set of words with an identifiable semantic connection.Some obvious semantic fields are: sports: creative writings: kinship terms: emotions: furniture:The absence of a word in a particular place in a semantic field of a language is called lexical gap. Cow and bull; cousinIn a semantic field, not all lexical items necessarily have the same status. (14)Set 1: blue, red, yellow, green, purpleSet 2: indigo, saffron, royal blue, aquamarine, bisque5.3.4 Componential analysisBoy: +HUMAN, −ADULT, +MALELexical items can be analyzed into a set of semantic features or semantic components which may be universal. This semantic theory is called Componential Analysis (CA).The aim of componential analysis is to find those components which are sufficient to describe the meaning of every lexical item in the language. the ultimate aim is to find a universal set of components which can be used to describe meaning in each and every language in the world. The theory can show us how words are related and differentiated:5.3.5 Semantic RelationshipsSynonymyAntonymyHyponymySynonymybuy/purchasethrifty/economical/stingyautumn/fallflat/apartmenttube/undergroundGradable antonymygood ----------------------- badlong ----------------------- shortbig ----------------------- smallCan be modified by adverbs of degree like very.Can have comparative forms.Can be asked with how.Complementary antonymyalive : deadmale : femalepresent : absentinnocent : guilty5.4.3 Semantic relationships between sentences(1) X is synonymous with Y(2) X is inconsistent with Y(3) X entails Y(4) X presupposes Y(5) X is a contradiction(6) X is semantically anomalousX is synonymous with YX: He was a bachelor all his life.Y: He never got married all his life.X: The boy killed the cat.Y: The cat was killed by the boy.If X is true, Y is true; if X is false, Y is false.X is inconsistent with YX: He is single.Y: He has a wife.X: This is my first visit to Beijing.Y: I have been to Beijing twice.If X is true, Y is false; if X is false, Y is true.X entails YX: John married a blond heiress.Y: John married a blond.X: Marry has been to Beijing.Y: Marry has been to China.Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y, then the meaning of X isincluded in Y.If X is true, Y is necessarily true; if X is false, Y may be true or false. X presupposes YX: His bike needs repairing.Y: He has a bike.Paul has given up smoking.Paul once smoked.If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is still true.X is a contradiction*My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor.*The orphan‟s parents are pretty well-off.X is semantically anomalous反常的*The man is pregnant.*The table has bad intentions.*Sincerity shakes hands with the black apple.。
大学英语新编语言学教程Chapter 5 Semantics
Conceptualist/ Mentalism View(概念论)
• Conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e. between language and the real world; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in our mind.
• Mentalism or Conceptualism follows Saussure’s “sign ” theory ,and considers the linguistic sign to consist of a signifier and signified, i.e., a sound image and a concept ,linked by a psychological “associative” bond
chapter-5-semantics语义学
R: non-linguistic RESPONSE of getting the apple
1.5 Meaning as context (p.107)
Contextualist view (inspired by Malinovsky, proposed by Firth): Context determines the meaning; meaning is found in the context within which a particular expression is uttered suggests that we can derive meaning from the observable context.
Reference or extension deals with the relationship between the linguistic elements (words, sentences, etc.) and the nonlinguistic world of experience (things, actions, events and qualities).
1.2 Meaning as naming (p.105)
Naming theory (Plato): the meaning of expression is what it refers to, or names.
The semantic relationship holding between a word and the thing it denotes is the relationship of naming.
05Chapter_5_semantics
The family tree
舅父 = „mother‟s brother‟ 叔叔 = „father‟s younger brother‟ 伯父 = „father‟s elder brother‟ 姨母 = „mother‟s sister‟ 姑母 = „father‟s sister‟
reprobate, and I hate you for it! I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voices a little. or Will you belt up.
pretty: girl, boy, woman, flower, garden, colour, village, etc. handsome: boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.
14
3.7 Thematic meaning
12
3.5 Reflected meaning
Arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. When you hear ‘click the mouse twice’, you
3
Logicians and philosophers have tended to concentrate on a restricted range of sentences (typically, statements, or „propositions‟) within a single language. The linguistic approach aims to study the properties of meaning in a systematic and objective way, with reference to as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible, ∴ broader in scope.
现代英语语言学理论 CHAPTER 5
语言与意义
Semantics Studies
INTRODUCTION
MEANING OF MEANING
THE SENSE RELATION
SEMANTICS
THE REFERENCIAL THEORY
There are 16 major categories of them, with sub-categories all together, numbering 22.
5.3. The Referential Theory
The theory of meaning, which relates the meaning of a word to the thing it refers to, or stands for, is known as the referential theory.
Componential Analysis
5.1. Semantics
The fact that over the years numerous dictionaries have been produced with a view to explaining the meaning of words also bears witness to its long tradition.
Nevertheless, semantics remains the least known area in linguistics, compared with phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax.
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Chapter 5 Semantics1. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning答：(1) The naming theory proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things.(2) The conceptualist view has been held by some philosophers and linguists from ancienttimes. This view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i. e., between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.(3) The contextualist view held that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use,context –– elements closely linked with language behaviour. The representative of this approach was . Firth, famous British linguist.(4) Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “situation inwhich the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.” This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest.2. What are the major types of synonyms in English答：The major types of synonyms are dialectal synonyms, stylistic synonyms, emotive or evaluative synonyms, collocational synonyms, and semantically different synonyms.Examples（略）3. Explain with examples “homonymy”, “polysemy”, and “hyponymy”.答：(1) Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, ., different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones.When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs.When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are complete homonyms(2) While different words may have the same or similar meaning, the same one word mayhave more than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called a polysemic word. There are many polysemic words in English, The fact is the more commonly used a word is, the more likely it has acquired more than one meaning.(3) Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word anda more specific word. The word which is more general in meaning is called thesuperordinate, and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponyms of the same superordinate are co-hyponyms to each other. Hyponymy is a relation of inclusion;in terms of meaning, the superordinate includes all its hyponyms.Examples（略）4. How can words opposite in meaning be classified To which category does each of the following pairs of antonyms belongnorth/south vacant/occupied literate/illiterate above/belowdoctor/patient wide/narrow poor/rich father/daughter答：They can be gradable antonyms, complementary antonyms and relational opposite Gradable antonyms: literate/illiterate wide /narrow poor/richComplementary antonyms: vacant/occupiedRelational opposite: north/south, doctor/patient, father/daughter, above/below5. Identify the relations between the following pairs of sentences:Tom's wife is pregnant. My sister will soon be divorced'Tom has a wife. My sister is a married woman.He likes seafood, They are going to have another baby.He likes crabs. They have a child.答：“Tom's wife is pregnant” presupposes “Tom has a wife.”“My sister will soon be divorced” presupposes “My sister is a married woman.”“He likes seafood” is entailed by “He likes crabs.”“They are going to have another baby” presupposes “They have a child.”6. In what way is componential analysis similar to the analysis of phonemes into distinctive features答：They both base on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components.7. What is grammaticality What might make a grammatically meaningful sentence semantically meaningless答：Grammaticality refers to the grammatical well-formedness of a sentence. The violation of the selectional restrictions, ., constrains on what lexical items can go with what others, might make a grammatically meaningless.8. Try to analyze the following sentences in terms of predication analysis:The man sells ice-cream. Is the baby sleepingIt is snowing. The tree grows well.答：The man sells ice-cream.MAN, ICE-CREAM (SELL)Is the baby sleepingBABY (SLEEP)It is snowing.(SNOW)The tree grows well.TREE (GROW)。