chapter5semantics教材练习题答案
chapter5semantics语言学
chapter5semantics语言学语义学是对语言单位，尤其是词和句子意义的研究。
1.“意义”的意义G.Leech提出7种意义：概念意义，内涵意义，社会意义，感情意义，反射意义，搭配意义，主题意义。
G.Leech的概念意义包括两个方面：涵义和指称。
涵义和指称的区别类似内涵与外延：前者指一个实体的抽象属性，后者指拥有这些属性的具体实体。
每个单词都有涵义，即概念意义，否则他们无法使用或理解，但并非每个单词都有指称。
2.指称论（命名论）：该理论把词语意义与词所指或词所代表的事物联系起来。
该理论对于解释专有名词或在现实中有所指的名词时很有效。
但其无法指称抽象概念。
有时同一东西会有不同词语的表达。
3.概念论。
代表是语义三角说。
该理论认为，词和所指事物之间没有直接关系，而是以抽象的概念为中介。
4，语境论认为应该在具体语境中研究词的意义. 语境包括情景语境和上下文两种。
5.行为主义理论认为词的意义是说话者说话得情景及听话人的反应6.意义关系词语词之间的主要意义关系：相同关系，相反关系，包含关系a.同义关系。
完全同义关系很少，所谓的同一都依赖语境，并总在某方面不同。
（方言，内涵，文体等）b.反义关系主要包括：等级反义关系，互补反义关系，关系反义关系。
1）等级反义的特点：第一，否定一方并不必然是肯定另一方，还有中间状态；第二，没有绝对评判标准，标准随对象而改变。
第三，通常用其中表示较高程度的词来覆盖整个量级。
覆盖性词被称为“无标记的”，即一般性的；被覆盖词被称为“有标记的”，即特殊的。
一般使用覆盖性词语。
一旦使用被覆盖词语，表示有某种特殊的、不一般的情况。
第四，可用very修饰，可有比较级最高级2）互补反义关系，第一，肯定一方意味着否定另一方。
反之亦然。
第二，不用very修饰，没有比较级最高级。
第三，评判标准绝对。
没有覆盖性词语3）关系（反向）反义关系，表现两个实体间的一种反向关系，不构成肯否定对立。
一个预设着另一个的存在。
语言学整理的资料Chapter 5 semantics
Chapter 51.Semantics:自测： __________ can be defined as the study of meaning.术语：Semantics 语义学解释：语义学可以简单的定义为对意义的研究。
术语：semantics is the study of meaning of linguistics units, words and sentences in particular.语义学是对语言单位尤其是词和句子的意义的研究。
解释：Semantics is defined as the study of meaning. However, it is not the only linguistic discipline that studies meaning. Semantics answers the question “what does this sentence mean”. In other words, it is the analysis of conventional meanings in words and sentences out of context. 语义学被定义为对意义的研究，然而，却不仅仅是对语言的意义研究。
语义学回答了“这句话有什么意义”这样的问题。
换句话说，它研究语境外词语和句子的传统意义。
2.Sense:自测：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 decontextualized.D. Sense is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are not interested in.术语：Sense 涵义解释：涵义指一个实体的抽象属性。
《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Chapter5Semantics语义学
Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学、定义1. semantics 语义学：Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language. 语义学可以简单地定义为对意义的将研究。
二、知识点5.2 Different views of meaning 意义研究的不同观点521 The naming theory命名论(by 希腊Scholar Plato)The naming theory命名论：Words are just names or labels for thin gs词语只不过是其代表的事物的名字或标记。
Eg. desk—a piece of furniture with a flat top and four legs.The limitations of this theory 局限性：1. This theory seems applicable to nouns only这一理论看起来仅适用于名词(Some words are definitelynot lables of object：eg. jump, quickly, pretty, an d, i n,hearted, thi nk, hard, slowly …)2. There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world： ghost,grago n, un icorn麒麟.有些名词是指世界中根本就不存在的事物。
3. Nouns that do not refer to physical object, but abstract notions such asjoy and impulse有些名词并不是指实物性的物体，而是指：joy, impulse 刺激，这样的抽象概念。
语言学教程各章节练习及答案
Exercises to Linguistics外语系黄永亮Chapter 1 Invitation to Linguistics1.Define the following terms:Langue:Langue refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by all the members of a speech community.Parole:parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.Prescriptive: Prescriptive and descriptive represent two different types of linguistic study. if the linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard”behaviour in usinglanguage, i.e. to tell people what they should day and what they should not say, it is saidto be prescriptive.Descriptive: Prescriptive and descriptive represent two different types of linguistic study. If a linguistic study aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, it is saidto be descriptive;competence: Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language.Performance: Chomsky defines performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.Synchronic: The description of a language at some point of time in history is a synchronic study;Diachronic: The description of a language as it changes through time is a diachronic study.Linguistics：Linguistics may be defined as the systematic (or scientific) study of language.language：Language is a form of human communication by means of a system of symbols principally transmitted by vocal sounds.”2.Does the traffic light system have duality, why?No. No discrete units on the first level that can be combined freely in the second level to form meaning.There is only simple one to one relationship between signs and meaning, namely, re-stop, green-go and yellow-get ready to go or stop.munication can take many forms, such as sign, speech, body language and facial expression. Dobody language and facial expression share or lack the distinctive properties of human language?Less arbitrary, lack duality, less creative, limited repertoire, emotional-oriented.4.Why is competence and performance an important distinction in linguistics?According to Chomsky, a language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called his linguistic competence. And performance refers to the actual enables a speaker to produce andunderstand an indefinite numbers of sentences and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities.A speaker’s competence is stable but his performance is often influenced by psychological and socialfactors. Thus, Chomsky proposed that linguists should focus on the study of competence, not performance. The distinction of the two terms “competence and performance”represents the orientation of linguistic study. So we can say competence and performance is an important distinction in linguistics.5.In what basic ways does modern linguistics differ from traditional grammar?Modern linguistics differs from traditional grammar in the following basic ways:Firstly, priority is given, as mentioned earlier, to spoken language. Secondly, focus is on synchronic study of language, rather than on diachronic study of language. Thirdly, modern linguistics is descriptive rather than prescriptive in nature. Linguists endeavor to state objectively the regularities of a language. They aim at finding out how a language is spoken: they do not attempt to tell people how it should be spoken. Fourthly, modern linguistics is theoretically rather than pedagogically oriented. Modern linguists strive to construct theories of language that can account for language in general. These features distinguished modern linguistics from traditional grammar. The two are complementary. Not contradictory. Knowledge of both is necessary for a language teacher: knowledge of the latter is necessary for a language learner.Chapter 2 Phonetics1. Give the description of the following sound segments in English1)[❆] voiced dental fricative2)[☞] voiceless alveolar fricative3)[☠] velar nasal4)[♎] voiced alveolar stop5)[☐] voiceless bilabial stop6)[ ] voiceless velar stop7)[●] (alveolar) lateral8)[♓] high front lax unrounded vowel9)[◆:] high back tense rounded vowel10)[ ] low back lax rounded vowel2. How is the description of consonants different from that of vowels?Consonants are described according to manner and place of articulation while vowels are described with four criteria: part of the tongue that is raised; extent to which the tongue rises in the direction of the palate; kind of opening made at the lips; position of soft palate.3. Which sound may be described asa voiced bilabial plosive [♌]a voiced labio-dental fricative [❖]a voiceless velar plosive [ ]4. Why might a photographer ask the person she is photographing to say cheese?The vowel of the word cheese [♓:] is produced with the lips spread, this resembling a smile.5.Account for the difference in articulation in each of the following pairs of words:coast ghost; ghost boastboast most; ghost mist;The words coast and ghost are distinguished by the fact that the initial segment is voiceless in the case of the former and voiced in the case of the latter.The word ghost and boast are distinguished by the place of articulation of the initial segment, [♑] being velar while [♌] is bilabial.Boast and most are distinguished by the manner of articulation of the initial segment, [❍] being nasal.Most and mist are distinguished by the fact that the former has a rounded back vowel shile the latter has a spread front vowel.Chapter 3 Phonology1.Define the following termsPhonology: Phonology is concerned with the sound system of languages. It is concerned with which sounds a language uses and how the contribution of sounds to the task of communication.Phone: A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during linguistic communication are all phonesPhoneme: Phoneme is the abstract element of sound, identified as being distinctive in a particular language.Allophone: Allophone refers any of the different forms of a phoneme is an allophone of it in English.Compare the words peak and speak, for instance. The /☐/ in peak is aspirated; phonetically transcribed as [☐♒] while the /☐/ in speak is unaspirated, phonetically [☐＝]. [☐,☐♒] are two different phones and are variants of the phoneme /☐/. Such variants of a phoneme are called Allophone of the same phoneme.Suprasegmental features:. The phonemic features that occur above the level of the segment are called Suprasegmental features. Suprasegmental features include: stress, tone and intonation.2.Transcribe the realization of the past tense morpheme for each of the following words:Waited waved wiped waded. account for the differences.[id] in “waited”and “waded”follows another alveolar plosive. [d] in “waved”follows voiced consonants.[t] in “wiped” follows voiceless consonants, there being voicing assimilation.3. which of the following would be phonologically acceptable as English words?Thlite grawl dlesher shlink tritch sruck stwondle“grawl” and “tritch”4.Why can we not use the sequence [☠kl] in twinkle as an example of a consonant cluster?The sequence [☠kl] bridges two syllables.5.For each of the following pairs compare the position of the stress. Comment.Economy/economic wonder/wonderfulBeauty/beautiful acid/acidicIn adjectives ending in –ic the stress moves to the following syllable, in adjectives ending in –ful it does not.6.Explain why somebody might choose to stress the following utterances as indicated by the boldtype:a) John want ed to do this today. b) John wanted to do this today. c) John wanted to do thisto day.The first utterance implies that John was unable to do what he wanted.The second implies that he was only able to do something else.The third implies that he was only able to do it some other day.Chapter 4 Morphology1.Define the following terms:Morpheme: the smallest unit of language in terms of relationship between expression and content, a unit that can not be divided into further small units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether it is lexical or grammatical.Compound:Polymorphemic words which consist wholly of free morphemes, such as classroom, blackboard, snowwhite, etc.Allomorph: any of the different form of a morpheme. For example, in English the plural morpheme -‘s but it is pronounced differently in different environments as /s/ in cats,as /z/ in dogs and as /iz/ in classes. So /s/, /z/, and /iz/ are all allomorphs of the plural morpheme.Bound morpheme: an element of meaning which is structurally dependent on the word it is added to,e.g. the plural morpheme in “dogs”.Free morpheme: an element of meaning which takes the form of an independent word.plete the words with suitable negative prefixesa. ir removable g. in humanb. in formal h. ir relevantc. im practicable i. un evitabled. in sensible j. im mobilee. in tangible k. il legalf. il logical l. in discreet3. “Morpheme” is defined as the smallest unit in terms of relationship betweenexpression and content. Then is morpheme a grammatical concept or asemantic one? What is its relation to phoneme?Since morpheme is defined as the smallest unit in terms of relationship between expression and content, it at the same time covers the grammatical and semantic aspect of linguistic unit. A morpheme may overlap with a phoneme, such as I, but usually not, as in pig, in which the morpheme is the whole word, i.e. and independent, free morpheme, but the phonemes are /p/, /i/ and /g/.4. Identify in the following sentence four bound morphemes. State the function ofeach and say whether each is derivational or inflectional.The teacher’s brother considered the project impossible.The –er and the –‘s of teacher’s are bound morphemes, the former being derivational, as it produces a lexeme that denotes the person who does an action, the latter being an inflectional morpheme, as it indicates possession.The –ed of considered is inflectional, indicating that the action took place in the past. The im- of impossible is derivational, producing a new lexeme that denotes the opposite of possible.Chapter 5 Syntax1.Define the following terms:Category: parts of speech and functions, such as the classification of words in terms of parts of speech, the identification of functions of words in term of subject, predicate, etc.Concord:also known as agreement, is the requirement that the forms of two or more words in a syntactic relationship should agree with each other in terms of some categories Syntagmatic relation:. Syntagmatic relation is a relation between one item and others in a sequence, or between elements which are all present.Paradigmatic relation: a relation holding between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in a structure, or between one element present and the others absent. Deep structure: is defined as the abstract representation of the syntactic properties of a construction, i.e. the underlying level of structural relations between its different constituents Surface structure: is the final stage in the syntactic derivation of a construction, which closely corresponds to the structural organization of a construction people actually produceand receive.Theme: The Theme is the first constituent of the clause.Rheme: All the rest of the clause is simply labeled the Rheme.2.Why is it important to know the relations a sign has with others, such as syntaxgmatic andparadigmatic relations?As the relation between a signifier and signified is arbitrary, the value of a sign can not be determined by itself. To know the identity of a sign, the linguist will have to know the signs it is used together with and those it is substitutable for. The former relation is known as syntagmatic and the latter paradigmatic.3.In what ways is IC analysis better than traditional parsing?In traditional parsing, a sentence is mainly seen as a sequence of individual words, as if it has onlya linear structure. IC analysis, however, emphasizes the hierarchical structure of a sentence,seeing it as consisting of word groups first. In this way the internal of structure of a sentence is shown more clearly, hence the reason of some ambiguities may be revealed.4.What are the problems in IC analysis?There are some technical problems caused by the binary division and discontinuous constituents.But the main problem is that there are structures whose ambiguities cannot be revealed by IC analysis, e.g. the love of God. In terms of both the tree diagram and the label, there is only one structure, but the word God is in two different relations with love, i.e. either as subject or object.5.Clarify the ambiguity in the following sentence by tree diagrams:Old teachers and priests fear blackbirds.SNP VPAdj. NP V NOld fear blackbirds.N Conj. Nteachers and priestsSNP VPNP Conj. N V NAdj. N and priests fear blackbirds.Old teachersChapter 6 Semantics1. defining the following terms:semantics: The subject concerning the study of meaning is called semantics. More specifically, semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistics units, words and sentences inparticular.Denotation: the core sense of a word or a phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real world. Connotation: a term in a contrast with denotation, meaning the properties of the entity a word denotes.Sense: the literal meaning of a word or an expression, independent of situational context. Reference: the use of language to express a proposition, i.e. to talk about things in context. Synonymy: is the technical name for the sameness relation.Antonymy: is the name for oppositeness relation:hyponymy: a relation between two words, in which the meaning of one word (the superordinate) is included in the meaning of another word (the hyponym)semantic component: a distinguishable element of meaning in a word with two values, e.g.[+human].2. Some people maintain that there are no true synonyms. If two words mean really the same,one of them will definitely die out. An example often quoted is the disuse of the word “wireless”, which has been replaced by “radio”. Do you agree? In general what type of meaning we are talking about when we say two words are synonymous with each other?It is true that there are no absolute synonyms. When we say two words are synonymous with each other, we usually mean they have the same conceptual meaning.3. For each of the following pairs of words, state the principal reason why they may not beconsidered to be synonyms:man boy toilet loo determined stubbornpavement sidewalk walk runThe words man and boy are principally distinguished be age, the words walk and run by speed.The principal distinction between the words toilet and loo is one of social register. Determined and stubborn are largely distinguished by attitude—a person reluctant to give up is described as determined by those who sympathize and as stubborn by those who do not. The difference between the words pavement and sidewalk is a matter of geography, the former being used in Britain and the latter in America.Chapter 7 Pragmantics1. defining the following terms:Performative:an utterance by which a speaker does something does something,as apposed to a constative, by which makes a statement which may be true or false.Constative:an utterance by which a speaker expresses a proposition which may be true or false. Locutuonary act: the act of saying something; it’s an act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon, and phonology. Namely, the utterance of a sentence with determinatesense and reference.Illocutuonary act:the act performed in saying something; its force is identical with the speaker’s intention.Perlocutionary act: the act performed by or resulting from saying something, it’s the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance.Cooperative principle:in making conversation, there is, as Grice holds, a general principle which all participants are expected to observe. He calls this guiding principle theCooperative Principle, CP for short.. It runs as follows: "make yourconversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, bythe accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.”Conversational implicature: the extra meaning not contained in the literal utterances, understandable tothe listener only when he shares the speaker’s knowledge or knows why andhow he violates intentionally one of the four maxims of the CooperativePrinciple (CP)2. Consider the following dialogue between a man and his daughter. Try to explain the illocutionary force in each of the utterances.[The daughter walks into the kitchen and takes so e popcorn.]Father: I thought you were practicing your violin.Daughter: I need to get the violin stand.Father: Is it under the popcorn?The illocutionary force of “I thought you were practicing your violin” is a criticism of the daughter for her not practicing the violin. That of the daughter’s answer is a defense for herself—I’m going to do that. And that of the father’s retort is a denial of the daughter’s excuse.3.If you ask somebody “Can you open the door?” he answered “Yes” but does not actually do it, what would be your reaction? Why? Try to see it in the light of speech act theory.I would be angry with him. “Can you open the door” is normally a request of the hearer to do it rather than a question about his ability. The fact that he answers “Yes” but does not actually do it shows that he declines my request.4. A is reading the newspaper. When B asks “What’s on television tonight?” he answers “Nothing.”What does A mean in normal situations? Think of two situations in which this interpretation of “Nothing” will be cancelled.Normally “Nothing” here means “Nothing interesting”. If A adds after “Nothing” “The workers are on strike today” or “There’s going to be a blackout tonight”, then the interpretation of “Nothing interesting’will be cancelled.11。
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。
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.
语言学第五章
Semantics
Semantics: the study of meaning Some views concerning the study of meaning: The naming theory The conceptualist view Contextualism Behaviorism
Chapter 5
The naming theory:
Semantics
1) The oldest and the most primitive 2) Greek scholar Plato 3) The words used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. Words are just names or labels for things. Limitations: 1)It seems applicable to noun only. 2)We can not use words to name the nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world.
ⅰDialectal synonyms- synonyms used in different regional dialects ⅱ Stylistic synonyms- synonyms differing in style . ⅱⅰSynonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning. ⅳ Collocational synonyms ⅴ Semantically different synonyms.
the outline of Chapter 5 Semantics
Chapter 5 Semantics1. What is semantics?Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language.2. Some views concerning the study of meaning2.1 The naming theoryThe naming theory, one of the oldest theory, proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato, holds that the linguistic forms or symbols are the labels of the objects. So words are just names or labels for things.There are problems with this theory. First, this theory seems involve nouns only. Even within nouns, we can find that some refer to the things that do not exist; others may refer to something abstract. What is more, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are not labels of objects.2.2 The conceptualist viewThe 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 worlds) ; they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind . This can be best illustrated by the classic semantic triangle or triangle of significance that was suggested by Ogden and Richards:Thought/ReferenceSymbol/Form ReferentLinguistic expression the object inSuch as words, sentences the world of experience(直线表示两者之间有直接联系，虚线表示两者之间无直接联系。
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（）。
Chapter Five Semantics
SemanticsQuestions and exercises1. Distinguish between denotative and connotative meaning, and give examples of each.2. What distinction can we draw between sense and reference?3. What is the difference between lexical and grammatical meaning?4. Explain the ambiguity of the following sentences by providing two sentences that paraphrasethe two meanings:1) She can't bear children.2) He waited by the bank.3) Is he really that kind?4) You should see her shop.5) Jan saw the boy with a telescope.6) They are moving machines.7) They found the peasants revolting.8) He met his professor at his house.9) Challenging wrestlers will be avoided at all costs.5. Give an opposite for each of the following words, and then divide the pairs into different typesof opposite relations.true, inaccurate, sister, teacher, partner, alive, married, always, failure, above, give, asleep, better, permitted.6. Explain and exemplify hyponymy.7. Analyse the semantic components of the following pairs:man/woman, policeman/cop, goose/gosling, chopstick/fork, rock/pebble8. Study the following joke s and try to decide weather it’s a case of homonymy or polysemy:1) Q: Why was the teacher cross-eyed?A: Because she couldn't control her pupils!2) Q: Why do teachers wear sunglasses?A: Because their students are so bright!3) Q: What's an eight letter word that has only one letter in it?A: An envelope!9. For each of the following pairs of sentences, say whether a entails b, b entails a or neitherentails the other.1) a. Cyril the swan is white.b. All swans are white.2) a. Most fish have scales.b. Barry the goldfish has scales.3) a. This chalk looks funny.b. The light is bad.4) a. I invited some of my friend.b. I didn't invite all of my friends.5) a. John got 40 on all his papers.b. John failed his exams.10. What are the presuppositions that the following sentences may contain?a. She regretted not accepting the gift from Tony.b. The Vice-chancellor forgot that the professors supported the student.c. He believes that Mary is home.d. She wants more popcorn.11. Presupposition or entailment?l) a. The minister blames her secretary for leaking the memo to the press.b. The memo was leaked to the press.2) a. He walked to school slowly.b. He walked to school.3) a. He ate four cakes today.b. He ate more than three cakes today.4) a. She regrets leaving Europe.b. She left Europe.5) a. I saw a dog today.b. I saw an animal today.6) a. He stopped singing in the shower.b. He used to sing in the shower.7) a. Dave is angry because Jim crashed the carb. Jim crashed the car.8) a. Rodney talked to Paul and Sally.b. Rodney talked to Paul9) a. Rodney has quit smoking.b. Rodney smoked before.10) a. Rodney went to Philadelphia again.b. Rodney had been to Philadelphia before.11) a. Mary's husband is a foolb. Mary has a husband.Key for referenceQuestions and exercises:1. Denotation is a straightfor ward, “literal” meaning of the word every member of the languagespeaking community will agree on. Connotation is not the basic meaning of the word but some emotive or evaluative meanings associated with the word by individual language users in theirmind.2. Reference is the arbitrary and somewhat indirect relation between words or expressions andextra-linguistic reality. Reference meaning indicates what a word or an expression refers to in the real world. Sense meaning is conveyed by words or expressions themselves, related to the meanings of other words or expressions within the same language system. For example, "a unicorn" and “the present French king" have senses but they do not have reference. They do not refer to anything in the real world. "George Washington" and "the first president of the United States" have different senses but the same reference, since they both refer to the same man.3. Lexical meaning is the meaning conveyed by individual words. Grammatical meaning is themeaning conveyed by the structure of the sentence, in which the function words and the word order play a very important role.4. 1) She can get pregnant and give birth to a child.She can stand those unpleasant children.2) He waited by the river bankHe waited by the bank where people invest or borrow money.3) Is he really as helpful and caring as you have described?Is he really the sort of person as you have described?4) You should visit the shop she has opened.You should see bow she buys things.5) Jan saw the boy carrying a telescope,By using a telescope, Jan saw the boy.6) They are machines that are moving.They are trying to move the machines.7) They found that the peasants were taking violent actions against authority.They found that the peasants were disgusting.8) He met his professor at the professor's house.At his own house, he met his professor who has come to visit him.9) To challenge wrestlers will be avoided at all costs.The wrestlers who are very challenging will be avoided at all costs.5. Gradable antonyms: inaccurate/accurate, better/worse, always/neverComplementaries: true/false, alive/dead, married/single, failure/success, asleep/awakeRelational opposites: sister/brother, teacher/student, partner/rival, above/belowReversives: give/receive, permitted/forbidden6. Hyponymy is the relation between a superordinate and its hyponyms. A hyponym is asubordinate and specific word whose meaning is included in the meaning of a superordinate and general word. For example, the meaning of cook includes toast, boil, fry, grill, roast, bake, etc.（图略）7. man [+human, +adult, +male]woman[+human, +adult, -male]policeman [+law-enforcing officer, +male, -informal]cop [+law-enforcing officer, +male, +informal]goose [+animate, -human, +duck-like but larger bird, +adult]gosling [+animate, -human, +duck-like but larger bird, -adult]chopstick[+tool used to eat food, -with points, +used in pairs]fork [+tool used to eat food, +with points, -used in pairs]rock[+stone, +large, -smooth]pebble [+stone, -large ,+smooth]8. 1) and 3) are cases of homonymy, for pupil1 means "a child at primary school" and pupil2 "thecircular black area in the eye", and letter1means "a message" and letter2"one of the set of symbols used to write a language". 2) is a case of polysemy, as bright has two senses, "shining" and "clever".9. 1) a entails b. 2) b entails a. 3) Neither entails the other. 4) a entails b.5) a entails b.10. a. Tony gave her a gift but she refused to accept.b. The professors supported the student.c. There is a person called Mary and he knows her.d. She has got some popcorn.11. Presupposition or entailment?l) presupposition2) entailment3) entailment4) presupposition5) entailment6) presupposition7) presupposition8) entailment9) presupposition10) presupposition11) presupposition。
Chapter 5：Semantics
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 thenon-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 lan-guage 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 thenon-linguistic world of experience.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. synonymy 35. polysemy36. homonymy 37. homophones 38. Homographs 39. complete homonyms40. hyponymy 41.antonymy 42 componential analysis 43.grammatical meaning44. predication 45. Argument 46. predicate 47. 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?___________________________________________________________________________ Part I.l. F 2.F 3.T 4.F 5.T 6.T 7.F 8.T 9.T 10.TPart II.11. Semantics 12. direct 13.Reference 14. synonyms 15.homophones 16.Relational 17. Componential 18. selectional 19. argument 20. namingPart III.2l.A 22.B 23.D 24.D 25.B 26.C 27.A 28.C 29.D 30.APart IV.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 pro-posed 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. Part V.48. Why do we say that a meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings ofall 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, pro-posed 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 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 oth-ers 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 exam-ple, “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 do-ing 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 preposi-tions accuse. . . of, charge. . . with, rebuke. . .for. v. V. Semantically different synonymsSemantically different synonyms refer to the synonyms that differ slight-ly 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 ac-cording 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 de-fine the meaning of a language form as " the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer".___________________________________________________________________________ 70个美丽的英文单词:01. mother 母亲02. passion 热情03. smile 微笑04. love 爱05. eternity 永恒06. fantastic 好极了07. destiny 命运08. freedom 自由09. liberty 自主10. tranquility 宁静11. peace 和平12. blossom 花丛13. sunshine 阳光14. sweetheart 亲爱的15. gorgeous 绚丽的16. cherish 珍惜17. enthusiasm 热情18. hope 希望19. grace 优雅恩惠20. rainbow 彩虹21. blue 蓝色22. sunflower 向日葵23. twinkle 闪烁24. serendipity 意外新发现25. bliss 福佑26. lullaby 摇篮曲27. sophisticated 精细的28. renaissance 文艺复兴29. cute 可爱30. cosy 舒适31. butterfly 蝴蝶32. galaxy 银河33. hilarious 狂欢的34. moment 瞬间35. extravaganza 狂想曲36. aqua 水37. sentiment 感伤38. cosmopolitan 世界性39. bubble 气泡40. pumpkin 南瓜41. banana 香蕉42. lollipop 棒棒糖43. if 如果44. bumblebee 大黄蜂45. giggle 咯咯笑46. paradox 似是而非47. delicacy 精美48. peek-a-boo 藏猫猫49. umbrella 雨伞50. kangaroo 袋鼠51. flabbergasted 目瞪口呆地52. hippopotamus 河马53. gothic 哥特风格54. coconut 椰子55. smashing 极好的56. whoops 哎哟57. tickle 发痒58. loquacious 喋喋不休的59. flip-flop 夹趾拖鞋60. smithereens 碎片61. hi 嗨62. gazebo 露台63. hiccup 打嗝64. hodgepodge 大杂烩65. shipshape 整齐66. explosion 迸发67. fuselage 飞机机身68. zing 生命力69. gum 口香糖70. hen-night 女子婚前单身派对。
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.
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
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 wordsused in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. So wordsare just names or labels for things.(2) The conceptualist view has been held by some philosophers and linguists fromancient times. This view holds that there is no direct link between alinguistic form and what it refers to (i. e., between language and the realworld); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked throughthe mediation of concepts in the mind.(3) The contextualist view held that meaning should be studied in terms ofsituation, 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 in which th e speaker utters it and the response it calls forthin the hearer.” This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linkedwith 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 wordmay 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 inclusiveword 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.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 ma rried 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, ., 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)。