英语语义学
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Semantics
Semantics
Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic units, words and sentences in particular.
Semantics = Theory of Meaning
Its goal is to reveal how language are matched with their proper meanings by the speakers of that language.
Lexical semantics—the study of word meanings. it deals not only with the meanings of individual words but also the relationship between the meanings of different words.
Compositional semantics—is concerned exclusively with the meanings of phrases and sentences.
History of Semantics
1893 - French linguist Breal coined ―semantique‖.
1897 – Breal first use it as the science of meaning.
1900 – Its English version came out.
1980s – semantics began to be introduced into China.
One of the most famous books on semantics is The Meaning of Meaning(1923). Semantic Triangle 语义三角
Concept（meaning）
refers to
symbolizes
Symbol Thing
（word）（referent）
stands for
The Referential Theory 指称论
Concept (Meaning): the mental image, the abstraction or generalization of objects of the same kind.
Referent (Thing): the physical entity or actual object, event, idea or whatever if denoted by a word, phrase or expression.
Concept VS. Referent (Thing)
A referent may exist in the physical world.
The concept is abstracted from the referent and labeled by a word.
Sense 语义
Sense is the inherent meaning of the linguistic form independent of situational context.
It’s abstract and de-contextualized.
Sense Relations
Sense relations between words
Words are in different sense relations with each other.
There are generally 5 kinds of sense relations:
1) synonymy 同义
2) antonymy 反义
3) hyponymy 上下义
4) polysemy 一词多义
5) homonymy 同音同形异义
1. Synonymy
It is the sameness or close similarity of meaning.
Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms.
2. Antonymy
It is the oppositeness of meaning.
Words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms.
Oppositeness can be found on different dimensions:
Gradable antonymy
Complementary antonymy
Converse antonymy (relational opposites)
Gradable antonymy 分级反义词
good/ bad, long /short, narrow/ wide
The members of a pair differ in terms of degree. The denial of one is not necessarily the assertion of the other. There are often intermediate forms between them.
Not good≠bad
Hot ---warm---cool---cold
Complementary antonymy 互补反义词