chapter 5 Semantics

Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学一、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5.2.1 The naming theory命名论(by希腊Scholar Plato)The naming theory命名论:Words are just names or labels for things.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, and, in,hearted, think, hard, slowly…)2. There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world:ghost, gragon, unicorn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。

语⾔学第五章SemanticsChapter Five SemanticsTeaching Focus1. What is semantics2. Meanings of “meaning”3. Sense and reference4. Sense relations5. Componential analysis --- a way to analyze lexical meaning6. Predication analysis --- a way to analyze sentence meaning1. What is semantics?Semantics is the study of meaning in language.Or specifically, it is the study of the meaning of linguistic units, words and sentences in particular.Different focus of the study in semantics:Logical semantics/philosophical semantics: Logicians and philosophers have tended to concentrate on a restricted range of sentences (typically, statements, or …propositions?) within a single language.Linguistic semantics: The linguistic approach is broader in scope, aiming to study the properties of meaning in a systematic and objective way, with reference to as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible.2. Meanings of “Meaning”The word “meaning” has different meanings.It has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, logicians and linguists.The naming theory: Plato & AristotleWords are just names or labels for things.Can you show the limitations of this theoryThe semantic triangle: C. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards (1923) → The Meaning of Meaning.There is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to. In the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. ?thought/reference (concept)symbolizes refers tosymbol/form referent(word, phrase) stands for(object)Geoffrey Leech (1974, 1981). Semantics: The Study of Meaning. Seven types of meaning:Conceptual meaningConnotative meaningSocial meaningAffective meaning associative meaningReflected and meaningCollocative meaningThematic meaning(1) Conceptual meaningIt makes the central part of meaning.Refers to logical, cognitive or denotative content.Concerned with the relationship between a word and the thing it denotes, or refers to.(2) Connotative meaningThe communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.A multitude of additional, non-criterial properties, including not only physical characteristics but also psychological and social properties, as well as typical features. ?Involving the …real world? experience one associates with an expression when one uses or hears it.Unstable: they vary considerably according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual.Any characteristic of the referent, identified subjectively or objectively, may contribute to the connotative meaning of the expression which denotes it.(3) Social meaningWhat a piece of language conveys about the social circumstances of its use.Dialect: the language of a geographical region or of a social class.Time: the language of the 18th c., etc.Province: language of law, of science, of advertising, etc.Status: polite, colloquial, slang, etc.Modality: language of memoranda, lectures, jokes, etc.Singularity: the style of Dickens, etc.domicile: very formal, official steed: poeticresidence: formal horse: generalabode: poetic nag: slanghome: general gee-gee: baby language (4) Affective meaningReflecting the personal feelings of the speaker, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about.Youre a vicious tyrant and a villainous reprobate, and I hate you for it!Im terribly sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voices a little. orWill you belt up.(5) Reflected meaningArises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. When you hear …click the mouse twice, you think of Gerry being hit twice by Tom so you feel excited.Many taboo terms are result of this.(6) Collocative meaningThe associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment.pretty: girl, boy, woman, flower, garden, colour, village, etc.handsome: boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.(7) Thematic meaningWhat is communicated by the way in which a speaker or writer organizes the message, in terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis.Mrs Bessie Smith donated the first prize.The first prize was donated by Mrs Bessie Smith.They stopped at the end of the corridor.At the end of the corridor, they stopped.3. Sense and referenceSense and reference are two terms often encountered in the study of word meaning. They are two related but different aspects of meaning.Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in.Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.Every word has a sense, but not every word has a reference.Grammatical words like but, if ,and do not refer to anything. And words like God, ghost and dragon refer to imaginary things. Therefore it is suggested that we should study meaning in terms of sense rather than reference.4. Sense relationsSynonymygradableAntonymy complementaryconverseHyponymyPolysemy4.1 SynonymySynonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. Complete synonyms are rare. According to the way they differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups:i. Dialectal synonyms --- used in different regional dialectsBritish English American Englishautumn falllift elevatorflat apartmenttube undergroundii. Stylistic synonyms --- differing in stylekid, child, offspringkick the bucket, pop off, die, pass away, deceaseiii. Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaningcollaborator, accompliceiv. Collocational synonymsaccuse, chargev. Semantically different synonymssurprise, amaze, astound4.2 AntonymyThe term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning. Words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms.There are three types of antonyms.i. Gradable: Can be modified by adverbs of degree like very; Can have comparative forms; Can be asked with how. good, badyoung, oldhot, coldii. Complementary: the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other.alive, deadmale, femalepresent, absentiii. Converse or relational: exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the pair; one presupposes the other. husband, wifebuy, sellbefore, after4.3 HyponymyHyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general word and a more specific word. It is a kind of inclusiveness. Superordinate: the more general wordHyponyms: the more specific wordsCo-hyponyms: hyponyms of the same superordinateflower, rose, lilyanimal, cat, dogfurniture, bed, desk4.4 PolysemyPolysemy refers to the sense relation that the same one word has more than one meaning. Such a word is called a polysemic word.table: a piece of furniture; orderly arrangement of facts, figures5. Componential analysis---a way to analyze lexical meaningComponential analysis is a way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyze word meaning.The approach is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, calledsemantic features.HUMANman (ADULT, MALE)woman (ADULT, FEMALE)boy (NON-ADULT, MALE)girl (NON-ADULT, FEMALE)father: PARENT (x, y) & MALE (x)x is a parent of y, and x is male.take: CAUSE (x, (HA VE (x, y)))x causes x to have y.give: CAUSE (x, (~HA VE (x, y)))x causes x not to have y.Componential analysis provides an insight into the meaning of words and a way to study the relationships between words that are related in meaning.6. Predication analysis --- a way to analyze sentence meaningThe meaning of a sentence is obviously related to the meanings of the words used in it, but it is also obvious that sentence meaning is not simply the sum total of the words.Predication analysis: proposed by the British linguist G. LeechThe basic unit in this method is called prediction. It is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate.An argument is logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in a sentence.A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence. Tom smokes.Tom is smoking.Tom has been smoking. TOM (SMOKE)Does Tom smokingTom does not smoke. argument predicateKids like apples. → KID, APPLE (LIKE)It is hot. → (BE HOT)AssignmentsHow can words opposite in meaning be classified To which category does each of the following pairs of antonyms belong?north/south vacant/occupiedliterate/illiterate above/belowdoctor/patient wide/narrowpoor/rich father/daughterhonest/dishonest normal/abnormalExercisesI. Multiple choice.1. The naming theory seems applicable to ___ only.A. verbsB. adjectivesC. adverbsD. nouns2. Hyponyms of the superordinate “flower” do not include “___”.A. wardrobeB. tulipC. lilyD. rose3. Predication analysis is a way to analyze ___ meaning.A. phonemeB. wordC. phraseD. sentenceII. Make judgments (true or false)1. In the diagram of the classic semantic triangle, the word “symbol” refers to the object in the world of experience.2. When the same one word has more than one meaning we call it a polysemic word.3. Complete synonyms, i.e. synonyms that are mutually substitutable under all circumstances, are rare in English.。

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。

Chapter5SemanticsChapter 5 Semantics5.1 Definition of SemanticsSemantics is the study of meaning in language.Meaning has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, logicians and linguists. E.g. Plato & Aristotle.Scholars with different scientific backgrounds have different understandings of language meaning.Philosophers concentrate on the relation between linguistic expressions and things, persons and events in the world to which these expressions refer.Linguists aiming to study the way in which meaning in a language is structured; different types of meaning.C. K. Ogden & I. A. Richards (1923). The Meaning of Meaning.5.2 Approaches to Meaning5.2.1 Meaning as namingproposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato.The meaning of an expression is what it refers to, or names, is often called referential theory or naming theory.Words are names or labels for things.5.2.2 Meaning as ConceptThe 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, forms and real things are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.The symbol or word signifies an object by the concept associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker;and the concept viewed in this way is the meaning of the word.5.2.3 Meaning as behaviorBehaviorists 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 JillS r--------s RMeaning consists in the relationship between speech indicated by the small letters r……s and the practical events represented by the capitalized letters S and R that precede and follow them respectively.5.2.4 Meaning as context The contextualismMeaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context—elements closely linked with language behavior. (J. R. Firth)Two types of contexts are recognized:Situational context: spatio-temporal situationLinguistic context: the probability of a word’s co-occurrence or collocation. Linguistic context, some times known as co-text, is concerned with the probability ofa word’s co-occurrence or collocation with another word, which forms part of the “meaning”of the word, and also the part of text that precedes and follows a particular utterance.Situational context refers to the particular spatiotemporal situation in which an utterance occurs, including a the place and time of the speaking, the speaker and the hearer, the actions they are performing at the time, the various objects and events existent in the situation.5.3 Word Meaning5.3.1 Sense and referenceSense 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 way people relate words to each other within the framework of their language.Reference deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience. What a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world.（词与外部事物之间的关系）Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations; on the other hand, linguistic forms with the same reference might differ in sense, e.g. the morning star and the evening star, black tea and black hair.5.3.2 Seven types of meaningLeech (1974:23) recognizes 7 types of meaning in his book Semantics: The Study of Meaning.e.g.He is a real man.human, adult, male: conceptual meaning (meaning in the dictionary)1. Conceptual meaning(logic, cognitive, denotative)2. Connotative(内涵) meaning3. Social(社会) meaning4. Affective(情感) meaning5. Reflected(反映) meaning6. Collocative(搭配) meaning7. Thematic meaning (order and emphasis)5.3.3 Semantic fieldsa set of words with an identifiable semantic connection. (lexical field)e.g. vegetable: tomato, onion, cucumber, eggplant…fruit: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___color: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___The meaning of a word is decided not by the word itself, but by relationships with other words in the same semantic field.5.3.4 Componential analysis (CA)Componential analysis---- a way to analyze lexical meaning.The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dismantledinto meaning components, called semantic features (语义特征).For example,Man: [+HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE]Boy: [+HUMAN, -ADULT,+ANIMATE, +MALE]Woman: [+HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]Girl: [+HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]The attraction of CA is that it allows a highly explicit and economical account of meaning relations such as hyponymy and incompatibility.5.3.5 Semantic relationships between words1. Homonymy (同形异义)(good for humor):bank/lie: homonyms2. Polysemy (多义)：point3. Homophony (同音异义)：know/no (homophones)homography (同形异音异义): sow, wind4. Synonymy (近义)：big/large5. Antonymy (反义)：good/bad (gradable), boy/girl (complementary),sell/buy (converse)6. Hyponymy (上下义)：vegetable/potato7. Meronymy (部分义/整体部分义)：car/wheel4. SynonymyIt is the technical name for the sameness relation. English is said to be rich in synonyms.1> They may differ in style.2.> They may differ in connotations.3> They may differ in dialect.5. AntonymyAntonymy is the name for oppisiteness relation. There are three subtypes: gradable antonymy, complementary antonymy, and converse antonymy.1>Gradable AntonymyGradable antonymy is the commonest type of antonymy.They have three characteristic.First, they are gradable. That is, the denial of one is not necessarily the assertion of the other. There is something in between.Secondly, there is no absolute criterion. They are graded against different norms. Thirdly, one member of a pair, usually the term for the higher degree, serves as the cover term.2> Complementary Antonymy(互补反义关系)It also has three characteristics.1 it divides up the whole semantic field. That is to say, the assertion of one means the denial of the other, and the denial of one means the assertion of the other. There is no intermediate ground between them.Secondly, the norm of this type is absolute. It doesn’t vary with the thing a word isapplied to.Thirdly, there is no cover term for the two members of a pair.3> Converse Antonymy(反向反义关系)Converse antonymy is known as relational opposites. This is a special type of antonymy in that the members of a pair do not constitute a positive-negative opposition. They show the reversal of a relationship between two entities. There are always two sides of the same relationship. One presupposes the other.For example, buy/sell, precede/ follow, husband/wife.buy/sell-----X buys something from Y.= Y sells something to X.precede/follow-----Jack precedes Bill.= Bill follows Jack.husband/wife-----Mike is Mary’s h usband.= Mary is Mike’s wife.Note: It is the same relationship seen from two different angles.6. Hyponymy(上下义关系)Hyponymy is meaning inclusiveness or a matter of class membership. The upper term in this sense relation is called superordinate; the lower terms, the members are called hyponyms.A superordinate has several hyponyms. The members of the same class are co-hyponyms.Both superordinates and hyponyms have the same word class.Notes:1> Sometimes a superordinate may be a superordinate to itself or a hyponym of itself, and may be called autohyponym(自我下义词).2> Superordinates or hyponyms may also be missing.In English, there is no superordinate for the color term red, green, yellow, blue, white, black, etc. The term color is a noun, and doesn’t belong to the same word class of its members.In English, there is only one word “uncle”to express “伯伯，叔叔，舅舅，姑父，姨夫.5.4.Sentence Meaning5.4.1 Sentence and Propositionsentence is “something that expresses a complete thought”.Sentences are more knowable than thoughts. In spite of individual differences, speakers of a language generally agree on what is or is not a sentence in their language.They have the same semantic content but different grammaticality. The semantic content shared by the three expressions (1a, b, c) is a proposition which may be judged by truth conditions. A proposition can be expressed in different sentences:(2) a. John broke the glass.b. The glass was broken by John.c. It was John who broke the glass.形式为简单陈述句的一个陈述，其主要内容构成一个意义单位。