Transcript Chapter 5 Meaning
Slide 1
Chapter 5 Meaning
5.1 What is semantics
5.2 Some views concerning the study of
meaning
5.3 Lexical meaning
5.4 Sense relations between sentences
5.5 Analysis of meaning
Slide 2
5.1 What is semantics?
Semantics
Meaning
— the study of language meaning.
is central to the study of communication.
is meaning? — Scholars under different
scientific backgrounds have different understandings
of language meaning.
What
Slide 3
5.2 Some views concerning the study of meaning
5.2.1
Naming theory (Plato)
5.2.2 The conceptualist view
5.2.3 Contextualism (Bloomfield)
5.2.4 Behaviorism
Slide 4
5.2.1 Naming theory (Plato)
Words
are 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…
Slide 5
5.2.2 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.
Slide 6
Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle
Thought/reference/concept
Symbol/form
word/phrase/sentence
Referent/object in the
world of experience
Slide 7
Ogden and Richards: semantic
triangle
The
symbol or form refers to the linguistic
elements (words and phrases);
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.
Slide 8
5.2.3 Contextualism (Bloomfield)
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 cooccurrence 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.
Slide 9
5.2.4 Behaviorism
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:
Behaviorists
Jill
Jack
S_________r--------s_________R
Slide 10
5.3 Lexical meaning
5.3.1
Sense and reference
5.3.2
Major sense relations
Slide 11
5.3.1 Sense and reference
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 the
linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of
experience.
Slide 12
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.
Slide 13
5.3.2 Major sense relations
Synonymy
Antonymy
Polysemy
Homonymy
Hyponymy
Slide 14
Synonymy
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…
2) Stylistic synonyms — synonyms differing in
style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin,
commence;…
Slide 15
3) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or
evaluative meaning, e.g.collaboratoraccomplice,…
4) Collocational synonyms, e.g. accuse…of,
charge…with, rebuke…for; …
5) Semantically different synonyms, e.g. amaze,
astound,…
Slide 16
Antonymy
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 opposites — exhibits the reversal of the
relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-wife,
father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent, employeremployee, give-receive, above-below, …
Slide 17
Gradable antonyms
antonyms —
there are often
intermediate forms
between the two
members of a pair, e.g.
old-young, hot-cold, tallshort, …
Gradable
A
B
Slide 18
Complementary antonyms
Complementary antonyms —
the denial of one member of the
pair implies the assertion of the
other, e.g. alive-dead, malefemale, …
A
B
Slide 19
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.
……
Polysemy
Slide 20
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 homonym — when two words are identical in
both sound and spelling, e.g. ball, bank, watch, scale,
fast, …
Slide 21
Note:
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.
Slide 22
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
Slide 23
Hyponymy
Superordinate:
Hyponyms:
flower
rose, tulip, lily, chrysanthemum, peony, jasmine, …
Co-hyponyms
Superordinate:
Hyponyms:
furniture
bed, table, desk, dresser, wardrobe, sofa, …
Co-hyponyms
Slide 24
5.4 Sense relations between sentences
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
X is synonymous with Y
X is inconsistent with Y
X entails Y
X presupposes Y
X is a contradiction
X is semantically anomalous
Slide 25
X 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.
Slide 26
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.
Slide 27
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.
Slide 28
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.
Slide 29
X is a contradiction
*My
unmarried sister is married to a bachelor.
*The
orphan’s parents are pretty well-off.
Slide 30
X is semantically anomalous
*The
man is pregnant.
*The
table has bad intentions.
*Sincerity
shakes hands with the black apple.
Slide 31
5.5 Analysis of meaning
5.5.1
Componential analysis
5.5.2
Predication analysis
Slide 32
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]
Slide 33
Predication 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.
Slide 34
Predication analysis
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.
Slide 35
Predication analysis
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.
Slide 36
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 LETTER
Chapter 5 Meaning
5.1 What is semantics
5.2 Some views concerning the study of
meaning
5.3 Lexical meaning
5.4 Sense relations between sentences
5.5 Analysis of meaning
Slide 2
5.1 What is semantics?
Semantics
Meaning
— the study of language meaning.
is central to the study of communication.
is meaning? — Scholars under different
scientific backgrounds have different understandings
of language meaning.
What
Slide 3
5.2 Some views concerning the study of meaning
5.2.1
Naming theory (Plato)
5.2.2 The conceptualist view
5.2.3 Contextualism (Bloomfield)
5.2.4 Behaviorism
Slide 4
5.2.1 Naming theory (Plato)
Words
are 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…
Slide 5
5.2.2 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.
Slide 6
Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle
Thought/reference/concept
Symbol/form
word/phrase/sentence
Referent/object in the
world of experience
Slide 7
Ogden and Richards: semantic
triangle
The
symbol or form refers to the linguistic
elements (words and phrases);
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.
Slide 8
5.2.3 Contextualism (Bloomfield)
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 cooccurrence 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.
Slide 9
5.2.4 Behaviorism
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:
Behaviorists
Jill
Jack
S_________r--------s_________R
Slide 10
5.3 Lexical meaning
5.3.1
Sense and reference
5.3.2
Major sense relations
Slide 11
5.3.1 Sense and reference
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 the
linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of
experience.
Slide 12
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.
Slide 13
5.3.2 Major sense relations
Synonymy
Antonymy
Polysemy
Homonymy
Hyponymy
Slide 14
Synonymy
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…
2) Stylistic synonyms — synonyms differing in
style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin,
commence;…
Slide 15
3) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or
evaluative meaning, e.g.collaboratoraccomplice,…
4) Collocational synonyms, e.g. accuse…of,
charge…with, rebuke…for; …
5) Semantically different synonyms, e.g. amaze,
astound,…
Slide 16
Antonymy
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 opposites — exhibits the reversal of the
relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-wife,
father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent, employeremployee, give-receive, above-below, …
Slide 17
Gradable antonyms
antonyms —
there are often
intermediate forms
between the two
members of a pair, e.g.
old-young, hot-cold, tallshort, …
Gradable
A
B
Slide 18
Complementary antonyms
Complementary antonyms —
the denial of one member of the
pair implies the assertion of the
other, e.g. alive-dead, malefemale, …
A
B
Slide 19
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.
……
Polysemy
Slide 20
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 homonym — when two words are identical in
both sound and spelling, e.g. ball, bank, watch, scale,
fast, …
Slide 21
Note:
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.
Slide 22
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
Slide 23
Hyponymy
Superordinate:
Hyponyms:
flower
rose, tulip, lily, chrysanthemum, peony, jasmine, …
Co-hyponyms
Superordinate:
Hyponyms:
furniture
bed, table, desk, dresser, wardrobe, sofa, …
Co-hyponyms
Slide 24
5.4 Sense relations between sentences
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
X is synonymous with Y
X is inconsistent with Y
X entails Y
X presupposes Y
X is a contradiction
X is semantically anomalous
Slide 25
X 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.
Slide 26
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.
Slide 27
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.
Slide 28
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.
Slide 29
X is a contradiction
*My
unmarried sister is married to a bachelor.
*The
orphan’s parents are pretty well-off.
Slide 30
X is semantically anomalous
*The
man is pregnant.
*The
table has bad intentions.
*Sincerity
shakes hands with the black apple.
Slide 31
5.5 Analysis of meaning
5.5.1
Componential analysis
5.5.2
Predication analysis
Slide 32
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]
Slide 33
Predication 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.
Slide 34
Predication analysis
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.
Slide 35
Predication analysis
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.
Slide 36
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 LETTER