chapter 6 semantics
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Chapter 6 Semantics . Outline. 1. Lexical meaning 1.1 Theories of semantics 1.2 Connotation vs. denotation 1.3 The theory of semantic features 2. Word connection in semantics 2.1 Homonym 2.2 Synonym 2.2 Polysemy 2.4 Antonym. 3. Compositional meanings - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chapter 6 Semantics
Outline 1. Lexical meaning
1.1 Theories of semantics 1.2 Connotation vs.
denotation 1.3 The theory of semantic
features 2. Word connection in
semantics 2.1 Homonym 2.2 Synonym 2.2 Polysemy 2.4 Antonym
3. Compositional meanings 3.1 Syntactic structure 3.2 Semantic roles
4. Other semantic structures 5. Summary
Semantics Semantics : search of rules for what is
behind our mutual understanding. SemanticsLexical meaning
Each word means independently
Some words are connected in sounds, forms, or
meanings.
Compositional meaning
1. Lexical meaning1.1 Theories of semantics
1.2 Connotation vs. denotation
1.3 The theory of semantic features
Lexical meaning Speech communication works on the basis
of common knowledge of what words and morphemes mean.water, juice, coffee,
liquorrefer to different objects
share some common semantic properties
(liquid in nature) The semantic properties help group words
into a category or a group.Animate: animals and human In-animate: stones, wood, and
desks In the same way, semantic properties distinguish
verbs for animate from those for in-animate.John was killed. (O)
The desk was killed. (X)
Lexical meaning Apart from words, a morpheme has its own
meaning
Different theories of lexical meaning: (a) mental image (b) definition and prototype (c) semantics and references (d) the theory of semantic features.
cups → a plural formShe dances pretty well. → a verb of the 3rd person,
singular, and present
Mental Image Mental image: the position that the
meaning of a word comes from the image rising from our mind.
Not all nouns or actions can be represented in a concrete image or picture.
e.g. concept, honor, superiority, idea,
Definition and Prototype The theory of definition and prototype: language
acquisition begins with vocabulary, which has its own definition in the first beginning.Vocabulary in
mindmental lexicon
(like a dictionary)
speak out
Given that every word is well defined, it becomes the prototyped meaning.
Definition and Prototype (problem) Cyclic reasoning in rationale: which goes first, definition, or lexicon?
Lexicon is formed before the definition. Many words whose meaning is arbitrarily
given.
A word is usually defined depending on different contexts.
e.g.Pineapple(pine + apple)
meaning of a wordDenotation the lexical semantics of a word
Connotation extended to meanings in a
broader sense
Reference–Connotation vs. Denotation The theory of referents: aims to show that
the meaning of a word gets a direct referent or denotation
dove
The Wings of the Dove innocent love
Connotation: historical, cultural, or literary backgrounds e.g. Robert Frost’s Mending Wall (foreign to those without equal
knowledge) Denotation: linguistic
e.g. John was asked to paint the wall.
Reference – Intention vs. Extension Extension: the referent (the object that is
referred to) e.g. John wants to keep a dog. (a whole set of dogs)
Intension: sense or the semantic nature of that word e.g. He did not kill your dog. (a specific dog)
In normal cases: most words are meant by a combination of intension and extension. e.g. cup (the cup in its form and in its usage)
a piece of cakeextension
intensionsomething easy to be done
Reference – Intention vs. Extension Some proper names do not have intension meaning.
e.g. a fashion store might be named Woodhose. a hot pot store named Grasshopper.
Some terms are without extension meaning The king of the US is a bald. (There is no king in the US.) A Hobbit is running for the president of Taiwan. (In the real world, there is no Hobbit.)
Different words may refer the same referent John was put into jail last week. My neighbor was put into jail last week. The one who visited us was put into jail last week.
co-referential
Reference – Intention vs. Extension(difficulty)
Function words: preposition or article He lives in Taipei. (Taipei is a big city.) He lives at Taipei. (Taipei is just like some places else.)
Semantic features Following the theory of distinctive features
in phonology, some semantic scholars try to adapt it and have it named the theory of semantic distinctive features.
What is meant to be adult? What age would be the criterion for adulthood?
Semantic features Phonology features: clear and the amount is not
too huge The features of phonology depend on places and
manners of articulation. Semantic features: 1. not clear in terms of the correspondence
between features and referents. e.g. Adulthood: the age & the look Color naming: black tea (in English) & red tea (in
Chinese) 2. semantic features fail to distinguish category
from individual. e.g. larks, sparrows, cuckoos are all [+bird]
[+lark], [+sparrow], [+cuckoo] has to be adopted
2. Word connection in semantics 2.1 Homonym2.2 Synonym2.2 Polysemy 2.4 Antonym
He lay asleep under the tree.
He lays a book on the table.
→ identical in phonetics different in meaning
homonym
wide ←→ narrowlike ←→ dislike
antonym
bench ― sofa
synonymy
1. a bat for baseball Bat 2. a bat flying
at night
polysemy
Homonym
(a) spelling and pronunciation identical, but meaning different
(b) spelling and meaning different but pronunciation identical.
homo(the
same) nym
(sound)
homonym(words with identical sounds while mean
differently)
Homonym
the same spelling and pronunciation
different meaning
the same pronunciation different in spelling and
meaning
Homonyms: words with same pronunciation and spelling but different in semantic meanings
Homonym Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland identically
pronounced [flaur]
homonym might give rise to communication
problems1. the earth 2. the past participle of
grind Homographs: homonym sharing the same spelling
Homonym Not all homographs are homonym.
e.g. bow [bo] for arrow bow [bau] to show one’s respect
the same spelling (homophonesdifferent in meaning and in pronunciation
Heteronyms: two words spelled identically but different in pronunciation and meaning
e.g. wind [wnd] vs. wind [waind]
lead [lid] vs. lead [ld]
Synonym Synonym: words with different spelling
and pronunciation, but identical in meanings
e.g. silly/stupid, wise/clever, big/large, to have/to own
There are no two words with exact meanings, just like there are no two leaves with the exact identical shape
the pair of words is sometimes interchangeable
Polysemy Almost all the words are polysemy,
because few words are confined to one single meaning.iron → 1. a metal
2. an instrument for clothingbank →1. side of a river 2. a place for money saving Some words are different in meaning
because they are of different categories.bear → (v.) to tolerate (n.) kind of animal
Antonym Antonym: words with the opposite meanings
Complementary:
only one pole staying
Gradable antonym:
one pole called marked, the other called unmarked. Normally, the positive one is unmarked.
e.g. wide/narrow, stop/continue, dead/live,
e.g. live vs. dead, present vs. absent.
e.g. long/short, sad/happy
e.g. long, wide, tall, old
Antonym Unmarked: it is used intuitionally Marked: only when it is marked or labeled
unmarked
marked
3. Compositional meanings
3.1 Syntactic structure3.2 Semantic roles
Syntactic structure Syntactic rules:
Semantics plays an equal role of syntactic structures in sentential expressions.
Semantics is closely associated with word order.
both grammatical and acceptablesounds weird in semantics but grammatical
entirely unacceptable in English
Syntactic structure Ambiguous sentences can be made clear
by sentence analysis.e.g. We met a lot of young ladies and gentlemen.
both ladies and gentlemen are youngonly ladies are young
Syntactic structure Ambiguous sentences can be made clear
by sentence analysis.e.g. The boy saw a lady in the library
It is the lady in the library that the boy saw.
It is the library that that the boy saw the lady.
Semantic roles
a. John broke the door with a stone.b. The stone broke the door.
a. John felt happy with the grades.b. John drew some pictures.c. John was satisfied with what you did.
agent patient instrument
experiencer agent patient
a. John mailed Mary a pack of books.b. John changed the paper into a bird.
agent patientgoal
Semantic roles or thematic roles
Semantic roles Focus on the theta role that a word plays
in a sentence.
Each word or entry is implied to get the theta-role assignment
Semantic roles Focus on the theta role that a word plays
in a sentence.
Semantic roles To summarize, we have the following findings
for theta roles in the field of semantic studies. ( i ) Compositional meaning is not necessarily a
combination of each lexical meaning, but word order matters.
( ii ) Semantic ambiguity can be solved by syntactic structures.
i.e. Visiting professors may be embarrassing: (a) It is visiting professors that is
embarrassing. (b) It is embarrassing to pay a visit to professors.
( iii ) Theta roles are mainly subject to the types of verbs or to the relation that a verb raises.
4. Other semantic structures
Other semantic structures Three types of structures that are culture-
based:(a) anomaly(b) metaphors(c) idiomatic expressions
Anomaly Anomaly: there is a semantic conflict
between each component
e.g. a. The widow’s husband treats her gently.
b. The dead man committed a suicide last night.
semantic conflict
How does a widow have a
husband??
How can a dead man committed
suicide??
Anomaly: there is a semantic conflict between each component
a. Colorless green ideas sleep
furiously.
b. He killed the dead umbrella.
c. John killed the rabbit, but the rabbit
ran away.
d. He wanted to buy a triangular
square.
Anomaly
paradoxes
Other examples
Metaphors Metaphor: a figurative language in literature. It should be decoded from cultural or
historical perspective. A brief form, condensing a lot of experiences
and wit into a few words.
A poem should be wordless. (Ars Poetica, A. Macleish, 1892-1982)In appearance, a wordless poem is nothing
but a blank.Metaphorically, a good poem is hardly written in words.
Take time to think it over and figure it out
Metaphors
‘a grief ago’(Dylom
Thomas)It is touching due to the fact that grief always lasts for a long time.Metaphorically, it means a very long time ago.
Wear the mask that grins and lies,It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes.(We wear the mask, P. L. Dunbar, 1872-1906)Metaphorically, we are not ourselves any more in
our daily life.
Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water(in the tombstone of John Keats,1795-1821)
Metaphorically, the name is not noteworthy or is not everlasting.
Idiomatic expressions Idiomatic expressions: in the form of
sayings, proverbs, or idioms.e.g. Sam gets up on the wrong side of the bed.In general, either side of the bed will serve a right side for one to get up. It suggests that he do not feel good when he is getting up.
Sometimes there is a story for an idiomatic chunk.e.g. The origin of a baker’s dozen
Normally, a dozen is 12 pieces. However, a baker’s dozen means 13.