Chapter 6: Semantics…

… the Study of Meaning

NOTES: About exercising: it keeps you healthy: physically &

mentally… I’ve tried to match the slides to the order of the textbook

this time…

Extr

a C

redit

Poss

ibili

ty(W

ort

h u

p t

o 2

quiz

poin

ts)

Extra

Cre

dit P

ossib

ility(W

orth

up to

2 q

uiz p

oin

ts)

What is “Truth”? - Pilate- c 33AD

Travel means “to go from one place to another, as by car, train, plane, or ship.

You are too young to travel.You are not old enough to travel.

Dave spent 4 years in Tokyo, Japan.Dave was once in Tokyo, Japan.

Truth & Contradiction

Paraphrase: Two sentences: the same truth

conditions Entailment

JFK was assassinated __________ Contradiction

*The king is a woman Anomaly

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously

So What??

How do people

use these?

(or misuse them

?)

2 Important Concepts (via vocabulary…)

Ambiguity Principle of Compositionality

The meaning of a sentence comes (mostly) from its constituents and the way they are positioned.

What I meant to say was…

What makes this funny?Or if you don’t think it’s funny, what linguistic quality was

the author employing in his unsuccessful attempt at humor?

Ambiguity The man saw the fish with binoculars.

Other

Examples?

You Try it

Create an ambiguous sentence…

How does the ambiguity in your sentence relate to compositionality, truth, and entailment?

Think About It…

What are some benefits & dangers of ambiguity in our

communication?

Any Questions…

… before we move on?

Cup/Mug (or shades of blue)

What’s the point? Apply the point to something that

matters in your life… Reading Writing Teaching 2nd language study…

Systematicness of Language

Phonology

Syntax

Lexis

Predictable

Unpredictable

Word Relationships (Lexis)

Hyponymy Color – Red, blue, green, etc.

Converseness Reciprocal relationship

Polysemy & Homonymy Plain • Bat

So What??How do people

use these? (or misuse them?)

Fuzzy Concepts (Lexical Semantics)

Nose

Hana(Japanese)

Nos(Russian)

IceIce

Ice

RainWater

H2O

Think About It…

How can knowing about word relationships help us study

another language or communicate with a

non-native speaker of English?

Any Questions…

… before we move on?

Pragmatics…

Band practice…My house

6 to 8

Band practice…My house

6 to 8

Band practice…My house

6 to 8

Band practice…My house

6 to 8Thanks for the

reminder

Thanks for the

reminder

Thanks for the

reminder Thanks for the

warning

What makes this funny?Or if you don’t think it’s funny, what linguistic quality was

the author employing in his unsuccessful attempt at humor?

Types of Meaning Linguistic

Reference GWB is the 43rd president

Beware Referential Meaning Al Gore nearly became the 43rd president ≠ Al Gore nearly became GWB!

Social Y’all come back now. Y’hear?

Affective How many times have I asked you to…

Linguistic, Social or Affective?

Tina, who has two doctorates, gave me a fascinating overview of Warhol’s art last night.

Adjust the sentence below to reflect different L, S, & A

meanings

Pragmatics

What’s the message? “Honey, do we have any fruit…?”

Me sitting making these slides… Me on the cell phone from the grocery

store…

“I’m getting cold…” My wife in the car while we’re driving… Me deciding on pie at a Midwestern diner…

Other Examples?

Why “Fine”? …why ask?

What makes this funny?Or if you don’t think it’s funny, what linguistic

quality was the author employing in his unsuccessful attempt at

humor?

Why not give a ‘real answer’?

Any Questions…

… before we move on?

Meaning Categories

Find Examples of Each… (see pp 200 – 206)

Tense Modality Deixis

So What??How do people

use these? (or misuse them?)

Semantic Roles

Verb-Centered Agent one doing the

action Patient one receiving the

action

Identify A, & P below (two in each…) Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall. Bo Peep pushed Humpty off the wall Miss Muffet heard Humpty shatter

Thematic Roles?

Find Two: Based on the caption…

Agent Theme

Rule Governed?

?What controls who

can do what to whom?

Make a sentence that violates thematic

constraints…

Themes in other lanaguages

Apache *My horse kicked me I allowed myself to be kicked by my

horse German

In diesem hotel sind hunde verboten In this hotel are dogs forbidden (gloss)

* This hotel forbids dogsWhat might one thematic constraint be in

Apache?What might one thematic constraint be in

German?

Think About It…

How do thematic roles apply to how we create sentences?

Any Questions….

… before we move on?

Maxims of Conversation

Grice, 1975

Four “rules” of conversation that are typically followed in everyday

life

Maxim of Conversation #1

Relevance Be relevant

How does the comic violate

the maxim for

humorous effect?

Maxim of Conversation #2

Quantity Be as

informative as required…

How does the comic violate

the maxim for

humorous effect?

Maxim of Conversation #3

Quality Truthful, Supportable claims

How does the comic violate the maxim for humorous

effect?

Maxim of Conversation #4

Manner Brief, orderly Not ambiguous nor obscure

How does the comic violate the maxim for

humorous effect?

Life-Application

What are some situations you’ve experienced (in real-life or literature) where someone has violated a Maxim of Conversation?

What happened? (was it intentional?) How was the situation resolved?

Recommended Exercises

1, 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15 Enough of each to get the point