LI 2013 NATHALIE F. MARTIN S EMANTICS. Table of Content 1. C ONCEPT, R EFERENT AND F ORM C ONCEPT, R EFERENT AND F ORM 2. S EMANTICS S EMANTICS 3. S EMANTIC.

LI 2013 NATHALIE F. MARTIN

SEMANTICS

Table of Content

1. CONCEPT, REFERENT AND FORM2. SEMANTICS3. SEMANTIC RELATIONS AMONG

WORDS1. THE –NYMS

4. AMBIGUITY (REVIEW OF TEXT - STAGEBERG)

5. MEANING6. MEANING OF WORDS THROUGH TIME

References

References: A Concise Introduction to Linguistics (Rowe & Levine,

2009; 153-173)

Contemporary Linguistic Analysis (O’Grady & Archibald, 2009, p. 190-207)

Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb, Norman C., in Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Application, by Dallin D. Oaks, 1998)

Semantics

Definition: Semantics

Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic expressions, such as morphemes, words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

What is the Meaning of This?

ColdOldFineCoolFly

BehindAccentNobodyThisGetting in

touch

CONTEXT is Key !

– Certain aspects of meaning change with the _____________________

Nobody bought milk (store owner vs. room mates) X is old: “old” means different things depending on

what X is (person, food, currency, place, friend…)

Context is therefore very important!!

Can you think of words or expressions that have more than one definition depending on the context?

Semantics

Two types of semantics:

1. ______________:meaning of words2. ______________:meaning of

utterances larger than words

THE –NYMS: 1.HYPONYM, HYPERNYM AND COHYPONYM2.SYNONYM AND PARASYNONYMS3.ANTONYMS4.POLYSEMY5.HOMONYM

1. Homonyms2. Homophone3. Homographs

Semantic Relations Among Words

Hyponyms and hypernymsHyponymy: Words whose meanings

are _________ instances of a more general word, e.g. isosceles and equilateral are hyponyms of the word triangle.

Hyponyms and cohyponyms

1. Hyponyms(Semantic Relations among Words)

Let’s organize these words:

Dance (verb)SalsaExerciceTango

1. Hyponyms(Semantic Relations among Words)

2. Synonyms(Semantic Relations among Words)

Synonymy: words that have the ____ meanings, e.g. start & begin.

Synonyms or Parasynonyms?

Do they really have the same meanings? Are they interchangable?

oVacation = holidaysoYouth = adolescentoRemember = recalloPurchase = buyoBig = large

Synonyms & Parasynonyms

Pride and Prejudice, a screenplay by Deborah MoggachThe danger of parasynonyms and

over-extensionChapter 3 : 20 minutes into the

movie

http://dictionary.reference.com/

Notice the Words with Many Meanings

An Accomplished Woman

Synonyms & Parasynonyms

The danger of parasynonyms and over-extensionChapter 3 : 20 minutes into the movie

Odious: deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable.

Long: to have an earnest or strong desire or craving; yearn

Dote one her: to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually

In raptures: ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstasy. Accomplished

having all the social graces, manners, and other attainments of polite society.

http://dictionary.reference.com/

a. GRADABLE VS UNGRADABLEb. RELAQTIONAL:

• Converse• Reversives

3. Antonyms

Antonymy: words that are ________ in meanings, e.g. hot & cold.

Synonymy or Antonymy Flourish – thrive Intelligent – stupid Casual – informal Flog – whip Drunk – sober

a. synonym

b. antonym

c. synonym

d. synonym

e. antonym

Antonyms vs Synonyms

a. Gradable/ungradable antonyms

Grading involves ______________. When we compare two or more objects.

Do the objects have the property to the same _________or not:

- +… cold cool warm hot …

Gradable: “cold” and “colder”The weather is much colder this week than last week.

Ungradable: “male”٭John is as much male as Peter. .John is more male than Peter٭

a. Gradable/ungradable antonyms (continued)

Exception:Normal language behavior: ungradable

antonyms can sometimes be graded in speech.

ExampleJohn is more of a bachelor than Daniel (i.e.

more determined never to get married, partying, had never had a stable girlfriend, etc.)

I am more alive now than ever (i.e. feeling more energetic, satisfied with my life, etc).

b. Relational: Conversives

There is a ______________between both. Without one you don’t have the other.

Examples: o Husband – wifeo Doctor – patiento Master – mistresso Before - aftero Above – below, etc.

Often used to speak of ______________social roles, ______________and ______________relations.

c. Relational: Reversives

Another term: ____________________________. Examples: o Up - downo Come - goo Arrive – departo Marry – divorce

You can reverse one by doing the other. Common feature: implication of__________in one of the

two opposite directions _______________ _____________.

Mind Mapping

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

Antonyms (review)

Gradable vs Ungradable? (too, more, less, etc.)

Relational: Conversive? (different points of view)

Relational: Reversives? (one can reverse the other)

4. PolysemySemantic Relations among Words

Polysemy: A word which has ____ or more ________meaningse.g. bright: ‘bright light’ ; ‘bright colors’

A words' ____________is helpful in determining polysemy

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polysemy http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polysemy?show=0&t=1290530170

5. Homonymy Semantic Relations among Words

Homonymy: A word which has __ or more ______________ meanings

Ex: Club: ‘a social organization’ ; ‘a blunt weapon’.

Identifying Homonyms in Jokes

1. Time flies ____ an arrow Fruit flies ____ a banana

2. Policeman: Why have you parked your car here?

Motorist: Because the sign says “______for Parking”.

3. Customer: Have you got half-inch ______?

Ironmonger: Yes, sir.

Customer: Then could you scratch my back. It’s very itchy

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/like

Polysemy & Homonymy ?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accent

Homonyms, Homophony & Homography

Homophony: Different words ______________but ______________, ex. two and too.

Homography: Different words ______________but ______________, , e.g. minute and minute.HomonymsHomonyms are words that are _____ _____ homophones

and homographs.

Identifying homophones

1. [steər] 1. Stair, stare

2. [weist] 2. waste, waist

3. [si:lIη] 3. sealing, ceiling

4. [kju:] 4. cue, queue

5. [sent] 5. sent, cent, scent

1.Read

2.Wind

3.Live

4.Tear

5.Invalid

6.Bow

7.Dove

Identifying Homographs

Polysemy or Homonymy*?

GRASS: herbage used for grazing animals; marijuana

LEECH: a bloodsucking worm; a hanger-on who seeks advantage

RANGE: A cooking stove; a series of mountains

KEY: An instrument used to apply to a lock; an answer sheet for tests or assignments

STEAL/STEEL: rob ; a type of metalRACE: the act of running competitively;

people belonging to the same genetic grouping

FLOWER/FLOUR: a type of plant; finely ground wheat

Homonymy or Polysemy ?

PASS ?

A Few Other Relations

PARTS OF A WHOLEMeronym: Part of a wholeHolonym: The whole to which parts belong

Metonym: is a figure of speech where a thing is called by the name of something closely associated to it.

Ex: "ear" means "attention” (lending an ear) Ex: Washington for the United States

government or of the sword for military power.

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

Application: Bible Translation

A case study of a polysemous word :

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

1 Timothy 2:12 (English Standard Version)Context: I allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to remain in quietness and keep silence [in religious assemblies].

1 Timothy 2:12 (Amplified Bible)Polysemy and Cooccurance: “Woman” or “Wife” ? But I suffer not a woman to teach, neither to have lordship on the husband [neither for to have lordship on the man], but to be in silence.

1 Timothy 2:12 (Wycliffe New Testament)Key word Bible:

Review of the text: Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb, Norman C.,

in Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Application, by Dallin D. Oaks, 1998)

Ambiguity

Multiple Meanings

LEXICAL (OR POLYSEMANTIC) AMBIGUITY E.g. For many purposes they used obsidian or volcanic

rock.

SYNTACTIC (OR STRUCTURAL) AMBIGUITY E.g. a fat lady’s man

CLASS AMBIGUITY: E.g. Many hands make light work. (in given example)

SCRIPT AMBIGUITY: E.g. I am an outdoor lover.

“lover of the Out-of-doors” … or … ?

Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb)

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical ambiguity?Syntactic

ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

What Ambiguity?Lexical ambiguity?Syntactic

ambiguity?Class ambiguity?Script ambiguity?

PRELIMINARY THEORY TO SEMANTICS

Concept, Referent and Form

The Abstract Side of Language

Don’t think of a pink elephant!

Referent: the actual thing

Referent, Concept and Symbol

Qu’est-ce que le langage? (Leclerc)

[bərd][bərd]

Referent, Concept and Symbol

Qu’est-ce que le langage? (Leclerc)Ferdinand de Saussure

[bərd]

The _________ refers to the linguistic elements (word, sentence, etc.), the ______ refers to the object in the world of experience, and THOUGHT or REFERENCE refers to _________ .

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 of the language, and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word.

e.g. The dog over there looks friendly. The word “dog” is directly associated with a certain concept in our

mind, i.e. what a “dog” is like, but it is not directly linked to the referent (the particular dog) in this particular case.

Referent, Concept and Symbol

Referent, Concept and Symbol

Referent

Concept

Refers to

Symbol

evokes

Stands for

There is not a direct link between the sound of the word dog (Symbol) and the object it refers to.

What is called the signified is not actually what we have been shown but an abstract concept formed in our mind.

Ogden & Richards

no direct relationship

Juliet:'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,Nor arm, nor face, nor any other partBelonging to a man. O, be some other name!

WHAT'S IN A NAME? THAT WHICH WE CALL A WHAT'S IN A NAME? THAT WHICH WE CALL A ROSEROSEBY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL AS BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL AS SWEET;SWEET;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,Retain that dear perfection which he owesWithout that title. Romeo, doff thy name,And for that name which is no part of theeTake all myself

Review: The Psychic Side of Things

SYMBOL CONCEPTSounds bərd]

-Mental representation of the sound

-« acoustic image » (sound pattern)

-A string of phonemes (sounds)-Psychic imprint

- We refer to this mental imprint to understand when

someone speaks

-Common to speakers of that language (therefore

conventional)

Concept (mental representation of

reality)-Psychic

-Mental image of the referent

- Ex: covered in feathers, has a beak, etc.

Ferdinand de Saussure

Concepts Across Languages

SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING:

1. Connotation2. Denotation3. Extension and intention4. Componential Analysis5. Subcategorization of verbs6. Actantial Approach

Meaning

What does it mean when you say you know the meaning of a word?

What does it mean when you say you know a word, such as “bird” “blue”, or “happy” ?

How do we _________ of a word meaning?

What is “word meaning”?

Approaches to Word Meaning

Here are a few ways to look at meaning:

1.Connotation2.Denotation3.Extension and intention4.Componential Analysis5.Subcategorization of verbs6.Actantial Approach

1. Connotation

« Set of associations that a word’s use can ______________ »

e.g. winter

Let’s do some word mapping around the word winter !

This is not enough to define the meaning …

According to _________ _________ …To equate meaning to a word or phrase with actual entities to which it refers

e.g. an animal that can bark = dogPrime Minister of Canada = Paul Martin

* But what about imaginary things that have no referents !!!

2. Denotation

And what about words/expressions that have ________referents for one thing, for the

same thing

e.g. Stephen Harper

the Prime Minister of Canada

‡the leader of Conservative Party

Denotation

3. Extension versus intention

ALSO CALLED:COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS

OR SEMANTIC DECOMPOSITION

4. Componential Analysis

Componential Analysis

Semantic properties: The _________ of meaning of a word.

Semantic feature: A notational device for expressing the _________ or _________ of semantic properties by “+” and “-”.

Example of componential analysis:“baby” is [+ young], [+ human],

[– abstract].

Contemporary Linguistics Analysis: p.

196

Componential Analysis

1. (a) widow, mother, sister, aunt, maid (b) widower, father, brother, uncle, valet

The (a) and (b) words are The (a) words are The (b) words are

[ human][ female][ male]

2. (a) bachelor, paperboy, pope, chief (b) bull, rooster, drake, ram

The (a) and (b) words are The (a) words are The (b) words are

[ male][ human][ animal]

Componential Analysis

3. (a) table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship (b) milk, alcohol, rice, soup, mud

The (a) words are The (b) words are

[ count][ count]

4. (a) pine, elm, sycamore (b) dandelion, aster, daisy

The (a) and (b) words are The (a) words are The (b) words are

[ plant][ tree]

[ flower]

Componential Analysis

SWINE

Definition: an adult female swine; also : the adult female

of various other animals (as a bear) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

Semantic Analysis:

Componential Analysis

CAR

Definition: A vehicle moving on wheels

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

Semantic Analysis:

How would we know that it is not a truck?

Componential Analysis

BUTTERFLYDefinition: any of numerous slender-bodied diurnal lepidopteran

insects including one superfamily (Papilionoidea) with broad often brightly colored wings and usually another superfamily comprising the skippers

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

Semantic Analysis: [+ ], [+ ], [-

] …

2 COMPLEMENTS:2 COMPLEMENTS: NO COMPLEMENT:NO COMPLEMENT: Fax Murmur Radio Mumble Wire Mutter Phone Shriek

Emphasis on: Emphasis on:- _________ - _________

So there’s a link between _________ and _________ !!!

5. Subcategorization of Verbs

The Word’s Context / Word Combinations

THE IMPORTANCE OF WORD COMBINATION:

An example:

What is wrong with this sentence: The colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

The Word’s Context / Word Combinations

There are many reasons why two words cannot be combined:

Meaning• Inherent meaning (ex: colorless green*)• Connotation (ex: sleep furiously*)• Semantic limits of words (ex: watched the

intelligence*; or green ideas*)Syntax

• Complements (ex: he closed the telephone*)• Subject (ex: the door danced*)

In defining a verb we should also describe it’s _________ and _________ : A1 tosses A2 to A3:

A1 = [+ human] A2 = [+ concrete], [+ movable], [+ small] A3 = [± human] or [+ living/moving], [+ with hands/arms] …

We can also use this approach with other lexical categories like adjectives, nouns, adverbs, etc.

* Again, this is a combination of ______ and _________ !

6. Actantial Approach

Jacqueline Picoche

SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING

Therefore:

The colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

“IDEAS” cannot have a color since it is [+ abstract] “FURIOUSLY” has to modify a verbs where one is

conscious, amongst other things. “SLEEP” has a “restful” connotation. “FURIOUSLY”

doesn’t. Something cannot be “colorless” and “green” at the

same time. There is semantic contradiction here.

SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING

1. Connotation2. Denotation3. Extension and intention4. Componential Analysis5. Subcategorization of verbs6. Actantial Approach

.

Meaning of Words Through Time

Neologism (or Coinage)

Neologism (or Coinage)

Using derivation:

Evolution of Meaning

Language Changes a lot, not just in adding new words here and there, but also as the meaning of these words change with time.

o « Cool » used to mean « not warm/cold ». Then the meaning changed.

o Now, « cool », is not really that « cool » anymore !

Evolution of Meaning = Polysemy

BARRÉ (Acadian French): - Blocked door (with actual bar)- Blocked door (locked)

- Blocked river- Blocked road

This is how you get _________

Evolution of Meaning

MEANING AND DICTIONARIES

Lexicology

Analogy

Definition of the French words “PLUME”:1. A feather2. A feather used for writing (“plume-fontaine”)3. A ball point pen (ou “stylo”)

Definitions drawn out of a metaphor (or _________ ). From something concrete to something concrete.

Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998Dictionary.com

Analogy, Figurative Sense & Metonymy

Definition of the words “SWORD” : 1. a weapon (…). 2. this weapon as the symbol of military power, punitive

justice. authority, etc.Ex: The pen is mightier than the sword.

3. war, combat, slaughter, or violence.4. The Bible.

What meanings are drawn out of a certain metaphor? _________– from concrete to concrete: _________– from concrete to abstract:

_________ : pen and sword

Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998Dictionary.com