SEMANTICS

SEMANTICS

Shandrabhannu a/p UthayakumarKirrthana a/p KarikalanHazirah binti MustapaPravina a/p mohan

DefinitionSemantics is a term which is used in

linguistics, which studies the relation between linguistic sign and signified thing. In other words, semantics is a branch of linguistics which studies about the meaning.

Semantics as a general explanation is about the study of meaning of the words, phrases, sentences, and discourse

Semantics (semasiology) is a branch of lexicology that is devoted to the study of word meaning.

the semantics of a word = the meaning of a word

Usually defined as that part of Linguistics that deals with meaningword meaningsentence meaning

The components of meaningthe denotative component

(denotation)

the connotative component (connotation)

It is the essential and inextricable part of what language is, and is widely regarded as the central factor in verbal communication. It is also called logical, cognitive, or denotative meaning. Here is the semantics feature of conceptual meaning:

a.       Man:                [+HUMAN+ADULT+MALE]b.      Women:           [+HUMAN+ADULT+FEMALE]c.       Girl:                 [+HUMAN-ADULT+FEMALE]d.      Boy:                [+HUMAN –ADULT+ MALE]e.       Bull:                [-HUMAN +ADULT +MALE]jpkc.hrbu.edu.cn:8080/jpkcjs/Linguistics/6kczy/kj/

08c/2.ppt

DENOTATION

Denotative is meaning of word

Eg: “needle”-the conceptual meaning is it is a thin, sharp, steel instrument

Thus, conceptual meaning covers those basic essential components of meaning that are conveyed by the literal use of a word.

The denotative component of meaning (denotation)is the principal part of meaning that

makes communication possible. It expresses the conceptual content of a word.

lonely: alone, without a companynotorious: well knowncelebrated: well knownto adore: to loveto glare: to lookto glance: to look

Linguistic meaningReferential meaning: Defining a word or

sentence that makes referenceEg: Scott’s dog refers to the particular

domesticated canine belonging to ScottThe particular animal can be said to be the

referential meaning of the linguistic expression Scott’s dog

The dog picked out or identified by the expression is its referent

CONNOTATIVESOCIAL MEANING

Representing actions, states & mental processes

Conveys information about the situation in which they have been uttered.

- So I says to him, “You can’t do nothin’ right.”

Use of the verb says with the first-person singular pronoun I indicates something about the speakers social status.

- Is it a doctor in here? the form it where some other varieties

use there indicates a speaker of an ethnically marked variety of English.

- Y’all gonna visit over the holiday? Y’all identifies a particular regional

dialect of American English (southern).

AFFECTIVE- Striking contrast is provided by sentences that

differ only in terms of stress or intonation

Erin is really smart.1) without emphasizing any word2) words really and smart are stressed in an

exaggerated manner, sentence maybe interpreted sarcastically to mean exactly the opposite.

The level of meaning that conveys the language user’s feelings, attitudes, and opinions about a particular piece of information or about the ongoing context

The connotative component of meaning (connotation)is what the word implies in addition to its

denotative meaning. It is the set of associations that a word’s use can evoke.

E.g. a hovel: “a small house” + “miserable, dirty, in bad repair, unpleasant to live in”.

Types of connotation: emotiveevaluativeexpressive (intensifying)pragmatic (i.e. connotation of duration,

manner, cause, etc.)

The connotative componentlonely: unhappy

(emotive connotation)

celebrated: about something good

(evaluative connotation, positive)

to glare: steadily (connotation of

duration) + in angry, fierce way (emotive

connotation)

to adore: deep feeling

(expressive connotation)

notorious: about something bad

(evaluative connotation, negative)

to glance: briefly (connotation of

duration)

Denotative and connotative componentsOften a word’s connotation is fully

explained in the dictionary. Otherwise it can be realized through the

context. E.g. Los Angeles is notorious for its smog.Denotative and connotative components

make up the semantic structure of a word.

Reading – Word Analysis

Denotation and Connotation

UNUSUAL UNUSUAL

Denotation - extraordinary Connotation - bizarre

They think about the denotation

of a word – its dictionary meaning

and the connotation – the implied

meanings and associations when

choosing words.

Denotation is the literal meaning of a

word

Connotation is adding attitude

to a word

A word can have positive or negative associations or connotations. Study the following chart.

WordPositive

ConnotationNegative

Connotation

plain easy gawky

unusual extraordinary bizarre

firm determined unyielding

Here is a sample of a word that has denotative meaning and connotative associations:“She’s my baby.”

Denotation infant

Connotation girl friend

Now let’s try one together:

The word player can have two meanings.

The soccer goalie was a real player.

(discuss the denotative meaning)

The word player can have two meanings.The soccer goalie was a real player.

Denotation: one who plays in a game

(discuss the connotative meaning)

The word player can have two meanings.The soccer goalie was a real player.

Connotationone who uses people

Denotation vs. ConnotationDENOTATION CONNOTATION

Cat Four-legged, furry, purry animal

Stealthy, spiteful, calculating, quiet

Feelings What someone senses/ emotions

Happy, sad, frightened, glad

Success Ability to pass or get through some

difficulty

Positive feeling, happiness, sense of

achievement

Home Shelter and place of refuge

Protection, affection, love,

peace

Phrase meaning

• Noun-centered meaning

• Verb-centered meaning

Noun-centred meaningNoun Centered meaning: the semantics for adjective

noun combinations.The Examples are; Red balloon, large balloon A good friend vs. a false friend A cold-hearted murderer vs. an alleged murderer Example of class Truth of An Adj is an X• Good, red, large trueFalse, on-existent, fake falseAlleged, purported, putative undetermined

Noun Centered meaning: the semantics for adjective noun combinationsRed balloon, large baloonA good friend vs. a false friendA cold-hearted murderer vs. an alleged

murderer

Knowing the meaning of a NP means knowing how to discover what objects the NP refers toTo put the red brick on the wallTo spray brick red on the wall

Verb-centred meaningThe verb plays a central role in the

meaning and structure of most sentences.In English, the verb determines the

number of objects and limits the semantic properties of both its subjects and objects.

Sub categorization:Give, V. [ _ NP1 NP2]Walk, V. [ _ PP]Find, V. [ _ NP PP]

Thematic Roles: The NP subjects and the constituents of the verb phrases

are semantically related in various ways to the verb. The relations depend on the meaning of the particular verb.

Agent: the one who

performs an action Location:

the place where an

action takes place

Experiencer: one who perceives somethingGoal: the place

to which an action is directed

Instrument: the means by which an

action is performed

Theme: the one or thing

that undergoes an action

Agent active person, actor

Patient Entity affected by deed of agent or cause

Location Location of deed/event

Instrument Entity employed by an agent in a deed

Time Time of deed/event

Recipient Receiver of result of deed of agent

Experiencer Perceiver of a stimulus

StimulusEntity

perceived/experienced by an experiencer

CauseCause not an agent (non-

volitional / non-intentioanal)

Goal Targeted location (also 'purpose' or 'finality')

ExamplesThe boy feared the snake. Fear: Experiencer as subject

The snake frightened the boy. Frighten: Experiencer as object

*The boy opened the door with the sky.Theta Criterion: a particular thematic role may occur

only once in a sentence.*The boy opened the door with the key with a lock-pick.*the boy’s red hat of Bill

Sentence meaningSemantic verbal relations may affect syntactic

relationships.Examples:John resembles Bill.*Bill is resembled by John

The book cost ten dollars*Ten dollars was cost by the book

He believes that John is genius.John believes that he is a genius.

LEXICAL DECOMPOSITIONLexical decomposition is a means of

characterising the detail lexical features of a word.

For example taking the words “kitten” , “puppy” and “fawn”, we can see some commonality in them. Kitten – young, four-legged, animated Puppy - young, four-legged, animated Fawn - young, four-legged, animated

If we add “chicken” or “baby” to this set, the decomposition will be: Chicken - young, two-legged, animated Baby - young, two-legged, animated

Thus, we can tabulate such decomposition as:

kitten puppy fawn chicken baby

Young + + + + +

Animated

+ + + + -

Human - - - +

Two-legged

- - - + +

Four-legged

+ + + - -

LEXICAL RELATIONS Words are not only the ‘containers’ or as fulfilling

‘roles’. They can also have ‘relationships’. We describe the meanings of words in terms of their relationships.

For example :if we are asked the meanings of word ‘conceal’ we might reply it is same as ‘hide’.

The meaning of ‘shallow’ as ‘the opposite of deep’.

The meaning of ‘daffodil’ as ‘it is a kind of flower’.In doing so we are characterizing the meaning of

a word not in terms of component features, but in terms of relationship to other words.

The types of lexical relationsSYNONYMY Synonyms are two or more forms with very

closely related meanings, which are often, but not always, intersubstitutable in sentences.

For example: broad=wide, hide=conceal, almost=nearly, cab=taxi, liberty=freedom,

answer=reply. [e.g. of synonyms are in pairs]The idea of ‘sameness of meaning’ used in

discussing synonymy is not necessarily ‘total sameness’ .

For example: Cathy had only one ‘answer’ correct in the test. Its near synonymy would ‘reply’ would sound odd.

ANTONYMYTwo forms with opposite meanings are called

antonyms. For example: quick=slow, big=small, long=short,

rich=poor, happy=sad, hot=cold, old=young, male=female, true=false, alive=dead.

Antonyms are divided into two parts. Gradable antonyms: such as the pair

big=small, can be used in comparative constructions like bigger than =smaller than.

Negative of one member of the gradable pair does not necessarily imply the other. For example: Dog is not old, it does not mean that dog is young.

Non-gradable Antonyms: Such antonyms have “complementary pairs, comparative constructions and negative of one member does imply the other.

For example : The person is not dead, does indeed mean that person is live.

Reversives: It actually means to reverse. For example: Tie= untie, enter= exit, pack= unpack, lengthen= shorten, raise= lower and dress= undress.

HYPONYMYWhen the meaning of one form is included in the

meaning of another, the relationship is described as hyponym. For example: Daffodil= Flower, dog= animal, poodle= dog, carrot= vegetable, banyan= tree.

The concept of “inclusion’ involved here.For example: If any object is a daffodil, then it is

necessary a flower, so the meaning of flower is included in the meaning of daffodil. Daffodil is hyponym of a flower.

We look at the meaning of words in some type of hierarchical relationship. (Tree-Diagram).

HOMOPHONY When two or more different written forms have the same pronunciation, they are described as “Homophones”.

For example: Bare – Bear,

Meat – Meet, Flour – Flower,

Pail – Pale, Sew – So.

HOMONYMYHomonyms are words which have quite separate

meanings, but which have accidentally come to have exactly the same form.

The term homonym is used when one form written or spoken has two or more unrelated meanings.

For example:1- bank= (of a river) bank= (financial institution) 2- bat= (flying creature) bat= (used in sports) 3- race= (contest of speed) race= (ethic group)

POLYSEMYIf a word has multiple meanings, that is called

polysemic. Relatedness of meaning accompanying

identical form is technically known as polysemy. For example: The word “head” is used to refer

to the object on the top of our body, on top of a glass of beer, on top of a company or department.

Another word “foot” has multiple meanings such as foot of a person, of bed, of mountain etc.

MENTONYMY There is another type of relationship between

words based simply on a close connection in everyday experience. That close connection can be based on a container- contents relation (bottle- coke; can- juice), a whole- part relation (car- wheels; house- roof) or a representative- symbol relationship (king- crown; The President- The White House).

COLLOCATION Frequently occurring together is known as

collocation. Words tend to occur with other words.

For example: If you ask a thousand people what they think when you say ‘hammer’, more than half will say ‘nail’, if you say ‘table’ they will mostly say ‘chair’ and for ‘butter- bread, for needle- thread, for salt- pepper.

Some collocations are joined pairs of words such as salt and pepper or husband and wife.