新编简明英语语言学教程讲义(6)Chapter_5_Semantics.doc
Chapter 5 Semantics
----the study of language meaning.
---- Scholars under different scientific backgrounds have different understandings of language meaning.
Some views concerning the study of meaning
Naming theory (Plato)
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…
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.
Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle
Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle
d 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.
The contextualism
on, use, context—elements closely linked with
language behavior. Two types of contexts are recognized:
-occurrence or collocation.
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.
Behaviorism
peaker utters it and the
response it calls forth in the hearer‖.
Jill Jack
S_________r--------s_________R
Lexical meaning
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. 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.
Major sense relations
Synonymy,
Antonymy,
Polysemy,
Homonymy,
Hyponymy,
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;…
Synonymy
3) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning, e.g.collaborator- accomplice,…
4) Collocational synonyms, e.g. accuse…of, charge…with, rebuke…for; …
5) Semantically different synonyms, e.g. amaze, astound,…
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, employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, …
Gradable antonyms
Gradable antonyms ----there are often, intermediate forms between the two members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, …
Complementary antonyms
Complementary antonyms ----the, denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, …
Polysemy
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
……
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.
---- when two words are identical in sound, e.g. rain-reign, night/knight, …
---- when two words are identical in spelling, e.g. tear(n.)-tear(v.), lead(n.)-lead(v.), …
---- when two words are identical in both sound and spelling, e.g. ball, bank, watch, scale, fast, …
Note:
etymology of the word); while complete homonyms are often brought into being by coincidence. Hyponymy
----the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.
-hyponyms: hyponyms of the same superordinate.
Hyponymy
Sense relations between sentences
X is synonymous with Y
Y: He never got married all his life.
Y: The cat was killed by the boy.
X is inconsistent with Y
e been to Beijing twice.
X entails Y
on. If X entails Y, then the meaning of X is included in Y.
X presupposes Y
X is a contradiction
*The orphan’s parents are pretty well-off.
X is semantically anomalous
ntions.
Analysis of meaning
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,
-ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE]
-MALE]
-ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]
Predication analysis
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.
e.g.
y rules called selectional
restrictions.
Predication analysis
---- a way to analyze sentence meaning (British G. Leech).
----the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence. A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate.
elements in a sentence.
arguments in a sentence.
Predication analysis
predications into the following types:
-place predication: smoke, grow, rise, run, …
-place predication: like, love, save, bite, beat,…
-place predication: give, sent, promise, call, …
-place predication: It is hot.
Predication analysis
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