1Lecture

5

SemanticsSemantics----the

study

of

languagemeaning.Meaning

is

central

to

the

study

ofcommunication.What

is

meaning?----

Scholars

underdifferent

scientific

backgrounds

havedifferent

understandings

of

languagemeaning.27

types

of

meaning

given

by

G.

Leech(Semantics,

1974)conceptual

Meaning:

denotative看那草包，做工真細(xì)！connotative

meaning:

associative他是個草包。collocative:

used

together

with

others3Examples:motherdenotative:

female

parentconnotative:

love,

tenderness,

careDecemberdenotative:

the

last

month

of

a

yearconnotative:

winter,

snow,

Xmas,

Newyear,

etc4raise,

liftdenotative:

get

it

upcollocative:

raise

a

questionlift

a

bagSome

views

concerning

the

study

ofmeaningNaming

theory

(Plato)The

conceptualist

viewContextualism

(Bloomfield)Behaviorism5Naming

theory

(Plato)Words

are

names

or

labels

for

things.Limitations:Applicable

to

nouns

only. There

are

nouns

which

denote

things

thatdo

not

exist

in

the

real

world,

e.g.

ghost,dragon,

unicorn,

phenix… There

are

nouns

that

do

not

refer

tophysical

objects

but

abstract

notions,

e.g.joy,

impulse,

hatred…6The

conceptualist

view（意念論）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.7Ogden

and

Richards:

semantic

triangleSymbol/formword/phrase/sentence8Referent/object

in

theworld

of

experienceThought/reference/concept

The

symbol

or

form

refers

to

thelinguistic

elements

(words

and

phrases);The

referent

refers

to

the

object

in

theworld

of

experience;Thought

or

reference

refers

to

concept.The

symbol

or

a

word

signifies

things

byvirtue

of

the

concept

associated

with

theform

of

the

word

in

the

minds

of

thespeaker;

and

the

concept

looked

at

fromthis

point

of

view

is

the

meaning

of

theword.9The

contextualismMeaning

should

be

studied

in

terms

of

situation, use,

context—elements

closely

linked

with language

behavior.

Two

typesof

contexts

are recognized:Situational

context:

spatiotemporal

situationLinguistic

context:

the

probability

of

a

word’s

co- occurrence

or

collocation.For

example,

“black”

in

black

hair

&

black

coffee,or

black

sheep

differs

in

meaning;

“The

presidentof

the

United

States”can

mean

either

the10president

or

presidency

in

different

situation.BehaviorismBehaviorists

attempted

to

define

meaning as

“the

situation

in

which

the

speaker utters

it

and

the

response

it

calls

forth

in the

hearer”.The

story

of

Jack

and

Jill:Jill

JackS

r--------s

R1112S:

physical

stimulusr:

verbal

responses:

verbal

stimulusR:

non-verbal

response13Lexical

meaningSense

and

reference

are

both

concerned

with

thestudy

of

word

meaning.

They

are

two

related

butdifferent

aspects

of

meaning.Sense----

is

concerned

with

the

inherent

meaning

ofthe

linguistic

form.

It

is

the

collection

of

all

the

featuresof

the

linguistic

form;

it

is

abstract

and

de-contextualized.

It

is

the

aspect

of

meaning

dictionarycompilers

are

interested

in.Reference----what

a

linguistic

form

refers

to

in

the

real,physical

world;

it

deals

with

the

relationship

betweenthe

linguistic

element

and

the

non-linguistic

world

ofexperience.Note:Linguistic

forms

having

the

same

sensemay

have

different

references

in

differentsituations;

on

the

other

hand,

there

arealso

occasions,

when

linguistic

forms

withthe

same

reference

might

differ

in

sense.1415Two

items

may

have

the

samereference,

but

differ

in

sense.E.g

the

morning

starthe

evening

starWords

have

no

reference:

but,

if,

etcMajor

sense

relationsSynonymyAntonymyPolysemyHomonymyHyponymy1617Synonymy:sameness

relationEnglish

is

rich

in

synonyms

because

itborrows

a

lot

of

vocabulary

from

otherlanguages.Native

fireaskholytimeriseFrench

flamequestionsacredagemountLatin

conflagrationinterrogateconsecratedepochascendSynonyms

are

context-baseddifference

in

denotation:

in

the range

and

intensity

of

meaning.E.g “I

didnot

comprehend

hisarguments,

although

I

understandthe

language,

and

all

thesentences.”1819Difference

in

degree.E.grich

wealthysmall

tiny

minute

microscopiclargeangerwanthugeragewishtremendous

colossalfury

wrathdesire20Difference

in

styleWords

share

the

same

denotation

but

differ

intheir

stylistic

appropriateness.E.g

FormalrespondtempestforestmanualdomesticNeutral

answerstormwoodhandyhomely21Dialectical

differenceAm.EfallBri.

Eautumnapartmentsubwayelevatoroverpassflatundergroundliftfly-over22Difference

in

applicationThey

form

different

collocations

and

fitinto

different

sentence

patterns.E.g

allow/letallow

sb

to

do

sthlet

sb

do

sbmeaning/senseHe

is

a

man

of

sense.*

He

is

a

man

of

meaning.More

examples“塊”:a

lump

of

sugara

chunk

of

wooda

cake

of

soapa

bar

of

chocolate“群”:a

flock

of

sheepa

herd

of

elephanta

shoal(school)

of

fisha

swarm

of

bees.“動物成群，群群不同”2324Summary

for

synonymy:“

Language

is

like

dress.

We

vary

ourdress

to

suit

the

occasion.

We

do

notappear

at

a

friend’s

silver

weddinganniversary

in

a

gardening

clothes

nordo

we

surf

in

a

dinner

jacket.”25Antonymy:

oppositeness

relationgradable

antonyms:

pairs

that

permitintermediate

members.E.g

rich/poorrich/well-to-do/well-off/moderatelywealthy/comfortably

off/

hard

up/poor26More

examples:old/middle-aged/youngopen/ajar/closehot/warm/cool/coldbeautiful/pretty/good-looking/nice/plain/ugly27Complementary

antonymThe

members

are

mutually

exclusive.Theinsertion

of

one

means

the

denial

ofanother.E.g

dead/alivemale/femalepresent/absentsingle/marriedpass/fail28Converse

antonymThe

pairs

indicate

an

inter-dependence

of

meaning

betweenitems.

One

member

of

the

pairpresupposes

the

other

member.E.g

husband/wifesell/buygive/takelend/borrowemployer/employeePolysemy:

one

word

has

several

meaningsthrough

radiatione.g

pipe:

14

meaningsWater/gas/sewage

pipeDo

you

smoke

a

pipe?Bag/panpipe

:

musical

instrumentsFace:

22

meaningsThe

face

of

the

earth

has

changed.The

mountaineers

go

to

the

north

face

ofHimalayas.She

is

rather

face-conscious.He

has

become

a

familiar

face

in

WashingtonD.C.2930Hymonomy(同音同形異義):Word

different

in meaning

but

identical

in

sound

and

spelling or

both.Perfect

homonyms:

identical

both

in

sound

andspelling,

but

different

in

meaning.e.g

bank:

river

bank/

bank

accountbear:

teddy

bear/

cannot

bearrace:

different

races/car

raceball:

ball

room

dance/

footballpole:

North

pole/

bamboo

poleslie:

tell

a

lie/lie

down

on31Homographs(同形異義）：wordsidentical

only

in

spelling,but

differentin

sound

and

meaning.Bow

/bau/:He

bowed

to

the

guestBow/beu/:

He

wears

a

bow

tie.Lead/li:d/:

He

leads

the

whole

group.Lead/led/:

the

metal32Homophones(同音異義）

:wordsidentical

only

in

sound

but

different

inspelling

and

meaning.e.g

dear/deerright/rite/writepeace/pieceair/heirno/knowinsure/ensure33Hyponymy

(上下義關(guān)系):semantic

inclusion.

The

meaning

of

amore

specific

word

is

included

in

thatof

another

more

general

word.These

specific

words

are

hyponyms

orsubordinate

terms(下義詞)and

themore

general

ones

are

called

super-ordinate

terms(上義詞).Example:treepineliving

thingscreature

plant

animal

insect

vegetable

flowerhorse

dog

beetle

cabbage

rosemare

hound34部分-整體(meronymy)：carwheelenginedoor

windowpiston／活塞

valve／閥etc.3536Hyponymy

is

helpful

in

coherence

inreading

and

writing.e.g

There

was

a

fine

rocking-chair

thathis

father

used

to

sit

in,

a

desk

wherehe

wrote

letters,

a

nest

of

small

tablesand

a

dark,

imposing

bookcase.

Nowall

this

furniture

was

to

be

sold,

andwith

it

his

own

past.Compare

the

following

sentences

for

vividnessand

accuracyTrees

surround

the

water

near

our

summer place.Old

elms

surround

the

lake

near

our

summer cabin.I

met

a

writer

who

is

the

relation

of

a

politician.I

met

a

newspaper

columnist

who

is

the

brother of

Senate

Buckley.37Sense

relations

between

sentences1)

X

is

synonymous

with

YThe

dog

chased

the

man.The

man

was

chased

by

the

dog.He

was

a

bachelor.He

never

married.Condition:

If

X

is

true,

Y

is

true.If

X

is

false,

Y

is

false.38392)

X

is

inconsistent

with

Ye.g

He

is

married.He

is

single.She

passed

the

exam.She

failed

the

exam.Condition:

If

X

is

true,

Y

is

false.If

X

is

false,

Y

is

true.403)

X

entails

YE.g

He

went

to

Paris.

(X)He

went

to

France.

(Y)Y

is

an

entailment

of

X.Conditions:If

X

is

true,

Y

is

necessarily

true.If

X

is

false,

Y

may

be

true

or

false.41X

presupposes

Y

(Y

is

a

prerequisite

ofX)e.g X:

His

wife

is

a

layer.Y:

He

is

married.(He

has

a

wife)Conditions:If

X

is

true,

Y

must

be

true.If

X

is

false,

Y

is

still

true.42同義反復(fù)（tautology） Rich

people

are

rich. London

is

London.43Analysis

of

meaningComponential

Analysis

(CA)The

meaning

of

a

word

can

be

analyzedinto

different

semantic

features

orcomponents.E.gboy=human+young+malegirl=

human+young+femalewoman=human+adult+femaleman=human+adult+male44詞義－意義成分／特征分析The

assassin

(刺客)killed

Lewis.a

humana

murderer（殺人犯：故意、非法）a

killer

of

important

persons45同一意義成分可為多個詞分享［HUMAN］man

woman

doctor

deanprofessorbachelor

parent

aunt

widowmaidenbaby

girl

etc.46同一語義特征可為不同語法類別的詞分享［FEMALE］motherbreast-feedpregnant47［CAUSE］darkencause

to

becomedarkkill

uglify／丑化cause

to

diecause

to

become

ugly48Adantages

of

CA:The

contrasts

and

combinations

of

meaningare

necessary

and

sufficient

to

explainrelevant

data.e.g

the

denotative

meaning

of

a

word.Show

how

the

words

are

related

in

meaning.e.g.

man

/womanSimilarities:

+human+adult+animateDifference:

male/femaleMan/boy:

+human/animate/male-adult49Problems

of

CA:Many

words

are

polysemicHe

walks

to

the

bank.features

of

semantic

components

areoverlapping.E.g

girl/womanThe

examples

only

describe

the

neatlyorganized

parts

of

the

vocabulary.E.g

abstract

Ns,

Vs,

etc.504.2

Prediction

analysis(述謂分析):analysis

of

sentence

meaningThe

meaning

of

a

sentence

is

not

themere

sum

of

meanings

of

all

itscomponents.Sentence

meaning

contains

twoaspects:

grammatical

meaning

andsemantic

meaning.51Grammatical

meaning:

thegrammatical

well-formedness.

It

isgoverned

by

grammatical

rules.e.g.

ungrammatical

sentences

accordingto

the

rules.*The

dog

are

chasing

the

cat.*He

gave

the

book

me.*We

will

went

to

Beijing

tomorrow.52Semantic

meaning:

Whether

a

sentenceis

semantically

meaningful

is

governedby

rules

of

Selection

Restrictions(constraints

which

prevent

thederivation

of

agrammatical

sentences.

)e.gThe

stone

thi