Semantics: The Analysis of Meaning

PUCESI 2014

Monik Vinueza

OBJECTIVESO GENERAL OBJECTIVE:Introduce to the field of semantics

O SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:O Define SemanticsO Review some views concerning the study of

meaningO Lexical meaningO Sense relations between sentencesO Analysis of meaning

General guidelinesO Class participation (20%)O Group work (20%)O 3 Reaction papers (30%)O Final project:O Semantics and language teaching (30%)O 10% theoryO 10% your own analysis and contributionO 10% exercises for the classO Or Final paper (1200 words)

Texts…….O Semantics a coursebook, James R.

Hurford

CUP

Semantics: A Coursebook, SECOND EDITION

196.29.172.66:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2595/1/Semantics.pdf

c._kreidler_introducing_english_semanticsbookfi.org_2.pdf

O SEMANTICS & PRAGMATICS GRIFFITHS.pdfO Chapter_1_What_is_meaning.pdfO UNIT1.pdf

bok:978-1-4020-4485-4.pdf

bok:978-1-4020-5857-8.pdf

What is semantics?O Get in groupsO Read the document givenO Write down your own definitonO Define SemanticsO What does Semanticsx imply?O What do we have to know?O What are the most important elements?

What is Semantics?

O Semantics is the study of meaning in language, which

derives from the relation between words, phrases,sentences,

signs, symnbols and their denotation.

O Meaning is central to the study of communication

O Linguistic-philosophy, the study of relations between

linguistic expressions and what they refer to in the real world

and the truth value of linguistic expressions.

O Linguistic-psychology, the study of the workings of the mind

through language.

O Semantics, the study of meaning from linguistic point of view

O It deals with the meaning of words (lexical semantics).O And how meaning of sentences (compositional

semantics) is derived from words.

What is meaning?O get in groups O Find out about the theories of meaningO How many theories?O Define each theory

MeaningO To understand language

O the meaning of words and of the morphemes that compose them

O Words into phrases and sentencesO Context which determines the meaning

(Pragmatics)

O Aboutness of the languague.- what refers to something

O the meaning cannot be obserbedO It does not have any locationO No mind, objectsO no physical featuresO No resemble between sound and meaningO ArbitrarinessO Indirect realtion of wordsO Ideas vs words

Meaning OConceptual vs. associative meaning ODenotative vs. connotative meaningOconceptual/denotative= literal use of the

word.OAssociative/ connotative= different

associations with the conceptual meaningOE.g. needle= ‘thin, sharp, steel, instrument’ is

associated with ‘pain’, ‘blood’ or ‘illness’OOther examples: night- rose?

What is Semantics?OThe study of meaning of words, phrases,

and sentences.O Lexical semantics (words and meaning

relationship among words)O Phrasal/ sentential semantics (syntactic units

larger than a word)

OWhat a speaker conventionally means (objective or general meaning)- not what he is trying to say (subjective or local meaning)

How can we describe the meaning of different words?

O Three types of semantic analysis:

O Words as ‘containers’ Semantic featuresO ‘roles’ they fulfill Semantic rolesO ‘relationship’ with other words lexical relation

Semantic featuresO Syntactically correct sentences but semantically odd.

O The hamburger ate the man.O My cat studies linguistics.O The table listens to the radio

O This relates to the conceptual components of the words ‘hamburger, cat & table’ not human.

Semantic Features

O Semantic properties: The components of meaning of a word.

O Meaning as collection of properties/features typically with two possible values (+ / -)

O Example of componential analysis:

baby is [+ young], [+ human], [+animate]

Semantic Features

Identify the features (1)

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

The (a) and (b) words areThe (a) words areThe (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]

Semantic rolesOWords are described according to the roles

they fulfill with the situation described in a sentence.O The boy kicked the ball

O verb indicates actionO Boy performs the action= agentO Ball undergoes the action= theme

OThe NPs describe the role of entities (people or things) involved in the action, i.e. they have certain semantic (or thematic) roles.

Semantic RolesOAgent= the entity that performs the actionOTheme= the entity that undergoes the actionOExperiencer= one who perceives somethingO Instrument= an entity used to perform an actionOLocation= the place where the action happensOSource= the place from which an action

originatesOGoal= the place where the action is directed

Semantic rolesOJohn is writing with a pen

agent instrument

OMary saw a mosquito on the wall

experiencer themelocation

OThe children ran from the playground to the pool

agent source goalOThe boy opened the door with a keyOThe dog bit the stickOWith a stick, the man hit the dog.

Lexical relationsOWhat is the meaning of ‘big’?

O ‘Large’ or the opposite of ‘small’

OWhat is the meaning of ‘daffodil’?O A kind of flower

OAnalysis in terms of lexical relations- explain the meaning in terms of the relationship with other words

O SynonymyO AntonymyO HyponymyO PrototypeO Homophones and HomonymsO Polysemy

SynonymyO Synonymy: words that have the same meanings or

that are closely related in meaning

O E.g. answer/reply – almost/nearly – broad/wide – buy/purchase – freedom/ liberty

O ‘sameness’ is not ‘total sameness’- only one word would be appropriate in a sentence.O E.g. Sandy only had one answer correct on the

test. (but NOT reply)

O Synonyms differ in formalityO E.g buy/purchase – automobile/car

AntonymyOAntonymy: words that are opposites in meaning,

e.g. hot & cold. O TypesO Gradable= not absolute, question of degree

O Hot & cold – small & bigO Non-gradable:

O Dead & alive – asleep & awake

E.g. happy/sad married/singlepresent/absent fast/slow

Synonymy & Antonymy

Synonymy or Antonymy Flourish – thrive Intelligent – stupid Casual – informal deep-profound Drunk – sober Sofa – couch Hide – conceal cheap – expensive Rich - wealthy

a. synonymb. antonymc. synonymd. synonyme. antonymf. Synonymg. Synonymh. Antonymi. synonym

Hyponymy OHyponymy: Words whose meanings are

specific instances of a more general word, i.e. one thing is included (kind of) in another thing.O e.g. cats and dogs are hyponyms of the word

animal.O In this case cats and dogs are co-hyponyms

share the same ‘superordinate’OOther e.g. daffodil & flower / carrot &

vegetable / ant & insect

Hyponymy

PrototypesOCanary– dove– duck –flamingo –parrot-

robin ‘bird’OThe best example that belongs to a bird

is ‘robin’, but what about ‘ostrich’ and ‘penguin’?

OPrototype: Characteristic instanceOFurniture – chair is a better example

than bench or stool.OClothing – shirts more than shoes

Homophones and Homonyms

OHomonymy: A word which has two or more entirely distinct (unrelated) meanings, O e.g. bank: ‘financial institution’ ; ‘of a river’.O Bat: ‘flying creature’ or ‘used in sports’O Race: ‘contest of speed’ or ‘ethnic group’

OHomophony: Different words pronounced the same but spelled differently, O e.g. two, to and too.O Flour and flowerO Meat and meetO Right and write

PolysemyO Polysemy: A word which has multiple

meanings related by extension, O e.g. bright: ‘shining’ ; ‘intelligent’O ‘Head’ of the body and the person at the

top of a company.O ‘Foot’ of a body and of a mountain and of

the bed or chair.O ‘Run’ a person runs, the water runs

MetonymyOWhat do you think about these sentence?

O He drank the whole bottle. (container-content)O The White House announced. (king-crown)O I gave her a hand. (whole-part)

OA word substituted for another word with which it is closely associated e.g. bottle is used for water

OMetonymy is "a figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something." A short definition is "part for whole."

Collocation O Words tend to occur with other words.

O E.g. table/chairO Butter/breadO Salt/pepperO Hammer/ nail