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SEMANTICS
1. Study of linguistic meanings
2. Explores the variety of meanings and meaning relationships that hold between words and sentences
3. Has 2 sub-domains: Lexical (words) and sentential (sentences)
SEMANTICS
denotations VS referents
Denotation: literal meaning of word/phrase
Referent: the actual entity (ies) that a word signifies.
Reference: the relationship that exists between a word and its referent(s).
a) The President of the United States
Man with
power over the
US
The President of the United
States
denotations VS referents
b) Capital of Canada
Administrative centre &
main seat of Canadian
government
Capital of Canada
denotations VS referents
c) The women who walked on the moon
Group of women who stepped foot
on the moon… and walked a few
steps
The women who walked on
the moon
denotations VS referents
d) My linguistic professor
Teacher that teaches the subject of linguistic
My linguisti
c professo
r
denotations VS referents
The eye of a needle
The foot of the bed
The hands of the clock
The arm of a chair
Describes non-living entities in terms of physical human features
metaphors we live by
The lecture is easy to digest
He just eats up the lecturer’s words
Chew on this thought for a while
Listen to this juicy piece of gossip
Describes knowledge in terms of food-related terminology
metaphors we live by
Your claims are indefensible
He shot down all my arguments
His criticisms were right on target
If you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you out
I demolished his argument
He attacked every weak point in my argument
Describes arguments in terms of war terminology
metaphors we live by
He unleashed his anger
Her anger was aroused
Your temper is ferocious
She was bristling with rage
Describes wrath in terms of animalistic features
metaphors we live by
Sentential semantics – Relations between sentences AKA Logical connections
1.Paraphrase2.Entailment3.Contradiction4.Presupposition
logical entailment
Definition of entailment: Proposition A entails Proposition B if the truth of A makes B
necessarily true.
i.e The truth of sentence A ensures the truth of sentence B.
Lecture example
A: I boiled an egg.
B: I cooked an egg.
logical entailment
“The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.”
1A 1B Explanation
1) Hilary and Dana are married to each other.
i) Hilary is a woman. Married =/= Woman Hilary could be a man.
ii) Dana is Hilary’s spouse.
Married = Spouses of one another.
iii) Hilary and Dana are husband and wife.
Married =/= Husband & wife Since there is gender ambiguity. Ans: Wife & wife.
iv) Dana is not single. Married = Dana is not single.
v) Hilary and Dana live together.
Married =/= living together. Could be married but living separately.
logical entailment
1A 1B Explanation
1) Hilary and Dana are married to each other.
i) Hilary is a woman. Married =/= Woman Hilary could be a man.
ii) Dana is Hilary’s spouse.
Married = Spouses of one another.
iii) Hilary and Dana are husband and wife.
Married =/= Husband & wife Since there is gender ambiguity. Ans: Wife & wife.
iv) Dana is not single. Married = Dana is not single.
v) Hilary and Dana live together.
Married =/= living together. Could be married but living separately.
“The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.”
logical entailment
2A 2B Explanation
2) Romeo kissed Juliet passionately.
i) Romeo kissed Juliet. Have to kiss before doing it passionately.
ii) Juliet kissed Romeo. R kissing J passionately =/= J kissed R. J could have not kissed R back.
iii) Romeo kissed Juliet many times.
Does not have to be many kisses for it to be done passionately.
iv) Juliet was kissed by Romeo.
R kissed J = J kissed by R
v) Romeo loves Juliet. Kissing passionately =/= in love. Reckless youth.
logical entailment“The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.”
2A 2B Explanation
2) Romeo kissed Juliet passionately.
i) Romeo kissed Juliet. Have to kiss before doing it passionately.
ii) Juliet kissed Romeo. R kissing J passionately =/= J kissed R. J could have not kissed R back.
iii) Romeo kissed Juliet many times.
Does not have to be many kisses for it to be done passionately.
iv) Juliet was kissed by Romeo.
R kissed J = J kissed by R
v) Romeo loves Juliet. Kissing passionately =/= in love. Reckless youth.
“The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.”
logical entailment
3A 3B Explanation
John shot Tom’s brother dead.
i) John is a murderer. John could have killed Tom’s bro in self-defense Not necessarily a murderer.
ii) Tom’s brother was a victim of a violent crime.
Assumes that Tom’s bro was a victim. It could be an accidental shot/killing.
iii) Tom’s brother is dead.
John shot Tom’s bro dead = Tom’s bro dead.
iv) John knew Tom’s brother.
You can shoot someone you do not know.
v) John hated Tom. Could have shot by accident, without any feelings of hatred.
logical entailment“The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.”
logical entailment
3A 3B Explanation
John shot Tom’s brother dead.
i) John is a murderer. John could have killed Tom’s bro in self-defense Not necessarily a murderer.
ii) Tom’s brother was a victim of a violent crime.
Assumes that Tom’s bro was a victim. It could be an accidental shot/killing.
iii) Tom’s brother is dead.
John shot Tom’s bro dead = Tom’s bro dead.
iv) John knew Tom’s brother.
You can shoot someone you do not know.
v) John hated Tom. Could have shot by accident, without any feelings of hatred.
“The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.”
Definition of Presupposition:
An implicit assumption about the world or background belief relating to a sentence whose truth is taken for granted, so to speak.
Presupposition
A. John regrets that Maria went to the graduation ceremony.
John believes that Maria went to the graduation ceremony.
presupposition (A)
Ans: John regrets that Maria went to the graduation ceremony. Regrets: Presupposition that Maria has
gone to the graduation ceremony already. Believes: Encapsulates a personal opinion.
B. The captain thought that the ship was in danger. The captain realized that the ship was in danger.
presupposition (A)
Ans: The captain realized that the ship was in danger.
Realized: Presupposition that the ship is already in danger.
Thought: Encapsulates a personal opinion.
C. It is significant that the criminal was sentenced.
It is likely that the criminal was sentenced.
presupposition (A)
Answer: It is significant that the criminal was sentenced.
Significant Presupposition that criminal is already sentenced
Likely encapsulates a personal opinion and criminal might not be sentenced yet.
Sylvia is dead Murderer is unknown There must be a Sylvia
presupposition (B)
A. Who killed Sylvia?
presupposition (B)
B. Where did you put the cheese?
Cheese has to exist in this world The cheese is not at its original position Someone/something is responsible for
misplacing the cheese
presupposition (B)
C. Why is there sadness in the world? There is must be an emotion called
sadness in the world A world has to be in existence
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