Sense Relation11: Syntagmatic Relations

syntagmatic relationsOutlineIntroductionSemantic normality and abnormality Selectional restrictioncollocationpresupposition

Syntagmatic relation is the relationship that linguistic units ( e.g. words , clauses ) have with other units because they may occur together in a sequence .So ,syntagmatic relations: are relations between words that go together in a syntactic structure. (Cruse , 2006: 163)Are sytagmatic relations important ? What for?Yes , because they lead to create sentences and utterances which are grammatically and semantically accepted. They affect putting meaning together.

Putting words together There are three possible effects of putting words together in a well formed construction ,ether the result is: normal as in John drink the juice . Or,There is a semantic clash as in John drank filing cabinet Pleonastic as in a female aunt (Cruse ,2003:256)

Selectional Restrictions Selectional restriction :According to the viewpoint of structural semantics ,it can be defined as the requirement for a normal combination. (Cruse ,2006:164)

Selectional Restriction Selection restrictions and projection rules were formalized by Katz and Fodor in 1936.Projection rules (semantic rules )have two purposes :They distinguish meaningful sentences from meaningless sentences.They assign to every meaningful sentences a formal specification of its meaning or meanings.

The assumption In English and in other natural languages , there are some grammatically well- formed , but semantically ill- formed , sentences .

selection Restrictions are the mechanism for handling semantic ill- formedness. These are associated with particular lexemes and are therefore listed in the lexicon . Tasks of selection restrictions They tell us , in effect , which pairs of lexemes can combine with one another meaningfully in various grammatical constriction .( John Lyons , 216) For example , the adjective buxom can modified nouns like girl', 'women , lass ,etc., but not boy ,man ,lad,etc.The verb sleep can take as its subject nouns such as boy, girl ,cat, etc. , but not idea , love ,etc.(lyons ,1977:216-217)

Tasks of selection restrictions If the selection restriction violated , the projection rules will fail to operate. Consequently they will fail to assign to the semantically ill-formed sentences a formal specification of its meaning , thereby marking sentences as meaningless and indicating in what way the sentence is semantically ill formed.2. Block certain interpretations as semantically anomalouse ,while allowing other interpretations of the same phrases and sentences as semantically acceptable.For example :House wife 1=a women who keeps house .House wife 2 = a pocket sewing kit .If you say good house wife the meaning will be ambiguous ,but ,if you say buxom house wife this means house wife 1 .

Semantically Combination Identify a selector which imposes semantic conditions (selectional restrictions). Identify a selectee which satisfies or does not satisfy the conditions .In adjective noun combination ,the adjective is the selectorA\an.womanIntelligent , tall, kind, pregnant ,lefthanded, all normally combined with women.A pregnant It requires a head noun which (a)denotes a mammal ,and (b)it is not specifically marked as not female.(like bull).So , in a modifier- head construction ,the modifier is the selector.In a head complement construction ,such as drink juice , the head is the selector, .i.e. the verb. Selectional RestrictionsSelectional Restrictions limit the semantic properties of arguments?My toothbrush loves raisins.?pain is red . Can pain be red? No The restriction of the predicate red to things satisfied by the predicate concrete is a selectional restriction.(Smith and et al,2007:208) The boy ate the sandwich ?The sandwich ate the boy

The kind of noun that can be the subject of the verb ate must denotes an entity the is capable of eating . The noun sandwich does not have the this property and the noun boy does. (Yule,2006:101)

Thematic Roles and Selectional RestrictionsSelectional restrictions: semantic constraint that a word (lexeme) imposes on the concepts that go with itAgent: volitional causer -- John hit Bill.Experiencer: experiencer of event Bill got a headache.Force: non-volitional causer The concrete block struck Bill on the head.Theme/patient: most affected participant John hit Bill.Instrument: instrument used -- John hit Bill with a batSource: origin of object of transfer event Bill fled from New York to TimbuktuGoal: destination of object -- Bill led from New York to Timbuktu

Sentence Relations and Truth Synonymous:Sentence A is synonymous with B means that A has the same meaning as Bmy brother is a bachelormy brother has never married

2- Entailment

Sentence A entails B means that if A then automatically BThe anarchist assassinated the emperorThe emperor is died

3-ContradictionSentence A contradicts B means that A is inconsistent with BMy brother Ahmed has just come from RomeMy brother Ahmed has never been to Rome

4-Presupposition

Sentence B presupposes A means that A is part of the assumed background against which A is said The Mayor of Erbil is a womenThere is a Mayor of Erbil 5-Tautology

Sentence A is a tautology means that A is automatically true by virtue of its own meaning, but informationally empty Ireland is Ireland

In Semantics, to understand logic and truth, we should recognize:Truth value -----whether a sentence is being true or falseTruth Condition ----the facts that would have to obtain in reality to make a sentence true or false

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