Chapter5Semantics

1、 Chapter 5: Meaning Definitions of Semantics Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning. (Dai & He, 2002, p. 67) Term coined by Bral (1897) for the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the analysis and description of the so- called ,literal? meaning of linguistic expressions.

2、 (Bussmann, 1996, p. 423) Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning: the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. (Wen, P. 210) Semantics is the study of meaning, or more specifically, the study of the meaning of linguistic units, words and sentences in particular. Semantics answers the question

3、 “ whatdoes this sentence mean” . In other words, it is the analysis of conventional meanings in words and sentences out of context. Then what is meaning? Many philosophers, psychologists,and sociologistsall claim a deep interest in the study of meaning. The philosophers are interested in understand

4、ing the relations between linguistic expressions and what they refer to in the real world, and evaluating the truth value of linguistic expressions. The psychologists focus their interest on understanding the workings of the human mind through language. Now we will study the meanings of meaning from

5、 a linguistic point of view. 5.1 Meanings of ,Meaning? Scholars like Ferdinand de Saussure have stressed that the study of linguistic meaning is part of the general study of the use of sign systems, and this general study is called semiotics. Semioticians investigate the types of relationship that m

6、ay hold between a sign and the object it represents, or in de Saussure?s terminology, between a signifier (the form which the sign takes) and its signified (the concept it represent). One basic distinction, due to C. S. Peirce, is between icon 图标 , index 标记 and symbol 符号 . Icon - An icon is where th

7、ere is a similarity between a sign and what it represents, i.e. between a portrait and its real-life object or a diagram of an engine and the real engine. An index is where the sign is closely associated with its signified, often in a causal relationship; thus smoke is an index of fire. The majority

8、 of traffic signs are Index signs as they represent information which relates to a location (eg, a slippery road surface sign placed on a road which is prone to flooding) A symbol has no logical meaning between it and the object. T here is only a conventional link between the sign and its signified,

9、 as in the use of insignia ( 徽章 ) to denote military ranks, or perhaps the way that mourning is symbolized by the wearing of black clothes in some cultures, and white clothes in others. Flags are also good examples of symbols which represent countries or organisations. Question: Which kind are words

10、? 1. The naming theory Greek scholar Plato The linguistic form or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things. Reference (referential theory): The theory of meaning which relates the meaning of a

11、word to the thing it refers to, or stand for, is known as the referential theory. Reference is the relation by which a word picks out or identifies an entity in the world. Words are but symbols, many of which have meaning only when they have acquired reference. Reference is the relationship between

12、language and the world. “ By means of reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world (including persons) are being talked about.” (Hurford and Heasley 1983:25) Only when a connection has been established between the linguistic sign and a referent, i.e. an object, a phenomenon, a person, et

13、c. does the sign become meaningful. Problems: 1) Some words are meaningful, but they identify no entities in the real world, such as the words dragon, phoenix, unicorn,mermaid, ghost, and, or, hard, slowly, think, etc. 2) It is not possible for some words to find referents in the world, such as the

14、words but, and, of, however, the,etc. 3) Speakers of English understand the meaning of a round triangle although there is no such graph. 2. The conceptualist view This view relates words and things through the mediation of concepts of the mind. When we explain the meaning of desk by pointing to the

15、thing it refers to, we do not mean a desk must be of the particular size, color and material as the desk we are pointing to. There is something behind the concrete thing we can see. This is abstract, which has no existence in the material world and can only be sensed in our minds. It holds that ther

16、e is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. This is best illustrated by the semantic triangle or triangle of significance suggested by Ogden and Richards in The Meaning of

17、 Meaning (1923). They argue that the relation between a word and mediated by concept. In a diagram form, the relation is a thing it refers to is not direct. It is represented as follows: Semantic triangle concept (meaning) symbol/word referent/thing (sound and spelling) Concept, which is beyond lang

18、uage, is the result of human cognition, reflecting the objective world in the human mind. It is universal to all men alike regardless of culture, race, language and so on whereas meaning belongs to language, so is restricted to language use. A concept can have as many referring expressions as there

19、are languages in the world. Even in the same language, the same concept can be expressed in different words. Eg. Much , many the same concept Collocation: different Much time, much money, much water Many people, many books, many buildings Synonymous pairs are good examples. Sense (concept): Senseref

20、ers to the properties an entity has. In this sense, it is equivalent to “ concept ” Sense is the relation by which words stand in human mind. It is mental representation, the association with something in the speaker?s or hearer?s mind. The difference between sense and reference: 1) Sense refers to

21、the abstract properties of an entity, while reference refers to the concrete entities having these properties. 5) To some extent, we can say that every word has a sense, but not every word has a reference. Thus it is reasonable for us to suggest that we should study meaning in terms of sense rather

22、than reference. For example: desk 5) by using an object or picture 6) a piece of furniture with a flat top and four legs, at which one reads and writes 7) a kind of table, which has drawers 8) 书桌 The first method is the referential theory by directly pointing to the thing it refers to, while the las

23、t three methods are indirect by resorting to the concept of desk. 3. Contextualism Representatively proposed by the British linguist J. R. Firth who had been influenced by the Polish anthropologist Malinowski and the German philosopher Wittgenstein. This tendency attempts to base meaning on context.

24、 It holds that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context elements closely linked with language behavior. the meaning of a word is its use in the language. J. R. Firth “ We shall know a word by the company it keeps. ” This view is based on the presumption that one can derive meani

25、ng from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are recognized: the situational context and the linguistic context. The specific meaning of a word is determined by different factors in the two situations. Examples: “ Black Air ” and “ black coffee(linguistic” context) The seal

26、 could not be found. (situational context) ? X: Behaviorism Bloomfield: Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “ situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls froth in the hearer. ” Jill Jack S _ r s _ R Bloomfield argued that meaning consists in

27、the relation between speech indicated by the small letter r . s and the practical events represented by the capitalized letters S andthatR precede and follow them respectively. 5.2 Types of Meaning G. Leech recognizes 7 types of meaning in his Semantics (1974): X: conceptual meaning also denotative

28、in that it is concerned with the relationship between a word and the thing it denotes, or refers to. Associative meaning X connotative some additional, especially emotive, meaning (philosophy the properties of the entity a word denotes, eg. human) X social the social circumstances of language use X

29、affective feelings and attitudes reflected through association with another sense of the same expression 6) collocative through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word thematic by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order and emphasis According

30、 to Leech, the conceptual meaning is the most important. 5.3 Sense Relations Sense the semantic relations between one linguistic unit and another. The sense of a word can by seen as the network of its sense relations with others. It denotes the relationship inside the language (intra-linguistic rela

31、tions), which is different from the reference which concerns with the relation between a word and the thing it refers to. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of sense relations, namely, sameness relation, oppositeness relation and inclusiveness relation. 5.3.1 Synonymy: sameness relation Engli

32、sh is rich in synonyms due to its heavy borrowings from Latin. 1) Total synonymy is rare (absolute synonyms). They are words which are identical in meaning in all its aspects, I.e. both in grammatical and lexical meanings. They are interchangeable in every way. E.g. scarlet-fever / scarlatina compos

33、ition / compounding Relative synonyms: similar in denotation, but embrace different shads of meaning or different degrees of a given quality. Almost all synonyms are context-dependent. For example: Dialectal synonyms lift/elevator, flat/apartment; pavement/sidewalk Synonyms of different styles gentl

34、eman/guy; buy/purchase Synonyms differ in connotation I m thrifty. You are economical. And he is stingy. Synonyms differing in affective meaning attract/seduce Synonyms differ in collocation beautiful/handsome; many/much 5.3.2 Antonymy: oppositeness relation Gradable antonymy (contrary antonymy) pai

35、rs of words opposite to each other, but the denial of one is not necessarily the assertion of the other. There are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, For example, the words hot and cold are a pair of antonyms, but not hot does not necess

36、arily mean cold, maybe warm, mild or cool. Features: A. gradable the members of a pair differ in terms of degree. So something which is not “ good” is not necessarily “ bad” . It may be only “ average ”. i. They can be modified by “ very ” ii. They may have comparative and superlative degrees B. gra

37、ded against different norms (in comparison) There is no absolute criterion by which we may say something is “ good” or “ bad” The criterion varies with the object described. C. marked and unmarked terms respectively The cover term is more often used. e.g. How old are you? Complementary (contradictor

38、y) antonymy They divide up the whole of a semantic field completely. The assertion of one is the denial of the other, and the denial of one is the assertion of the other Examples are alive/dead; male/female; present/absent; innocent/guilty; odd/even; pass/fail; hit/miss They are mutually exclusive a

39、nd admit no possibility between them. That is, if one of the pair is true, the other cannot be. Features: A. They cannot be modified by “ very? and have no comparative or superlativeeesdegr. He is more dead than alive. (not comparative) John is more mad than stupid. John is more brave than wise. Thi

40、s difference between the gradable and the complementary can be compared to the traditional logical distinction between the contrary and the contradictory. (cf. p111) B. the norm is absolute the same norm is used for all the things it is applicable to. e.g. male female (the norm is the same with huma

41、n beings and animals) C. No cover term exception: true/false (p. 112) 3) Converse (relational) antonymy words that denote the same relation or process from one or the other direction (They show the reversal of a relationship between two entities.): buy/sell; lend/borrow; give/receive; parent/child;

42、husband/wife; host/guest; employer/employee; teacher/student; above/below; before/after; push/pull, up/down, etc. It is a reciprocal social relationship that one of them cannot be used without suggesting the other. It is the same relationship seen from different angles. Main feature: One presupposes

43、 the other. If there is a buyer, there must also be a seller. A parent must have a child. Without a child, one cannot be a parent. Problems: He is a child. (somebody under 18 - adult) He is a teacher. (profession) Note: The comparative degrees like bigger : smaller, longer : shorter, better: worse,

44、older: younger also belong here, since they involve a relation between two entities. 5.3.3 Hyponymy: inclusiveness relation Hyponymy is a matter of class membership. A. superordinate: the class name B. hyponyms / co-hyponyms: members flower rose violet tulip peony jasmine auto-hyponym: a hyponym is

45、a hyponym of itself (a superordinate is a superordinate to itself). animal Bird fish insect animal human animal tiger elephant lion This kind of vertical semantic relation links words in a hierarchical work. A superordinate may be missing sometimes. For example, in English, there is no superordinate

46、 for the color terms and the words like beard, moustache, and whiskers. Hyponyms may also be missing. Please cf p. 114. Polysemy: one word has two or more than two related meanings. Face the front of the head; the expression of the countenance; a surface of a thing; the side or surface that is marke

47、d, as of a clock, playing card, domino, etc. the appearance; outward aspect; CH idiom dignity; prestige; self-respect g. the topography (of an area); etc. Homonymy: different in meaning but either identical both in sound and spelling or identical only in sound or spelling. Rhetorically, homonyms are

48、 often used as puns. There are three kinds of homonyms: A. perfect/full homonyms: words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in meaning, eg., bear (n., a kind of animal), bear (v., to give birth to a baby/to stand) bank the edge of the river, lake, bank an establishment for money busi

49、ness B. homographs: words identical only in spelling but different in sound and meaning, eg., tear (n.), tear (v.) bow bending the head as a greeting bow the device used for shooting arrows C. homophones: words identical only in sound but different in spelling and meaning dear a loved person deer a

50、kind of animal see to look at sea the ocean right correct write to put down on paper with a pen rite a ceremonial procedure 5.4 Componential Analysis 5.4.1 Word meaning Componential analysis is the approach that analyze word meaning by decomposing it into its atomic features. It shows the semantic f

51、eatures of a word. The meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features (semantic components). There are semantic units smaller than the meaning of a word. This is parallel to the way a phoneme is analyzed into smaller components called distinctive features. E.g.

52、man = HUMAN ADULT MALE woman = HUMAN ADULT FEMALE boy = HUMAN YOUNG MALE girl = HUMAN YOUNG FEMALE Some semantic features such as YOUNG and ADULT can be combined as ADULT, with YOUNG represented as ADULT. father = PARENT (x, y) & MALE (x) mother = PARENT (x, y) & MALE (x) son = CHILD (x, y)

53、& MALE (x) daughter = CHILD (x, y) & MALE (x) Other examples on P. 115. The advantage the semantic features of certain words will make it possible to show how these words are related in meaning (sense relations). a. Words which have the same semantic features are synonyms. Eg., bachelor = HU

54、MAN ADULT MALE UNMARRIED unmarried man = HUMAN ADULT MALE UNMARRIED b. Words which have the contrasting component are antonyms. ( man & woman) c. Words which have all the semantic components of another are hyponyms of the latter. 5.4.2 Sense relations within and between sentences A. X is a contr

55、adiction When X is a contradiction, it is invariably false, e.g. My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor. John killed Bill but Bill didn t die. B. X entails Y (Entailment 蕴涵 ) Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y, the meaning of X is included in Y. For example: i. X. John kille

56、d Bill. Y. Bill died. ii. X. I saw a boy. Y. I saw a child. X entails Y. For example: John married a blond heiress. John married a blond. He has been to France. He has been to Europe. The meeting was chaired by a spinster. The meeting was chaired by a woman. The truth condition of entailment are: If

57、 X is true, Y is necessarily true; If Y is false, X is false. The truth of the second sentence necessarily follows from the truth of the first sentence, while the falsity of the first follows from the falsity of the second. C. X is synonymous with Y e.g. X: He was a bachelor all his life. He never m

58、arried all his life. D. X is inconsistent with Y. e.g. X: John is married. Y: John is a bachelor. If X is true, Y is false; and if X is false, Y is true. E. X presupposes Y. (Y is a prerequisite of X.) X 预设 Y. John?s bike needs repairing. John has a bike. The queen of England is old. England has a q

59、ueen. X: Sam has returned the book. Sam borrowed the book. If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is still true; These semantic relations are found within or between meaningful sentences. There are sentences which sound grammatical but meaningless. These sentences are said to be semantically

60、 anomalous. For example: Colourless green ideas sleep furiously. The pregnant bachelor killed some phonemes. 5.4.3 Problems A. Many words are polysemous, consequently, they will have different sets of semantic components, e.g., man. B. Some semantic components are seen as binary taxonomies. e.g. MALE/FEMALE (absolute) AD