Chapter 5 Semantics

1、Chapter 5 Semantics5.1 What is semantics Semantics the study of language meaning. Meaning is central to the study of communication. 语义的研究工作最早可算是对古代典籍中词语的诠释和注疏，如古希腊对荷马史诗的注释，古印度对吠陀经文的注释。在中国，这样一门学科被称为训诂学。训诂学着眼于对古代书面语中各个词的研究，目的在于推求词源，注释古书，实际是词汇学的一个分支，但它对语义学中词义的研究提供了大量宝贵材料和研究方法。 语义学的研究对象是语言的意义，理应和语言的音系、形

2、态、和句法等研究一样，构成语言学范畴中一个相对独立的研究层面。但这在实际上至少有两个困难：一个是意义无所不在，涉及语言的许多方面，如我们说话的声调可以影响意义，词语形态和句子结构的变换也影响意义，同一个单词用在不同的语境中在意义上也往往会有差异，等等。另一个相关的问题是，语义研究一定会涉及到语言与思维的关系、语言与客观世界的关系，这给界定语义学的研究范围造成困难。事实上，除语言学外，哲学、逻辑学、心理学、人工智能和认知科学等学科也都把语义作为本学科的重要研究课题。值得注意得是，不同学科研究语义的目标和角度不同。例如：意义是语言哲学研究的中心议题，这是因为语言哲学家们认为，对语义的研究是我们认识

3、自己和客观世界的关键；心理学学者也对意义感兴趣，他们研究意义的心理表征形式，研究儿童如何在语言发展中习得意义等，目的是要了解人类心智的构造及其发展过程。语言学范畴中的语义学与语言学的研究总目标一致，在于认识语言本身的结构和功能。 语义研究最早并非起始于语言学，而是哲学，可以说没有语言哲学就没有语义学。语言学范畴内的语义学是个年轻的学科领域，十九世纪末到二十世纪初前期，语义学还谈不上是个学科，semantics 一词并不常见，偶尔出现在学术著作中，其含义多为词义的历史变迁。直到1923年，C. K. Ogden 和 I. A. Richards 发表了著名的 The meaning of mea

4、ning 一书，语言学范畴里的语义学才开始发展，逐渐形成一个学科领域。 语义学研究的是意义，语言学范畴中的语义学研究的是系统地编入自然语言词汇和语法里的意义。五十年代后期，著名语言学 N. Chomsky 推出了转换生成语法理论，其后该理论几经修正、充实、发展和提炼，充满活力。 N. Chomsky 的思想不仅极大地影响了语言学领域研究的格局，并且有力地推动了其他相关学科、特别是语言和心智关系的研究，为二十世纪后期认知语义学的长足发展创造了条件和气候。 从以上概述中可以看出语义研究的跨学科性质。首先应该注意得是，语义研究中不同学派的差异首先在于他们所持的语言观不同；其次，语言现象和语言形式极其

5、复杂，各个学派在描述和解释方面都有自己的强项，在攻克有重要价值的课题上都有自己的建树；第三，要重视各个学派之间的相辅相成，相互借鉴的关系。 语言学中的语义学的研究目标是词义和句义。 语言是个符号系统，正如交通信号、哑语手势。对各种符号体系所表达的意义的研究统称为符号学（semiotics）。语义学研究的是用语言符号体系表达的意义，是符号学的一个重要组成部分。5.2 Some views concerning the study of meaning What is meaning? Scholars under different scientific backgrounds have dif

6、ferent understandings of language meaning.5.2.1 Naming theory (Plato) Words are names or labels for things. Limitations: 1) Applicable to nouns only. 2) There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world, e.g. ghost, dragon, unicorn, phenix 3) There are nouns that do not refer t

7、o physical objects but abstract notions, e.g. joy, impulse, hatred5.2.2 The conceptualist view 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 linke

8、d through the mediation of concepts in the mind. Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle / triangle of significance (Page63) The symbol or form refers to the linguistic elements (words and phrases); The referent refers to the object in the world of experience; Thought or reference refers to concept. T

9、he symbol or a word signifies things by virtue of the concept associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker; and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word. 5.2.3 Contextualism Meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context elements clo

10、sely linked with language behavior. Two types of contexts are recognized: Situational context: spatiotemporal situation Linguistic context: the probability of a words co-occurrence or collocation. For example, “black” in black hair & black coffee, or black sheep differs in meaning; “The president of

11、 the United States” can mean either the president or presidency in different situation.5.2.4 Behaviorism (Bloomfield) Behaviorists 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 Jack S_r-s_

12、R5.2.5 Some other views concerning meaning in philosophy 很多语言哲学家把意义理论视作语言哲学的中心问题，不过习惯上把对意义的哲学研究称作 the theory of meaning, 意义理论，把对意义的语言学研究称作 semantics, 语义学。 1 意义的指称论：一个语词的意义就是这个语词所指的对象。 例如：张三 莫邪 2 意义的观念论（意向论）和联想论：一个语词的意义就是它所代表的观念或意向。观念论的一个变形时联想论。一个词有一个意义，这个意义就是说这个词、听到这个词想到的东西。 3 意义的途径论：一个词有指称也有意义，指称是语

13、词所代表的对象，意义是通达这一对象的途径。 4 行为主义的意义理论：意义不能用内在的意识、观念等等来说明，而必须用公共课观察的行为来说明，意义的同一和差别不在于头脑里观念的同一和差别，而是体现在行为中的同一和差别。 5 意义的可证实理论：一句话是否有意义在于这句话是否可以得到证实。 6 意义的使用论：无论语词还是语句，其功能都不在于指称外部的对象和事实，而是在于编织在生活场景中起作用。不要问意义，要问使用。 7 意义的成真条件论：给出一个语句的成真条件就给出了这个语句的意义。5.3 Lexical meaning5.3.1 Sense and reference Sense and refer

14、ence are both concerned with the study of word meaning. They are two related but different aspects of meaning. Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect

15、of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in. Reference what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience. Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in

16、 different situations; on the other hand, there are also occasions, when linguistic forms with the same reference might differ in sense, e.g. the morning star and the evening star, rising sun in the morning and the sunset at dusk. 5.3.2 Different types of meaningGrice (1969) 的四分法： Grice从语言使用的角度，曾经对语

17、言意义的性质和种类进行了分析，他把语言意义分为以下四种： 1 固定意义，就是词语和句子的字面意义。 2 应用固定意义，由于某一完整的话语类型可能有一种以上的固定意义，因此我们需要将其中一种固定意义与该话语联系起来。 3 情景意义， 该话语在某一特定情景中的意义。 4 说话者情景意义，与说话人本人意图有关的意义。Kittay (1987) 的两分法： 根据Grice对使用意义的分类，Kittay 还把句子的意义分为以下两种： 1 第一性意义（first-order meaning） 我们在听到或读到一个句子时对其中词语意义的第 一反应。e.g. The rock is becoming brit

18、tle with age. 2 第二性意义（second-order meaning） 话语特征和语境表明第一性意义不可取时我们所理解的意义。G. Leech(利奇) in a more moderate tone recognizes 7 types of meaning in his Semantics first published in 1974. 1 概念意义 (conceptual meaning): 关于逻辑，认知或外延内容的意义。联想意义(associative meaning)（2 - 6）： 2 内涵意义(connotative meaning)：通过语言所指事物来传递的意

19、义。 3 社会意义(social meaning)：关于语言运用的社会环境的意义。 4 情感意义(affective meaning)：关于讲话人/写文章人的感情和态度的意义。 5 反映意义(reflected meaning)：通过与同一个词语的另一个意义的联想来传递的意义。 6 搭配意义(collocative meaning)：通过经常与另一个词同时出现的词的联想来传递的意义。 7 主题意义(thematic meaning)：组织信息的方式（语序，强调手段）所传递的意义。5.3.2 Major sense relationsSynonymy Synonymy refers to the

20、 sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. 1) Dialectal synonyms synonyms used in different regional dialects, e.g. autumn - fall, biscuit - cracker, petrol gasoline 2) Stylistic synonyms synonyms differing in style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; sta

21、rt, begin, commence;3) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning, e.g.collaborator- accomplice4) Collocational synonyms, e.g. accuseof, chargewith, rebukefor; 5) Semantically different synonyms, e.g. amaze, astoundPolysemy Polysemy the same one word may have more than one meaning,

22、e.g. “table” may mean: A piece of furniture All the people seated at a table The food that is put on a table A thin flat piece of stone, metal wood, etc. Orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.Note: A polysemic word is the result of the evolution of the primary meaning of the word (the etymology

23、 of the word); while complete homonyms are often brought into being by coincidence. Homonymy Homonymy the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, e.g. different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both. Homophone when two words are identical in sound, e.g. rai

24、n-reign, night/knight, Homogragh when two words are identical in spelling, e.g. tear(n.)-tear(v.), lead(n.)-lead(v.), Complete homonym when two words are identical in both sound and spelling, e.g. ball, bank, watch, scale, fastHyponymy Hyponymy the sense relation between a more general, more inclusi

25、ve word and a more specific word. Superordinate: the word which is more general in meaning. Hyponyms: the word which is more specific in meaning. Co-hyponyms: hyponyms of the same superordinate.Notes1 Sometimes a superordinate may be a superordinate to itself. E.g. the word “animal”. From the other

26、point of view, the hyponyms point of view, “animal” is a hyponym of itself, and may be called auto-hyponym. (自我下义词)2 Hyponyms may also be missing. In contrast to Chinese, there is only one word in English for the different kinds of uncles: 伯伯，舅舅，叔叔，姑父，姨夫。The word rice is also in the different senses

27、 of 稻，谷，米，饭.Antonymy The term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning; words that are opposite in meaning are antonyms. In fact, oppositeness can be found on different dimensions and different kinds of antonyms have been recognized. 1 Gradable antonyms (等级反义词) 2 Complementary antonyms (互补反义词) 3

28、 Relational opposites (关系反义词)Gradable antonyms there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, Gradable antonyms can also be called polar antonyms (两级反义词), which have the following characteristics: 1 大部分为形容词，少数为动词。2 它们表达容易变化的特征，如长度，速度，重量，精确

29、程度等。3 如果与强调词连用，两词表达的程度增大，如 very heavy 和 very light 表达的程度要高于 fairly heavy 和 fairly light.4 两个反义词之间还有中间程度。 如：Its neither long nor short.Complementary antonyms the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, Relational opposites (关系反义词) exhibits th

30、e reversal of the relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-wife, father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent, employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, 汉语中的反义词连用现象特别有意思，值得研究。例如本来是一对意义相反的词，在构成一个复合词后，其矛盾的意义就被中和了。如：矛盾，天地，长短，大小，方圆，多少，冷暖，强弱，上下，左右等等。汉语的许多成语也充分运用处于各种反义关系的词语，使表达更为生动，工整，对仗。如：前

31、因后果，思前想后，七上八下，夫唱妇随，老夫少妻，顶天立地，男女老少等等。 另外，修辞中还有一种利用反义词的特殊词格，矛盾修饰，如：年轻的老教师，美丽的丑小鸭等。5.4 Sense relations between sentencesX is synonymous with Y X: He was a bachelor all his life. Y: He never got married all his life. X: The boy killed the cat. Y: The cat was killed by the boy. If X is true, Y is true; i

32、f X is false, Y is false.X is inconsistent with Y X: He is single. Y: He has a wife. X: This is my first visit to Beijing. Y: I have been to Beijing twice. If X is true, Y is false; if X is false, Y is true.X entails Y (X蕴含Y) X: John married a blond heiress. Y: John married a blond. X: Marry has bee

33、n to Beijing. Y: Marry has been to China. Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y, then the meaning of X is included in Y. If X is true, Y is necessarily true; if X is false, Y may be true or false.X presupposes Y (X预设Y) X: His bike needs repairing. Y: He has a bike. Paul has given up

34、smoking. Paul once smoked. If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is still true.X is a contradiction *My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor. *The orphans parents are pretty well-off.X is semantically anomalous (X语义破格) *The man is pregnant. *The table has bad intentions. *Sincerity sha

35、kes hands with the black apple.5.5 Analysis of meaningComponential analysis Componential analysis- a way to analyze lexical meaning. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. For example, Man: +HUMAN, +ADULT, +A

36、NIMATE, +MALE Woman: +HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE Boy: +HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE Girl: +HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE One advantage of componential analysis is that by specifying the semantic features of certain words, it will be possible to show how these words are related in meaning . Co

37、mponential analysis provides an insight into the meaning of words and a way to study the relationships between words that are related in meaning.结构主义用于词的意义的研究一般有两种方法，一是借鉴音位学中区分音素和语音区别性特征的方法，对词的意义构成也进行切分，试图找出一些普遍的语义成分，用于词义的分析，这种方法被称为语义成分分析。 有些语言学家认为，一个词的整体意义可以被分解为几个不同的元素或组成成分，对这些组成成分的分析就是所谓的语义成分分析，它的

38、特点之一就是尽可能使语义成分成为一种两分对立，如+MALE和+FEMALE, +ADULT和+NON-ADULT等等。语义成分分析的主要目的是希望找到一组数目有限的语义因子来分析人类语言的意义。语义成分分析的作用： 1 可以揭示词汇之间的对称关系。 如boy与girl；husband与wife；uncle与aunt之间实际上是MALE与FEMALE的对立，或者是+MALE与-MALE的区别。2 可以揭示词汇之间的上下义关系。 例如，man的义素包括+ADULT, +HUMAN, 和+MALE，他们都包含在bachelor 这个词中，因此man 是 bachelor 的上义词， bachelor

39、 是 man 的下义词。3 语义特征可以用来定义自然类别事物。 因此 HUMAN可以定义有关人类的名词， -ANIMATE 可以定义非动物名词。这对确定语义限制条件很有作用。4 可以解释部分句子之间的关系。 例如： a. The man is a bachelor. b. The bachelor is a man. c. The bachelor is a girl. 语义成分分析还可以解释 句子之间的蕴含、同义和矛盾关系等。Predication analysis 1)The meaning of a sentence is not to be worked out by adding u

40、p all the meanings of its component words, e.g “The dog bites the man” is semantically different from “The man bites the dog” though their components are exactly the same. 2)There are two aspects to sentence meaning: grammatical meaning and semantic meaning, e.g. *Green clouds are sleeping furiously. *Sincerity shook hands with the black apple. Whether a sentence is semantically meaningful is governed by rules called selectional restrictions. Predication analysis- a way to analyze sentence meaning (British G. Leech). Predication(述谓结构)-the abstra