英语语言学实用教程PPT课件

1、Review What are common means of cohesion in English? What do we mean by conversational repair?第1页/共77页Contents7.1 The notion of semantics7.2 Semantic properties7.3 Semantic relations7.4 Sense and reference第2页/共77页7.1 The notion of semanticsSemantics is the study of the meaning of language (and the c

2、ommunication of meaning through language).第3页/共77页The meaning of meanASK: What does mean mean in each of the following sentences?(1) What does tall mean? (2) A nod means agreement. (3) I know the place you mean.(4) Your presence would mean a lot to me.(5) I am sorry. I didnt mean to be late.(6) The

3、boy wasnt meant to be there. 第4页/共77页(1)What does tall mean? (signify)(2)A nod means agreement. (indicate)(3)I know the place you mean. (refer to)(4)Your presence would mean a lot to me. (matter)(5)I am sorry. I didnt mean to be late. (intend)(6)The boy wasnt meant to be there. (supposed to)More:(7)

4、He was meant to become a journalist rather than a lawyer. (destined)(8)He doesnt know the meaning of the word fear.(sense)(9)If thats the case, his sacrifice no longer hasany meaning. (significance)第5页/共77页Approaches to the study of meaningtraditional approachstructuralist approachfunctional approac

5、hpragmatic approachcognitive approach 第6页/共77页Traditional approach A. Naming/labeling vs. convention“moon”第7页/共77页 PP. 111-112 No. 10第8页/共77页Presentation Session The naming of people in English第9页/共77页Structuralist approachTreats meaning as semantic structures formed by semantic components/ semantic

6、 features - componential analysis (语义成分分析）. 第10页/共77页Componential analysisCA is a process that breaks down the meaning of a word into its minimal distinctive f e a t u re s o r p ro p e r t i e s ( s e m a n t i c c o m p o n e n t s / f e a t u re s ) u s i n g f e a t u re s y m b o l s (metalangu

7、age 元语言).woman-+HUMAN MALE +ADULT boy-+HUMAN +MALE ADULT girl- +HUMAN - MALE -ADULT第11页/共77页Functional approach Geoffrey Leech (1983), Semantics. Treats meaning with reference to its function in context, to show how linguistic, situational and social contexts affects the meaning of language.第12页/共77

8、页Seven types of meaning -conceptual meaning: logical, cognitive, denotative content -associative meanings: connotative meaning social/stylistic meaning affective meaning reflected meaning collocative meaning -thematic meaning第13页/共77页a. Conceptual meaning (概念意义)The conceptual or denotative meaning o

9、f a linguistic form is the person, object, abstract notion, event or state which the word or sentence denotes.e.g. school, hospital 第14页/共77页b. Connotative meaning Definition: it is the communicative value/subjective interpretation attached to its purely conceptual meaning. e.g.: The man is a fox. s

10、tatesman, politician 第15页/共77页Characteristics Connotations are relatively unstable. They vary considerably according to society, historical period, and the experience of the individual. The connotative meaning can be the same /different in different languages or cultures. e.g.: fox, machine BUT: dra

11、gon, dog, elephant (White Elephant)ASK: What does white elephant mean in English?第16页/共77页 A B CPositive connotation Neutral Negative connotation stout fat corpulent investigator detective spy decease die pegged out slim thin skinny strong-minded firm pig-headed public servant government employeebur

12、eaucratConnotation:第17页/共77页c. Social/stylistic meaningIt refers to what language conveys about the social circumstances of its use. It relates to peoples recognition of different dimensions and levels of style with the same language.（社会/文体意义）第18页/共77页steed (poetic) residence (formal)horse (general)

13、 abode (poetic) nag (slang) home (general)gee-gee (baby language) domicile (very formal, official) throw (general) tiny (colloquial)chuck (casual, slang) diminutive (very formal)cast (literal,biblical) wee (colloquial,dialectal)第19页/共77页d. Affective meaning It has to do with the personal feelings of

14、 the speaker, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about. Its often explicitly conveyed through conceptual or connotative content of the words used.（情感意义）第20页/共77页 “Youre a vicious tyrant and villain and I hate you!” I am terribly sorry to interrupt, but

15、 I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voices a little. Shut up! Keep your mouth shut!第21页/共77页e. Reflected meaning Reflected meaning: the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word is so strong that it forms part of our response to another sen

16、se. Example: words having a taboo meaning, such as gay, intercourse（反映意义）第22页/共77页f. Collocative meaning It refers to the associations a word acquires on account of its mutual expectancy with some other words which tend to occur in its environment. Example: pretty and handsome pretty girl, boy, woma

17、n, flower, etc. handsome boy, man, car, vessel, etc. cows may wander, but may not stroll. one trembles with fear, but quiver with excitement. （搭配意义）第23页/共77页g. Thematic Meaning It refers to what is communicated by the way in which a speaker or writer organizes the message, in terms of ordering, focu

18、s, and emphasis. e.g.: (1) He is familiar to me. (2) Im familiar with him.（主位意义）第24页/共77页 a. A man is waiting in the hall. b. Theres a man waiting in the hall. a. My brother owns the largest betting-shop in London. b. The largest betting-shop in London belongs to my brother. a. What I need is a tick

19、et. b. A ticket is what I need.第25页/共77页Pragmatic approach Treat meaning as what is communicated through language, taking into account the context, language user, communicative conventions and principles, etc.第26页/共77页Im in a bath.Son: The phone is ringingDad, the phone is ringing!ASK: What does the

20、 father mean?第27页/共77页Cognitive approach Meaning extensions of words seen as metaphorical or metonymic processes. To be detailed in next lecture第28页/共77页7.2 Semantic propertiesWords are seen as composed of universal semantic properties or features.P. 105DiscussPP. 107-108 No. 2第29页/共77页7.3 Semantic

21、relationsA. SynonymyB. AntonymyC. Hyponymy （上下义关系）D. Meronymy (部分-整体关系）第30页/共77页SynonymyAbsolute synonymy: same in meaning; grammatically/stylistically/ contextually substitutable Synonymy in a loose sense: buy-purchase fall-autumn wide-broad handsome-pretty reach-arrive at/in mature-ripe influence-

22、effect /affect 第31页/共77页Antonymya. gradable oppositesb. complementary oppositesc. relational opposites第32页/共77页a. Gradable oppositestall-short long-short old-young-allow of intermediate states-take -er/-est-one in unmarked use How tall/old is he? Hes three months old.-relative/fuzzy a big mouse, a s

23、mall elephant a big pearl/ball/house/mountain/country第33页/共77页Discuss PP. 109-110 No. 5第34页/共77页b. Complementary oppositesalive-dead male-female boy-girlpresent-absent true-falsehit-miss第35页/共77页c. Relational/converse oppositesbuy-sell lend-borrow parent-child teacher-studentabove-below before-after

24、 第36页/共77页Hyponymy （上下义关系） Hyponymy is a relation of inclusion. A hyponym or a specific word includes the meaning of a more general word e.g. dog and cat are hyponyms of animal第37页/共77页Superordinates, hyponyms, co-hyponymsLiving ThingsAnimalPlantCreatureInsectVegetableFlowerTreeHorseDogSnake（上义词）（下义

25、词）（同属下义词）第38页/共77页Meronymy （部分-整体关系）Meronymy is part-whole relationship between lexical items. e.g. a finger is a part of a hand, a hand is a part of an arm, an arm is a part of a body. Linguistics call the part-whole relation meronymy, from meros (part) + nym (name). Therefore, finger is a meronym

26、of hand, hand is a meronym of arm, arm is a meronym of body.第39页/共77页Discuss PP. 108-109 No. 3第40页/共77页Homonymy, homophony, homography and polysemyhomonymy （同形同音异义）: I drove to the bank this morning. homophony（同音异义）: flour-flower sweet-suite waist-waste meet-meatHomography（同形异音异义）: lead(铅）lead（引导） w

27、ind （风）wind (蜿蜒）Polysemy （多义性）: operation “（外科）手术”、“（机器） 操作”、“（商）经营”、“（复）军事演习、作战”、“（数）运算”打 电话/饭/字/人/火/听/灯/水/草/盹/颤, etc.第41页/共77页PracticeWhat is the semantic relation between the following pairs of words?(a) shallow/ deep (b) mature/ ripe (c) table/furniture (d) single/married (e) move/run (f) parent

28、/child(g) school-college (h) body-belly 第42页/共77页Semiotic triangle (Ogden and Richards 1923) Symbol/Word Referent/Object/ThingReference/Thought/Concept Stand forRefer toSymbolize第43页/共77页 Sense 意义: abstract conceptual property/content Reference 所指: concrete entity A word may have sense but no refere

29、nce, like but, to. ASK: Do we have other words that have sense but not reference?第44页/共77页 the man who married my sister the man who is my brother-in-law The Morning Star is the Evening Star The Morning Star is the Morning Star. Whats the difference?第45页/共77页Assignments P. 107 No. 1 P. 113 No. 1 P.

30、115 No. 8, 9第46页/共77页Lecture 8The meaning of English (II)第47页/共77页 What do “sense” and “reference” mean respectively? Use an example to illustrate.Review:第48页/共77页Major contents 8.1 Semantic categorization8.2 Semantic extension8.3 Sentence semantics8.4 Semantic roles 第49页/共77页8.1 Semantic categoriza

31、tionThe notion of “prototype”P. 133 No. 2第50页/共77页8.2 Semantic extension1. Metaphorfoot/脚：foot of the hill 山脚；the foot of the bed 床脚head/头：核弹头nuclear head；头条新闻；headline第51页/共77页Some metaphors Conceptual metaphors: win an argument; indefensible argumentsPP. 127-128 No. 2, 3 Orientational metaphors: P

32、. 128 No. 4第52页/共77页第53页/共77页 Metonymy （转喻） one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. e.g. Washington for the United States government; the sword for military power; olive branch for peace (Arafat: a gun in one hand and an olive branch in the other) I like to

33、 read Jack London. Hes going to meet his Waterloo.第54页/共77页Presentation Session Metonymy in English PP. 130-131 No. 8第55页/共77页Synecdoche (提喻） a part is used for the whole (as hand for labor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassi

34、n), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), the container for the contained (as bottle for wine), or the material for the thing from which it is made (as Cotton suits you). 一帆风顺；贪杯 I met a couple of new faces yesterday. representational metaphor what else?第56页/共77页 A. Radiation （辐射）

35、An important process by which words extend their meaning is called radiation. The primary or central meaning appears at the centre in the form of a hub and secondary meanings radiate out from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. Each of the secondary meanings is independent of all the rest, and ma

36、y be traced back to the central signification. Take power for example. Its central meaning is ability to act. It may refer to (1) control over ones subordinates; (2) delegated authority; (3) physical strength; (4) mechanical energy; (5) moral or intellectual force; (6) a person of influence; etc. 第5

37、7页/共77页B. Concatenation （串联） Another process, as opposed to radiation, is called concatenation. It means that a word moves gradually away from its original sense as a result of successive semantic changes until, in many cases, there is not a trace of connection between the sense that is finally deve

38、loped and the primary sense. For example, candidate originally meant a person dressed in white. Then, a white-robed seeker for the office, now an applicant for office, which is no longer related to the original idea.第58页/共77页8.3 Sentence semanticsJohn loves Mary. /Mary loves John.The meaning of a se

39、ntence is not the sum of the meanings of the words that make up the sentence. lexical meaning vs. grammatical/structural meaning第59页/共77页Meaning and truth of a sentence Truth conditions第60页/共77页Relations between sentencesA. Entailment (蕴涵）B. Presupposition （前提，预设）C. Inconsistency （矛盾）D. Synonymy （同义

40、）E. Implicature （隐含，含意）第61页/共77页A. Entailment (X) She saw a girl. (Y) She saw a child.(X) He is in love. (Y) He has a girlfriend.When we say X entails B, we mean:If X is true, Y must be true. (because “a girl” entails “a child”)If X is false (e.g. She saw a teacher/boy), Y may be true or false.If Y

41、is true, X may be true (e.g. a girl) and false (e.g. a boy).If Y is false (e.g. a teacher), X must be false.第62页/共77页 B. Presupposition(X) Jacks wife fell ill. (Y) Jack had a wife.(X) I lost 1 million pounds. (Y) I once had 1 million pounds.(X) I opened the door. (Y) The door was shut.When we say X

42、presupposes Y, we mean:If X is true, Y is also true.If X is to be true, Y must be true;If X is false (e.g. Jacks wife went to work), Y can still be true;If Y is false (i.e. Jack had no wife), X must be false.第63页/共77页C. Inconsistency(X) Jack is in town. (Y) He is away on business.(X) Tom is married

43、to Mary. (Y) He is a bachelor.(X) John passed the exam. (Y) He was failed by the teacher.When we say X is inconsistent with Y, we mean:Either X is true or Y is true.Either X is false or Y is false.X and Y cannot be true or false at the same time.第64页/共77页D. Synonymy(X) Jack is still single. (Y) He i

44、s a bachelor.(X) The boy killed the dog. (Y) The dog was killed by the boy.(X) Jack sits on the left of Tom. (Y) Tom sits on the right of Jack.When we say X is synonymous with Y, we mean:When X is true, Y must be true.When X is false, Y must be false. X and Y share the same truth conditions. (真值条件）第

45、65页/共77页E. ImplicatureX: I cut a finger when I was preparing the dish.Y: I cut one of my finger.X: Jack dated a woman last night.Y: Jack dated a woman who was neither his sister nor his mother. A: Are you coming to the lecture this afternoon?(X) B: Im not feeling well. Y: Im not going to the lecture

46、 this afternoon.What can we say about the relation between X and Y?第66页/共77页Meaningfulness and semantic ill-formednessA. Redundancy （冗余，羡余）B. Tautology (同义反复）C. Semantic anomaly （语义畸形）第67页/共77页A. RedundancyIt refers to the situation in which an utterance contains more information than is necessary for successful communication. e.g. She is a student.les jaunes tudientes la grande salleShe is a female student.He is a single bachelor.He repeated the sentence again.第68页/共77页B. TautologyIt refers to the situation where the information contained in an argument （题元）includes the