语言学第五章

Whatissemantics?

Approachestomeaning

SenseandreferenceWord/lexicalmeaning

Kindsofmeaning

MajorsenserelationsSentencemeaning

Semanticanalysis

ComponentialanalysisPredicationanalysis英文semantics来自希腊语semantikos，意思是siginificant(有意义)。是研究语言意义的科学。词的意义和句子意义.20世纪60年代以前，语言学家只注重研究词的意义，忽略了句子意义。研究语言单位的意义，尤其是词语和句子的意义

。

Whatissemantics?

Semantics--thestudyofthemeaningoflinguisticunits,wordsandsentencesinparticular.Meaningiscentraltothestudyofcommunication.Whatismeaning?--Scholarsunderdifferentscientificbackgroundshavedifferentunderstandingsoflanguagemeaning.

Philosophersaremainlyinterestedintherelationbetweenlinguisticexpressions,suchasthewordsofalanguage,andpersons,things,andeventsintheworldtowhichthesewordsrefer.Withinthedomainoflinguistics,semanticsismainlyconcernedwiththeanalysisofmeaningofwords,phrases,orsentencesandsometimeswiththemeaningofutterancesindiscourseorthemeaningofawholetext.Leech’sclassificationofmeanings

1.ConceptualmeaningLogical,cognitive,ordenotativecontentAssociativemeaning2.ConnotativemeaningWhatiscommunicatedbyvirtueofwhatlanguagereferto.3.SocialmeaningWhatiscommunicatedofthesocialcircumstancesoflanguageuse.4.AffectivemeaningWhatiscommunicatedofthefeelingsandattitudesofthespeaker/writer5.ReflectivemeaningWhatiscommunicatedthroughassociationwithanothersenseofthesameexpression6.CollocativemeaningWhatiscommunicatedthroughassociationwithwordswhichtendstooccurintheenvironmentofanotherword.7.ThematicmeaningWhatiscommunicatedbythewayinwhichthemessageisorganizedintermsoforderandemphasisConnotationsarerelativelyunstable.Theyvaryconsiderablyaccordingtosociety,historicalperiod,andtheexperienceoftheindividual.

e.g.capitalism

Theconnotativemeaningcanbethesame/differentindifferentlanguagesorcultures.

e.g.fox,machine

BUT:dragon,dog,elephant(WhiteElephant)ASK:Whatdoes‘whiteelephant’meaninEnglish?denotationand

connotation

Denotationisthepartofmeaningofawordorphrasethatrelatesittophenomenaintherealworldorinafictionalorpossibleworld

将词或片语同现实世界或虚构或可能世界里的现象联系起来的那部分意义

Connotationreferstotheadditionalmeaningsthatawordorphrasehasbeyonditscentralmeaning(denotation).Thesemeaningsshowpeople’semotionsandattitudes.

词与片语的基本意义之外的意义。表示人们对词或片语所指称的人或事物所怀有的情感或态度

2)Social/stylisticmeaning社会/文体意义

apieceoflanguageconveysabout

thesocialcircumstancesoflanguageuse.传达的关于语言使用的社会环境的意义Manywordshavesocialorstylisticfeaturesthatmakethemappropriateforcertaincontexts

steed(poetic)residence(formal)horse(general)abode(poetic)nag(slang)home(general)gee-gee(babylanguage)domicile(veryformal,official)3)Affectivemeaning

情感意义Affectivemeaningindicatesthespeaker’sfeelingsorattitudestowardsthepersonorthinginquestion.

关于说话人或作者感情，态度方面的意义famous/notorious,black/nigger,slender/skinny,determined/pigheaded,statesman/politician,confidence/complacency.

Itisobviousthatthefirstwordineachpairisappreciatorywhilethesecondisderogatory.

purrwordsorsnarlwords4)Reflectedmeaning反射意义whatiscommunicatedthroughassociationwithanothersenseofthesameexpression.通过联系同一表达式的其他意思所传达的意义themeaningwhicharisesincasesofmultipleconceptualmeaning,whenonesenseofawordissostrongthatitformspartofourresponse

toanothersense.Example:wordshavingataboomeaning,suchas‘gay’,5)Collocativemeaning搭配意义Itreferstotheassociationsawordacquiresonaccountofitsmutualexpectancywithsomeotherwordswhichtendtooccurinitsenvironment.

通过联想词语的常用搭配而传达的意义。prettyandhandsome

pretty{girl,woman,flower,etc.}handsome{boy,man,car,vessel,etc.}cowsmaywander,butmaynotstroll;onetrembleswithfear,butquiverwithexcitement.

Thematicmeaning

主题意义whatiscommunicatedbythewayinwhichthemessageisorganizedintermsoforderandemphasis.通过由顺序和重音组织信息的方式所传达的意义e.g.:(1)Heisfamiliartome.(2)I’mfamiliarwithhim.a.Amaniswaitinginthehall.b.There’samanwaitinginthehall.a.WhatIneedisaticket.b.AticketiswhatIneed.Majorsenserelation意义关系

Synonymy

同义关系

Synonymyreferstothesamenessorclosesimilarityofmeaning.Wordsthatarecloseinmeaningarecalledsynonyms.e.g.buyandpurchaseworldanduniversebrotherlyandfraternalNote:absoluteorcompletesynonymsarerare,forallthesynonymsdependoncontexttheyappear.(style<formal&informal)Dialectalsynonyms方言同义词

--synonymsusedindifferentregionaldialects,e.g.autumn-fall,biscuit-cracker,petrol–gasoline…Stylisticsynonyms文体同义词--synonymsdifferinginstyle,e.g.kid,child,offspring;start,begin,commence;…Synonymsthatdifferintheiremotiveorevaluativemeaning,在情感或评价意义方面存在差异的同义词e.g.collaborator-accomplice,…Collocationalsynonyms搭配同义词

e.g.accuse…of,charge…with,rebuke…for;…Semanticallydifferentsynonyms(inrangeandintensityinmeaning),e.g.want,wish,desire,…存在语义差异的同义词

Antonymy反义关系Gradableantonyms等级反义词--thereareoftenintermediateformsbetweenthetwomembersofapair,e.g.old-young,tall-short,…（程度之差）

a.gradability

pretty─good-looking─plain─ugly

衣服小合身衣服大

b.Foreachpair,thetermforahigherdegreeservesasacoverterm(unmarked)howold/tallishe?*howyoung/shortishe?

那条河有多长／宽／深？*那条河有多短／窄／浅？

Complementaryantonyms互补反义词--thedenialofonememberofthepairimpliestheassertionoftheother,e.g.boy-girl,single-married,…NotABandNotBA

e.g.male&female

alive&dead躺着起来错对converse

antonyms对立反义词relationalopposites关系反义词,对换关系exhibitsthereversaloftherelationshipbetweenthetwoitems,e.g.husband-wife,father-son,doctor-patient,buy-sell,let-rent,employer-employee,give-receive,above-below,…Thistypeofantonymyistypicallyseeninreciprocalsocialroles,kinshiprelations,temporalandspatialrelations.Homonymy同音异义现象,同形异义现象

Lexicalitemswhichhavethesamephonologicaland/orspellingform,butdifferinmeaningarecalledhomonymsHomograghs同形异音异义词--identicalinspellingbutdifferinsoundandmeaning,

e.g.tear(n.)-tear(v.),lead(n.)-lead(v.),…Homophones同音异义/形词--identicalinsoundbutdifferinsoundandmeaning,e.g.rain-reign,night/knight,…Full/Completehomonym完全同音异义词--whentwowordsareidenticalinbothsoundandspelling,e.g.ball,bank,watch,scale,fast,bat….Polysemy一词多义关系

referstothephenomenonthatthesamewordmayhaveasetofdifferentmeanings.指同一个词具有几个密切相关的意义e.g.face,hand,blanketHyponymy上下义关系

thesenserelationbetweenamoregeneral,moreinclusivewordandamorespecificword.Superordinate:thewordwhichismoregeneralinmeaning.Hyponyms:thewordwhichismorespecificinmeaning.Co-hyponyms:hyponymsofthesamesuperordinate.Superordinate:flowerHyponyms:rose,tulip,lily,chrysanthemum,peony,narcissus,…Superordinate:furnitureHyponyms:bed,table,desk,dresser,wardrobe,sofa,…

Sentencemeaning

Senserelationsbetweensentences

1.

XissynonymouswithY

(Synonymyorparaphrase)2.

XisinconsistentwithY

(Inconsistencyorcontradiction)3.

XentailsY

(Entailment)

4.

XpresupposesY

(Presupposition)5.Xisacontradiction6.XissemanticallyanomalousXissynonymouswithY

同义句关系

X:Hewasabachelorallhislife.Y:Henevergotmarriedallhislife.X:Theboykilledthecat.Y:Thecatwaskilledbytheboy.IfXistrue,Yistrue;ifXisfalse,Yisfalse.XisinconsistentwithY

对立句关系

X:Heissingle.Y:Hehasawife.X:ThisismyfirstvisittoBeijing.Y:IhavebeentoBeijingtwice.IfXistrue,Yisfalse;ifXisfalse,Yistrue.XentailsY语义蕴含X:Johntalkedtoamother.Y:Johnmarriedawoman.X:MarryhasbeentoBeijing.Y:MarryhasbeentoChina.Entailmentisarelationofinclusion.IfXentailsY,thenthemeaningofXisincludedinY.IfXistrue,Yisnecessarilytrue;ifYisfalse,Xisfalse.蕴含是以语句间的真值关系(truthrelations)为裁定条件。假如A句为真，那么B句必为真，我们就可以说A句蕴含B句。而假如B句为假，那么A句也肯定为假。A.Theanarchistassassinatedtheemperor.B.Theemperordied.XpresupposesY语义先设X:Hisbikeneedsrepairing.Y:Hehasabike.Paulhasgivenupsmoking.Pauloncesmoked.IfXistrue,Ymustbetrue;IfXisfalse,Yisstilltrue.不可否定性是界定先设与其他隐形语义差异的主要依据。Johnmanagedtoseehissharebeforethemarketcrashed.Johntriedtoseehissharebeforethemarketcrashed.Johndidn’tmanagedtosellhissharebeforethemarketcrashed.Xisacontradiction矛盾关系

*Myunmarriedsisterismarriedtoabachelor.*Theorphan’sparentsareprettywell-off.WhenAiscontradiction,itisinvariablyfalse.Xissemanticallyanomalous语义破格

*Themanispregnant.*Thetablehasbadintentions.*Sincerityshakeshandswiththeblackapple.WhenAissemanticallyanomalous,itisabsurdinthesensethatitpresupposesacontradiction.SemanticanalysisAnalysisofmeaningComponentialanalysisPredicationanalysis

Componentialanalysis成分分析法

--awaytoanalyzelexicalmeaning.Theapproachisbasedonthebeliefthatthemeaningofawordcanbedissectedintomeaningcomponents,calledsemanticfeatures.所有实词的意义都可以分解成一些“语义成分”，称作语义特征，语义标示（SemanticMarkers）、或义素（Sememes）

Forexample,[+/-MALE]:bull/cow,ram/ewe,stallion/mare[+/-ADULT]:duck/duckling,pig/piglet,dog/puppyMan:[+HUMAN,+ADULT,+ANIMATE,+MALE]Boy:[+HUMAN,-ADULT,+ANIMATE,+MALE]Woman:[+HUMAN,+ADULT,+ANIMATE,-MALE]Girl:[+HUMAN,-ADULT,+ANIMATE,-MALE]{man:woman}{boy:girl}{man:boy}{woman:girl}两词仅有一个义素之差，如果规定两个词语的义素之中除一个义素不同外其他义素均相同，该两词语即构成反义词，那么上述的对子便构成了四组反义词。思考：其他词语意义关系DisadvantagesofComponentialanalysisPolysemouswords(wordshavingmorethanonemeaning)willhavedifferentsetsofsemanticcomponents,suchasmaninManismortal.Somecomponentsareseenasbinarytaxonomies.E.g.Thedistinctionofboyandmanisdifferentfromthatofgirlandwoman.Therearesomewordswhosesemanticcomponentsaredifficulttoascertain.E.g.Human,Adult,Male,arecalledmetalanguage(alanguageusedfortalkingaboutanotherlanguage.Predicationanalysis述谓结构分析

(BritishG.Leech).1)

Themeaningofasentenceisnottobeworkedoutbyaddingupallthemeaningsofitscomponentwords,e.g“Thedogbitestheman”issemanticallydifferentfrom“Themanbitesthedog”thoughtheircomponentsareexactlythesame.2)

Therearetwoaspectstosentencemeaning:grammaticalmeaningandsem