predication.ppt

ComponentialAnalysis Componentialanalysisisawayproposedbythestructuralsemanticiststoanalyzewordmeaning Theapproachisbaseduponthebeliefthatthemeaningofawordcanbedissectedintomeaningcomponents calledsemanticfeatures Plusandminussignsareusedtoindicatewhetheracertainsemanticfeatureispresentorabsentinthemeaningofaword andthesefeaturesymbolsareusuallywrittenincapitalizedletters Man HUMAN ADULT MALE Woman HUMAN ADULT MALE Boy HUMAN ADULT MALE girl HUMAN ADULT MALE Otherwordsincorporating Young arechild cub litter calf sapling Otherswith Male areboar gander stamen testosterone tenor Andotherswith Human arecorpse asagainstcarcass tresses asagainstmane tell talk asagainstbray cackle trumpet Thisisparalleltothewayaphonemeisanalyzedintosmallercomponentscalleddistinctivefeatures b PLOSIVE BILABIAL VOICED P PLOSIVE BILABIAL VOICED f LABIODENTAL FRICATIVE VOICED v LABIODENTAL FRICATIVE VOICED Componentialanalysisprovidesaninsightintothemeaningofwordsandawaytostudytherelationshipsbetweenwordsthatarerelatedinmeaning Afeatureof belongingness distinguishestoreturn whenittakesanobject fromtotakeback WetookJuniorbacktothezoomightrefertolettinghimvisittheplaceagain butWereturnedJuniortothezoocallshimaninmate 3 Afeature enemy distinguishedU boatfromtheneutralsubmarineintheFirstWorldWar 4 Theverbstowarpandtobend tokneelandtogenuflectshowacontrastinwhichthefirstmemberofeachpairemphasizedtheretainingofaconditionoraposition somethingthatiswarpedstaysthatwaytillitisrepaired onewhokneelsstaysinthatpositiontillthepurposeofkneeling topray toreceivethecrown0isfulfilled Butbendingaspringcanbefollowedbyautomaticspringingback andgenuflectingnormallyincludesstraighteningupagain Somesuchfeatureas goal or completion isinvolvedinwarpandknee coax persuade andconvince Itisouroldfriend goal whichisclinchedwithconvince Iwasconvincinghimtogowouldnotbeusedexcepttoimplysuccess heeventuallydidgo Butwithpersuadeitdependsonthecontext Ipersuadedhimtogoimpliesthathewent butIwaspersuadinghimtogoleavessomedoubt WecannotsayIconvincedhimandconvincedhimbuthewouldn tdoit butIpersuadedhimandpersuadedhimbuthewouldn tdoitispossible Attheotherextreme coaxtellsusnothingaboutwhetherhewent eveninIcoaxedhimtogo Icoaxedhimtogobuthewouldn tisanormalsentence Inthesetfall topple collapse wehavewhatappearstobe unintentionality Lackinganyindicationtothecontrary wewouldassumethatJanefellmeantthatithappenedwithoutherintendingit Yetthisfeatureisnotpermanentlystucktofall thoughitistothetwootherverbs wecansayShefellonpurposebutnotShetoppledonpurpose Toppleiscompletelyunintentional fallisjustmostlyso Predications ArgumentsandPredicates Beforetheanalysisofsentencemeaningisdiscussed twopointsshouldbemadeclear First themeaningofasentenceisnotthesumtotalofthemeaningsofallitscomponents Itcannotbeworkedoutbyaddingupallthemeaningsofitsconstituentwords Second therearetwoaspectstosentencemeaning grammaticalmeaning whichmeansthegrammaticalityorgrammaticalwell formednessofasentence andsemanticmeaning whichisgovernedbyselectionalrestrictions GrammaticalityisgovernedbythegrammaticalrulesofthelanguagewhileSelectionalRestrictionsareconstraintsonthecombinationofwordstoensuresemanticwell formedness Somesentenceswhicharegrammaticallywell formedmaynotbesemanticallymeaningful Forexample Thebrownconceptjumpssympathetically Thepredicationanalysis proposedbyLeech isawaytoanalyzethemeaningofsentences Asentence composedofasubjectandpredicate isabasicunitforgrammaticalrelation Thebasicunitformeaninganalysisiscalledpredication whichistheabstractionofthemeaningofasentence Thegrammaticalformofthesentencedoesnotaffectthesemanticpredicationofthesentence thereforethefollowingformshavethesamepredicationHE JUMP Hejumps Heisjumping Hewilljump Hehasbeenjumping Didhejump ConsiderthethreesentencesThechildrenatetheirdinner Didthechildrenettheirdinner AndEatyourdinner children Leavingasidedifferencesoftenseandpronouns thesesentenceshaveacommoncontentwhichcanbeexpressedinakindofPidginEnglish Childreneatdinner Itisthistypeofstructurewhicharecalledpredication Apredicationconsistsofargument s andpredicate Anargumentisalogicalparticipantinapredication Itisgenerallyidenticalwiththenominalelement s inasentence Apredicateissomethingthatissaidaboutanargumentoritstatesthelogicalrelationlinkingtheargumentsinasentence Accordingtothenumberofargumentsinapredication predicationcanbedividedintoone placepredication two placepredicationandno placepredication Forexample Childrenlikesweets two placepredication CHILDREN SWEET LIKE Johnisill one placepredication JOHN BEILL Itishot no placepredication BEHOT Itishot isameteorologicalutterance Itisdifficulttoacceptthattheelementexpressedby it isanargument sinceithasnomeaningindependentofthepredicate it issopredictablethatonecannotconstructaquestionforwhich it isanappropriateanswer thereforeitisano placepredication Whatishot It Thepredicateisthemainelementinapredication foritincludestense modality etc determinesthenumberandnatureoftheargumentsandgovernsthearguments Componentialandpredicationanalysestogetherwillenableustorepresentthegreaterpartofthemeaningofsentences Couldbebrokendownintotwoarguments or logicalparticipants myuncle and thiscar witharelationalelementlinkingthem owns Thislinkingelementmaybecalled followinglogicalratherthangrammaticalterminology predicate Ratherassubject verb object adverb etc areconstituentsofsentences soargumentandpredicateareconstituentsofthepredicationsexpressedbysentences Argumentssometimesmatchsyntacticelementslikesubject verbandobject andsometimesdonot Onehastoavoidassociatingthe predicate inthissensewiththe predicate oftraditionalgrammar Atallwomanwasinfrontofthecar Assumingthatallpredicationscanbedividedupintoargumentsandpredicates wehavetoaskhowthecontentoftheseunitsthemselvescanbeanalyzed Theexampleswehavelookedatsuggestthattheseunitscanbeanalyzedcomponentially Forexample Atallwoman Tall Human Adult male singular Asimilaranalysis containingfeaturessuchas private motor and vehicle couldbesuppliedfor thecar Predicates too canbebrokendownintofeatures Thepredicate boiled inthesentenceAdamboiledanegg mightbeanalyzedintothreecomponents cook inwater and past Adamboiledanegg entails Adamcookedanegg Boil cook inwater past a Infrontofba InfrontofbButthisdoesnotgofarenough Theanalysisof infrontof failstoshowitsrelationtothelocativemeanings suchas over under by ontheleftof etc Forthispurpose threesemanticoppositionsareneeded DirectionsDirectionsdirectionalcontrastbetween infrontof and behind over and under etc Horizontal horizontal Horizontal vertical Lateral side to side Lateral front to back Theprepositionsover under infrontof behind etc maynowbedefined a over spatial direction horizontal b under spatial direction horizontal c infrontof spatial direction horizontal lateral d behind spatial direction horizontal lateral e ontheleft spatial direction horizontal lateral f ontheright spatial direction horizontal lateral g beside by spatial proximate horizontal lateral 1 Theshellexplodedbythewingoftheairplane 2 Placetheonecoinbytheother 3 Theredcarwasparkedbythegreenone In 1 bysimplymeans inspatialproximityto Here by couldinclude over or under 1 Theshellexplodedbythewingoftheairplane In 2 themostlikelysenseis neartoonahorizontalplane thatis excluding over and under 2 Placetheonecoinbytheother In 3 themeaningisevenmorespecific itis beside incontrastto infrontof or behind 3 Theredcarwasparkedbythegreenone 1 Theshellexplodedbythewingoftheairplane by 1 spatial proximate 2 Placetheonecoinbytheother by 2 spatial proximate horizontal 3 Theredcarwasparkedbythegreenone by 3 spatial proximate lateral horizontal Thisdiscussionofspatialrelationshasemphasizedthepointthatpredicates likearguments canbeanalyzedcomponentially Soargumentsandpredicatesarecomparableunits ontheonehandtheyaretheelementsofpredications andontheothertheyconsistoffeatures Predications Arguments predicates features Thepredicateisthemajorelementinthesensethatitdetermines inwaysthatwillshortlybemadeclear thenumberandnatureofthearguments Intheabovecase therelationalmeaningof infrontof requiresthepresenceoftwoargumentswhichcanbeplacedinaspatialrelationship withoutthem infrontof wouldnotmakesense Ishallthereforedistinguishthreegeneraltypesofpredicate two place one placeandno place Itisdoubtfulwhethertherearethree orfour placepredicationsbecausetheyusuallyturnouttobecombinationsoftwo placeandone placepredications Thus Johngavethedogabone canbyanalyzedasfollows 12 JohncausedX X Thedogreceivedabone Johngavethedogabone EntailmentandInconsistencyInpredicationanalysis hyponymyandincompatibilityaretreatedasrelationsbetweenargumentsandbetweenpredicates ratherthanbetweenword meanings Anentailmentrelationexistsbetweentwopropositionswhichdifferonlyinthatanargumentofoneishyponymoustoanargumentoftheother Forexample aisahyponymofbin 16 ab IsawaboyEntails Isawachild Thehyponymyrelationcanalsobebetweenpredicates 17 PQ Turpinstoleahorse Entails Turpintookahorse Thefollowinggeneralrulesforentailmentandinconsistencymaynowbestated XentailsYifXandYareidenticalexceptthat1 XcontainsanargumentaandYcontainsanargumentb and2 aisahyponymofbab Isawaboy Entails Isawachild or1 XcontainsanargumentaandYcontainsanargumentb and2 bisahyponymofaa Childrenareanuisance bentails Boysareanuisance or1 XcontainsapredicatePandYcontainsapredicateQ and2 PisahyponymofQ Turpinstoleahorse Entails Turpintookahorse P Q XisinconsistentwithYifXandYareidenticalexceptthat1 XcontainsapredicatePandYcontainsapredicateQ2 PisincompatiblewithQ Marydislikeswork Marylikeswork P Q Therulesofentailmentandinconsistencyapplycumulatively inthefollowingways A IfXentailsYandYentailsZ thenXentailsZ i e entailmentisatransitiverelation B IfXentailsYandYisinconsistentwithZ thenXisinconsistentwithZ ThesetwosupplementaryrulesmaybeillustratedbysupposingX Y andZtobethefollowing A X BoysrandownthestreetY BoyswentdownthestreetZ Childrenwentdownthestreet B X JohnwassingingdrunkenlyY JohnwassingingZ Johnwassilent