Chapter 5 Meaning.doc

Chapter 5 MeaningI.Choose the best answer. (20%)1.The naming theory is advanced by _. A. Plato B. Bloomfield C. Geoffrey Leech D. Firth 2.“We shall know a word by the company it keeps.” This statement represents _. A. the conceptualist view B. contexutalism C. the naming theory D. behaviorism 3.Which of the following is NOT true? A. Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. B. Sense is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form. C. Sense is abstract and decontextualized. D. Sense is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are not interested in. 4.“Can I borrow your bike?”_ “You have a bike.” A. is synonymous with B. is inconsistent with C. entails D. presupposes 5._ is a way in which the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. A. Predication analysis B. Componential analysis C. Phonemic analysis D. Grammatical analysis 6.“Alive” and “dead” are _. A. gradable antonyms B. relational antonymsC. complementary antonyms D. None of the above 7._ deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience. A. Reference B. Concept C. Semantics D. Sense 8._ refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form. A. Polysemy B. Synonymy C. Homonymy D. Hyponymy 9.Words that are close in meaning are called _. A. homonyms B. polysemies C. hyponyms D. synonyms 10.The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by _. A. grammatical rules B. selectional restrictions C. semantic rules D. semantic featuresAnswers:1-10 ABDDB CACDAII.Decide whether the following statements are true or false. (10%)11.Dialectal synonyms can often be found in different regional dialects such as British English and American English but cannot be found within the variety itself, for example, within British English or American English. 12.Sense is concerned with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience, while the reference deals with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. 13.Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations. 14.In semantics, meaning of language is considered as the intrinsic and inherent relation to the physical world of experience. 15.Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. 16.Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer. 17.The meaning of a sentence is the sum total of the meanings of all its components. 18.Most languages have sets of lexical items similar in meaning but ranked differently according to their degree of formality. 19. “It is hot.” is a no-place predication because it contains no argument. 20. In grammatical analysis, the sentence is taken to be the basic unit, but in semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is predication, which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.Answers:11-20 FFTFT TFTTTIII.Fill in the blanks. (20%)21._ can be defined as the study of meaning. 22.The conceptualist view holds that there is no _ link between a linguistic form and what it refers to. 23._ means 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. 24.Words that are close in meaning are called _. 25.When two words are identical in sound, but different in spelling and meaning, they are called _. 26._ opposites are pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items. 27._ analysis is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be divided into meaning components. 28.Whether a sentence is semantically meaningful is governed by rules called _ restrictions, which are constraints on what lexical items can go with what others. 29.A(n) _ is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in a sentence. 30.According to the _theory of meaning, the words in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for.21-25 semantics,direct,reference,synonyms,homophones;22-25 relational, componential, selectional, argument,referential.IV.Explain the following terms, using examples. (20%)31. ReferenceIt is what a linguistic form refers to in the real world; it is a matter of the relationship between the form and the reality.32.Semantic triangleIt is suggested by Odgen and Richards, which says that the meaning of a word is not directly linked between a linguistic form and the object in the real world, but through the mediation of concept of the mind.33. Componential analysisIt defines the meaning of a lexical element in terms of semantic components, or semantic features. For example, the meaning of the word boy may be analyzed into three components: HUMAN, YOUNG and MALE. Similarly girl may be analyzed into HUMAN, YOUNG and FEMALE.34. Propositional logicprepositional logic 命题逻辑：Propositional logic，also known as propositional calculus 命题算法 or sentential calculus, is the study of the truth conditions for propositions; how the truth of a composite proposition is determined by the truth value of its constituent propositions and the connections between them35. Predicate logicpredicate logic 谓词逻辑：Predicate logic, also called predicate calculus, studies the internal structure of simple propositions. In this logical system, propositions like Socrates is a man will be analyzed into two pares: argument and predicate. An argument is a term which refers to some entity about which a statement is being made. And a predicate is a term which ascribes some property, or relation, to the entity, or entities, referred to. In the proposition Socrates is a man, therefore, Socrates is the argument and man is the predicate,V. Answer the following questions. (20%)35. What are the three kinds of antonymy? According to the semantic语义 relationship, antonyms can be loosely divided into three categories: 1) Complementary antonyms互补性反义Complementary antonyms are also called non-gradable antonyms. They are lexemes or expressions whose crucial semantic features are mutually exclusive. The positive of one suggests the negative of the other. male-female; married-single; alive-dead; 2) Gradable antonyms (可分等级的反义词) There are often intermediate form between the two members of a pair of antonyms . So it is a matter of degree. “old” and “young” 3) Relational antonyms（关系反义词）They are pairs of lexemes or expressions whose crucial semantic features display a reciprocal (相互的) relationship.36. Give examples to explain what is the relationship between sentence meaning and word meaning ? The meaning of sentence is supposed to be the combination of word meaning and sentencestructure. Sentences using the same words may mean quite differently in that the words arearranged in different Orders. For example a The man chased the dog. b The dog chased the man. Even when two sentences mean similarly as c and d there is still difference in thematicmeaning: c Ive already seen that film. d That film Ive already seen. With sentences like e we need not only know the linear order of a sentence but also thehierarchical structure: e The son of Pharaohs daughter is the daughter of Pharaohs son. The hierarchical structure may be analyzed as the following: The son of Pharaoh s daughter is the daughter of Pharaohs son Sentences also exhibit meaning properties and relations that words and phrases may lack.Communicative potential is one point in ease. A diagram for this may be as follows: f Declarative sentence: Used to constate assert state claim etc. g Imperative: Used to direct order request command etc. h Interrogative: Used to question.37. Explain 7 types of meaning recognized by G. Leech.(1) Conceptual meaning: logical, cognitive, or denotative content(2) Connotative meaning: what is communicated by virtue of what language refers to.(3) Social meaning: what is communicated of the social circumstances of language use.(4) Affective meaning: what is commun