语言学精品课semantics

1、Topic 6 Semantics Chapter 5 Semantics lDefinition lThe study of meaning. lWhat is meaning? 2. Some views concerning the study of meanings. l2.1. The naming theory. (Plato) l2.2. The conceptualist view l Thought/reference (concept) l lSymbol/form Referent 2.3. Contextualism lThe seal could not be fou

2、nd. The zoo keeper became worried. l The seal could not be found. The king became worried. l “black coffee” vs. “black hair” 2.4. Behaviorism (Bloomfield) lThe meaning of words is the situation in which the speaker utters and the response it calls forth in the hearer. l Jill Jack l S-r -s-R 3. Lexic

3、al meaning lSense: the inherent meaning of the linguistic forms, the collocation of all the features of linguistic forms; abstract and de-contextualized. Aspect of meaning found in the dictionary. lReference: what a linguistic form refers to in the real physical world; it deals with the relationship

4、 between the linguistic element and the non- linguistic world of experience. Reference with different sense lthe same reference but different sense li.e. morning star l evening star the same star in the sky but appears in different places in the morning and evening: the Venus. Reference with little

5、sense lCertain proper names appear to have only references. A name like Christ Jones may point out a certain person, its reference, but little linguistic meaning. But some names may have both sense and reference. i.e. Chinese names. Reference with little sense lCertain proper names appear to have on

6、ly references. A name like Christ Jones may point out a certain person, its reference, but little linguistic meaning. But some names may have both sense and reference. i.e. Chinese names. With sense but no reference lSome linguistic forms may have sense but no reference. l The king of France is bald

7、. l By the year 3,000, our descendents will have left earth. 4. Major sense relations l4.1. synonymy l dialectal synonyms l stylistic synonyms l synonyms with emotional and evaluative differences l collocational synonyms l semantically different synonyms l4.2. polysemy l4.3. homonymy Antonymy l Grad

8、able antonyms l Complementary antonyms l Relational antonyms Exercises l1.Distinguish what kinds of antonyms the following couples words are. l good-bad expensive-cheap parentoffspring hotcold legalillegal largersmaller l poorrich fastslow husbandwife asleepawake rude-polite pass fail Exercise l2. D

9、ecide whether the following are examples of polysemy or of homonymy. la. bark (of a dog vs. of a tree) lb. fork ( in a road vs. instrument of eating) lc. tail ( of a coat vs. of an animal) ld. steer ( to guide vs. young desexed bull) le. Youve tried the rest. Now try the best. l My aching limbs crie

10、d out for rest. lf. I cant see the reason for it. What did you see? lg. She chose a red and black dress. l The dancers all wore national dress. lh. Dont patronize me! 照顾 l I always patronize this place. 光顾 lKey: a-h, b-p, c-p, d-h, e-h, f-p, g-p, h-h Exercise lIn the following examples, mark whether

11、 what is intended is sense (S) or reference (R). la. Extinguish has the same meaning as put out. lb. When he said my ex, he meant Helen. lc. If you look out the window, youll see who I mean. ld. What do you mean, youve been seeing my sister? lsrrs 5. Sense relations between sentences l5.1. X is syno

12、nymous with Y. In this case we say Y paraphrases X. l The horse threw the rider. l The rider was thrown by the horse. l It is easy to play sonatas on this piano. l This piano is easy to play sonatas on. l On this piano it is easy to play sonatas . l Sonatas are easy to play on this piano. lBooth ass

13、assinated Lincoln. l It was Booth who assassinated Lincoln. l The person who assassinated Lincoln was Booth. l l The students gave money to the beggar. l The students gave the beggar money. l5.2. X is inconsistent with Y. l John is married. l John is a bachelor. l5.3. Entailment. l Cordy assassinate

14、d Marat. l Marat is dead. 5.4. Contradiction lThe truth of one sentence necessarily implies the falseness of another sentence, for example: l Elizabeth II is queen of England. l Elizabeth II is a man. l l Scott is a baby. l Scott is an adult. 6. Analysis of meaning l6.1. Componential analysisa way to analyze lexical meaning lA way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyze word meaning. The approach is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components called semantic features. lMan +Human +Adult +Male lWom