chapter5 语言学

1、Chapter 5 Semantics5.1 Semantics-the study of language meaning.Meaning is central to the study of communication.What is meaning?Scholars under different scientific backgrounds have different understandings of language meaning.5.2 Some ViewsConcerning the Study of MeaningNaming Theory (PlatoThe Conce

2、ptualist viewContextualism (BloomfieldBehaviorismNaming Theory (PlatoWords are names or labels for things.Limitations:1 Applicable to nouns only.2 There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world, e.g. ghost, dragon, unicorn, phoenix3 There are nouns that do not refer to physi

3、cal objects but abstract notions, e.g. joy, impulse, hatred,idea, limitationThe Conceptualist ViewThe conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e. between language and the real world; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are lin

4、ked through the mediation(调节 of concepts in the mind.Ogden and Richards: Semantic TriangleOgden and Richards: Semantic TriangleThe symbol or form refers to the linguistic elements (words and phrases;The referent refers to the object in the world of experience;Thought or reference refers to concept.T

5、he symbol or a word signifies things by virtue of the concept associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker; and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word.The ContextualismMeaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, contextelements closely

6、linked with language behavior.Two types of contexts are recognized:Situational context: spatiotemporal situationLinguistic context: the probability of a words co-occurrence or collocation.For example, “black” in black hair & black coffee, or black sheep differs in meaning; “The president of the

7、United States” can mean either the president or presidency in different situation.他把自行车修好了。BehaviorismBehaviorists attempted to define meaning as “the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer”.The story of Jack and Jill:Jill JackS_r-s_R5.3 Lexical meanin

8、gSense and reference are both concerned with the study of word meaning. They are two related but different aspects of meaning.Sense- is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. I

9、t is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in. (是什么the Riddle of Sphinx(司芬克斯之谜:What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?To this Oedipus (俄狄浦斯replies, "Man" (who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks uprigh

10、t later, and needs a walking stick in old age, and the distraught Sphinx throws herself off the cliffside.柏拉图说:“人”是没有羽毛的两脚直立的动物,拔了毛的鸡除外。生物学:人是能够用两后肢直立行走,能够制造并使用工具进行劳动,并能够使用语言进行交际的高级动物。Reference-what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the l

11、inguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.(什么是Note:Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations; on the other hand, there are also occasions, whenlinguistic forms with the same reference might differ in sense,e.g.Monkey Kingthe morni

12、ng star and the evening star, rising sun in the morning and the sunset at dusk.5.4 Major sense relations1. Synonymy2. Antonymy3. Polysemy4. Homonymy5. Hyponymy1. SynonymySynonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms.1 Dialectal sy

13、nonyms- synonyms used in different regional dialects, e.g. autumn - fall, biscuit - cracker, petrol gasolin e2 Stylistic synonyms-synonyms differing in style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin, commence;3 Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning,e.g.collaborator- accomplice

14、,4 Collocational synonyms(搭配同义词, e.g. accuseof, chargewith, rebukefor; 5 Semantically different synonyms, e.g. amaze, astound,2. Antonymya. Gradableb. Complementaryc. Relational opposites-exhibits the reversal of the relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-wife, father-son, doctor-patient,

15、buy-sell, let-rent, employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, a. Gradable antonymsGradable antonyms -there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, b. Complementary antonymsComplementary antonyms -the denial of one member of the pair i

16、mplies the assertion of the other,e.g. alive-dead, male-female, c. Relational OppositesRelational opposites-exhibits the reversal of the relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-wife, father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent,employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, 3. PolysemyPoly

17、semy-the same one word may have more than one meaning, e.g. “table” may mean:A piece of furnitureAll the people seated at a tableThe food that is put on a tableA thin flat piece of stone, metal wood金属胶合板, etc.Orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.( primary meaning acquired new meanings tableNot

18、e:A polysemic(多义的word is the result of the evolution of the primary meaning of the word (the etymology词源学of the word; while complete homonyms are often brought into being by coincidence (偶然.4. Homonymy(同形异义;同音异义,同形同音Homonymy- the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, th

19、at is, different words are identical in sound or spelling, or both.Homophone (同音异义- when two words are identical in sound, e.g. rain-reign, night/knight, Homogragh (同形异义- when two words are identical in spelling, e.g. tear(n.-tear(v., lead(n.-lead(v., Complete homonym- when two words are identical b

20、oth in sound and spelling, e.g. ball舞会/球体, bank, watch, scale规模/攀登, fast迅速的/斋戒, 5. Hyponymy(上下义关系,上下位关系Hyponymy-the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.Superordinate (上级词: the word which is more general in meaning.Hyponyms(下级词: the word which is more s

21、pecific in meaning.Co-hyponyms(并列下义词: hyponyms of the same superordinate.Superordinate(上级词: flowerHyponyms: rose, tu lip, lily, chrysanthemum, peony, narcissus, Superordinate: furnitureHyponyms: bed, table, desk, dresser, wardrobe, sofa, 5.4 Sense relations between sentences(1 X is synonymous with Y

22、(同义的(2 X is inconsistent with Y(互相矛盾的(3 X entails Y (继承的(推导出(4 X presupposes Y(以.为前提的(5 X is a contradiction (自相矛盾的(6 X is semantically anomalous(语义不当的1. X is synonymous with YX: He was a bachelor all his life.Y: He never got married all his life.X: The boy killed the cat.Y: The cat was killed by th

23、e boy.If X is true, Y is true; if X is false, Y is false.2. X is inconsistent with YX: He is single.Y: He has a wife.X: This is my first visit to Beijing.Y: I have been to Beijing twice.If X is true, Y is false; if X is false, Y is true.3. X entails YX: John married a blond heiress(女继承人.Y: John marr

24、ied a blond(金发碧眼的人.X: Marry has been to Beijing.Y: Marry has been to China.Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y, then the meaning of X is included in Y.If X is true, Y is necessarily true; if X is false, Y may be true or false. 4. X presupposes Y X: His bike needs repairing. Y: He h

25、as a bike. Paul has given up smoking. Paul once smoked. If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is still true. 阿瓜和女友闹分手 阿瓜有女友 阿瓜和女友闹分手，阿瓜问女友： 说咱们的关系还有的救吗？ 阿瓜和女友闹分手，阿瓜问女友：ni 说咱们的关系还有的救吗？女友 答复：就是电话上的一个键！阿瓜：是重拨码？女友： 是免提！ 答复：就是电话上的一个键！阿瓜：是重拨码？女友：不，是免提！ 5. X is a contradiction *My unmarried sister

26、 married to a bachelor. *The orphans parents are pretty well-off. 对不起！wo 已经死了！不过谢谢 ni 来看 wo！今天晚上 12 点 wo 也去 看 ni！ 6. X is semantically anomalous(反常的 Example: *The man is pregnant. *The table has bad intentions. *Sincerity shakes hands with the black apple. Example: 傻子偷乞丐的钱包，被瞎子看到了，哑巴大吼一声，把聋子吓了一跳， 傻子

27、偷乞丐的钱包，被瞎子看到了，哑巴大吼一声，把聋子吓了一跳， 驼子挺身而出，瘸子飞起一脚， 去公安局，麻子说： 驼子挺身而出，瘸子飞起一脚，通辑犯要拉 ta 去公安局，麻子说：看 wo 的面子算了。疯子说：就是，人要有理智。 的面子算了。疯子说：就是，人要有理智。 5.5 Analysis of meaning Componential analysis Predication analysis 述谓分析 Componential analysis Componential analysis- a way to analyze lexical meaning. The approach is b

28、ased on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected/divided into meaning components, called semantic features. For example, Man: +HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE Boy: +HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE Woman: +HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE Girl: +HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE Predication an

29、alysis 1 The meaning of a sentence is not to be worked out by adding up all the meanings of its component words, e.g “The dog bites the man” is semantically different from “The man bites the dog” though their components are exactly the same. 2 There are two aspects to sentence meaning: grammatical m

30、eaning and semantic meaning, e.g. *Green clouds are sleeping furiously. *Sincerity shook hands with the black apple. Whether a sentence is semantically meaningful is governed by rules called selectional restrictions. Predication analysis Predication analysis- a way to analyze sentence meaning (Briti

31、sh G. Leech. Predication-the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence. A predication consists of argument(s and predicate. An argument is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal elements in a sentence. A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence. Predication analysis According to the number of arguments contained in a predication, we may classify the predications into the following types: One-place predication: smoke, grow, ri