语言学概论-语义学第一讲

SemanticsWhatisSemantics?Thenarrowdefinitionisthestudyofmeaninginisolation.Thebroadoneisthestudyofmeaningwithconsiderationofcontext.Whatismeaning?EponentialanalysisMeaningissomethingawordhasasintrinsicproperty,whichhassomesemanticfeatures.eg.Woman:+human+adult-maleHowtojudgeawordismeaningfulornot?PhysicalWorldofExperience(1)Thegreencloudsleepsfuriously.(2)Healwayssleepsstandingononetoe(3)Hesleepsawake.TwoWorldstoconsiderintheinterpretationofmeaning:2)ImaginaryWorldThegreencloudsleepsfuriously.(personification?)(2)Healwayssleepsstandingononetoe.(meaningtransfer?)(3)Hesleepsawake.(meaningtransfer?)Whenwesayawordismeaningful,wealwaysrelateittoourphysicalworldofexperience.Butintheimaginary/mentalworld,everywordcanbemeaningfulashumanbeing,differentfromanimals,hasthetendencytoresistsensevacuumwiththehelporadoptionoffigurativeuseoflanguageormeaningtransfer.SomeaningisnotamatterofYesorNo,butamatterofdegree.Inanotherword,wecan’tfindtheexactpointtowhichwordisacceptable.从以下的词来看，我们不可能确切地说出从哪个单词开始是不可接受的：-less:helplessfriendlessboylesshouselessgrowthless-some:Troublesomefearsomescornsomejoysomevanitysome-enwoodensilkenlarchenbronzenaluminumenWhat’sthedifferencebetweenalinguistandagrammarian?Alinguisticstudyisdescriptive.Itissupposedtobescientificandobjectiveandthetaskoflinguistsissupposedtodescribethelanguagepeopleactuallyuse,beit“correct”ornot.Ontheotherhand,agrammarteachertendstotellthelearnerswhatheshouldsay,orwhatissupposedtobecorrectusage,whichissaidtobeprescriptive.DifferentApproachestoMeaningAPhoneticApproachProsodicfeaturesandmeaningsthemeaningofstressthemeaningintonation2.AStructuralApproach2.1componentialanalysis2.2senserelations:synonymy,antonymy,hyponymy,homonymy,polysemyTake“antonyms”forinstance,wemustbeawarethatantonymshavesharpcontrastinonlyonefeature.Inanotherword,antonymsaretosomedegreeanotherkindofsynonyms.3.LogicalApproachThisapproachisconcernedaboutinferenceandlogicalanalysisofsentencemeaning.4.PhilosophicalApproachHowismeaningpossible?2)Whatkindsofmeaningarepossible?5.PragmaticApproach1)Meaningasuse2)speechacttheory3)conversationalimplicature4)pragmaticpresupposition6.CognitiveApproachItisthestudyofmeaningwithreferencetoschema,whichistheinternalizedstructuresofthephysicalworldinourmind.7.FunctionalApproachWhatdoweuselanguagefor?Whatkindoffunctionscanberealizedbyuseoflanguage?Hallidaybelievesthatalanguageusuallyfullfilsthefollowingfunctions:1.Instrumental:“Iwant”:satisfyingthematerialneeds.2.Regulatory:“DoasItellyou”:

controllingothers’behaviour.3.Interactional:“Hello”:

gettingalongwithotherpeople.4.Personal:identifyingorexpressingtheself:eg.Localdialectinone’shometown.5.Heuristic:“Tellmewhy”:exploringtheworldaroundorinsideone.5.Heuristic(启发式）:“Tellmewhy”:exploringtheworldaroundorinsideone.6.Imaginative:“Let’spretend”:creatingaworldofone’sown7.Informative:“Ihavegotsomethingtotellyou”:communicatingnewinformation.Thefunctionaliststhinkthepresentstateandthedevelopmentoflanguageistobedeterminedbythesocialfunctionsthatlanguagesmustfulfil.Therefore,thedescriptionandexplanationoflinguisticstructuresshouldbelinkedwiththefunctionsoflanguages.Thefunctionalschoolofthoughtalsopavedthewayfortheemergingofpragmatics.8.StylisticApproach8.1Stylisticofmeaningstyleitselfismeaning,too.8.2Stylesasinformation

（politeness----socialdistancecasuality----intimacy)9.ASocialApproachAapproachtomeaningbytakingsocialfactorsintoconsideration.10.BehavioristicApproachMeaningisthesituationinwhichthespeakersuttersomethingandtheresponsethatitcallsforthinthehearer.11.HistoricalApproachLexicalandsemanticchangemainlydiachronicapproachSevenkindsofMeaningraisedbyGeoffrayLeachConceptualMeaning(概念意义）AssociativeMeaning(联想意义）

a.connotativemeaning(内涵意义）

b.socialmeaning(社会意义）

c.collocativemeaning(搭配意义）

d.affectivemeaning(情感意义）

e.reflectedmeaning(反应意义）ThematicMeaning(主题意义）一、ConceptualMeaningalsocalleddenotational/referential/logicalmeaning,isthebasiccomponentinalanguage.It’sthemeaningwhatawordcoverstorefertotheobjectsitstandsfor.Usuallytheconceptualmeaningofawordisprescriptive.二、AssociativeMeaningwhichrelatestotheassociationinourmindwhenanutteranceisproduced.Itcanalsobesub-dividedintofivedifferentbranches.Eg.SecuritycouncilofUN:thehighest/awesomeorgan.AugustBody(male’sgenitalorgan)a、Connotativemeaningthecommunicativevalueanexpressionhasbyvirtueofwhatisreferredtooverandaboveitspurelyconceptualcontent.It’sunstable,indeterminate,open-ended.

a、Connotativemeaninginadditiontosomedistinctivefeaturesawordmaypossesswhichmakethewordquitedifferentfromothersinmeaning,awordmayalsopossesssomenon-distinctivemeaningorfeatureswhichmayemergeinourmindwhensuchawordismentioned.a、Connotativemeaningeg.WomanDistinctivefeatures:Human,Adult,FemaleNon-distinctivefeatures:long-haired,skirt-wearing,etc.b、Socialmeaningisthatwhichapieceoflanguageconveysaboutthesocialcircumstancesofitsuse.Inpartwedecodethesocialmeaningofatextthroughourrecognitionofdifferentdimensionsandlevelofstylewiththesamelanguage.b、Socialmeaningvariationwith1.dialect(geographic,social)2.vince(ad.Law)4.status(slang.Formal)5.singularity(styleofDickens,etc.)6.institutionalizedvariety(制度化变体）7.performancevariety(使用型变体）c、CollocativeMeaningwhichconsistsoftheassociationsthatawordacquiresonaccountofthemeaningsofwordswhichtendtooccurinitsenvironment.Inshort,it’sthemeaningawordacquiresbecauseofcollocation.c、CollocativeMeaningeg.“pretty”and“handsome”:nice-lookingwhywecollocateprettywithgirl?weendowprettycollocativemeaningssuchasslim,gentle,etc.d、affectivemeaningitreferstothespeaker’sattitudeandfeelingsconveyedinawordorsentencewhenuttered.eg.“Iloveyou”e、reflectedmeaningowingtothephenomenonofpolysemyandhomonymyinEnglishwords,whenwetrytoexpressonespecialmeaningofawordincommunication,itisoftenthecasethatothermeaningsofthiswordemergesimultaneouslyinthereceiver’smind,whichunavoidablyleadstomisunderstandingorblockageofcommunication.Eg.pun三、ThematicMeaningit’swhat’scommunicatedbythewayinwhichaspeakerorwriterorganizesthemessageintermsofordering,focusandemphasis.Tofullyrepresentthethematicmeaningofasentence,wemustencodeideasbyproperlinguisticforms.Eg.Achoiceofalternativestructures.三、ThematicMeaningasweallknow,theword“thematic”stemsfrom“theme”,whichmeans“主题”inChinese.Beforeweanalyzethematicmeaningindetail,let’shavealookatthedistinctionbetween“theme”and“subject”1.Traditionalgrammaticalviewson“subject”Accordingtotraditionalgrammarians,tobethesubjectofasentence,thewordmustconformtoeitherofthefollowingthreecriteria.1.Traditionalgrammaticalviewson“subject”a.doeroftheactionb.thatwhichistheconcernofthemessagec.thatelementonwhichtruevalueoftheargumentrestsNote:truevalue(真值),propertyofbeingtrueorfalse.Thedukegavemyauntthisteapot.theconcernofthemessagethatonwhichrestthetruthoftheargumentthedoeroftheactionSubjectThisteapotmyauntwasgivenbytheduke.ConcernofthemessageThatonwhichthetruthvaluerestsDoeroftheactionThetermsthatcametobeusedinthesecondhalfofthenineteenthcentury,whentherewasarenewalofinterestingrammaticaltheory,werepsychologicalsubject,grammaticalsubjectandlogicalsubject.psychologicalsubject:thatwhichistheconcernofthemessage.Itwascalledpsychologicalbecauseitwaswhatthespeakerhadinhismindtostartwith,whenembarkingontheproductionoftheclause.

grammaticalsubject:thatofwhichsomethingispredicated.Itwascalledgrammaticalbecauseatthattimetheconstructionofsubjectandpredicatewasthoughtofasapurelyformalgrammaticalrelationship;itwasseentodeterminevariousothergrammaticalfeatures,suchasthecaseofthenounorpronounanditsconcordofpersonandnumberwiththeverb.logicalsubject:doeroftheaction.Itwascalledlogicalinthesensethistermhadhadfromthe17thcentury,thatof“havingtodowithrelationsbetweenthings”,asopposedto“grammatical”relationwhichwererelationsbetweensymbols.Thisteapotmyauntwasgivenbytheduke.ConcernofthemessageGrammaticalsubjectThatonwhichthetruthvaluerestsDoeroftheactionPsychologicalsubjectLogicalsubjectFunctionalistsheadedbyHallidayholdthathowwecanuseoneword“subject”toincludethreethingsindifferentregisters.Eg.Weput“vegetable”and“meat”intothesamecategory“food”becausetheyarebothedible.Butpsychology,grammar&logicaresodifferentintheirfields.Therefore,theyraisedtheirownviews.a.Theme(psychologicalsubject)b.Subject(grammaticalsubject)c.Actor(logicalsubject)Thesignificanceofthesethreefunctionalconceptsisthateachonecorrespondstoadifferentmodeofmeaningintheclause:Thethemeisafunctionintheclauseasamessage.Itiswhatthemessageisconcernedwith:thepointofdepartureforwhatthespeakerisgoingtosay.Thesubjectistheelementthatisheldresponsible:inwhichisvestedthesuccessoftheclauseinwhateverisitsparticularspeechfunction.Theactoristheactiveparticipantintheprocess;theonethatdoesthedeed.

Itisoftenfelt,forexample,thatanactivesentencehasadifferentmeaningfromitspassiveequivalent,althoughinconceptualcontenttheyseemtobethesame:1)Mrs.BessieSmithdonatedthefirstprize.2)ThefirstprizewasdonatedbyMrs.BessieSmith.

Certainlythesehavedifferentcommunicativevaluesinthattheysuggestdifferentcontexts;theactivesentenceseemstoansweranimplicitquestion“WhatdidMrs.BessieSmithdonate?",whilethepassivesentenceseemstoansweranimplicitquestion"Whowasthefirstprizedonatedby?"ormoresimply"Whodonatedthefirstprize?".Marydonatedthefirstprize.ThefirstprizewasdonatedbyMary.themerhemethemerhemeContextsettingNewInformation从信息角度来看，出现在句首的位置往往具有“情景”设置的功能，旨在对下文的内容作出铺垫，使读者或听话人有着足够的背景知识为接受下文的信息奠定基础。位于句末的成分往往带有结局性质，在信息上更为重要，并有可能是高潮。试比较：TheprimeMinistersteppedofftheplaneandthejournalistsimmediatelysurroundedher.TheprimeMinistersteppedofftheplaneandshewasimmediatelysurroundedbytheJournalists.TheprimeMinistersteppedofftheplane.Journalistimmediatelysurroundedher.themerhemethemerhemeTheprimeMinistersteppedofftheplane.ShewasimmediatelysurroundedbytheJournalists.themerhemethemerhemeKnowninformationNewinformation无论是两个或两个以上的前置修饰语，名词短语，独立分句，还是一个分句内的各成分，它们的先后出现次序都会影响交际价值。从信息的有效性角度来看，成功的交际就是要在恰当的位置使用恰当词语，以准确无误，行之有效传达意欲传达的信息。Grammarian’sviewonadj.sequenceDeterminers-descriptive-size-shape-age-color-origin-material-use+NEg.AbeautifulsmallsquarenewbrownFrenchoakwritingdeskTraditionalgrammarian’sviewdoesn’tgiveasatisfactoryexplanationofadjsequencewhentwoadjsaregiventomodifieraNandofthesamecategory(2descriptiveadj.)1）作为修饰语的形容词序列

anintricateandarduoustaskanarduousandintricatetask以上修饰语序列的选择取决于说话人是想表达这个任务因为复杂而艰巨，还是复杂而尤其艰巨；还是在复杂中显得艰巨，还是艰巨而又复杂。在CharlotteBronte的小说JaneEyre(vol.II,ch.X)Jane对Rochester说了这样一段话：Allday,yesterday,Iwasverybusyandveryhappyinmyceaselessbustle;forIamnot,asyouseemtothink,troubledbyanyhauntingfearsaboutthenewsphere,etcetera.在这一段话中，采用“busyandhappy”序列所产生的效果把信息重点置于“happy”之上，使之更为突出，而“busy”成了产生下文应有效果的前提准备，即，在忙碌中感到无比的幸福，因为忙碌使她遗忘了一直困惑她的心中的恐惧。假设形容词序列是“happyandbusy”，使“happy”成为“busy”的前提语，使信息移至“busy”之上，也就破坏了信息的连贯性，导致信息传递失真。Theysangandtheycheered.独立的分句序列Theycheeredandtheysang.在这一组分句中，如果我们强调时间顺序的不同，那么，她们的不同之处便在于“cheer”与“sing”的行为动作的先后上，即，一个动作的结束，另一个动作的开始，但是“cheer”与“sing”是同一庆祝活动的两个不同侧面，那么上局的选择仅取决于他们是因为高兴而唱歌，还是因为唱歌而高兴。动词的序列在小说JaneEyre中，Rochester在向Jane求婚后，有这样一一段对话:Rochester:Areyouapprehensiveofthenewsphereyouareabouttoenter?---ofthenewlifeintowhichyouarepassingJane:No.Rochester:Youpuzzleme,Jane;yourlookandtoneofsorrowfulaudacityperplexedandpainedme.Iwantanexplanation.“perplexedandpained”这一动词序列突出了Rochester内心的痛苦。这一内心痛苦的根源作在就是Rochester对Jane近期的行为与感情感到困惑不解所致。分句内的成分序列Thoughtheywouldn’tbelegallymarried,divorcefromhisunfaithfulwifebeingimpossible,theylivedopenlyandhappilytogetheruntilLewes’sdeathtwentyyearslater.TotheiruniontheworldowestheveryexistenceofthenovelistGeorgeEliot.(Introductionto“TheMillontheFloss”P.XII)在这句中，“Totheirunion”是已知信息，这从前句可以看出，而后面的新信息是具有结局性的因此置于末断。如果把已知信息和新信息颠倒过来，使之成为“TheworldowestheveryexistenceofthenovelistGeorgeEliottotheirunion.”，就会形成反高潮结尾，使表达的信息软弱无力。Thevillage

sufferedseriouslyfromtheearthquake.

已知信息新信息It

happenedatmidnight,

已知信息新信息

atime

whenpeopleweresoundasleep

已知信息新信息已知信息和未知信息的自然交替使得许多根据并列关系问题间的逻辑得不到解释的句子能够有效的被阐述。Leech在阐述前提与命题的关系时举出如下一对句子：Sheila’sengagedtobemarried,andherfiancé’sanairlinepilot.Sheila’sfiancé’sanairlinepilot,andshe’sengagedtobemarried.X一个话语或一篇思想连贯的篇章正是以已知信息为背景引导未知信息，而未知信息又成为已知信息去引导新的未知信息。换句话说，不存在无语境的话语。话语的一般模式是：

已知信息（1）+未知信息（1）

已知信息（2）+未知信息（2）

已知信息（3）+未知信息（3）

…在实际话语中，信息交流的模式远比这要复杂的多。已知信息既可以是第二次提及的信息，也可以是虽然未被直接提及，但是存在于上文所提及词汇语义场之间的信息。新信息与已知信息的联系可以通过时空关系、相似关系、对比关系、包含与被包含关系、因果关系等建立起来。由于新信息一般在已知信息下引出，话语成分的序列对话语的信息举足轻重。语言学家还从主位和述位的角度对信息序列进行研究。在一句话中，话语的第一个成分是主位，说明谈话的题目，而其他成分为述位。主位是话语其余部分叙述内容的起点，试比较：A.Thefiredidn'tcausethedestructionofthehouse.B.Thedestructionofthehousewasnotcausedbythefire.例（A）与例（B）的语义不同。从例（B）中可以推出“房子已经毁坏”这一结论，但是从例（A）中却推不出这一结论。由此可见，主位信息一般不受否定的影响，因为它们作为谈话的主题是双方共知的信息，至少是说话人认为听话人应该拥有的知识，它是整个话语述位信息所依赖的基础，试比较以下例句：A.Thefiredidn'tcausethedestructionofthehouse.B.Thedestructionofthehousewasnotcausedbythefire.(22)SmithscoldedHelen.(WhatdidSmithdo?)(23)HelenwasscoldedbySmith.(TheinformationisaboutHelen,notaboutSmith.)(24)ItwasSmithwhoscoldedHelen.(implyingthatthelistenerhasknownthatsomeonehasscoldedHelen.)(25)ItwasHelenwhowasscoldedbySmith.(implyingthatthelistenerhasknownthatSmithhasscoldedsomeone.)(26)WhatSmithdidwasscoldHelen.(WhatdidSmithdo?)(27)WhoSmithscoldedwasHelen.(implyingthatthelistenerhasknownthat