chapter-5-Semantics英語專業(yè)語言學(xué)課件

1、 5 SemanticsSemantics is the study of meaning in language. (p.104)It stands at the very center of the linguistic quest to understand the nature of language and human language ability because expressing meanings is what languages are all about. 5 SemanticsSemantics Meaning in CommunicationLinguistic

2、meaningSentence meaning Lexical meaningGrammatical meaningSpeakers meaningParalinguistic meaning Non-linguistic meaning Meaning in CommunicationLing Approaches to meaning 1041.The Naming Theory/referential theoryPlato命名說Definition: the meaning of an expression is what it refers to, or names. Approac

3、hes to meaning 1041.Tchapter-5-Semantics英語專業(yè)語言學(xué)課件chapter-5-Semantics英語專業(yè)語言學(xué)課件The conceptualist view2. The conceptualist view illustrated by the semantic triangle/triangle of significance.Definition: The interpretation of meaning is linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.Problem: What i

4、s the link?The conceptualist view2. The cTriangle of Reference by Ogden & RichardsTriangle of Reference by OgdenContextualism3. Contextualism: Meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context.Wittgenstein: the meaning of a word is its use in the language.J.R. Firth: “We shall know a wor

5、d by the company it keeps.”Contextualism3. Contextualism:ContextLinguistic context: co-text, words collocation. Eg. Black coffee, black tea, black peopleSituational contextParticipants( Personalities,Verbal action,Nonverbal action etc. )ActionsObjects and eventsDeictic featuresContextLinguistic cont

6、ext: co-Behaviorism 1074.BehaviorismBloomfield“situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.” S Jill rs Jack RBehaviorism 1074.BehaviorismBtruth-conditional theory 1095. Meaning as truth conditions: truth-conditional theory/semantics 真值理論draws on formal logi

7、c 形式邏輯.Knowing the meaning of a sentence means knowing the conditions under which the sentence is true or false. Problems 109-110:truth-conditional theory 1095.Leechs “Seven Meanings”1. conceptual meaning2. connotative3. social 4. affective5. reflective6. collocative7. thematic Associative meaning L

8、eechs “Seven Meanings”1. conDenotation and ConnotationDenotation is a straightforward, literal meaning of the word every member of the language speaking community will agree on. 指稱意義Connotation is not the basic meaning of the word but some emotive or evaluative meanings associated with the word by i

9、ndividual language users in their mind. 內(nèi)涵意義Denotation and ConnotationDenoLeechs “Seven Meanings” 111-1.Conceptual meaning (denotative meaning/cognitive meaning, central meaning, core meaning)概念義-詞的核心意義. 2. Connotative meaning (above its purely conceptual content.)內(nèi)涵/附加義Leechs “Seven Meanings” 111-1

10、Leechs “Seven Meanings”112 e.g. pig, dog, cat, etc. old (and worn out), blue (and down-hearted), tall (and handsome)Leechs “Seven Meanings”112 An ass: a stupid foolish personA pig:a dirty, greedy or ill-mannered personAn ass: a stupid foolish persoA monkey: a child who is full of annoying playfulnes

11、s and trick A parrot: a person who repeats, often without understanding, the words or actions of anotherA monkey: a child who is full Compared with conceptual meaning, connotative meaning is peripheral, unstable, indeterminate and open-endedCompared with conceptual meani 3. Social meaning 社會義p.113 A

12、bout the contexts or the social circumstances of language use, as reflected in dialects, slangs, jargons and other styles of language use. e.g. steedhorse gee-gee diminutive tiny wee 3. Social meaning 社會義p.113 Leechs “Seven Meanings”1134. Affective meaning/emotive (the feelings and attitudes of the

13、speaker/writer)感情義 e.g.nigger, fascist, politician, statesman, copLeechs “Seven Meanings”1134. 5.Reflective/reflected meaning反映義 (association with another sense of the same expression) e.g. intercourse, nucleur5.Reflective/reflected meaning 6. Collocative meaning搭配義 p.116:The associations of a word

14、gets because of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its linguistic context.Meticulous, fussy; pretty, handsome, etc. Full (moon), complete victory 6. Collocative meaning搭配義 p.Thematic meaning主題義p.116Meaning that arises out of the way in which the writer or speaker organizes his message. Its

15、 mainly a matter of choice b/t alternative grammatical constructions.Jack was presented with a gold medal.A gold medal was presented to Jack.The Olympic Committee presented Jack with a gold medal.Thematic meaning主題義p.116MeaninSense & reference (110)Sense（意義) is concerned with the inherent meaning of

16、 the linguistic form, the collection of all the features of the linguistic form. It is abstract and de-contextualized, the dictionary meaning.E.g.: dog: a domesticated canine mammal, occurring n many breeds that show a great variety in size and form.Sense & reference (110)Sense（意Sense & reference (1

17、10)Reference（所指）語義What a linguistic from refers to in the real physical world; it deals with the relationship b/t the linguistic elements & the non-linguistic world of experience.E.g.: The dog is barking.Sense & reference (110)ReferenSense & reference (add)Linguistic forms having the same sense may

18、have different references in different situations. Linguistic forms with the same reference might differ in sense.morning star 啟明星 , evening star冥王星Sense & reference (add)LinguisMajor sense relationshomonymy 121Homonymy 同音/形異義,including:Homophones同音詞: rain/reign, night/night,Homographs同形詞:bow v./ n.

19、, tear v./ n. Complete homonyms: fast adj. /adv., scale n./ v. Major sense relationshomonymyMajor sense relations polysemy121-2 Polysemy一詞多義：When a word has two or more meanings that are related conceptually or historically, its polysemous, or polysemic. Lexicographers decisionEtymology & Meaning re

20、lation Polysemic words belong to One entry, whereas homonyms should be assigned to separate entries.Major sense relations polysemyMajor sense relations synonymy 122 The meaning differences among synonymsDialect (AmE, BrE, Austral., NZ, etc.)Register (Accounting,Music, Logic, Military, Law, etc.)Styl

21、e (archaic, euphemism, taboo, slang, poetic, pompous, etc.)Formality (formal, informal, neutral, etc.)Attitude (Derogatory, Appreciative, etc.)Collocation (full moon, blond hair)Major sense relations synonymyMajor sense relationsantonymy 123 Antonymy 反義詞 is the oppositeness of meaning. Two antonyms

22、share all but one semantic feature. man vs. woman: +/- female Major sense relationsantonymyMajor sense relationsantonymy 1231.Gradable antonyms 可分等級反義詞 High-low, rich-poor, old-young2.Complementaries 互補反義詞(ungradable antonyms) dead-alive, male-female, sleep-awake3.Relational opposites關(guān)系反義詞 teacher-s

23、tudent, buy-sell, let-rent, above-below Major sense relationsantonymyMajor sense relations :Hyponymy 124 Hyponymy下義關(guān)系involves the notion of meaning inclusion. The meanings of a hyponym下義詞and its co-hyponyms并列下義詞are included in the meaning of their superordinate 上義詞. Major sense relations :HyponymHyp

24、onymyHyponymyMajor sense relations :Hyponymy 124-5 Bird nightingalesparrowhawkSuperordinate/hyperonymhyponymsMajor sense relations :HyponymMajor sense relations meronymycarWheel enginedoorpistonvalveEtc.Major sense relations meronymyMajor sense relationsmeronymy 125Meronymy is a term used to describ

25、e a part-whole relationship b/t lexical items整體部分關(guān)系Meronymy vs. hyponymy : Part-whole vs. general-specificMajor sense relationsmeronymyQuestionsDistinguish between denotative and connotative meaning, and give examples of each.What distinction can we draw between sense and reference? What is the diff

26、erence between lexical and grammatical meaning?QuestionsDistinguish between dQuestionsGive an opposite for each of the following words. Then divide the pairs into different types of opposite relations and explain how they differ.parent, bad, fat, above, short, male, husband, strong, black, buy, marr

27、ied, old, open. Explain and exemplify hyponymyQuestionsGive an opposite for Semantic fields 語義場 117-8Also called lexical field, is a set of words with an identifiable semantic connection. Words can be classified into sets according to their meaning. Lexical gap(詞匯空缺): the absence of a word in a part

28、icular place in a semnatic field of a language. E.g.: cousin=female or male?, cow+bull=?Semantic fields 語義場 117-8Also Semantic fields 語義場 118Markedness and unmarkedness 有、無標記性The less marked members of the semantic field1.are easier to learn; 2.typically consists only more morpheme3.cannot be descri

29、bed by another member;4. tend to be used more frequently; 5. are broader in meaningSemantic fields 語義場 118MarkednComponential analysis 118CA （成分分析）is a way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyze word meaning.The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected

30、into meaning components, called semantic features（語義特征）.Componential analysis 118CA （成Componential analysisBinary features and redundancy rules are often used in CA. Bachelor +human +adult +unmarried/-married +male Spinster +human +adult +unmarried /-married +female Componential analysisBinary feQue

31、stions Discussion:Give a critical account of componential analysis.(cf:120)Exercises 2,5, 7, 8 on page 134Questions Discussion:Sentence meaning 127-131Semantic roles 語義角色: Who did what to whom, with whom, and for whom， including, Agent 行為者， patient 動作承受者/ 受事，experiencer經(jīng)歷者, beneficiary受益者, instrumen

32、t工具, location場所 語義角色vs. 語法角色 The semantic role of a noun phrase differs from its syntactic roleSentence meaning 127-131SemantSemantic relations b/t sentences1.Entailment 131A kind of meaning inclusion. Given two sentences p and q, we say p entails q, if, whenever p is true, q is also true, and if q

33、is false, p is also false.If p is false then we cant say anything about q; it can either be true or false.“Henry murdered his wife” entails “Henrys wife is dead.”Semantic relations b/t sentenc2.PresuppositionWe say p presupposes 預(yù)設(shè) q, if, whenever p is either true or false, q is always true. If q is

34、 true, p could be either true or false.If q is false, then p does not have truth value真值. “The king of France is bald” presupposes “There is a king of France”. 2.PresuppositionWe say p presuSemantic relations b/t sentences1323.Synonymy 同義 He killed the dog=The dog was killed by him.4.Inconsistency 自相矛盾 a. He is a bachelor. b. He is married. 5.semantically anomalous語義反常 Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.Etc.Semantic