Semantics

1. Semantics Meaning in Language Asian 401

2. Semantics • The study of the systematic ways in which languages structure meaning, especially in words and sentences. • Not an easy field; the analysis of meaning is extremely difficult and messy

3. Logical Semantics • It seems simple: words have meanings; syntax combines the meanings in systematic ways. • If we know the meanings of the words and the rules of the syntax, we know the meaning of the sentence:Professor Handel teaches linguistics.

4. Complications • Much of what we say is not simply the assertion of truthful statements about the world. • Many things we say are ambiguous or have indirect or multiple meanings. • Ambiguity: I saw her duck. How do we know which meaning is intended?

5. Literal vs. Social Meaning • Two friends meet. One says: • “I really like your dress.” • “That’s an ugly hair style you’ve got.” • “You are very tall.” • All three statements are true. Why say the first but not the other two?

6. Literal vs. Communicative Meaning • Wife (sitting in living room): “Don’t you think it’s cold in here?” • Husband: “Yes.” • Why is this an odd conversation? • Because: The wife is making a request, not asking a question. • Husband: “I’ll turn up the heat.”

7. Logical Semantics • What is the truth value of sentences? How can it be determined from its words and syntax? • Entailment • Contradiction • “The current king of France is tall.”

8. Pragmatics • The study of how context, attitude, belief, intention, etc. inform linguistic meaning. • How do utterances contribute to conversations and social relations? • Sentences can signal intentions to be a good conversational partner, to be friendly, to be cooperative, etc.

9. Pragmatics • When learning another language, pragmatics can be harder to master than semantics. • “Why do people in China keep asking me if I’ve eaten yet?” • “Why does my Japanese friend always mention the weather in his letters?” • Politeness not related to semantics

10. How do Languages Encode Meaning? • Are linguistic concepts encoded in words, in syntactic structures, in intonation? • How do languages differ? • (Intonation: “Pinkie’s Tailor Shop” joke.)

11. Today’s lecture • Two examples of semantics: • Lexical Semantics • Metaphor

12. Lexical Semantics • Lexeme = word • Lexical = related to words • Lexical semantics is the study of how meaning is encoded in words (as opposed to other linguistics structures like syntax or intonation.)

13. Lexicalization • As far as we know, all languages are capable of expressing all ideas. • Languages differ in which meaning elements are encoded into words, and which are expressed with phrases. • When something is encoded in a word, we say that it is lexicalized.

14. Example: Motion Verbs • These meaning elements are relevant to motion: • What is moving (the object) • How it is moving (the manner) • Where it is moving (the path) • Motion in the real world always involves all three aspects.

15. Lexicalization of Motion Aspects • Example: A rock rolls down the hill. • Which of these three aspects are lexicalized in different languages? • In other words, which are encoded in the meaning of the motion verb, and which are expressed in other ways?

16. English: Motion Verbs encode Manner • walk; run; climb; crawl; slither; roll; limp; slide; wriggle • These verbs indicate the manner of movement, but not the path or object. • “I was crawling” says nothing about path of motion. The sentence subject (not the verb) tells us what is moving.

17. English: Motion Verbs encode Manner • To express path in English, we must add a preposition to the motion verb: • Walk up the stairs • Run down the mountain • Climb over the rocks • Slide into the empty seat • To express what is moving, we use a sentence subject.

18. Romance: Motion Verbs encode Path • Spanish: bajar ‘move down’, subir ‘move up’, cruzar ‘move across’, salir ‘move out’ • These verbs say nothing about manner. Describing manner requires the addition of an adverb, like “rolling”, “crawling”, etc. • French, Italian, etc. are the same

19. Atsugewi: Motion Verbs encode Object Type • From our textbook, it appears that Atsugewi motion verbs encode the object but not the manner or path • Lup ‘a small, shiny spherical object moves’ • Swal ‘a limp, linear object suspended at one end moves’

20. Chinese • Two classes of motion verb: • Class 1 encodes manner: tsow™¡¢ ‘walk’, pæaw™¡¢ ‘run’, tæjaw51 ‘jump’, pæa35 ‘climb’ • Class 2 encodes path: tʃin51 ‘move in’, t®æu55 ‘move out’, kwø51 ‘move across’, ®å≥51 ‘move up’

21. Chinese • To express both manner and path, you create a compound verb composed of one verb from each class: • tsow™¡tʃin51 ‘walk in’, pæaw™¡kwø51 ‘run across’, tæjaw51t®æu55 ‘jump out’, pæa35®å≥51 ‘climb up’

22. Metaphor • Using a word with a literal meaning for a second meaning that shares some common characteristics with the first meaning. • We often think of metaphor as a device in poetry or other literary genres (“rosy-fingered dawn”). In fact our everyday language is full of metaphors.

23. Metaphor: Examples • We were in the eye of the storm. • The dollar is falling sharply. • The pupil breezed through the SATs. • When his dog died, it broke his heart. • The guitarist is really on fire tonight! • He has a high voice. • The computers are down.

24. Metaphors • Metaphors allow us to be creative and vivid in our use of language. • There are universal patterns of metaphor use found in all languages. • But in many cases different languages use different metaphorical systems.

25. Example 1: TIME is a PRECIOUS RESOURCE • This will save me lots of time! • You’re wasting time. • I’ll buy some time. • Don’t spend so much time; it’s not worth it. • (Not all languages talk about time this way!)

26. Example 2: LOVE is a JOURNEY • Our relationship just isn’t going anywhere. • It looks like Bill and Ann have hit a dead end. • I really like you, but I think we need to slow down. • (Can you think of other examples?)

27. Example 3: HEART is the seat of emotions • His heart isn’t in it. • He’s got a big heart. • The king’s heart was glad. • Don’t break my heart. • Chinese: få≥51ʃin55 ‘release the heart’ = ‘set one’s mind at ease, not worry’

28. Example 4a: LIVER is the seat of emotions • Eastern Cham (Austronesian language of Southern Vietnam) • pətaːw on-təpon paʔ hətaːj • king happy at liver • “The king was overjoyed.”

29. Example 4b: LIVER/GALL are seats of emotions • Mandarin Chinese: • 肝膽俱裂 • kan55 tan214 tʃy51 ljɛ51 • liver gall all broken • “to be broken-hearted”

30. Example 5: TIME as SPACE • We talk about time (past, present, future) as locations in space. • The future is in front, the past is behind • I wonder what lies ahead? • Don’t look back at the past, look forward into the future.

31. Example 5: TIME as SPACE • *Don’t look left at the past, look right into the future. • *I wonder what’s above on our schedule for tomorrow.

32. Example 5: TIME as SPACE • Chinese: past is ABOVE, future is BELOW • ®å≥51 kɤ51ʃi≥55tʃæi55 • above CL week ‘last week’ • ʃja51 kɤ51ʃi≥55t˚æi55 • below CL week ‘next week’ • ®å≥51 kɤ51 y‰51 ‘last month’ • ˚ia51 kɤ51 y‰51 ‘next month’

33. Handout Exercise • Can you identify the mappings (“A is B”, e.g. “LOVE is a JOURNEY”) that the metaphorical expressions on your handout are based on?

34. End