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Introduction to Linguistics

Introduction to Linguistics. Week 9. Semantics. Meanings of Words and Sentences. Definition. The study of the linguistic meaning of words and sentences; the component of the grammar which specifies these meanings Two components of meaning: meanings of the parts (lexical meaning)

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Introduction to Linguistics

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  1. Introduction to Linguistics Week 9 intro2ling/ssn2007

  2. Semantics Meanings of Words and Sentences intro2ling/ssn2007

  3. Definition • The study of the linguistic meaning of words and sentences; the component of the grammar which specifies these meanings • Two components of meaning: • meanings of the parts (lexical meaning) • meanings of the combinations (phrase meaning) intro2ling/ssn2007

  4. Analyze the following sentences • The rock ate my lunch. • The giraffe ate the hyena. • The giraffe ate one hundred pounds of grass today. intro2ling/ssn2007

  5. Pragmatics & Semantics • Semantics → things are true by the DEFINITIONS and RULES • Pragmatics → things are true by virtue of the REAL WORLD Which of the above sentences are semantically/pragmatically OK? intro2ling/ssn2007

  6. Lexical Meaning • What is the meaning of an assassin? → someone who kills someone who is prominent • What about: - bachelor? - mother? - lioness? intro2ling/ssn2007

  7. Denotation & Connotation • Denotation → the set of entities to which a word or expression refers (also called referent/extension) e.g. winter - snow, bitter cold, short evenings, frozen fingertips, and the like. - the season stretching from December to March intro2ling/ssn2007

  8. Connotation → the set of associations that a word’s use can evoke e.g. winter - the season between autumn and spring ( regardless of whether it is cold and unpleasant) intro2ling/ssn2007

  9. Phrase Meaning • The meanings of combinations of words are largely the products of the combinations of the meanings of the words: meaning (A+B) = meaning (A) + meaning (B) e.g. As someone said, a big mouse is still smaller than a small elephant. intro2ling/ssn2007

  10. Semantic Features woman, mother, widow What characteristics do they share? intro2ling/ssn2007

  11. Try This … Write the semantic features of: • lioness, ewe, mare • walk, arrive, leave • table, chair, stove • giant, bear, castle • Woman, girl, man, boy intro2ling/ssn2007

  12. Semantic Relations among Words intro2ling/ssn2007

  13. Synonyms → two words with the same semantic features (meaning) but which sound different e.g. sofa – couch youth – adolescent purchase - buy intro2ling/ssn2007

  14. Homonyms → two words that sound (or are spelled) the same but have different semantic features (meaning) e.g. bear – bare intro2ling/ssn2007

  15. Polysemy → one word with multiple related meanings e.g. bright shinning intelligent intro2ling/ssn2007

  16. Consider the following • Jane married Bill. Jane and Bill married. Lanny married Jane and Bill. Lanny married Jane. • John rented the house to Bill. John rented the house. Bill rented the house from John. Bill rented the house. intro2ling/ssn2007

  17. Antonyms • What is the antonym of bachelor? Adult Unmarried Human Male ? intro2ling/ssn2007

  18. husband spinster Antonyms are NOT words with totally different meanings, but words which are different along ONE DIMENSION Adult Married Human Male Adult Unmarried Human Female intro2ling/ssn2007

  19. Kinds of Antonyms • Complementary pairs (X, not X) e.g. dead-alive, awake-asleep • Gradable pairs (opposite sides of a scale) e.g. hot-cold, big-small, warm-cool • Relational opposites (opposite roles in a relation) e.g. teacher-pupil, buy-sell intro2ling/ssn2007

  20. Semantic Relations Involving Sentences intro2ling/ssn2007

  21. Paraphrase • Two sentences that can have the same meaning e.g. • The police chased the burglar. The burglar was chased by the police. • I gave the summons to Chris. • It is unfortunate that the team lost. • The game will begin at 3.00 p.m. intro2ling/ssn2007

  22. Entailment • A relation in which the truth of one sentence necessarily implies the truth of another The park wardens killed the tiger. The tiger is dead. Robin is a man. Robin is human. mutual asymmetrical intro2ling/ssn2007

  23. Contradiction • If one sentence is true, the other one must be false • Two sentences which both cannot be true e.g. Charles is a bachelor. Charles is married. intro2ling/ssn2007

  24. Thematic Roles • In the case of sentences, the parts of the sentence play specific roles in the meaning, as determined by the verb e.g. John put the bookon the table. Agent Theme Goal (Location) intro2ling/ssn2007

  25. Some Thematic Roles • Agent → doer of action • Theme → thing done to • Location → place • Source → original place • Goal → destination place • Instrument → something that aids Agent in doing intro2ling/ssn2007

  26. Determine the thematic roles • The park wardens killed the tiger. • Paul bought a car from Sue. • The premier entertained the guests in the lounge. • The boy carried the red brick from the wall to the wagon. • Max went from being a rational gentleman to being a stark raving maniac. intro2ling/ssn2007

  27. Upcoming Next Week … S o c i o l i n g u i s t i c s Language and Culture Language and Gender intro2ling/ssn2007

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