语言学SEMANTICS.ppt

Chapter 5 SEMANTICS Review 1. What is semantics?2. The major views concerning the study     of meaning3. Lexical meaning4. Sense relations between sentences5. Analysis of meaning•Semantics is the study of meaning.(the study of the meaning of linguistic units, words and sentences in particular)Some views concerning the study of meaningNaming theory (Plato)命名说命名说The conceptualist view 概念论概念论Contextualism (Bloomfield) 语境论语境论Behaviorism 行为主义论行为主义论Naming theory (Plato)命名说•Words are just names or labels for things.•词语只是代表物体的名字或标记。

词语只是代表物体的名字或标记•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, phenix… 3) There are nouns that do not refer to physical objects but abstract notions, e.g. joy, impulse, hatred…The conceptualist view 概念论•Definition：： one concerning meaning.•It is also called ideational theory（观念论）.            SEMANTIC TRIANGLE（语义三角） THOUGHT/REFERENCE             （概念/思想 /所指参照）(concept)   形式与意义直接相关形式与意义直接相关 意义是在客观事物的意义是在客观事物的 基础上概括而成的基础上概括而成的     SYMBOL/FORM ………....…REFERENT          (语言符号)                       （所指事物）              (linguistic)                       (the real thing                                             existing in the world)形式和所形式和所指之间没指之间没有必然的有必然的联系联系Contextualism (语境论) •Definition: Meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context .Two types of contexts are recognized: (1)Situational context场景语境 (2) linguistic situation语言语境Behaviorism (行为主义论) Definition: a view which draws on behaviorist psychology when trying to define the meaning of linguistic forms. Bloomfield（布龙菲尔德）：意义就是讲话人的刺激和听话人的反应。

meaning as speaker’s stimulus and hearer’s response The story of Jack and Jill: Jill Jack S_________r--------s_________RS = Jill sees an apple. r = Jill says “I’m thirsty”. s = Jack hears Jill says “I’m thirsty”. R = Jack picks the apple for Jill.3.Lexical meaningSense and reference(系统意义和指称意义） Sense: is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is abstract and de-contextualized.  Reference: means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world. Differences1. 系统意义具有相对的稳定性、明确性；而外指意义回因人、时、地而异，具有变化性、模糊性。

2. 一般说来，系统意义是抽象化了的定义，多具有非物质化特征；而外指意义会具有物质化的特征3. 有意义的词语都有系统意义，但不一定有外指意义Synonymy（同义现象（同义现象) )Definition: refer to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms（同义词）Types of Synonyms:1. Dialectal synonyms（方言）（方言）e.g. autumn - fall, biscuit - cracker, petrol – gasoline…2. Stylistic synonyms（文体风格（文体风格------正式、一般、口语）正式、一般、口语）e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin, commence;…3. Synonyms that differ in emotive or evaluative meaning （褒义或贬义）（褒义或贬义）     (e.g.collaboratorVs.accomplice)4. Collocational synonyms（搭配）（搭配）e.g. accuse…of, charge…with, rebuke…for; …5. Semantically different synonyms（语义不同）（语义不同）e.g. amaze, astound,… Polysemy（多义现象）（多义现象）Definition: refers to the same word may have more than one meaning.(同一个词具有两个或两个以上不同的意义) Homonymy( (同音同音/ /形异义）形异义）Homophones 同音异形异义同音异形异义 two words are identical in sound,but different in both spelling and meaning. e.g. rain-reign, night/knight, …Homographs 同形异音异义同形异音异义 two words are identical in spelling,but different in both sound and meaning. e.g. tear(n.)-tear(v.), lead(n.)-lead(v.), …Complete homonyms 同音同形异义同音同形异义 two words are identical in both sound and spelling,but different in meaning.e.g. fast adj fast v (斋戒） Hyponymy 下义关系Definition: the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.( (下义关系指的是一个更普遍, 范围更广泛的词和一个更具体的词之间的关系.).) Superordinate(上义）: the word which is more general in meaning. 意义上更普遍的那个词称为上坐标词意义上更普遍的那个词称为上坐标词. Hyponyms（下义）: the word which is more specific in meaning. 意义更具体的词称为下义词意义更具体的词称为下义词. .Antonymy（反义现象）（反义现象）•Gradable antonyms (等级反义词）•Complementary antonyms （互补反义词）•Relational opposites （关系对立）Gradable antonymy （等级反义词） ( It is a matter of degree) good ----------------------- bad•long ----------------------- short•big ----------------------- small–Can be modified by adverbs of degree like very.–Can have comparative forms.–Can be asked with how.否定一个词并不意味着肯定另一个词Complementary antonyms (互补反义词) •Complementary antonyms ( (互补反义词互补反义词) ) -------- the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, …•否定一个词意味着肯定另一个词Relational opposites(关系对立) •buy : sell•lend : borrow•give : receive•parent : child•husband : wife•teacher : student•above : below•before : after•host : guest•employer :employeeDefinition：Pairs￿of￿words￿that￿exhibit￿the￿reversal￿of￿a￿relationship￿between￿the￿two￿items￿are￿called￿relational￿opposites.Sense Relations Between Sentences•1. X is synonymous with Y•2. X is inconsistent with Y•3. X entails Y (Y is an entailment of X)•4. X presupposes Y(Y is a prerequisite of X)•5. X is a contradiction•6. X is semantically anomalousSense Relations Between Sentences•1. X is synonymous with Y ： X 与Y同义•The boy killed the cat.•The cat was killed by the boy.•2. X is inconsistent with Y： X与Y不一致•He has a wife.•He is single.•3. X entails Y (Y is an entailment of X) X蕴含Y•Mary has been to shanghai.•Mary has been to china.     •4. X presupposes Y(Y is a prerequisite of X) X 预设Y•His bike needs repairing.•He has a bike.•5.X is a contradiction X自我矛盾•My unmarried sister is married a farmer.•6.X is semantically anomalous X语义反常•The man is pregnant.Analysis of meaning•Componential Analysis(成分分析法) ----a way to analyze lexical meaning （分析一个词）•Predication Analysis(述谓结构分析)---- a way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyze word meaning.           （分析一个句子）•Semantic features: the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components exercisesTrue or False:   1. Sense is concerned with the relationship between the linguistic element and the  non-linguistic world of experience, while the reference deals with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.       2. Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations.    FT•3. Behaviourists attempted to define the meaning of a  language form as the situation in which the speaker       utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.    4. The meaning of a sentence is the sum total of the     meanings of all its components.    5. “it is hot.” is a no-place predication because it contains no argument. TTF III. exercises16. __________ is a way in which the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features.           A. Predication analysis          B. Componential analysis            C. Phonemic analysis           D. Grammatical analysis   17. “alive” and “dead” are _____________.              A. gradable antonyms                  B. relational opposites             C. complementary antonyms          D. None of the above    18.  Words that are close in meaning are called ___________.            A. homonyms                    B. polysemy             C. hyponyms                     D. synonyms       19.  The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by ______.        A.   grammatical rules    B.   selectional restrictions       C.   semantic rules         D.   semantic features BCDA。