1、1,The penguin swallowed the fish. Det. Noun Verb. Det. nounNPNP NP sentence John gave Mary the book.noun verb noun det nounNPVP,2,Chapter 7 Meaning,Semantics is the study of the linguistic meaning conveyed by words, phrases and sentences., broadly speaking (non- linguistically)Life is meaningful. /T
2、hats the meaning of life.(the significance of something) narrowly speaking (linguistically)What does the word “supermarket” mean?,What is meaning?,What is semantics?,3,7.2 Word Meaning Qs: 1)What is the smallest unit that can distinguish meaning? 2)What is the smallest unit that can carry meaning? 3
3、)Are phonemes meaningful in themselves? 4) How can we define a word? (How many rules for that?) 5)How can word meanings be classified?Word meaningconnotation(内涵意义): pig refers to “dirty” “lazy” “fat”denotation(本义，外延意义）: pig domestic or wild animal with short legs, cloven hooves and a broad blunt sno
4、ut,4,How are words and meaning related?When we name an object, it is our thought or reference that link the symbol and the actual object, the referent together. For example, if we use desk to refer to the object like a table that we sit at and work, there is definitely a process that we use our thou
5、ght to connect the symbol and the object although we dont realize it. (by Ogden & Richards),5,Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle,Symbol/form word/phrase/sentence,Referent/object in the world of experience,Thought/reference/concept(思想/相关/概念),6,More explanation: The symbol or form refers to the lin
6、guistic elements (words and phrases); The referent refers to the object in the world of experience; The symbol or a word signifies things by virtue of the concept associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker; and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the
7、 word.,7,7.3 How Are Word Meanings Related? Major sense relations : 1) Synonymy (同义关系) 2) Antonymy (反义关系) 3) Polysemy(一词多义关系) 4) Homonymy (同音同形异义关系) 5) Hyponymy(上下义关系),8,Synonymy,Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. 1) D
8、ialectal synonyms- synonyms used in different regional dialects, e.g. autumn - fall, biscuit - cracker, petrol gasoline 2) Stylistic synonyms-synonyms differing in style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin, commence;,9,Antonymy,Gradable antonyms(分级反义词) -there are often intermediate forms betwe
9、en the two members of a pair,e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, Complementary antonyms(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, Relational opposites(关系对立反义词) -exhibits the reversal of the relationship between the two items, e.g
10、. husband-wife, father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent, employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, Reversives(可逆性反义词) -refer to the verbs denoting a reversive process. e.g.advance-retreat, enter-leave,10,Gradable antonyms,Gradable antonyms -there are often intermediate forms between the t
11、wo members of a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, ,11,Complementary antonyms,Complementary antonyms -the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, ,12,Polysemy,Polysemy-the same one word may have more than one meaning, e.g. “table” m
12、ay mean: A piece of furniture All the people seated at a table The food that is put on a table Orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc. (The word table here is polysemous.),13,Homonymy,Homonymy- the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form, e.g. different words are ident
13、ical in sound or spelling, or in both. Homophone(同声异义词) - when two words are identical in sound, e.g. rain-reign(统治), night/knight(骑士), Homograph(同形异义词) - when two words are identical in spelling, e.g. tear(n.眼泪)-tear(v.), lead(n.铅)-lead(v.), Complete homonym- when two words are identical in both so
14、und and spelling, e.g. bank, watch, ,14,Hyponymy,Hyponymy-the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.Superordinate(上义词):the word which is more general in meaning. Hyponyms(下义词):the word which is more specific in meaning. Co-hyponyms(同级下义词): hyponyms of th
15、e same superordinate. E.g. Superordinate: flowerHyponyms: rose, tulip, lily, chrysanthemum, peony, narcissus, Superordinate: furniture Hyponyms: bed, table, desk, dresser, wardrobe, sofa, ,15,7.4 How Is word meaning Analyzed? Componential analysis (语义成分分析) - a way to analyze lexical meaning. The app
16、roach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. For example, Man: +concrete,+animate, +human, +adult, +maleBoy: +concrete, +animate, +human, -adult, +male Woman:+concrete,+animate, +human, +adult, -male Girl: +concrete,+anim
17、ate, +human, -adult, -male,16,My son saw that gasoline can explode.,My son saw that gasoline can explode.,17,7.5 Sentence Meaning My son saw that gasoline can explode.My son saw that gasoline can explode.,18,According to the two examples above, what do you think sentence meaning consists of ?Sentenc
18、e meaning lexical meaninggrammatical meaning(P146) In addition, stress, intonation etc.,19,Sense relations between sentences,(1) X is synonymous with Y (Equivalent)(2) X is inconsistent with Y (Contradictory)(3) X entails Y (Entailment),20,X is synonymous with Y,X: He was a bachelor all his life.Y:
19、He never got married all his life.X: The boy killed the cat.Y: The cat was killed by the boy.If X is true, Y is true; if X is false, Y is false.,21,X is inconsistent with Y,X: He is single. Y: He has a wife.X: This is my first visit to Beijing. Y: I have been to Beijing twice.If X is true, Y is fals
20、e; if X is false, Y is true.,22,X entails Y,X: John married a blond heiress. Y: John married a blond.X: Marry has been to Beijing. Y: Marry has been to China.Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X is true, Y is necessarily true; if X is false, Y may be true or false.,23,7.6 Context and Implicat
21、ure (语境和语义含义) Context- a basic concept in the study of pragmatics. It is generally considered as constituted knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer, such as cultural background, situation (time, place, manner, etc.), the relationship between the speaker and the hearer, etc . Example 1:A: Whe
22、re is he? B: He is in the bath. Example 2:A: Lily, the phone is ringing!B: Im in the bath. This study of sentence meaning goes beyond semantics. And the implied meaning conveyed by the 2nd example is called the implicature.,24,Pragmatics vs. semantics Semantics is the study of the linguistic meaning
23、 conveyed by words, phrases and sentences. Pragmatics is a study of the intended meaning of speakers in a particular context.“Today is Sunday”, semantically, it means that today is the first day of the week; pragmatically, you can mean a lot by saying this, all depending on the context and the inten
24、tion of the speaker, say, making a suggestion or giving an invitation (See examples on page 152 & 153. )In everyday conversation, we talk with people in different manners. And politeness is very important for successful conversation. In this case, conversational implicature occur.However, if too pol
25、ite, that will be irony.,25,The English language philosopher Paul Grice (2002:26-27) proposes that in ordinary conversation, speakers and hearers share a “Cooperative Principle“ (abbreviated CP) . Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose of
26、 the talk exchange in which you are engaged. The principle is illustrated with its four sub-principles, i.e. maxim, as follows:,26,The maxim of quantity: 1 Make your contribution as informative as required; 2 Do not make your contribution more informative than required. The maxim of quality: 1 Do no
27、t say what you believe to be false; 2 Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence. The maxim of relation: Make your contribution relevant. The maxim of manner:1 avoid obscurity 2 avoid ambiguity 3 be brief 4 be orderly.,27,A: Where does C live? B: Somewhere in the south of France. If B know
28、s that A is going to visit C, his answer is violating the maxim of quantity, because he is not giving enough information about where C lives. So we can infer that his implicature is that he does not know the exact address of C. In this case, there is conversational implicature.,Violation of the maxi
29、m of quantity:,28,A:Would you like to come to our party tonight? B:Im afraid Im not feeling so well today.This is said when it is known to both A and B that B is not having any health problem that will prevent him from going to a party. Thus B is saying something that he himself knows to be false an
30、d is flouting the maxim of quality.,Violation of the maxim of quality:,29,(In a formal get-together) A: Mrs. X is an old bag. B: The weather has been quite delightful this summer, hasnt it? B is intentionally violating the maxim of relation , implicating that what A has said is too rude and he shoul
31、d change a topic.,Violation of the maxim of relation:,30,A: Where are you going with the dog? B: To the V-E-T. The dog is known to be able to recognize the word “vet” and to hate being taken there. Therefore, A makes the word spelled out. Here he is “flouting” the maxim of manner, making the implicature that he does not want the dog to know the answer to the question just asked.,Violation of the maxim of manner:,
