新编简明语言学导论教程课件Chapter 5.ppt

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1、Chapter Five Semantics1.The Study of MeaningnSemantics:qthestudyoflanguagemeaning.qInourdiscussion,wewilllimitourselvestothestudyofmeaningfromalinguisticpointofview.nPragmatics:qThemeaningofutterances2.Semantic MeaningnSemantics is the study of meaning in language.nMeaning has been studied for thous

2、ands of years by philosophers,logicians and linguists.E.g.Plato&Aristotle.3.The meaning of meaningnC.K.Ogden&I.A.Richards(1923).The Meaning of Meaning.nJohn means to write.nA green light means to go.nHealth means everything.nHis look was full of meaning.nWhat is the meaning of life?nWhat does capita

3、list mean to you?nWhat does cornea mean?nThe transparent,convex,anterior portion of the outer fibrous coat of the eyeball that covers the iris and the pupil and is continuous with the sclera.nC.KOgdenandI.A.Richard,intheirfamousbookTheMeaningofMeaning(1923),havegivenalistoftwenty-twodefinitionsofthe

4、wordmeaning.nOneaimofsemanticsistodistinguishthesedifferentwaysinwhichlanguage“means”.Some views concerning the study of meaning nNamingtheory(Plato)nTheconceptualistviewnContextualism(Bloomfield)nBehaviorismNaming theory(Plato)nThenamingtheorywasproposedbyGreekscholarPlato,thatis:nWordsarenamesorla

5、belsfortheobjectstheystandfor.nE.g.:tree,car,fruit,dogNaming theory(Plato)nLimitations:1)Applicabletonounsonly.2)Therearenounswhichdenotethingsthatdonotexistintherealworld,e.g.ghost,dragon,unicorn,phenix3)Therearenounsthatdonotrefertophysicalobjectsbutabstractnotions,e.g.joy,impulse,hatredThe concep

6、tualist viewnTheconceptualistviewhasbeenheldbyOdgenandRichard.The conceptualist viewnTheconceptualistviewholdsthatthereisnodirectlinkbetweenalinguisticformandwhatitrefersto;nrather,intheinterpretationofmeaningtheyarelinkedthroughthemediationofconceptsinthemind.Ogden and Richards:semantic triangleSym

7、bol/formword/phrase/sentenceReferentobject in the world of experienceThought/Reference conceptairplaneThe conceptualist viewnLimitations:(1)thelinkbetweenthesymbolandtheconceptremainsunclarified.(2)peopledonotactuallytrytoseetheimageofsomethingintheirmindseyeeverytimetheycomeacrossalinguisticsymbol.

8、The contextualism nMeaningshouldbestudiedintermsofsituation,use,contextelementscloselylinkedwithlanguagebehavior.nTherepresentativeofthisapproachwasJ.R.FirthnAndwasfurtherstrengthenedbyBloomfield.The contextualism n“Iwasnearthatbankyesterday.”n“Riverbank”or“financialsituation”nIdontlikeher.Sheistall

9、andthinandmoveslikeacrane.nIdolikeher.Sheistallandthinandmoveslikeacrane.The contextualism nTwotypesofcontextsarerecognized:qSituationalcontext:spatiotemporalsituationqLinguisticcontext:theprobabilityofawordsco-occurrenceorcollocation.Behaviorism nBehavioristsattempted to definemeaningas“thesituatio

10、ninwhichthespeakeruttersitandtheresponseitcallsforthinthehearer”.nThestoryofJackandJill:JillJackS_r-s_RLexical meaning nSenseandreferencearebothconcernedwiththestudyofwordmeaning.Theyaretworelatedbutdifferentaspectsofmeaning.Lexical meaning nSense-isconcernedwiththeinherentmeaningofthelinguisticform

11、.nItisthecollectionofallthefeaturesofthelinguisticform;nitisabstractandde-contextualized.nItistheaspectofmeaningdictionarycompilersareinterestedin.Lexical meaning nE.g:bachelor=nevermarriedthesenseofredincolorsystem:brown,yellow,orangeetc.Lexical meaning nReference-whatalinguisticformreferstointhere

12、al,physicalworld;nitdealswiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementandthenon-linguisticworldofexperience.nE.g.:things,actions,eventsandqualities.Lexical meaning nTreereferstotherealtree.nBookreferstoaobjectbook.Lexical meaning nItisnotalwayspossibletodrawaclear-cutlinebetweensenseandreference.No

13、te:nLinguisticformshavingthesamesensemayhavedifferentreferencesindifferentsituations;ontheotherhand,therearealsooccasions,whenlinguisticformswiththesamereferencemightdifferinsense,ne.g.themorningstarandtheeveningstar,risingsuninthemorningandthesunsetatdusk.Sense RelationsnSynonymynPolysemynHomonymyn

14、HyponymynAntonymyGradableComplementaryConverseSynonymynbuy/purchasenthrifty/economical/stingynautumn/fallnflat/apartmentntube/undergroundSynonymynSynonymyreferstothesamenessorclosesimilarityofmeaning.nWordsthatarecloseinmeaningarecalledsynonyms.nBecauseofhistoricalreasons,Englishvocabularycontainstw

15、ocategoriesofwords:nativewordsandloanwords.SynonymynDialectalsynonyms-synonymsusedindifferentregionaldialects,ne.g.autumn-fall,biscuit-cracker,petrolgasolinenStylisticsynonyms-synonymsdifferinginstyle,ne.g.kid,child,offspring;start,begin,commence;SynonymynSynonymsthatdifferintheiremotiveorevaluative

16、meaning,ne.g.collaborator-accomplice,nCollocationalsynonyms,ne.g.accuseof,chargewith,rebukefor;SynonymynSemanticallydifferentsynonyms,ne.g.amaze,astound,PolysemynPolysemy-thesameonewordmayhavemorethanonemeaning,nE.g.:“foot”nThepartofthebodyattheendofthelegnAmeasurementoflengthnThebottomofsomethingPo

17、lysemynE.g.“table”maymean:nApieceoffurniturenAllthepeopleseatedatatablenThefoodthatisputonatablenAthinflatpieceofstone,metalwood,etc.nOrderlyarrangementoffacts,figures,etc.HomonymynHomonymy-thephenomenonthatwordshavingdifferentmeaningshavethesameform,e.g.differentwordsareidenticalinsoundorspelling,o

18、rinboth.nHomophone-whentwowordsareidenticalinsound,nE.g.rain-reign,night/knight,HomonymynHomogragh-whentwowordsareidenticalinspelling,nE.g.tear(n.)-tear(v.),lead(n.)-lead(v.),nCompletehomonym-whentwowordsareidenticalinbothsoundandspelling,nE.g.ball,bank,watch,scale,fast,Note:nApolysemicwordistheresu

19、ltoftheevolutionoftheprimarymeaningoftheword(theetymologyoftheword);nWhilecompletehomonymsareoftenbroughtintobeingbycoincidence.Homonymy“Howisbreadmade?”“Iknowthat!”Alicecriedeagerly.“Youtakesomeflour”“Wheredoyoupicktheflower?”theWhiteQueenasked.“Inagarden,orinthehedges?”“Well,itisntpickedatall,”Ali

20、ceexplained;“itsground”“Howmanyacresofground?”saidtheWhiteQueen.HyponymynHyponymy-thesenserelationbetweenamoregeneral,moreinclusivewordandamorespecificword.nSuperordinate:thewordwhichismoregeneralinmeaning.HyponymynHyponyms:thewordwhichismorespecificinmeaning.nCo-hyponyms:hyponymsofthesamesuperordin

21、ate.HyponymynSuperordinate:flowernHyponyms:rose,tulip,lily,chrysanthemum,peony,narcissus,nSuperordinate:furniturenHyponyms:bed,table,desk,dresser,wardrobe,sofa,Animalbird fish insect animal human animal tiger lion elephant .AntonymsnAntonymy-isusedforoppositenessofmeaning.nAntonyms-wordsareoppositei

22、nmeaningGradable antonymsnGradableantonyms-thereareoftenintermediateformsbetweenthetwomembersofapair,e.g.old-young,hot-cold,tall-short,Gradable antonymy ngood-badnlong-shortnbig-smallqCan be modified by adverbs of degree like very.qCan have comparative forms.qCan be asked with how.Complementary anto

23、nymsnComplementaryantonyms-thedenialofonememberofthepairimpliestheassertionoftheother,e.g.alive-dead,male-female,Complementary antonymynalive:deadnmale:femalenpresent:absentninnocent:guiltynodd:evennpass:failnboy:girlnhit:missRelational oppositesnRelationalopposites-pairsofwordsthatexhibitthereversa

24、lofarelationshipbetweenthetwoitems.nConverseantonymyRelational antonymynbuy:sellnlend:borrowngive:receivenparent:childnhusband:wifenteacher:studentnabove:belownbefore:afternhost:guestnemployer:employeeSense relations between sentences n(1)XissynonymouswithYn(2)XisinconsistentwithYn(3)XentailsYn(4)Xp

25、resupposesYn(5)Xisacontradictionn(6)XissemanticallyanomalousX is synonymous with YnX:Hewasabachelorallhislife.Y:Henevergotmarriedallhislife.nX:Theboykilledthecat.Y:Thecatwaskilledbytheboy.nIfXistrue,Yistrue;ifXisfalse,Yisfalse.X is inconsistent with YnX:Heissingle.nY:Hehasawife.nX:Thisismyfirstvisit

26、toBeijing.nY:IhavebeentoBeijingtwice.nIfXistrue,Yisfalse;ifXisfalse,Yistrue.X entails YnX:Johnmarriedablondheiress.nY:Johnmarriedablond.nX:MarryhasbeentoBeijing.nY:MarryhasbeentoChina.nIfXentailsY,thenthemeaningofXisincludedinY.X entails YnEntailmentisarelationofinclusion.IfXentailsY,thenthemeaningo

27、fXisincludedinY.nIfXistrue,Yisnecessarilytrue;ifXisfalse,Ymaybetrueorfalse.X presupposes YnX:Hisbikeneedsrepairing.nY:Hehasabike.nPaulhasgivenupsmoking.nPauloncesmoked.nIfXistrue,Ymustbetrue;IfXisfalse,Yisstilltrue.X is a contradictionn*Myunmarriedsisterismarriedtoabachelor.n*Theorphansparentsarepre

28、ttywell-off.X is semantically anomalousn*Themanispregnant.n*Thetablehasbadintentions.n*Sincerityshakeshandswiththeblackapple.Analysis of meaning nComponentialanalysisnPredicationanalysisComponential analysisnComponentialanalysis-awaytoanalyzelexicalmeaning.nTheapproachisbasedonthebeliefthatthemeanin

29、gofawordcanbedissectedintomeaningcomponents,calledsemanticfeatures.Componential AnalysisnHUMANqman(+ADULT,+MALE)qwoman(+ADULT,+FEMALE)qboy(-ADULT,+MALE)qgirl(-ADULT,+FEMALE)Componential AnalysisComponential AnalysisComponential AnalysisComponential Analysisnfather:PARENT(x,y)&MALE(x)qx is a parent o

30、f y,and x is male.ntake:CAUSE(x,(HAVE(x,y)qx causes x to have y.ngive:CAUSE(x,(HAVE(x,y)qx causes x not to have y.Predication analysisn1)Themeaningofasentenceisnottobeworkedoutbyaddingupallthemeaningsofitscomponentwords,ne.g“Thedogbitestheman”issemanticallydifferentfrom“Themanbitesthedog”thoughtheir

31、componentsareexactlythesame.Predication analysisn2)Therearetwoaspectstosentencemeaning:grammaticalmeaningandsemanticmeaning,nE.g.*Greencloudsaresleepingfuriously.n*Sincerityshookhandswiththeblackapple.nWhetherasentenceissemanticallymeaningfulisgovernedbyrulescalledselectionalrestrictions.Predication

32、 analysisnPredicationanalysis-awaytoanalyzesentencemeaning.nItproposedbyBritishG.Leech.nPredication-theabstractionofthemeaningofasentence.Apredicationconsistsofargument(s)andpredicate.Predication analysisnAnargumentisalogicalparticipantinapredication,largelyidenticalwiththenominalelementsinasentence

33、.nApredicateissomethingsaidaboutanargumentoritstatesthelogicalrelationlinkingtheargumentsinasentence.Predication analysisnTomsmokes.TOM(SMOKE)nThetreegrowswell.TREE(GROW)nThekidslikeapples.KIDSAPPLE(LIKE)nIsenthimaletter.IHIMLETTER(SEND)Predication analysisnAccording to the number of argumentscontained in a predication,we may classifythepredicationsintothefollowingtypes:Predication analysisnOne-place predication:smoke,grow,rise,run,nTwo-place predication:like,love,save,bite,beat,nThree-placepredication:give,sent,promise,call,nNo-placepredication:Itishot.