Chap 2: language Flashcards
what are the 2 important linguistic functions of language?
- Conveying information
- expressing or evoking feelings
what is cognitive meaning?
A terminology that conveys information
what is emotive meaning ?
A terminology that expresses or evokes feelings
what is a value claim?
its a claim that something is good, bad, right , wrong or better etc…
why do people use emotive terminology often ?
- it obscures the fact that a value claim is being made
- gives psychological momentum to that claim= intellectual laziness
how can cognitive meanings be defective?
because some can be vague and ambiguous
what is vagueness?
when a sentence lacks preciseness so it is impossible to tell if the expression applies or not
what is ambiguousness?
when a word can be interpreted as having more than one clearly distinct meaning in a given context.
what is a verbal dispute ?
its a dispute that arise over the meaning of language
what is a factual dispute ?
its a dispute that arise over a disagreement about facts.
what is a term? what does it consist of?
its any word or arrangement of words that can serve as the subject of a statement.
they consist of proper names, common names and descriptive phrases
what are the 2 kinds of cognitive meaning of terms?
intentional and extensional
what is a intensional meaning?
it consists of the qualities or attributes that the term connotes
what is a extensional meaning?
it consists of the members of the class that the term denotes
what is a conventional connotation?
its the attributes that the term commonly calls forth in the minds of competent speakers of the language.
what is empty extension?
its a non existent members in a certain time, a class that has no members.
what is increasing intension
when each term in the series connotes more attributes the the one preceding it.
what is decreasing intension
its the reverse of increasing intension
what is increasing extension?
when each term in the series denotes a class having more members than the class denoted by the term preceding it
what is decreasing extension?
reverse of increasing extension
what is a definition
its a group of words that assigns a meaning to some word or group of words.
what does a definition consist of?
- definiendum = words that is supposed to b defined
- definiens = words that does the defining
how many types of definitions are there and what are they?
there are 5 types of definitions.
1. stipulative definitions
2. lexical definitions
3. precising definitions
4. theoretical definitions
5. persuasive definitions
what is a stipulative definition?
it assigns a meaning to a word for the 1st time. it could be coining a new word or giving a new meaning to an old word.
its purpose is replacing a more complex expression with a simpler one, or to set up secret codes.
there is no such thing as a “true” or false stipulative definition.
and it cannot provide new information.
what is a lexical definition
it reports the meaning that a word already has in a language.
it can true or false depending on whether it does or does not report the way a word is actually used.
the purpose is to eliminate the ambiguity and lists the various meanings of a word.
what is a precising definition?
it reduces the vagueness of a word.
it helps with deciding the applicability of the word to a specific situation.
it is not an arbitrary assignment of meaning.
what is a theorical definition?
it assigns a meaning to a word by suggesting a theory that gives a certain characterization to the entities that the term denotes.
it entails deductive consequences and experimental investigations.
they are neither true or false.
what is a persuasive definition?
it causes a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward what is denoted by the definiendum.
it uses an emotionally charged meaning to a word while making it appear that the word easily has that meaning in the language in which it is used.
the objective is to influence the reader.
it can be true or false.
what is an extensional definition?
it assigns a meaning to a term by indicating the members of the class that the definiendum denotes.
what are the techniques used for extensional definitions?
a. demonstrative
b. enumerative
c. by subclass
what is a demonstrative (ostensive) definition? and the limitations
it assigns a meaning by pointing at the definiendum.
limitation:
the required object needs to available to be pointed at.
what is an enumerative definition ?
it assigns a meaning to a term by naming the members of the class the term denotes.
limitation:
- a class can have an infinite number of members or a large amount to enumerate. there will be some with no names.
what is a definition by subclass?
it assigns a meaning to a term by naming subclasses of the class denoted by the term.
limitation:
few terms denote classes that admit a small number of subclasses.
what are the techniques used for intensional definitions
a. synonymous definition
b. etymological definition
c. operational definition
d. definition by genus and difference
what is a synonymous definition?
the definiens is a synonym of the word being defined.
limitation:
many words have a subtle shades of meaning that are not connoted by any other single word.
what is an etymological definition?
it assigns a meaning to a word by disclosing the word’s ancestry in both its own language and other languages.
its important for 2 reasons:
1. the etymological definition of a word often conveys the word’s root meaning or seminal meaning from which all other associated meanings are derived. Unless one is familiar
with this root meaning, one often fails to place other meanings in their proper light or to grasp the meaning of the word when it is used in its most proper sense.
2. the second reason for the importance of etymological definitions is that if one is familiar with the etymology of one English word, one often has access to the meaning of
an entire constellation of related words.
what is an operational definition?
it assigns a meaning to a word by specifying certain experimental procedures that determine whether or not the word applies to a certain thing.
Operational definitions were invented for the purpose of tying down relatively abstract concepts to the solid ground of empirical reality.
limitation:
operational definitions usually convey only part of the intensional meaning of a term. ( a certain term is more than just the operation ).
it is usually hard to give an operational definition for terms outside of science. EX: “freedom”
what is a definition by genus and difference?
it assings meaning to a term by identifying a genus term and one or more difference words that when combined convey the meaning of the term being defined.
-genus means: larger class (animal)
-species: smaller subclass of the genus (mammal)
-difference: attributes that distinguishes the various species within a genus.
its the most effective
what are the criteria’s for lexical definitions?
- rule 1: A Lexical Definition Should Conform to the Standards of Proper Grammar
- Rule 2: A Lexical Definition Should Convey the Essential Meaning of the Word Being Defined
- Rule 3: A Lexical Definition Should Be Neither Too Broad nor Too Narrow
- Rule 4: A Lexical Definition Should Avoid Circularity
- Rule 5: A Lexical Definition Should Not Be Negative When It Can Be Affirmative
- Rule 6: A Lexical Definition Should Avoid Figurative, Obscure, Vague, or Ambiguous Language
- Rule 7: A Lexical Definition Should Avoid Affective Terminology
- Rule 8: A Lexical Definition Should Indicate the Context to Which the Definiens Pertains
