Chapter 10: Sentence Meaning Flashcards
Compositional meaning
The individual meaning of constructions.
Meaning
The information that is inextricably linked to the forms of language; words or constructions.
Semantics
The subfield of linguistics that is concerned with the study of meaning.
Referents
The people or objects the noun phrases of a clause refer to.
Reference
The relationship between the noun phrase and the person or object referred to.
Specific reference
When speakers refer to a revert that is known or familiar to them.
Non-specific reference
When a speaker refers to a referent that is not known to them.
Definite reference
The referent is identifiable for the addressee according to the speaker.
Indefinite referent
The referent is not identifiable for the addressee according to the speaker.
Generic reference
A reference made to a species or category as a whole.
Categorial reference
When a reference is made to one specific member of species or category
Deixis
When words refer to entities that can be identified on the basis of a common frame of reference within the speech situation.
Antecedent
A pronominal element that does not ‘point’ directly to a referent presented in the speech situation, but refers back to a constituent introduced earlier.
Anaphoric
The reference to an antecedent.
Situation
A collection of circumstances that is the case at a certain moment; verb phrases refer to something that involves the passage of time.
Tense
This localizes the time of the situation described in the clause; the three tenses are past, present and future.
Absolute tense
When tenses are interpreted in relation to the speech moment.
Relative tense
When the point of reference in a moment in time is different from the moment of speaking.
Aspect
This specifies the temporal perspective from which the speaker is presenting the situation.
Perfective aspect
When the situation is presented as a finished and complete whole.
Imperfective aspect
When the situation is presented as being in progress.
Situation types
Different types of situations.
Dynamic situations
Situations in which something changes.
Static situations
Situations that do not develop and stay the same.
Controlled situations
When one of the participants controls whether the situation can happen.
Non-controlled situations
When the participants cannot control if the situation can happen.
Lexical meaning
The individual meaning of words.
