Chapter 6 Semantics Flashcards
Semantics
The subfield of linguistics that studies meaning in language
Lexical Semantics
Deals with the meanings of words and other lexical expressions, including the meaning relationships among them
Compositional Semantics
Concerned with phrasal meanings and how phrasal meanings are assembled
Sense of Expression
A mental representation of a meaning or concept
Referents
The particular entities in the world to which some expression refers
Dictionary-Style Definition
Defines words in terms of other words, also reflects the way speakers of a language really use that word
Mental Image
Things we have in our head and use to conceptualize reality
Word Blanket
Something about a particular set of circumstances tells whether it is appropriate to use a certain word
Hyponymy
When one set X is included in a set Y
Sister Terms
Two words in reference of the same level of hierarchy
Synonomy
Two words having exactly the same reference
Anonymy
Notion of being opposite in some sense
Complementary Pairs
Opposite words
Gradeable
Represent points on a continuum
Reverses
Pairs of words that suggest some kind of movement where one word suggests undoing the suggestion by the other
Converses
Opposing points of view
Proposition
The claim expressed by a sentence
Truth Value
The ability to be true or false
Truth Conditions
The conditions that would have to hold in the world in order for some proposition to be true
Entailment
Evaluating truth conditions
Mutual Entailment
When two propositions entail one another
Incompatible
Impossible for both propositions to be true
Principle of Compositionality
The meaning of a sentence is a function of the meanings of the words it contains and the way in which these words are syntactically combined
Compositional
Meanings of multi-word expressions
Idiom
Lexical expression in which the compositional meaning of the phrase has nothing to do with the literal meaning
Intersective Adjectives
Produce pure intersections
Relative Intersection
The reference of the adjective has to be determined relative to the reference of the noun
Pure Intersection
The simplest form of adjectival combination
Subjective Adjective
A subset for any other set that identifies big elements
Non-Intersection Adjectives
Do not entail reference to the objects denoted by the nouns
