Chapter 7 Flashcards
broadly, the relation between words with opposite meanings; narrowly, just the relation gradable contraries
antonymy
the meanings conventionally associated with a linguistic form; contrasts with utterance meaning
coded content
a pair of expressions that make
complementary antonyms (aka complemetaries)
compositionality (principle of): the idea that the meaning of a complex expression should be a regular function of the meanings of its parts
compositionality (principle of)
the study of how the meanings of complex expressions are built up from, or otherwise related to, the senses of their individual parts; also see lexical semantics
compositional semantics
a figure of thought that allows one complex frame to be conceptualized in terms of another frame; e.g., UP is GOOD (the evaluative frame associated with good is conceptualized in terms of the spatial frame associated with up)
conceptual metaphor
any effect or association arising from the use of a meaningful expression, aside from its reference; contrasts with an expression’s denotation, that is, its effects on reference
connotation
the process of understanding an expressed meaning; the imaginative enactment of propositional contents in the mind of a language user
construal
a pair of lexemes or other expressions that denote opposite ends on a scale of alternatives: e.g., short/tall, quiet/loud, eager/shy; cannot both be true at any time, but both may be false
contrary antonyms (aka contraries)
a customary way of doing something in a community; an arbitrary behavior that people adhere to because they expect others to do the same
convention
a pair of lexemes or other expressions that denote the same situation from differing or “opposite” perspectives, e.g., give/take, learn/teach, above/below
converse antonyms (aka converses)
words or constructions that point to some aspect of an utterance context, e.g., the place and time of an utterance (here, now), speaker (I), addressee (you)
deictic expressions
a symbolic pointing relation between a linguistic sign and its context of utterance
deixis
the thing, state or event that a linguistic expression refers to in the real world, or, more precisely, in some large set of possible worlds; the potential referents of an expression
denotation
a standard way of representing a mental or social lexicon as a list of lexemes ordered alphabetically by spelling, each with information about its uses, its senses, and its pronunciations
dictionary
those aspects of an expression’s meaning that reflect a speaker’s attitude toward or evaluation of what is spoken about
emotive content
the mental encyclopedia contains knowledge that supplements the lexicon and includes information not included in a lexeme’s semantic contents; more generally, encyclopedic knowledge encompasses both general and expert knowledge about the world
encyclopedias and encyclopedic knowledge
a relation between two propositions, P and Q, such that if P is true and P entails Q, then Q must also be true
entailment
a reusable linguistic form
expression
the depiction of a static situation—like a road over some terrain, or a sloping roof—as a path that one imaginatively travels; e.g., the road winds through the mountains, the roof slopes gently {up/down}
fictive motion
the background knowledge associated with an expression, distinct from its profile
frame, semantic
the participants and relations in a semantic frame
frame elements
lexemes or expressions that share the same form (in spelling, in pronunciation, or in both) but have different senses; e.g., sea and see
homonyms
a term, a, which is less specific than some other term, b, and which therefore has a broader denotation; thus move is a hypernym of walk, and cook is a hypernym of fry
hypernym
a term, a, which is more specific than some other term, b, and which therefore has a narrower denotation; thus amble is a hyponym of walk, and mumble is a hyponym of speak
hyponym
a type of sign for which the signifier somehow resembles its signified; contrasts with index and symbol
icon
any visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory or somato‑sensory associations that a linguistic expression may have
imagery
in semantics, a type of sign for which the signifier and the signified are somehow physically or causally connected; contrasts with icon and symbol
index (i) (noun)
the use of language to convey a context‑specific meaning
indexicality
occurring across separate conscious minds through shared experience and consensus
intersubjective
the study of the kinds of meanings associated with individual expressions, including morphemes, lexemes, and idioms; contrasts with compositional semantics
lexical semantics
the mental dictionary; the speaker’s knowledge of the words of a language and how they are used
lexicon
the extension of an expression typically used in one domain to use in another, e.g., the term leap, which refers to a kind of jump, is now often used metaphorically in such expressions as a leap of faith; based on analogical reasoning
metaphor
a kind of semantic shift whereby the meaning of a word, expression, or construction comes to refer to an associated object or situation; e.g. be going to shifting from denoting a motion event to denoting future tense or purpose.
metonymy
a sentence that expresses two propositions both of which cannot be simultaneously true; a useful device for testing the entailments of lexemes
paradox
one of several ways of construing a situation
perspective
the property of having multiple, distinct, and incompatible senses
polysemy
the study of how context shapes our use and interpretation of linguistic expressions; the competence to draw from context plausible inferences, which complement linguistic meanings
pragmatics
a background proposition that comes embedded in the use of a construction, and which gets expressed without being asserted
presupposition
the primary figure, or focus of attention within a larger conceptual structure, or frame; the profile is what an expression designates within a frame
profile
a basic unit of thought; something which one could believe or know, which could be true or false
proposition
those aspects of an expression’s meaning that affect the truth conditions of an expressed proposition
propositional content
a salient exemplar or subtype of a category
prototype
a way of reasoning about a category based on one or a few especially salient models or exemplars
prototype effect
the relation between a linguistic expression and its potential referents
reference
the “real world” objects of thought and language; people, objects, and situations that exist independently of human language, but toward which human language may be directed
referents
a variety that is associated with the specialized activities of a particular group
register
lexemes or constructions denoting motion or change in opposite directions; e.g., melt:freeze, come:go, buy:sell
reversive antonyms (aka reversives)
in semantics, a dynamic frame, consisting of a series of events or scenarios that unfold through time
script
the study of how linguistic forms make sense (have meaning); the relation between morphosyntactic forms and their coded semantic content
semantics
the conventional significance (i.e., meaning) of a linguistic sign (such as a word)
sense
a linguistic expression, drawing, or other representation associated with a meaning or conception; a sign has two parts: a formal part, that is the signifier, and a conceptual part, that is the signified
sign
the content of a sign; the conceptual content conventionally associated with a signifier
signified
the form of a sign; that aspect of a sign that expresses a meaning
signifier
a type of sign for which the relation between the signifier and the signified is a matter of convention; contrasts with icon and index
symbol
a relation between lexemes or other expressions that make the same or similar contributions to the sense of a sentence
synonymy
a lexical field in which lexemes are arranged in a branching hierarchy of inclusion relations, e.g. the lexical field of animals includes a branch of dogs which includes a branch of poodles
taxonomy
what a speaker intends to express by his or her use of language in a particular context
utterance meaning
the quality of having a relatively broad—or broadly undefined— sense, and thus encompassing a relatively wide range of possible referents
vagueness
