File 6.0 What is Semantics?

Question 1

Semantics

Answer 1

A sub-field of linguistics that studies linguistic meaning and how expressions convey meanings.

Question 2

Lexical Semantics

Answer 2

Deals with the meanings of words and other lexical expressions, including meaning relationships among them.

Question 3

Compositional Semantics

Answer 3

Compositional Semantics is concerned with phrasal meanings and how phrasal meanings are assembled.

Question 4

Sense

Answer 4

Sense of an expression is to have some mental representation of its meaning.

Question 5

Reference

Answer 5

To know what things in the world the expression refers to.

Question 6

Referents

Answer 6

The particular entities in the world to which some expression refers to. The collection of all referents of an expression is its reference.

Question 7

Dictionary Style Definitions

Answer 7

That defines words in terms of other words, but also reflects the way that speakers of a language really use that word. We can envision an imaginary idealized dictionary that changes with the times, lists all of the words in a language at a given time, and provides a verbal definition of each according to speakers’ use of that word.

Question 8

Mental Image Definitions

Answer 8

Word’s meaning that is stored in our minds as a mental image.

Question 9

Usage-Based Definitions

Answer 9

When it is suitable to use that word in order to convey a particular meaning or grammatical relationship.

Question 10

Hyponumy

Answer 10

One kind of word meaning relation.

Question 11

Hypernym

Answer 11

A word with a broad meaning that more specific words fall under; a superordinate. EX: Poodle is a hypernym of Dog.

Question 12

Sister Terms

Answer 12

When two words reference is intuitively on the same level in the hierarchy. This means that they are contained in all the same sets, or that they have the same hypernyms.

Question 13

Synonymy

Answer 13

Two words are synonymous if they have the exactly the same reference.

Question 14

Antonymy

Answer 14

The basic notion of being the “opposite” in some sense. In order for two words to be antonyms of one another, they must have meanings that are related, yet these meanings must contrast with each other in some significant way.

Question 15

Complementary

Answer 15

We characterize complementary antonomy in the terms of word reference. Two words X and Y are complementary antonyms if there is nothing in the world that is a part of both X’s reference and Y’s reference.

Question 16

Gradable

Answer 16

Gradable antonyms typically represent points on a continuum, so whole something can be one or the other but not both, it can also easily be between the two (in contrast to complementary pairs), so saying “not X” does not imply “and therefore Y”.

Question 17

Proposition

Answer 17

The claim expressed by a sentence. Note that words in isolation do not express propositions.

Question 18

Truth Value

Answer 18

The ability of a proposition to be true or false. This is something to which we can inquire on.

Question 19

Truth Conditions

Answer 19

The conditions that would have to hold in the world in order for some proposition to be true.

Question 20

Entailment

Answer 20

Evaluating a prepositions truth conditions. EX If all dogs bark, then Sally’s dog also barks. This relationship is an example of entailment.

Question 21

Mutual Entailment

Answer 21

When two prepositions entail one another, we refer to their relationship as one of mutual entailment.

Question 22

Incompatible

Answer 22

Means that it would be impossible for both of them to be true; that is, the truth conditions for one are incompatible prepositions.

Question 23

Principle of Compositionality

Answer 23

The meaning of a sentence (or any other multi-word expression) is a function of the meanings of the words it contains and the way in which these words are syntactically combined.

Question 24

Idioms

Answer 24

Whenever the meaning of some multi-word expression is not compositional, it has to be stored in the mental lexicon. In the vast majority of cases, phrasal meanings are compositional.

Question 25

Intersective Adjectives

Answer 25

The two sets can be identified independently. For example, we can decide what is green and what isn’t before we even know that we’re going to look for sweaters.

Question 26

Non-Intersection

Answer 26

The use of intersection type adjectives entails (or requires)reference to the objects denoted by the nouns, while the use of non-intersection adjectives does not.

Question 27

Anti-Intersection Adjectives

Answer 27

A fake thing must have some characteristics of the real thing or the word would not be used at all; in fact a good fake may be like the real thing in every respect except actually being genuine.

Question 28

Meaning

Answer 28

We mostly think of word meanings, however in this file we endeavor to pin down word meaning (lexical meaning) itself.

Question 29

Word Reference

Answer 29

Whatever the exact nature of a word senses may be, another component of a of a word’s meaning is its reference.

Question 30

Meaning Relationships

Answer 30

Two words may be related phonologically, syntactically, and Semantically.