Final: Semantics Flashcards
Synonyms
Words or expressions that have the same/similar meaning in some or all contexts. Perfect synonymy is rare.
Antonyms
Words or phrases that are opposites with respect to some component of their meaning
Hypernym
Word for the general class. i.e. Fruits
Hyponym
Word for a member of the given general class. i.e. Mango is a member of Fruits
Holonym
The whole to which parts belong. i.e. Flower.
Meronym
A part of the whole. i.e. Petals is a part of a Flower.
Polysemy
The situation in which a word has two or more related meanings. i.e. Bright means shining, and intelligence.
Homophony
The situation in which a single acoustic has two or more entirely distinct meanings. i.e. Fall is for Autumn but, also move downwards.
Homphones
Separate words with the same pronunciation; may have different spellings.
Lexical Ambiguity
Created by polysemy and homophony is usually needs context to make meaning clear.
Paraphrases
Two sentences that have the same basic, general meaning. May change the focus of sentence by moving focus to the start.
Truth Condition
If one paraphrase is true, the other must also be true.
Entailment
If A is true then B must be true, if B is true, it does not necessarily mean A is true. B can be true without A being true.
Contradiction
The truth of one sentence necessarily implies the falseness of another. If A is true, then B must be false and vice versa.
Connotation
A set of associations that a word or phrase evokes.
Denotation
The real word referent of a word or phrase.
Extension
The set of entities referred to in the real world.
Intention
Concept evoked, inherent sense. Definition.
Fuzzy Concepts
Concepts that do not have clear-cut boundaries to distinguish them from other concepts. Prototype for concept cannot be easily determined.
Graded Membership
Members of a concept may be graded in terms of their typicality. Prototypical levels/types are in the middle, examples become less typical as they expand out.
Lexicalization
Process where concepts are encoded in the words of a language. Different languages organize words into different groupings.
Grammaticalization
The change of a lexical form into a grammatical form, as an affix or functional morpheme. Language vary as to which concepts are grammaticalized. Gendering of words (French) is grammaticalization.
Thematic Roles
1) Agent , the entity that performs an action
2) Theme , the entity undergoing an action or a movement,
3) Source , the starting point of a movement
4) Goal , the end point of a movement
5) Location , the place where an action occurs.
Presupposition
Assumption or belief implied by the use of a particular word or structure. Information that is taken for granted to be true regardless of whether the whole sentence is true or not.