Meaning Flashcards
The nature of meaning
Relation between LINGUISTIC SIGN and its MEANING = ARBITRARY (non-natural)
BUT
the relation also = CONVENTIONAL,
so we cannot really attatch ANY meaning to ANY word - cf. stipulative definitions
Stipulative definitions:
“a declaration of a meaning that is intended to be attached by the speaker to a word, expression, or symbol and that usually does not already have an established use in the sense intended”
HUMPTY DUMPTY
glory: a nice knockdown argument for you
The meaning of “meaning”
What kind of meaning is semantics concerned with?
> to denote, to be described or defined as for the verb
denotation, signification, acceptation for the noun
Semantics = concerned with LITERAL meaning:
> meaning that is CONSTANT in DIFF USES of an expression
in context, words can aquire diff layer of meaning (pragmatics): I’d like a glass of water
Problems with NL (NATURAL LANGUAGE) defintions:
> > circularity: we can’t explain the meaning of a linguistic expression with a natural language (NL)
Hill: small mountain, Mountain: tall hill
> > we’ll need a metalanguage: A language to describe and analyse NL
needs to be UNAMBIGUOUS
NL: object language
Meaning is compositional
We produce + understand never heard before sentences
» We combine words together to yield an interpretation for the sentence as a whole
“ I saw a pink whale in the parking lot. “
(I + saw + a + pink+ whale + in + the + parking + lot)
»like summing up numbers we haven’t summed before: 1437.952 + 21.84 =?
We have some algorithm to compute the meaning of whole sentences
»We want to be able to MODEL HOW this happens
» We know what it would take for what is expressed by the sentence to be true
categorematic/syncategorematic words combine
TAM combines
Categorematic words
Mainly nouns, adjectives and verbs: basis for categorisation
Syncategorematic words
EG: the, a, some, all, if, because, for, to etc..
> Not so easy to paraphrase meaning in isolation –combine with categorematic words
> All As are B/All As B
All men are mortal.
All dogs bark.
Tense, aspect and modality combine with a base sentence form
Lauren walk to the park
Lauren walk-ed to the park
Lauren should/will/may walk to the park
- MEANING CHANGES
Meaning, reality and concepts
Semiotic triangle: Relating language and meanings
MIND LANG WORLD
mind +lang = cognitive approaches
world + lang = denotational approaches
cognitive approaches to meaning: Prototype theory
Eleanor Rosch, 70s
- natural conceptual categories structured around “best” examples/prototypes of categories
> Other examples assimilated to a category depending on whether they sufficiently resemble the prototype or not
Subjects asked to say how good something is an exemplar of a category i.e. ‘Goodness-of-Exemplar’ (GOE) ratings
E.g. carrot, turnip, beetroot, eggplant, parsley, rhubarb, lemon for vegetable
> Scale 1 – 7: 1 = best exemplar
Prototypes determined by selecting item with lowest average score
Argument that only the prototype has 100% membership to a category
»> Degree of membership of other items depends on their degree of resemblance with the prototype
»> So GOE ratings = degrees of membership
a natural category has no real boundary?
“There is no fixed limit on how far something can depart from the prototype and still be assimilated to the class, if the categorizer is perceptive or clever enough to find some point of resemblance to typical instances.”
Denotational meaning: the semanticists approach
Meaning does NOT equal ideas
> difficult to know a speaker’s mind
To enable SCIENTIFIC STUDY, Formal Semanticists ASSUME:
MEANING= based in LANG and (MIND) EXTERNAL REALITY
If meanings had nothing to do with reality how could we communicate?
»_space; Our intention is to apply a word to the same things out there
»_space;> This intention remains even if we are (partly) ignorant of the exact meaning of something
