Semantics: Flashcards
Semantics:
The study of meaning.
Word Choice:
The process where language is able to create meaning through its word choice.
-Example: They were ‘murdered’ Vs They were ‘neutralised’.
Example of Syntax:
‘Students’ destroyed the library Vs the library ‘was’ destroyed.
Prosodic Features:
- Refers to gesture and facial expressions.
- Are non-lingustic cues.
Example of phonology; intonation:
This is for eating ‘.’ Vs This is for eating?
Meaning can be displayed through:
- Images and signs
- Choice of clothes
- Taste in music
- Food
- etc
Referential / Denotational Meaning:
Basic, literal meaning of a word found in dictionary/ dictionary meaning.
Associative Meaning:
- Refers to the particular qualities or characteristics beyond the denotative meaning that people commonly think of (correctly or incorrectly) in relation to a word or phrase.
- Aka connotative meaning.
What are the three approaches to take when identifying language?
- Features
- Schemas
- Prototypes
Semantic Features:
-Dictionary-based view of defining semantics by features.
-Largely based on Referential meaning.
-Example: The noun ‘girl’ refers to a human, female.
The noun ‘girl’ does not refer to an adult or male.
Conceptual/Cognitive Semantics:
- View of semantics within cognitive linguistics which seeks to understand the relationship between language and the mind.
- Largely based on associative meaning.
- Allows various meanings and ‘fuzziness’.
What are the four key elements of cognitive semantics?
- Prototypes
- Schemas
- Lexical Relations
- Metaphor/Metonymy.
Prototypes:
- The shared or conventional meaning of words as being closer or further way from prototype.
- The proto-image of all representatives of the meaning of a word or of a category.
- Thus, a robin or a sparrow can be regarded as a prototype or a “good example” of the category bird, whereas a penguin or an ostrich is a rather “bad example” of this category.
Schemas:
-The ‘bundle of knowledge’ about a word, concept, or event.
-When thinking about a prototype, draw on schema of the concept or word.
Example: Science fiction, films or books.
The process where its schemas can change is through the: the accretion, tuning, restructuring.
Lexical Relations:
- Words exist in networks and trigger encyclopaedia meaning.
-These networks can be described as:
Synonyms: E.G Cab/Taxi, Buy/Purchase.
Antonyms: E.G Alive/Dead, Rich/Poor
Hyponyms: That categorises meanings of words in order of its property.
Metaphor/Metonymy:
- Metaphor identifies the larger conceptual metaphor with related subordinate linguistic metaphors.
- E.G Talking metaphorically about relationships in terms of journey.
- Metonymy: Refers to the metonymy’s which are one thing standing in for another.
- E.G. Downing sheets released a statements (building for in situation).
Hyponyms:
-That categorises meanings of words in order of its property.
-Almost like a food chain but for words.
+There’s the subordinate Hyponym (higher level)
+And then the co-hyponym (lower level).
-Example:
Living things - Subordinate hyponym
Plant
Flower
Daffodil - Co-hyponym.
Polysemy:
-A word having multiple meanings.
-Can be found in a phrase.
Example: The word ‘bull’ can be used in different ways:
-Beware of the bull!
-I think the elephant is a bull.
-That’s bullshit.
Homonymy:
- Two distinct words that share the same sound/spelling but have different meanings.
- Example: I need to go to the bank Vs Where is the food bank?
Metaphors:
Have a source domain and a target domain.
Source domain:
-Things we export information from (concrete)
Example: Journey. Start and end point, forwards motion and different lengths.
Target Domain:
-Things being described (abstract)
Example: Love
“their relationship has gone off-track”
“Love is a journey” = a conceptual metaphor
-Strong, affection, romantic relationship interest.
Domains and Mappings:
Mappings: Shows internal structure of metaphors and kinds of entrainments/connections different source and target domain have.
Example:
journey = domain source, Travellers = domain source
love= target domain, lovers = target domain.
Metonymy:
A figure of speech, a thing or a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Semantics and Syntax:
- Compulsory slots: noun and/ or verb phrases.]
- Option Slots: Relative or prepositional phrases.
Semantics and Syntax construal:
- Syntax = motivated by meaning
- Construal= our ability to perceive the same thing in different ways.
Semantic Roles:
- Relate to what things ‘are’ in a sentence.
- Three levels of grammatical analysis:
1) Form - word class/phrase/clause ‘The building blocks’
2) Function- Subject/object/adverbial ‘what things do’.
3) Semantic Role - Agent/Patient/Location ‘What things are’
Semantic Roles: Role:
Agent= the entity that performs the action.
Patient/theme = the entity that is affected by the action.
Instrument = the entity used by an other entity to perform an action.
Experiencer= the entity who feels, perceives, or states.
Location= the location at which something happens; where an entity is.
Source=the location/entitu
