SEMANTICS

Question 1

system of rules underlying our knowledge of word and sentence meaning

Answer 1

semantics

Question 2

deviation from expected meaning - semantic deviance

Answer 2

anomaly

Question 3

errors created for comic effect are referred to as

Answer 3

malapropisms

Question 4

the connection between a word and its meaning is ________.

Answer 4

arbitraty

Question 5

words that sound like their meanings/nonarbitrary :

Answer 5

onomatopoeic/echoic

Question 6

how can we gather clues about meaning?

Answer 6

• morphology
• syntax
• cognates
• context
• style and register

Question 7

formal study of the conventions of word meaning

Answer 7

lexical semantics

Question 8

classifications of meaning that can be expressed in terms of binary features
[+/–], such as
[+/–human],
[+/–animate],
[+/–count]

Answer 8

semantic features

Question 9

what are the noun classes?

Answer 9

• countable/non-countable
• concrete and abstract
• common and proper

Question 10

1) inclusion of one aspect of a word’s or sentence’s meaning in the meaning of another word or sentence

2) opposition that
differentiates
between the typical
form of a word and its ‘‘_____’’ opposite

Answer 10

entailment

marked/ness

Question 11

basic classifications
of meaning under
which words are
stored in our mental
lexicons (friends, for
example)

Answer 11

semantic fields

Question 12

what is the evidence of semantic fields in our brain?

Answer 12

• slips of the tongue

- aphasia

Question 13

meaning relations among words

name the categories

Answer 13

• nyms
  1) opposite meanings: antonymy

2) similar meanings: synonymy
- euphemism

3) meaning categories: hyponymy

4) related meanings: polysemy
- retronym

5) different meanings: homonymy
- homophones
- homographs

Question 14

antonym types?

Answer 14

• gradable (smart/stupid, often/rarely, fat/thin)
• relational (teacher/student, friend/enemy, doctor/patient)
• complementary (dead/alive, before/after, day/night)

Question 15

name the definitions;

1) word or phrase used to avoid offending or to purposely obscure
2) word whose meaning is included or entailed in the meaning of a more general word
3) refers to words with two or more related meanings
4) new word or phrase created to distinguish an original word from a more recent meaning of the word

Answer 15

1) euphemism
2) hyponym (tulip/flower)
3) polysemy ( lip: of a cliff or part of the mouth)
4) retronym (analog watch/digital watch)

Question 16

name the definitions;

1) words with the same spelling and sound, but different meanings
2) different spelling or meanings but sound the same
3) different meanings and sound but same spelling

Answer 16

1) homonyms
2) homophones
3) homographs

Question 17

• Margaux contacted him (by phone, e-mail, post, telepathy).
• Margaux contacted him (by phone) and Sue did Δ, too (by e-mail).

this is an example of:

Answer 17

vagueness

Question 18

1) change in the meaning of words over time is called _______.
2) change in words’ general meanings over time is called

Answer 18

1) semantic shift

2) shift in connotation

Question 19

1) change in words’ meanings over time to more specific meanings
2) to more general meanings
3) from neutral or negative to positive
4) from neutral or positive to negative
5) complete change in words’ meanings over time

Answer 19

1) narrowing
2) broadening
3) amelioration
4) pejoration
5) shift in denotation

Question 20

nonliteral language;
language that shifts
meaning from the
primary meaning of
the word

Answer 20

figurative language

Question 21

nonliteral
meaning of
one word or phrase
describes another
word or phrase (My
car is a lemon.)

Answer 21

metaphor

Question 22

types of metaphors?

Answer 22

1) dead metaphors: metaphor that is so common that it goes unnoticed as a metaphor (I see your point.)

2) mixed metaphors: metaphor that comprises parts of different metaphors: hit the nail on the jackpot combines hit
the nail on the head and hit the jackpot

3) personification: attribution of human qualities to something that is not human

4) synesthesia: metaphorical language
in which one kind of sensation is described in terms of another; for
example, a smell described as sweet or a color as loud

5) metonymy: description of
something in terms of something with which it is closely associated: The
pen is mightier than the sword (pen = the written word/ diplomacy, sword =
violence/force)

Question 23

comparison,
usually of two unlike
things, in order to
create a nonliteral
image (run like a
deer)

Answer 23

simile

Question 24

collocation
of words or phrases
with nonliteral
meaning (kick the
bucket = die)

Answer 24

idioms