Semantics Flashcards
structural semantics
a purely language-internal approach to discover semantic properties of lexical units
Wir schauen uns das wort an und ignorieren alle anderen faktoren wie psychologie etc.
lexical field (word field)
lexical units that
- belong to the same word class
- share at least one specific semantic component
there are lexical units that don’t have hyperonyms (colorterms, black, white, green. Color would be a noun)
archillexeme (Hyperonym)
a lexical unit representing the semantic features common to all members of a word field
furniture: chair, wardrobe etc.
Überbegriff: Hyponymy (X is a kind of Y)
Hyponyms: Subordinates
Hyponyms
Subordinate of Hyperonym, co-hyponyms (eagle, hawk, owl
Meronymy
Meronyms are the part of a Holonym, co-meronyms (wheel, windscreen, rear-mirror: Car)
Überbegriff: Meronymy (X is a part of Y)
Homographs
written the same but different meanings
- record
- bow
- minute
Homophones
sound the same but different meaning
- you, ewe, yew
- right, write, rite
Puns
jokes based on homophones (Prince of Whales - Henry IV) or Homographs (What instruments do fish play - A bass Guitar)
Synonymy
mean the same thing
near synonyms (previous-former, quickly-steadily)
Antonymy
gradable antonyms (hot-cold, slow-fast)
Complemantaries (mortal-immortal, single-married)
Relational antonyms (buy-sell, teacher-student, parent-child)
linguistic sign
signifier: form, the actual written word
signified: meaning behind the written word
Characteristics of a linguistic sign
linearity
conventionality
arbitrariness
denotation
the relationship between a linguistic sign and its denotatum
denotatum
the set of objects, people etc. to which the word can be applied
referent
the member of the denotatum referred to
reference
the relationship between phrase and the referent
polysemy and homonymy
polysemy: same etymological root (royalty)
homonymy: different etymological roots (ear)
Semantic components need to be
atomic
recurrent
binary
universal
