Semantics

Question 1

Anaphor & Antecedent
“Lisa cooked the food, but I don’t think she followed the recipe very well.”

Answer 1

Lisa = Antecedent
She = Anaphor

Question 2

Agent

Answer 2

the initiator/doer of the action (volitional)

Question 3

Patient

Answer 3

entity that undergoes an action; Is directly affected; changes state

Question 4

Theme

Answer 4

(inanimate) entity that undergoes an action; Is directly affected; changes state

Question 5

Experiencer

Answer 5

the living entity that feels or perceives something

Question 6

Beneficiary

Answer 6

The entity that benefits from the action or event denoted by the predicate.

Question 7

Instrument

Answer 7

The medium/tool by which the action or event denoted by the predicate is carried out.

Question 8

Recipient

Answer 8

subclass of “goal”, used for verbs involving a change of possession

Question 9

Location

Answer 9

place where the action takes place

Question 10

Source

Answer 10

entity from which the “MOTION” takes place

Question 11

Goal

Answer 11

entity towards which the “motion” takes place. (Where it ends up)

Question 12

Jill really doesn’t like snakes.

Answer 12

experiencer

Question 13

Jack threw Jill a surprise party.

Answer 13

beneficiary

Question 14

Please don’t drop the vase.

Answer 14

theme

Question 15

Jack smashed the lock with a hammer.

Answer 15

instrument

Question 16

The new family moved into the old Trump mansion.

Answer 16

goal

Question 17

Donny told the judge more lies.

Answer 17

recipient

Question 18

Jill kicked Bob

Answer 18

agent

Question 19

Jill moved the vase from the shelf to the dinner table

Answer 19

source

Question 20

Jill lives in England

Answer 20

location

Question 21

Define:
metaphor

Answer 21

figurative language; e.g:
“My holiday was a nightmare.”

Question 22

Define:
metonymy

Answer 22

Figurative language traditionally defined as the use of an expression in a sense contiguous to its literal meaning, e.g., in “the kettle is boiling” - “kettle” is contiguous to the water in the kettle

Question 23

Define:
Deictic

Answer 23

Expressions whose interpretation always depends on reference to the “personal”, “spatial”, or “temporal” context of the utterance. The referents of deictic expressions vary with the situation.

Question 24

Cognitive semantics (cognitive linguistics)

Answer 24

Any approach to (natural language) semantics that studies meaning as a cognitive phenomenon (i.e. mental process).

Question 25

Classical category theory

Answer 25

A theory of categories in which category membership can be defined with a list of necessary and sufficient conditions. (True or false)

Question 26

Define
Prototype

Answer 26

The prototype of a category is the central tendency of the category’s members.
Common category members are those who share the most attributes with other members of their category, and the fewest with members of other categories.
- (Interlocking Circles with varying levels of relatedness to the central category/theme)

Question 27

Define
Radial categories (in word meaning)

Answer 27

Type of lexical category in which the expression’s central meaning is associated with a number of extended meanings which cannot be predicted by general rules.
“head of the queue”
“head of a comet”
“head of a page”
“head of a hammer”
“head of a department”
“head of a bed”

Question 28

Define
Thematic roles

Answer 28

Categories such as agent, experiencer, goal, these, etc: used to describe the underlying semantics and argument structure of verbs.

Question 29

Define
Conceptual metaphor

Answer 29

A mapping between a source domain and a target domain that is the basis for metaphors, coherent with the mapping.
For example, the Conceptual metaphor “Time is Money” maps our understanding of money onto time, leading to phrases like “don’t waste my time.”

• (a familiar source domain and a more abstract target domain)

Question 30

Define
Vehicle and Target in metaphor

Answer 30

A metaphor’s vehicle is the concept which is used to conceptualize the metaphor’s target.

• Vehicle: Provides the imagery or concept used to understand something else. It is the concrete or familiar concept that carries the metaphorical meaning (e.g., in “Time is money,” money is the Vehicle).
• Target: The concept being described or understood through the metaphor. Usually the more abstract or unfamiliar concept (e.g., in “Time is money,” time is the Target).

Question 31

Define
Modularity

Answer 31

Some (e.g. Chomsky) see the mind as being divided in various “modules”, or more/less isolated functional compartments. These modules process different types of information (visual, linguistic, haptic, etc.)

Question 32

Define
Idealized Cognitive Models (ICMs)

Answer 32

Mental frameworks or “frames” that represent general concepts or typical cases, even if they don’t fit all possible exceptions.
- Example: The concept of “bachelor” as an unmarried adult male is an ICM, even though there are exceptions like the pope or a man living with his girlfriend.

Question 33

Image Schemas

Answer 33

Basic mental patterns based on repeated physical experiences that shape how we understand and describe the world.
Examples: Concepts like:

• CONTAINMENT (something inside something else),
• SOURCE-PATH-GOAL (movement from one place to another)
• FORCE (interaction of forces)

are common image schemas that appear in language.

Question 34

Landmark and Trajectory

Answer 34

In language, the landmark is a reference point, and the trajectory is an object or entity that moves or is positioned relative to it.
- Example: In the sentence “The bird flew over the house,” the house is the landmark, and the bird’s flight path is the trajectory.