Semantics Flashcards
semantic theories
the study of sense relations between expressions in a language, focusing on entailment and truth conditions to describe meaning in terms of models and interpretations
compositional semantics
concerned with phrasal meanings; the ways in which individual words come together and connect to make a broader, comprehensible sentence
lexical semantics
as a subfield of linguistic semantics, is the study of word meanings
semantic features
basic features that can be combined to define semantic concepts
semantic roles
the actual role a participant plays in some real or imagined situation, apart from the linguistic encoding of those situations
lexical relations
the ways in which words are related to each other in a language
Semantics
is the study of meaning in language
morphology
the study of the forms of words.
syntax
the part of linguistics that studies the structure and formation of sentences
Plato’s
dialogue Cratylus
the only Platonic dialogue devoted exclusively to language and its relation to reality
onomatopoeic
using or creating words that imitate or name a sound
Stereotype
A preconceived and oversimplified idea of the characteristics which typify a person, race, or community which may lead to treating them in a particular way
Referent
the person, thing, or idea that a word or expression denotes, stands for, or refers to
Extension
the set of things it extends to, or applies to, if it is the sort of concept or expression that a single object by itself can satisfy
Prototype
The most typical example of a category that functions as a cognitive reference point
Coreference
occurs when two or more expressions refer to the same person or thing; they have the same referent
Anaphora
is the use of an expression whose interpretation depends upon another expression in context
Deixis
is the use of words or phrases to refer to a particular time
Grammar
rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences, and other elements, as well as their combination and interpretation
syntacticians
a linguist who specializes in the study of grammar and syntax
thematic role
of, relating to, or constituting a theme
Denotative meaning
the key that opens the most basic, literal, and direct interpretation of a word
Connotative meaning
a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly
Social meaning
It is the meaning that a word possesses by virtue of its use in particular social situations and
circumstances
Thematic meaning
It lies in the manner in which a message is organized for emphasis.
The Conceptual Theory of Meaning
In the theory of meaning, just explained, words and things are directly related But in the conceptual theory of meaning words and things are related through the mediation of concepts of the mind.
Contradictory Sentences
are just the opposite of analytic sentences; characterize statements that cannot be true based on the defined meanings of the words.
analytic sentences
a sentence, which is true because of the meaning relationship between the subject and predicate.
Gradable
They can be used in comparative constructions. The negative of one member does not necessarily imply
the other; e.g. not old doesn‟t mean young.
Hyponymy
Hyponymy: When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another, the relationship
