Semantics Flashcards
What does the Linguistics Core consist of?
Sounds, Structures, Sense
A subfield of Linguistics is signs..what is another word for it?
phonology (phonomes)
A subfield of Linguistics is structures (within a word)… what is another word for it?
morphology (morpheme)
A subfield of Linguistics is structures (larger than words)… what is another word for it?
syntax (lexemes, phrases & clauses)
A subfield of Linguistics is sense & meaning… what is another word for it?
semantics
What are lexical semantics?
meaning of words
What are sentential semantics?
meaning of syntactic units larger than words (phrases & sentences)
What are discourse semantics?
meaning created in context (very close to pragmatics)
What is the difference between referential meaning and the associative/emotional meaning?
The referential meaning is the one which is widely accepted and mostly found in the dictionary. The associative/emotional meaning is the additional, subjective, or emotional associations a word carries.
also: denotation and connotation
Referential meaning “dog”: a domesticated carnivorous mammal
Associative meaning: man’s best friend, loyal
A sound image/form symbolises a ….? /
concept
Meaning is the relation between a linguistic expression and a mental category that is used to classify objects, i.e. a concept.
A concept refers to a ….? |
referent
A sound sequence/form stands for a …? _
referent
What is sense in terms of semiotic triangle?
How we present/describe these referents (definition) e.g. old-young
intra-linguistic side of meaning, close to mental concept
What is a reference?
the act of using an expression to allow the listener to identify an entity in the real world “pointing with language”
POTUS (=sense); Obama, Trump (=referent)
concept & form e.g. pronouns
what is a referent?
the entitity in the world picked out by specific words
object in reality
What is a denotation?
primary meaning, dictionary meaning; essential features
cow: a fully grown female animal of a domesticated breed of ox
conceptual meaning
What is a connotation?
all associations/ideas/emotions that come in mind; associated features
cow: cute, ice cream, Milka chocolate
associative meaning, experience
The linguistic sign consists of two parts … which ones?
signifier (form) & signified (concept)
these signs are symbols
physical form of the sign, which can be a sound, a word, an image, or any tangible representation. e.g. pic of tree, word ‘tree’
What are Semiotics?
the study of signs
What is the diachronic study of language?
studies language over time, the changes over the course of the history of language
What is the synchronic study of language?
studies language at a certain point of time; abstraction, because language is always in transition
what does syntagmatic mean?
how to connect signs to form a sentence
What is the syntagmatic axis?
axis of combination e.g. “The man cried.”
also: syntagmatic relation
What does paradigmatic mean?
what signs can replace a sign within a sentence
What is the paradigmatic axis?
Axis of selection/substitution e.g. “The man cried.” -> instead of man: boy, baby or instead of cried, died, sang
also: paradigmatic relation
What does Langue mean?
de Saussure
language system shared by a speech community
What does Parole mean?
de Saussure
act of speaking by actual speakers
What are Homophones?
two or more different (written) forms have the same pronunciation
e.g meat/meet, to/two/too, flour/flower
What are Homonyms?
same form (written or spoken) + pronunciation has two or more unrelated meanings
e.g. bat (animal) and bat (used in sports), sole (foot) and sole (single)
What does Polysemy mean?
one form having multiple meanings
e.g. “head” can describe the head of a person, head of a school, top of a glass bottle
What is Synonymy?
Different contextual limitations indicate different semantic properties, there is no identical synonymy only near-synonyms
There are three famous approaches to categorization (cognitive), what are they?
- Semantic Feature Analysis (Aristotle)
- Family resemblance (Wittgenstein)
- Prototype Theory (Rosch)
What is the Semantic Feature Analysis about?
identifying components/elements that make up meaning (=atoms of meaning)
man: human, male, adult / boy: human, male, not adult
impossible for abstract words -> core attributes aren’t always given
What is the Family resemblance approach about?
it realized the problem with semantic features, he found partial similarities
his example was “Game” (tennis, cards, roulette)
-> done for entertainment, somebody wins, requires training or practice, involves more than one person
Problem: not all games share all those features
What is the Prototype Theory about?
Members of a category graded according to their typicality, central members share many features with the prototype
allows for peripheral members and fuzzy boundaries
What is Antonymy?
a pair of words that have opposite meanings
Antonymy has four categories…what are they + examples?
- Gradable
- Non-gradable
- Reversives: (reversed action)
- Converses: (mutual implication)
Gradable: big, bigger; Non-gradable: alive-dead; Reversives: reversed action (open-closed); Converses: buying and selling
Synonymy has four categories…what are they + examples?
- Near synonymy
- Regional
- Stylistic
- Emotional
near synonymy: start-begin; regional: truck-lorry; stylistic: car-automobile; emotional: mum-mommy
What is Euphemism?
substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression e.g. die-pass away
What is Hyponymy?
meaning relations; words in a hierarchical relationship
superordinate = higher level, subordinate = lower level
What is a Hypernym?
word that represents a general or broader category under which more specific words fall
also called a superordinate
e.g. flower, animal, seasons
What is a Hyponym?
word that represents a more specific concept within a broader category (or class)
also: subordinate, multiple in one category are co-hyponyms
e.g. rose/tulip; lion/penguin; summer/winter
What is an adequate definition for meaning?
relation between a linguistics expression and a mental category that is used to classify objects i.e. a concept
What are Lexemes?
“Entries” into our mental lexicon, so that we can speak and comprehend words
What do Lexemes consist of?
- Form (Pronunciation, Spelling, Word Class, Inflectional Class)
- Meaning (Semantics)
What does the term “lexical fields” mean?
words that are related in terms of meaning, they organize words into structures
What is a deictic expression?
a word or phrase (such as this, that, these, those, now, then, here) that points to the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking
“I show, I point” point to objects that are located in the situational context in which a sentence is uttered
What do sense relations refer to?
the way words are related based on their meanings, like synonyms (words with similar meanings) or antonyms (words with opposite meanings)
What are sense relations based on?
Cultural context
What are non-gradable antonyms also called and what do they mean?
Complementaries, pairs where there is no in-between
What are the categories for paradigmatic sense relations?
- Synonymy
- Antonymy
- Hyponymy
- Polysemy
- Homonymy
When we think of meaning, we have 2 types of relations… which ones are they?
- Meaning as the relation between the word and the world -> what does a word denote in the real world? & material objects & abstract concepts
- Meaning as the relation between a word and other words -> semantic network
What is Metonymy?
Conventionalized establishment of a connection between two entities/concepts (the form of one concept is used for the other concept)
e.g The crown will decide the matter.
There are three categories of Metonymy… what are they?
- Connection between function & symbol
- Connection between container & content
- Connection between a part & the whole
related by association
Example each:
The White House recently announced …
We drank the most amazing bottle of Chianti
We’re in dire need of factory hands
The quote “Metaphorical extension is part of everyday cognition, used to make sense of the world”, what does it do?
A(n) (abstract) concept is framed in terms of something more feasible and graspable -> conceptual metaphors
metaphors are related by similarity
There are three types of ambiguity.. what are they + explain the difference between them?
- Lexical
- Referential
- Structural
Lexical: words can mean multiple things
Referential: unclear who we refer to
Structural: structure makes it ambiguous
What are idioms?
expression whose meaning cannot be derived from the meaning of its component parts
push up the daisies -> Bro dies
What is a Collocation?
a word or phrase that is often used with another word or phrase but we can’t use them like Colligations because they are mostly bound together
co-occurrence of lexical items in text
What do syntagmatic sense relations consist of?
- Colligations
- Collocations
What are Colligations?
refer to the likelihood of co-occur- rence of (two or more) lexical items and grammatical categories with more freedom in terms of sentence structure
grammatical patterns words tend to follow
What are semantic roles?
we look at the roles they fulfill within a situation described by a sentence
also: Semantic roles are categories ascribed to individual participants (=arguments) within given utterances
What’s the semantic role called, where the entity performs the action + example?
Agent
The boy kicked the ball -> Who does what?
The entity that is involved in or affected by the action/movement or simply being described, what is the semantic role + example?
Theme/patient
The ball is red; the boy kicked the ball
Entity used to carry out an action… what is the semantic role called + example?
Instrument
The boy cut the rope with an old razor
Entity experiencing/undergoing the effect of an event/situation… what is the semantic role called?
Experiencer
feel, know, hear, enjoy is not an action, therefore no agent
What’s the semantic role called, where the entity/action is located?
Location
What is the semantic role called, where the entity moves from?
Source
What is the semantic role called, where the entity goes to?
Goal
What is inferencing?
use of world knowledge to discover the communicative purpose of a linguistic expression
What is the difference between compositional and non-compositional meaning?
Compositional meaning = meaning derived from the sum of the parts
Non-compositional meaning = meaning not directly tied to the literal meaning of the parts (often idiomatic or figurative).
The apple is red -> compositional; to kick the bucket -> non-composition
What are syntactic elements?
the parts of a sentence that work together according to grammar rules to create structure and convey meaning. Each element has a specific function and contributes to the sentence’s overall syntactic structure.
e.g. subject, predicate
There are two categories of meaning… what are they?
- Sentence meaning
- Pragmatic meaning
What is a semantic scope?
Deals with how the meaning of words or phrases applies within a sentence based on syntax
In the sentence “Everyone didn’t go,” the scope can affect meaning:
Wide scope of “didn’t”: “Not everyone went” (some people stayed).
Narrow scope of “didn’t”: “No one went.”
What is a compound in Linguistics?
Fixed combinations of words that form a new meaning, often not altered by syntactic elements.
Butterfly -> is not an insect made of butter -> non-compositional; bedroom -> compositional
What does asterisk mean?
ill-formed sentence, semantic anomaly
“The table is reading the newspaper.”
What are selectional restrictions?
syntax interacting with lexicon
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
violates the selectional restrictions: meaning clashes & semantically ill-formed
What are semantic roles?
role that a participant plays in an event
also: thematic role, Theta role
What is the “event” regarding semantic roles?
Predication (=clause)
What is the “participant” regarding semantic roles?
argument (e.g. Noun Phrase)
What is a predicate?
verb in a sentence
what is an argument in a sentence?
everything but the predicate
What does the predication consist of?
Predicate + argument(s)
What are THE arguments?
Agent & Theme
What does the predicate determine in a sentence?
- number of arguments
- semantic roles of the arguments
What are two “three place predicates” and what does that mean?
give, put -> they need three more arguments in that sentence
What are two “two place predicates” + what does that mean?
steal, carry -> they need two more arguments in that sentence
What are two “one place predicates” + what does that mean?
laugh, sleep -> they need one argument in that sentence
What are “zero place predicates” + what does that mean?
rain, snow, hail -> you wouldn’t need an “it” in theory but no one does that
What are the two problems with semantic roles?
- to remember all of them
- certain constructions could have more than one role
e.g. The chimney smoked. -> chimney: agent/theme/source?
What are the two solutions to the semantic role problem?
- Modes of Action (=Aktionsarten)
- Prototypes
What are the different Modes of Action (=Aktionsarten) ?
- Action
- Process
- Position
- State
These modes emerge as a combo out of these four semantic features of verbs: +/- control, +/- dynamic, +/- telic, +/- experience
What is the idea behind the Prototype solution regarding semantic roles?
It examines the agents and themes of sentences to identify the most typical agent, analyzing them on a gradient of more or less typicality.
The Prototype solution categorizes semantic roles as abstract functions, what are they called?
Proto-roles
What are the characteristics of a Proto-agent?
- Volitional (control)
- Causing a state of change in another participant
- Experience (perception)
- More
“John resembles his father” -> John: non-prototypical Agent, his father: non-prototypical theme
What are the characteristics of a Proto-patient?
- undergoes change of state
- causally affected by another participant
- Direction/endpoint
“John built this house” -> John: prototypical Agent, this house: prototypical theme
We could potentially create an infinite number of sentences, what does this mean?
An infinite number of meanings, which we just couldn’t list
A lexicon is large but finite, meaning?
We could list (core) meanings
What is proposition in Linguistics?
That what’s stated/asserted in a sentence
Representing sentence meaning
What is the truth value in Linguistics?
If the propositional content is true or false.
Representing sentence meaning
We can categorize the meaning relations between sentences… what are they?
- Paraphrase ( ~synonymy)
- Contradiction (~antonymy)
- Entailment (~hyponymy)
- Presupposition
What does Paraphrase mean in the context of semantic relations between sentences?
Sentences A and B express the same proposition → they share the same truth value
e.g. The police chased the burglar. The burglar was chased by the police.
What does Contradiction mean in the context of semantic relations between sentences?
Sentences A and B express the opposite proposition → they share the opposite truth value
e.g. Charles is a bachelor. Charles is married.
What does Entailment mean in the context of semantic relations between sentences?
If sentence A is true, sentence B must also be true
e.g. Mr. Sellers killed his wife. Mrs. Sellers is dead. But negation doesn’t work e.g. He didn’t kill his wife, but his wife might still be dead yk
What does Presupposition mean in the context of semantic relations between sentences?
If sentence A is true, sentence B is implied to be true
e.g. She cried before she finished her thesis.
-> She finished her thesis.
Entailment can only occur in …?
declarative sentences (statements)
Presuppositions can be …?
cancelled
She died before she finished her thesis.
Presuppositions remain intact even when the sentence is …?
negated
I do not regret leaving London (presupposition remains because he still left London)
Entailments can be cancelled by …?
negation but not always!
Entailments are tied to the truth of the sentence
Mr. Sellers did not kill his wife (entailment disappears because she could still be alive)
What is a Corpus?
a large, balanced collection of natural texts (written and/or spoken)
Typically based on a specific type of text, from a particular period, aimed at being representative of the type under examination. Can also be multilingual.
Name three well-known corpora.
- BNC
- COCA
- VOICE
How do Corpora give insights into semantics?
- Frequency of a word
- Systematic collocations with other words
- Charting language change
- Systematic association with particular registers/genres/dialects/age groups
What are the five linguistic dichotomies and whom are they by?
- synchronic - diachronic
- syntagmatic - paradigmatic
- langue - parole
- signifier - signified
- performance - competence (Chomsky)
rest is by de Saussure
langue refers to the structure of language as a social institution. Parole is the performance or expression of language by speakers. e.g. A person speaking or writing a sentence is an instance of parole, while the grammar that underlies the sentence is langue.
What’s the difference between Homography and Homonymy?
Homonymy: same form, same pronunciation, different meanings
Homography: same form, different pronunciation, different meanings
