Semantics

Question 1

Semantic Theories

Answer 1

Assigns semantic contents to expressions of a language.

Question 2

Compositional Sematics

Answer 2

Deals with how individual meanings combine to form more complex phrasal meanings.

Question 3

Lexical Semantics

Answer 3

The units of analysis in lexical semantics are lexical units which include not only words, but also sub-words or sub-units such as affixes and even compound words and phrases.

Question 4

Lexical Relations

Answer 4

Are the connections established between one word and another.

Question 5

Semantic Role

Answer 5

Is the underlying relationship that a participant has with the main verb in a clause.

Question 6

Semantic Features

Answer 6

Represent the basic conceptual components of meaning for any lexical item.

Question 7

Lexical

Answer 7

Known as the dictionary definition. Is the meaning of the term in common usage.

Question 8

Semantics

Answer 8

The study of meaning in language.

Question 9

Speaker’s Meaning

Answer 9

To understand speaker’s meaning, we need to bring together two components. First, the semantic meaning is certainly part of the picture. There is some kind of connection between what the speaker is saying and the listener. There has to be assumption as well.

Question 10

Semantic Meaning

Answer 10

The context in which a sentence is used, the meanings of the words in the sentence, and its morphological and syntactic structure.
-Depends on the grammatical structure of the sentence.

Question 11

Principle of Compositionally

Answer 11

a) the meanings of the individual morphemes that make it up. (b) the morphological and syntactic structures of the sentence.
- It also implies that the meaning of the verb phrase.

Question 12

Denotative Meaning

Answer 12

The logical meaning, which indicates the essential qualities of a concept which distinguish it from other concepts.

Question 13

Connotative Meaning

Answer 13

The additional or associated meaning, which is attached to the denotative, conceptual meaning. It consists of associations made with a concept whenever that concept is referred to.

Question 14

Social Meaning

Answer 14

It is the meaning that a word possesses by virtue of its use in particular social situations and circumstances.

Question 15

Thematic Meaning

Answer 15

It lies in the manner in which a message is organized for emphasis.

Question 16

Theory of Naming

Answer 16

Language is a communication system which works with two elements; the signifier, and the signified.

Question 17

The Conceptual Theory of Meaning

Answer 17

Words and things are related through the mediation of concepts of the mind.

Question 18

The Behavioristic Theory of Meaning

Answer 18

Description of a language is not complete without some reference to the context of situation in which the language operated.

Question 19

The Study of Truth

Answer 19

The study of different types of truth embodied in individual sentences (analytic, contradictory, and synthetic) and the study of different types of truth relations that hold between sentences (entailment and presupposition).

Question 20

Presupposition

Answer 20

Is a proposition that must be assumed to be true in order to judge the truth or falsity of another sentence.

Question 21

Entailment

Answer 21

Is a proposition that follows necessarily from another sentence.
-The test for entailment is as follows; sentence (a) entails sentence (b) if the truth of sentence (a) ensures the truth of sentence (b) and if the falsity of sentence (b) ensures the falsity of sentence (a).

Question 22

Antonymy

Answer 22

Two forms with opposite meanings are called antonyms. Antonyms are usually of two main kinds.

• Gradable: They can be used in comparative constructions.
• Non-Gradable (complementary pairs): They are not normally used in comparative constructions and the negative of one member does imply the other.

Question 23

Hyponymy

Answer 23

Looking at the meaning of words in some type of hierarchical relationship.

Question 24

Prototype

Answer 24

It explains the meaning of certain words like bird not in terms of component feature.

Question 25

Homophony

Answer 25

When two or more differently written forms have the same pronunciation but different meaning.

Question 26

Homography

Answer 26

When two or more forms are the same only in writing but different in pronunciation and meaning they are described as homographs such as lead ([lid]) and lead ([led]).

Question 27

Homonymy

Answer 27

It is when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings, but have the same pronunciation and spelling.

Question 28

Polysemy

Answer 28

It is when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings, but have the same pronunciation and spelling.

Question 29

Metonymy

Answer 29

This relationship is essentially based on a close connection in everyday experience.

Question 30

Collocation

Answer 30

Those words which tend to occur with other words.

- Hammer collocates with nail.