Semantics Flashcards
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning
Anaphora
Anaphora is coreference of one expression with its antecedent. The antecedent provides the information necessary for the expression’s interpretation.
This is often understood as an expression “referring” back to the antecedent.
Deixis
Deixis is reference by means of an expression whose interpretation is relative to the (usually) extralinguistic context of the utterance, such as:
who is speaking
the time or place of speaking
the gestures of the speaker
the current location in the discourse
Referent
The entity identified by the use of a referring expression such as a noun or noun phrase is the referent of
that expression.
If, for example, you point to a particular robin and say That bird looks sick, then the referent for the referring expression That bird is the particular robin you are pointing at.
Extension
Extension refers to the set of all potential referents for a referring expression. For example, the extension
of bird is the set of all entities (past, present, and future) that could systematically be referred to by the expression bird.
In other words, the extension of bird is the set of all birds.
Prototype
A typical member of the extension of a referring expression is a prototype of that expression. For example, a robin or a bluebird might be a prototype of bird; a pelican or an ostrich, since each is somewhat atypical, would not
be.
Stereotype
A list of characteristics describing a prototype is said to be a stereotype.
For example, the stereotype of
bird might be something like the following: has two legs and two wings, has feathers, is about six to eight inches from head to tail, makes a chirping noise, lays eggs, builds nests, and so on.
Coreference
Two linguistic expressions that refer to the same real-world entity are said to be coreferential.
Denotative meaning
The logical meaning, which indicates the essential qualities of a concept which distinguish it
from other concepts.
Connotative meaning
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
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.
Benefactive
The noun or noun phrase that refers to the person or animal who benefits, or is meant to benefit, from
the action of the verb
Agent
The entity that performs the action.
Theme
The entity that is involved in or affected by the action.
Instrument
if an agent uses another entity in performing an action, that other entity takes the role of instrument. For
example, consider the following
Location
It explains where an entity is
Source
From where an entity moves
Goal
Where an entity moves to
Synonymy
Two or more forms with very closely related meanings, which are often, but not always,
intersubstitutable in sentences. For example, Broad = Wide. It should be noted that the idea of „sameness of meaning‟ in synonymy is not necessarily „total sameness‟.
Antonymy
Two forms with opposite meanings are called antonyms. Antonyms are usually of two main kinds:
1) 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.
2) Non-Gradable (complementary pairs): They are not normally used in comparative constructions and the negative of one member does imply the other; e.g. not dead means alive. But it is important to avoid describing most antonym pairs as one word meaning the negative of another.
Hyponymy
When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another, the relationship is called
hyponymy. In this category, we are looking at the meaning of words in some type of hierarchical relationship e.g. animal-horse, animal-dog
Homonymy
It is when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings, but have the same
pronunciation and spelling; e.g. bank (of a river) and bank (financial institution). They have quite different meanings
but accidently have the same form.
Polysemy
It can be defined as one form (written or spoken) having multiple meanings which are all related by
extension. e.g. head refers to top of your body, top of a glass of beer, top of a company. If two words are treated as homonyms, they will typically have two separate entities.
