Semantics Vocabulary Flashcards
semantics
the study of meaning in language
metaphor
a semantic change based on a similarity in form or function between the original concept and the target concept named by a word
metonymy
a figure of speech (or trope) in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it’s closely associated
synecdoche
turns of meaning within one and the same semantic field: a term is represented by another term, the extension of which is either semantically wider or semantically narrower
syntagmatic relations
the relations that hold among elements that can occur in combination with one another, in well-formed syntagms
paradigmatic relation
a relation that holds between elements of the same category, i.e. elements that can be substituted for each other
synonymy
occurs when two or more linguistic forms are used to substitute one another in any context in which their common meaning is not affected denotatively or connotatively
hyponymy
a word or phrase whose semantic field is more specific than its hypernym
antonymy
semantic qualities or sense relations that exist between words (lexemes) with opposite meanings in certain contexts
incompatibility
the most general type of semantic relation between lexical items, the meaning of which entails exclusion
homonymy
the relationship between words that are homonyms—words that have different meanings but are pronounced the same or spelled the same or both
polysemy
the association of one word with two or more distinct meanings, and a polyseme is a word or phrase with multiple meanings
compositional semantics
the principle that the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them
reference (extension)
the relationships between nouns or pronouns and objects that are named by them
sense (intension)
relation to other expressions in the language system
possible worlds semantics
a complete and consistent way the world is or could have been
Principle of Compositionality
the principle that the meaning of a (syntactically complex) whole is a function only of the meanings of its (syntactic) parts together with the manner in which these parts were combined
denotative meaning
the relationship between a linguistic sign and its direct content. often considered the primary meaning of the sign
connotative meaning
getting meaning from a word, phrase, or sentence according to what it suggests, or what we associate the word with, that goes beyond its formal definitions
social meaning
what an expression conveys about the contexts or social circumstances of its use
thematic meaning
what is communicated by the way in which a speaker or a writer organizes the message in terms of ordering focus and emphasis
Theory of Naming
the view that the meaning or semantic content of a proper name is identical to the descriptions associated with it by speakers, while their referents are determined to be the objects that satisfy these descriptions
Conceptual Theory of Meaning
the literal or core sense of a word
Behavioristic Theory of Meaning
established link between word and object
collocation
a meaningful word combination that typically occurs in natural language
homography
when a set of words are spelled identically but have different meanings
analytic sentence
a sentence that is necessarily true, because of the senses of the words in it
contradictory sentence
a sentence that is necessarily false, because of the senses of the words in it.
synthetic sentence
a sentence that is not analytic or contradictory, but which may be true or false depending on the way the world is
entailment
the principle that under certain conditions the truth of one statement ensures the truth of a second statement
hypernym
a word whose meaning includes the meanings of other words
