Theories Of Meaning

Question 1

Referential theory of meaning

Answer 1

Derives from language being attached to the real world

Saeed, (2003)
Meaning is given to word by showing how they relates to real world entities.
Words real world entities
Sentences are events and situations

Oinoiyle (2016)
Meaning is removed from the speakers mind and squarely places in the real world.

Ex: i saw Nelson Madela on tv yesterday

3 types if referents
Referring and non referring
Constant and variables
Referent and extension

Referring and non referring
Referring : words that pick-out entities in the real world ex: that boy, this dog

Non referring: words that do not pick out entities from the real world ex: very, so

To distinguish between referring and non referring referents
The capability to pick out entities
Context
Should be considered

Constant and variables
Constant referents are the expressions that have the same meaning across a range out utterances.
Pacific ocean, Eiffel tower

Variables are the words whose meaning depend on the context.
She like you

To distinguish context should be considered

Referent and extensions
Referent - the actual entity of the world referred to by the word
Extension- a group if entities that can possibly be the referent.
The capital of United States is Washington

However, there is more to meaning that picking out entities in the real world

Kempson (1977)
Its an imperfect theory it applies only to physical objects not to abstract notions

Problems
•referring to non existent elements
• some words do not have a real world referent
• no one to one correspondence between words and what is represents
• words with compositional meaning.

:) theres more to meaning that what is explained by the referential theory.

Question 2

Representational theory

Answer 2

Crystal 1987
Semantics in not directly concerned with the external world

The ability to walk about the world depends on the mental model for it

Kempson (1977)
Words become referents to the real world not through a direct link but through the mediation of concepts in mind.

Saeed,2003
Meaning derives form language being a reflection of conceptual structure
:) Meaning is associated with mental representations.

What are mental representation 
Oldest idea- images 
But 
Kreidler 2002 
One can have multiple images about the same entity
Saeed,2003 
Different speakers have different images

To gain a common meaning through mental representation, assuming it images would be accurate

Later it was hypotheised that. Mental representation are not visual but abstract : concepts

No concrete definiton Saeed,2003
Kemposn 1997, concepts carry non visual features that make a dog dog and democracy democracy.

This non visual feature.can be the knowledge about the fragments of the world we store in mind.

However the relationship between concepts and meaning is not always straightforward
Universal vs cultural specific
Simple vs complex