Vocabulary File 6.0

Question 1

Semantics

Answer 1

The study of linguistic meaning.

Question 2

Lexical Semantics

Answer 2

Studying the meaning of words.

Question 3

Compositional Semantics

Answer 3

Studying the meaning of phrases and sentences based on word meanings and syntactic structure.

Question 4

Hyponymy

Answer 4

A meaning relationship between words where the reference of some word X is included in the reference of some other word Y. X is then said to be a hyponym of Y, and conversely, Y is said to be a hypernym of X

(example: poodle is a hyponym and dog is a hypernym)

Question 5

Synonymy

Answer 5

A meaning relationship between words where their reference is exactly the same. For example, couch and sofa are synonyms.

Question 6

Prototype

Answer 6

For any given set, a member that exhibits the typical qualities of the members of that set.

Question 7

Antonymy

Answer 7

A meaning relationship between words where their meanings are in some sense opposite.

Question 8

Truth Conditions

Answer 8

The set of conditions that would have to hold in the world in order for the proposition expressed by some sentence to be true.

Question 9

Truth Value

Answer 9

A true or false evaluation of a sentence- whether its truth condition is actually true.

Question 10

Pure Intersection

Answer 10

When an adjective and noun combine to create their meaning- to get the full meaning, we get the things that belong to both (example: green sweater= green + sweater)

Question 11

Relative Intersection

Answer 11

The members of the set are determined relative to the thing being denoted- for example, something that is big, for a mouse- the “big” mice are a subset of all the mice.

Question 12

Non-intersection Adjective

Answer 12

The adjective does not entail the use of the noun involved-such as “possible solution” or “alleged thief”

Question 13

Anti-intersection Adjective

Answer 13

Another type of non-intersection, the use of the adjective entails that the adjective does not refer to that noun- such as a “fake Picasso”

Question 14

Referent

Answer 14

The actual thing a word refers to (the White House)

Question 15

Variable Reference

Answer 15

When a word can refer to a number of different things. For example, “woman” can refer to a large number of people

Question 16

Sense

Answer 16

The cognitive and psychological phenomenon of meaning. The mental representation that we have of what a word or phrase means.

Question 17

Information Content

Answer 17

The aspect of linguistic meaning that tells us about the real world- the relationship between the symbols that we use to refer to things and the things they refer to- This is also called “reference”

Question 18

Set

Answer 18

A collection of items of any sort- in this case, we can use it to identify a word’s meaning, such that a word “means” the set of things that it can describe.

Question 19

Mental Image

Answer 19

Words are stored in our minds with associated “mental images” of their referent
(example: Mona Lisa brings the mental image of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting)

Question 20

Sister Terms

Answer 20

two words are “sister terms” if their reference is, intuitively on the same level in the hierarchy.
(example: a poodle and a golden retriever)

Question 21

Complementary Pairs

Answer 21

Characterized by word reference. Examples are married/unmarried, alive/dead, win/lose. For each pair, everything is either one or the other, or else is neither.

Question 22

Gradable Pairs

Answer 22

Typically represent points on a continuum, so while something can be one or the other but not both, it can also easily be between the two. Examples are wet/dry, easy/hard, old/young, love/hate.

Question 23

Reverses

Answer 23

Are pairs of words that suggest some kind of movement, where one word in the pair suggests a movement that “undoes” the movement suggested by the other. Examples are put together/take apart, expand/contract, ascent/descent.

Question 24

Converses

Answer 24

Have to do with two opposing points of view or a change in perspective: for one member of the pair to have a reference, the other must as well. Example lend/borrow, send/receive, employer/employee, over/under.

Question 25

Compositional

Answer 25

The principle of compositionality simply states that the meanings of multi-word expressions are compositional, that is, predictable from the meanings of words and their syntactic combination.

Question 26

Principle of Compositionality

Answer 26

The meaning of a sentence is a function of the meanings of the words it contains and the way in which these words are syntactically combined.

Question 27

Incompatible

Answer 27

This means that it would be impossible for both of them to be true, the truth conditions for one are incompatible with the truth conditions for the other. Example, No dogs bark/All dogs bark, George Washinton is alive/George Washington is dead.

Question 28

Mutual Entailment

Answer 28

When two propositions entail one another, we refer to their relationship as one. Example, Ian has a female sibling/Ian has a sister.

Question 29

Lexical Decomposition

Answer 29

It’s also possible to decompose words into their basic parts. Also referred to as componential analysis.

Question 30

Semantic Features

Answer 30

The conditions that must be met in order for a word to be appropriate to use.