Vocabulary: Semantics key terms and phrases

Question 1

Semantics

Answer 1

The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

Question 2

Semantic Theories

Answer 2

A shift from the structure to the meaning for language acquisition

Question 3

Compositional Semantic

Answer 3

A subfield of semantics that studies the meanings of phrasal expressions, and how those meanings arise given the meanings of the lexical expressions they contain and how they are syntactically combined

Question 4

Entailment

Answer 4

An entailment is a proposition (expressed in a sentence) that follows necessarily from another sentence.

Question 5

Contradictory sentences

Answer 5

The opposite of analytic sentences. While analytic sentences are necessarily true as a result of the words in them, contradictory sentences are necessarily false for the same reason.

Question 6

Collocation

Answer 6

Two or more words that co-occur in a language more often that would be expected by chance.

Question 7

Metonymy

Answer 7

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Question 8

Polysemy

Answer 8

Having many possible meanings or interpretations

Question 9

Homonymy

Answer 9

Two words sounding the same but having different meanings

Question 10

Homophony

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Co-Hyponyms

Answer 11

Words in hyponymy that share the same superordinate (“Daffodil” and “rose” are co-hyponyms of “flower”)

Question 12

Hyponymy

Answer 12

The abstract term for one thing being an example of a more general thing. “Car” is a hyponym of “vehicle.” “Vehicle” is the superordinate term.

Question 13

Non-Gradable Antonyms

Answer 13

Words which are direct opposites (e.g. alive-dead)

Question 14

Gradable

Answer 14

Antonyms that are not exact opposites but can be considered in terms of degree of quality

Question 15

The Behavioristic Theory of Meaning

Answer 15

The term context of situation is used by two scholars, first by an anthropologist called Malinowski, and later by a British linguist called Firth. Both of these scholars stated meaning in terms of the context in which language is used.

Question 16

The Conceptual Theory of Meaning

Answer 16

Words and things are directly related. But in the conceptual theory of meaning words and things are related through the mediation of concepts of the mind.

Question 17

The Theory of Naming

Answer 17

Explained in Plato‟s dialogue Cratylus maintains that language is a communication system which works with two elements; the signifier, and the signified.

Question 18

Thematic meaning

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Social meaning

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Connotative meaning

Answer 20

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 21

Denotative meaning

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Grammar

Answer 22

In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Question 23

The Principle of Compositionality

Answer 23

The notion that the meaning of a phrasal expression is predictable from the meanings of the expressions it contains and how they were syntactically combined.

Question 24

phrases

Answer 24

a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a clause.

Question 25

syntax

Answer 25

Sentence structure

Question 26

Morphology

Answer 26

Study of form

Question 27

Lexical relations

Answer 27

The relationships of meaning, such as synonymy, between words

Question 28

Semantic roles

Answer 28

The part played by a noun phrase, such as agent, in the event described by the sentence

Question 29

semantic features

Answer 29

pieces of meaning that come together to define a particular word

Question 30

lexical semantics

Answer 30

The subfield of semantics concerned with the meanings of words and the meaning relationships among words.