week 1- words in context Flashcards
Lexicography
the writing, compiling and editing of dictionaries
polysemy
the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase
how do dictionaries order polysemes
- Frequency of use
- historically from earliest to latest sense
- From most concrete to most abstract
- From central meaning to peripheral meaning
what did lyons say about word meaning?
“a word does not have a fully determined meaning … (but rather) speakers are in “sufficient agreement” about the use of a word”
how does context affect meaning?
a word without context has the full range of possible meanings (e.g. ‘bank’)
a word within context has one meaning* (e.g. ‘I went to the bank to withdraw money’)
examples of contronyms
Left - The gentlemen have left and the ladies are left
Dust- They are dusting the crops and the others are dusting the furniture
Bolt - He bolted the door. Then he got scared and bolted.
Fast- The runners are fast but the colours are fast
Off -The lights were turned off and the alarm went off
Transparent- The glass was transparent. His motives were transparent.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU KNOW A WORD?
what does this word mean?
what do you know about how this word is used?
where does this word come from?
what words commonly occur with it?
How are words organised in the brain?
THE MENTAL LEXICON • large network • complex • highly organised • stores entries • rich/detailed information • can integrate new information • dynamic
SEMANTIC FIELD
“A set of lexemes which cover a certain conceptual domain and which bear certain specifiable relations to each other.”
lexical set
a set of lexical items associated by a common semantic type, e.g. [[FIREARM]]
prototype theory
where some members of a conceptual category are more central than others.
