Week 9 Semantics Flashcards
What is semantics?
• Knowledge of words including their meaning and relationships among words (lexical semantics)
• Meaning of syntactic units larger than a word is called phrasal or sentential semantics
(compositional semantics)
What is ‘reference’ in semantics?
• Meaning of word comes from associating it with
the real object, concept or individual it refers to
(the referent)
• Referring expressions used to identify a referent
• noun phrases (eg. the little dog, that girl, the chair)
• proper names (Paul, Mexico), pronouns in a noun
phrase (I, you, him)
• can have definite (my doctor) or indefinite (a doctor)
reference
• Can test referent knowledge through picture
naming
What is ‘sense’ in semantics?
- Abstract representation stored in mental lexicon
- Sometimes also termed “concept”
- Suggests the properties the entity may have
- Similar to other entities
- Distinguishing from other entities
- Help determine what the referent is
- e.g., Orange Juice
- Liquid produced by squeezing the round reddishyellow (orange), sweet or bitter, edible citrus fruit
What is mental lexicon?
Mental Lexicon: A speaker’s mental dictionary or repository of speaker’s knowledge about words (and morphemes) – including their meaning
What is lexeme?
Lexeme: representation of a word in its base ‘dictionary entry’ form – linked to concept & has not taken morphological information
What is Lexeme’s linguistic word form
Lexeme’s Linguistic Form: or Word form
eg how it’s written, how it’s pronounced
Name some sematic features?
- physical properties (eg appearance, size, colour, animate, inanimate)
- Group or category it belongs to
- Function (what does it do?)
- Location (where does it belong?)
- Action (what does it do?)
What are sematic features?
Semantic features = properties that help us to define / analyse / explain what a word means
What are semantic categories?
A semantic category is a grouping of items in a language that are interrelated • E.g. Fruit, Animals, Furniture, Vehicles, Sports,
What are core features?
Core features: semantic features that all items in the category share
Eg Animal: +animate +breathes
What are prototypical features?
Prototypical features: semantic features that most (and more typical) items share
Eg Animal (dog): +fur, +four leg
What are distinctive features?
Distinctive features: semantic feature or features that differentiates between category members (or between concepts generally) • Animal (Dog v Cat): canine v feline; barks v meows
What is a synonym?
Different word form, similar meaning, shared semantic properties
What is an antonym
The opposite
What is hyponomy
Different word, more specific term is part of a superordinate term (hierarchical or class inclusion)
Eg
Insect – fly
Animal – dog
Dog – silky terrior
What is meronymy?
Part – whole relationship
Eg
Nose – face
Wheel - car
What is meronymy?
Part – whole relationship
Eg
Nose – face
Wheel - car
What is a homonym?
homonyms - spelt the same, pronounced the same, different meanings
eg letter (mail vs. alphabet)
bat (cricket, animal)
What is a homophone?
homophones - same sound, different spelling and meaning
eg tale, tail
What is a homograph?
homographs - spelt same, pronounced differently, different meaning
Eg lead (metal, coming first in race)
What is polysemy?
Polysemy - spelt the same, pronounced the same, different but related meanings
Eg wood
What are the thematic roles?
Agent
Patient
Theme
Instrument
What does agent refer to? (In thematic roles)
Agent – the (usually animate) doer of the action (sometimes called actor)
What does patient refer to? (In thematic roles)
• Patient – receives or undergoes action
What does theme refer to? (In thematic roles)
Theme - an entity to be moved or that moves from one location to another
What does instrument refer to? (In thematic roles)
Instrument – instrument (inanimate) used to achieve the action
What does experiencer refer to? (In thematic roles)
Experiencer – the entity who receives emotional or sensory input
What does beneficiary refer to? (In thematic roles)
Beneficiary – the entity for whose benefit the action occurs
What does source refer to? (In thematic roles)
• Source – starting point for the action
What does goal refer to? (In thematic roles)
Goal – end point of the action
What does location refer to? (In thematic roles)
• Location – where the action happens
What is a metaphor?
saying something is something it is not (literally) - compares one thing with another
Eg
- time is money
- you’re a peach
- love is a battlefield
What is an idiom?
set phrase whose meaning is not predictable via meaning of individual words
Eg
- take the bull by the horns
- ahead of the curve
- eat my hat
- cut it out
What is lexical ambiguity?
Lexical ambiguity in a sentence occurs when at least one word/phrase has more than one meaning:
Eg
- Milk drinkers are turning to powder.
- They walked towards the bank.
We need context to determine meaning
