the outline of Chapter 5 Semantics.docx
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the outline of Chapter 5 Semantics.docx
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theoutlineofChapter5Semantics
Chapter5Semantics
1.Whatissemantics?
Semanticscanbesimplydefinedasthestudyofmeaninginlanguage.
2.Someviewsconcerningthestudyofmeaning
2.1Thenamingtheory
Thenamingtheory,oneoftheoldesttheory,proposedbytheancientGreekscholarPlato,holdsthatthelinguisticformsorsymbolsarethelabelsoftheobjects.Sowordsarejustnamesorlabelsforthings.
Thereareproblemswiththistheory.First,thistheoryseemsinvolvenounsonly.Evenwithinnouns,wecanfindthatsomerefertothethingsthatdonotexist;othersmayrefertosomethingabstract.Whatismore,verbs,adjectives,andadverbsare notlabelsofobjects.
2.2Theconceptualistview
Theconceptualistviewholdsthatthereisnodirectlinkbetweenalinguisticformandwhatitrefersto(i.e.,betweenlanguageandtherealworlds);theyarelinkedthroughthemediationofconceptsinthemind.ThiscanbebestillustratedbytheclassicsemantictriangleortriangleofsignificancethatwassuggestedbyOgdenandRichards:
Thought/Reference
Symbol/Form Referent
Linguisticexpression theobjectin
Suchaswords,sentences theworldofexperience
(直线表示两者之间有直接联系,虚线表示两者之间无直接联系。
)
Theproblemwiththistheoryisthatpeopledonotknowpreciselythelinkbetweenthesymbolandtheconcept.Somebelievethatthelinkisapsychologicalone.Thisalsosufferssomedefectbecausepeopledonotactuallytrytoseetheimageofsomethingintheirmind'seyeeverytimetheycomeacrossalinguisticsymbol!
2.3Contextualism
Contextualismisbasedonthepresumptionthatonecanderivemeaningfromorreducemeaningtoobservablecontexts.Twokindsofcontextarerecognized:
thesituationalcontextandthelinguisticcontext
Situationalcontextincludestheplaceandtimeoftheutterance,thespeakerandthehearer,theactionstheyareperformingatthetime,thevariousobjectsandeventswhichexistinthesituation.Thelinguisticcontextincludesaword’sco-occurrenceorcollocationwithanotherword,whichformspartofthe"meaning"oftheword.Forexample,themeaningoftheword"black"differsinthetwocollocationsof"blackhair"(akindofcolour)and"blackcoffee"(withoutmilk). Linguisticcontextalsoincludesthepartoftextthatprecedesandfollowsaparticularutterance.
2.4Behavior
Bloomfielddrewonbehavioristpsychologytoadvancethebehavioristtheoryofmeaning,whichsaysthatthemeaningofalanguageformcanbedefinedas"thesituationinwhichthespeakeruttersitandtheresponseitcallsforthinthehearer".
3.Lexicalmeaning
3.1Senseandreference
Senseandreferencearerelatedbutdifferentaspectsofmeaning.Senseisabstract,inherentandde–contextualised.Itisthekindofmeaningthatdictionarycompilersareconcernedabout.Forexample,theword"boy"isdefinedas"amalechild,tillpubertyoryoungmanhood."Thisdoesnotrefertoanyparticularboythatexistsintheworld,butappliestoanyboythatmeetsthefeaturesgiveninthedefinition.
Referencemeanswhatalinguisticformreferstointhereal,physicalworld;itdealswiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementandthenon-linguisticworldofexperience.Whenwesay“Theboyiscrying.”,theword“boy”musthaveaparticularreferent,whichreferstoaparticularboyknowntotheparticipantsinthecommunicativesituation.Thisisthereferenceoftheword"boy"inthisparticularsituation.
Linguisticformswiththesamesensemayhavedifferentreferencesindifferentsituations.Forexample:
Isawaboyatthegateyesterday.
Isawamanbeatingaboyinfrontofthehouse.
Linguisticformswiththesamereferencemightdifferinsense.Thetwoexpressions"morningstar"and"eveningstar"differinsense,butinfact,theyrefertothesamereferent,theVenus.
3.2Majorsenserelations
3.2.1Synonymy
Synonymyreferstothesamenessorclosesimilarityofmeaning.Wordsthatarecloseinmeaningarecalledsynonyms. EnglishisrichinsynonymsbecauseEnglishhasborrowedmanywordsfromotherlanguages.Completesynonyms,mutuallysubstitutableinallsituationsarerare.Themajorityofsynonymsdifferintheirshadesofmeaning. Synonymscanbedividedintothefollowingfivetypes:
i. Dialectalsynonyms
Dialectalsynonymsarewordswhichhavemoreorlessthesamemeaning,but usedindifferentregionaldialects.Forexample:
BritishEnglish AmericanEnglish
Picture Movie
Ill Sick
Engine Motor
Post Mail
ThendialectalsynonymscanalsobefoundwithinBritish,orAmericanEnglishitself.
ii.Stylisticsynonyms
Stylisticsynonymsarewordswhichhavethesamemeaningbutdifferin
style,ordegreeformality.Forexample:
begin commence
ask,question,interrogate
fear,terror,trepidation
gee-gee,horse,steed
iii.Synonymsthatdifferintheiremotiveorevaluativemeaning
Synonymsdifferingintheiremotiveorevaluativemeaningarewordsthathavethesamemeaningbutexpressdifferentemotionsoftheuser.Forexample,“small”and“little”aresynonyms,butdifferintheiremotionsandfeelingsimplied.“small”isemotionallyneutral,while“little”isheavilyloadedwithemotionsandfeelings:
Poorlittleboy!
Poorsmallboy!
(unnatural!
)
iv.Collocationalsynonyms
Somesynonymsdifferintheircollocation.Forexample,aflockof,apackof,aherdofaswarmof,aschoolofaresynonyms,buttheircollocationsdiffer:
Aflockofsheep
Apackofwolves
Aherdofcows
Aswarmofbees
Aschoolofwhales
v.Semanticallydifferentsynonyms
Semanticallydifferentsynonymsrefertothesynonymsthatdifferslightlyinwhattheymean.Forexample,rage,fury,indignationandwratharesynonymoustoangerindenotingtheemotionalexcitementinducedbyintensedispleasure."Rage"oftenimpliesalossofself-control;"fury",thestrongestwordinthegroup,suggestsaragesoviolentthatitmayapproachmadness;“indignation”impliesangerbecauseofmoralreasons.
3.2.2Polysemy
Polysemyreferstothefactthatthesameonewordmayhavemorethanonemeaning.Awordhavingmorethanonemeaningiscalledapolysemicword.Taketheword“neck” forexample:
(1)thatpartofananimalwhichjoinstheheadtothebody
(2)thepartofagarmentthatgoesaroundtheneck
(3)anarrowstretchofland
(4)astrait
(5)thelowerpartofacapital
Historicallypolysemycanbeunderstoodasthegrowthanddevelopmentoforchangeinthemeaningofwords.
3.2.3Homonymy
Homonymyreferstothephenomenonthatwordshavingdifferentmeaningshavethesameform.Itcanalsobedefinedasdifferentwordsidenticalinsoundorspelling,orinboth.Twowords,identicalinsoundbutdifferentinspellingandmeaning,arecalledhomophones.Twowords,identicalinspelling,butdifferentinsoundandmeaning,arehomographs. Twowords,identicalinbothsoundandspelling,butdifferentinmeaning,arecalledcompletehomonyms.Forexamples:
Homophones:
right write
deer dear
sea see
Homographs:
tear(v.) tear(n.);
lead(v.) lead(n.)
wind(v.) wind(n.)
Completehomonyms:
bank
(1):
aplaceinwhichmoneyiskeptorpaidoutondemand
bank
(2):
landalongthesideofariver,lake,etc.
ball
(1):
aroundobjectusedinplay
ball
(2):
alargeformaloccasionforsocialdancing
sound
(1):
ingoodcondition
sound
(2):
whatisormaybeheard
Usuallytherearethreeprinciplestodistinguishbetweenpolysemyandhomonymy.Etymologically,apolysemicwordistheresultoftheevolutionoftheprimarymeaningoftheword. Completehomonymsarenotetymologicallyrelated.Theyhappentobeidenticalinforms.Theyaredifferentwords.Semantically,themeaningsofapolysemicwordarerelated,butthemeaningsofcompletehomonyms arenotrelatedatall.
3.2.4Hyponymy
Hyponymyreferstothesenserelationbetweenamoregeneral,moreinclusivewordandamorespecificword.Thewordwhichismoregeneralinmeaningiscalledthesuperordinate,andthewordswhicharemorespecificinmeaningarecalleditshyponyms.HyponymsofthesamesuperordinateareCohyponymstoeachother.Hyponymyisarelationofinclusion;intermsofmeaning.Forexample:
Superordinate:
food
Hyponyms:
fruit,vegetable,grain,meat
Superordinate:
colour
Hyponyms:
red,blue,brown,black,white,etc.
3.2.5Antonymy
Antonymyreferstotheoppositenessofmeaning.Wordsthatareoppositeinmeaningarecalledantonyms.Antonymycanbeclassifiedasfollows:
i.Gradableantonyms
Someantonymsaregradablebecausetheyshowdifferentdegreesofagivenquality.Thereareoftenintermediateformsbetweenthetwomembersofapair.Forexample,richandpoorareapairofantonyms.Betweenthemthereareintermediateformsrepresentingdifferentdegreesofbeingrichorpoor,suchas"well-to-do,moderatelywealthy,hardup,etc.” Moreexamplesareold/young,deep/shallow,far/near,hot/cold,heavy/light.
ii.Complementaryantonyms
Complementaryantonymsarethosethatarecomplementarytoeachother.Inapairofcomplementaryantonyms,thedenialofoneimpliestheassertionoftheother. Theydonotshowdifferentdegreesofagivenquality,therefore,thereisnootherpossibilitybetweenthem.Forexample,ifapersonisnot"alive",heis"dead".Ifheisnot“dead”,heis“alive”.It’sn
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