8.) Semantics 1

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(Semantics) Linguistics Fichas sobre 8.) Semantics 1, creado por Lisza Neumeier el 17/11/2016.
Lisza Neumeier
Fichas por Lisza Neumeier, actualizado hace más de 1 año
Lisza Neumeier
Creado por Lisza Neumeier hace alrededor de 8 años
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Semantics is the study of... meaning
word meaning is __ and __. conventional and arbitrary
Arbitrary There is no natural link between the form and the meaning of a word
Conventional We ‘agree’ on a meaning; we create the link and this meaning is set within our speech community (cf. different languages)
We distinguish between ___ and ____ meaning conceptual and associative
Conceptual
Associative
Words are names for things Meaning is the relation between a linguistic expression and a mental category that is used to classify objects, i.e. a concept. (Plag et al. 2015)
The semiotic triangle
semiotic triangle + 'synonyms'
sense The descriptive meaning or concept of an expression/word (A sweet baked food made with flour, eggs, sugar...)
Denotation The potential referents of a word/expression
Connotation The qualities associated with those referents (Tasty, soft, celebratory, impressive, unhealthy...)
Dimensions of meaning Whose birthday is it? • The boy in the middle • The boy in front of the cake • The boy in the dark blue shirt --> These have different senses (mean different things) --> They have the same referent (refer to the same entity))
one sense can refer to different referents
different senses can refer to the same thing
Word meaning theories Categorisation How do we categorize? The classification of entities into mental categories • Atoms of meaning: Semantic features • Fuzzy concepts: Prototype theory
semantic features
semantic features circle
semantic features lecture diagram
problem/thing with semantic features eg. Bachelor: +human +male +adult -married those semantic features apply to a bachelor but also to the pope and tarzan who are no bachelors
Semantic features advantages • Convenient explanation for meaning overlap • Represents similarities and differences among semantically- related words • Allows parallelism between sound/meaning structure • Seeks to find basic components for defining word meaning
semantic features drawbacks • Some features are not atomic • Componential analysis does not always grasp all there is to word meaning (e.g. bachelor / spinster) • Which features are essential? Which should be listed? • Sometimes impossible to find core attributes
Prototypes We can speak of things as being ‘prototypical’, i.e. the ‘best example’ of something: concentric cycle
Multiple meanings He hit his head on the doorframe. She is the head of the finance department. Are you going to the ball? Can you throw me the ball? --> one word can have multiple meanings
Polysemy He hit his head on the doorframe. She is the head of the finance department. If one form has related meanings, we call this polysemy --> one dictionary entry for polysemous words
Homonymy Are you going to the ball? Can you throw me the ball? If one form has multiple unrelated meanings, we call this homonymy -> separate dictionary entries for homonymous words
What is homophony? --> When two or more words have different forms (i.e. different spellings), but are pronounced the same: • Sun, son • Beach, beech • Through, threw •... --> special case of homonymy
Synonymy What is synonymy? -->When two or more words have different forms, but have the same meaning: • She appeared/seemed to be a little distracted. • I phoned/called her last week. • He’s a nice/pleasant guy.
Synonymy Problem? Problem: Do the words really mean exactly the same thing? • He’s a nice/pleasant guy. Problem: Do the words mean the same thing in different contexts? • She appeared/seemed to be a little distracted. • The mirage suddenly appeared/*seemed in front of me. Only one meaning of polysemous words can have a synonym. -Only one meaning of polysemous words can have a synonym. --> Head: The head of the team. The leader of the team. (...) I hit my head on the door. I hit my leader on the door?? If we are really precise, we can conclude that there are no true synonyms, only “near-synonyms”. Cf. “He’s a nice/pleasant guy.” ->Subtle differences in meaning
See you tomorrow, bye! I want to buy myself a sandwich. what? Homophony
Could you turn on the light? This parcel is rather light. Homonymy
If you’re tired, you could lie on the sofa. Don’t trust him, he will only lie to you. Homonymy
You did a great job there! My mother’s recently got a new job. Polysemy
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