CHAPTER 9 :Semantics

Meaning

Semantics is the study of meaning in language, there is more interest in certain aspects of meaning than in others

Ex: needle 

“thin, sharp, steel instrument” 

This sentence is syntactically good, but semantically odd.

Semantic Features

We can then use this idea to describe part of the meaning of words as having either plus (+) or minus (–) that particular feature.

Words as Containers of Meaning

The approach just outlined is a start on analyzing the basic components of word meaning,but it is not without problems. For many words in a language it may not be as easy to come up with neat components of meaning. If we try to think of the components or features we would use to differentiate the nouns advice, threat and warning, for example, we may not be very successful. Part of the problem seems to be that the approach involves a view of words in a language as some sort of “containers” that carry meaning components. This approach seems to be too restrictive and very limited in terms of practical use. There is more to the meaning of words than these basic types of features.

Semantic Roles

If the situation is a simple event, as in The boy kicked the ball, then the verb describes an action (kick). The noun phrases in the sentence describe the roles of entities, such as people and things, involved in the action. We can identify a small number of semantic roles

Agent and Theme

Ex: the boy kicked the ball

The boy -> agent

The ball -> ball

Instrument and Experiencer

- If an agent uses another entity in order to perform an action, that other entity fills the role of instrument.

- When a noun phrase is used to designate an entity as the person who has a feeling, perception or state, it fills the semantic role of experiencer.

Location, Source and Goal

-Where an entity is (on the table, in the room) fills the role of location. 

-Where the entity moves from is the source (from Chicago) 

-Where it moves to is the goal (to NewOrleans)

Lexical Relations

Synonymy

Two or more words with very closely related meanings are called synonyms.

Antonymy

Two forms with opposite meanings are called antonyms.

Hyponymy

When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another, the relationship is described as hyponymy.

Prototypes

The idea of “the characteristic instance” of a category is known as the prototype. The concept of a prototype helps explain the meaning of certain words, like bird, not in terms of component features

Ex: has feathers, has wings

Homophones and homonyms

When two or more different (written) forms have the same pronunciation, they are described as homophones.

We use the term homonyms when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings

Polysemy

When we encounter two or more words with the same form and related meanings, we have

what is technically known as polysemy.

Ex:foot (of a person, of a bed, of a mountain)

      mouth (part of a face, a cave, a river) 

      run (person does, water does, colors do).

Word Play

These last three lexical relations are the basis of a lot of word play, usually for humorous

effect.

Metonymy

The relatedness of meaning found in polysemy is essentially based on similarity. The head

of a company is similar to the head of a person on top of and controlling the body. There is

another type of relationship between words, based simply on a close connection in everyday

experience. That close connection can be based on a container–contents relation

(bottle/water, can/juice), a whole–part relation (car/wheels, house/roof) or a representative–

symbol relationship (king/crown, the President/the White House). Using one of these words

to refer to the other is an example of metonymy.

Collocation

One way we seem to organize our knowledge of words is simply on the basis of collocation, or frequently occurring together.