Lecture 1

Speaker meaning ( word meaning) :

Our knowledge of language :

We can tell 1) the sounds ( phonetics and phonology)

2) build words. ( morphology)

3) build sentences ( syntax)

4) meaning ( build meaningful sentences) ( semantics)

- lexical semantics : when we study the meaning of words.

- compositionality : ً‫ (تركٌب‬sentences, phrases, affix, suffix....)

Example : unreasonable ( 3 parts).

Play plays played ( different)

What does our semantic knowledge enable us to know?

1) you know words that have the same meaning ( synonym)

2) words that have more than one meaning. ( ambiguity)

examples : light, bank, like.

3) words that have opposite in meaning. ( tall, short) antonyms.

4) words that have same pronunciation. ( homonyms) example :

right / write.

5) entailment : ‫ تضمٌن‬Example : i killed a cat.. \\ We can also tell

: i killed an animal.

- he was killed, but he still live with us. ( contradiction).

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Lecture 2 and 3
Semantic & semiotics :

Semantics : the study of the relationship between linguistics

signs and their meaning.

Example : ( cat) this word has linguistic sings ‫ ( حروف واصوات‬we

can't tell from the signs what this word mean).

)‫شكل الكلمة ال ٌدل على المعنى ( عاللة اعتباطٌة‬

** the relationship between words and their meaning are (
Arbitrary).

Semiotics : * larger than semantics *

The study of signs ( in general) and their meaning.

Signification : create / use signs to refer to something ( to give a

meaning for sign).

** we have 2 kinds of sign : 1) linguistics

2) non- linguistics.

Signification has 2 elements :

1) signifier : the sign itself ( ‫)الرمز نفسه‬

2) signified : what the sign means. ( ‫)معنى الرمز‬.

Example : ☠ ( signifier)

means Danger ( signified).

♂ \♀ (��) Male/ female.

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** Symbols and signs are three types :

Icon : the similarity between the icon and what represents .

‫)عاللة شبه واضحة ( الشكل نفسه‬.

Example : mosque � ..

Index : closely associated with the signs.

‫عاللة سببٌة‬.

Example : smoke stands for fire .

Clouds ☁ stands for Rain

Symbol : conventional ‫عاللة عرفٌة‬.

Arbitrary relationships.

( what people agreed on).

Example : ( Death : wearing black).

3 challenges for semantics :

1) circulation : if i want to define a word i use ( Words).

Example : Rabbit : An animal.

‫لوصف كلمة استخدم كلمة اخرى ( ممكن ما نعرف شو معنى الكالم الً بالوصف‬
ً‫ٌعنً مثال ممكن ما اعرف شو ٌعن‬animal . Endless process.

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2) we aren't supposed to know all the features of the word to
understand what the word means.

( people may disagree about the features but they will understand
what the word mean).

‫السؤال هون‬: can we make a distinction between ( linguistics

knowledge) ‫(المعرفة اللغوٌة‬about the meaning of a word) and
Encyclopedic knowledge ( about the way the word is) ‫المعرفة‬
‫?الموسوعٌة‬

Example : ‫ شجٌرة‬/ ‫شجرة‬..

‫ الخ‬...‫ الحجم‬،‫)ممكن الناس تختلف بالفرق بٌن كلمة شجرة وشجٌرة ( العمر‬

‫ (بس راح افهم شو الممصود بالكلمة‬tree).

‫ االختالف بٌن الناس على المعنى بٌنهم بس المعنى معروف‬: ‫ ُكتٌب‬/ ‫كتاب‬.

Example : i dreamed that i was swallowed by a wheal.

‫مش ضروري نعرف كل خصائص كلمة‬wheal ‫عشان نفهم المعنى‬.

3) the influence of context on meaning.

( the way of pronunciation is different)

Example :

‫ ممكن احكٌها بطرلٌتٌن مختلفتٌن والمعنى مختلف‬..)‫كلمة ( بكٌر‬.

: what is the time? ‫⌚بسأل عن الولت‬

What time is it? ‫لما نحكٌها بهالطرٌمة معناها متأخر‬

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Ex : when you say to someone " Marvellous weather you have
here in Ireland "

** We have two different meanings to this sentence : ( mocking

‫بتمسخر‬/ serious ‫)جدّي‬

Ex : he's dying : ‫هاي الجملة ممكن ٌكون معناها مختلف لو حكٌناها لشخص‬
‫مصاب بمرض‬. It's different when said of terminally ill patient.

‫ وبختلف المعنى لو كانت‬As a comment watching a stand-up comedy

failing to get laughs.

Meeting the challenges :

We can solve the first problem By Metalanguage

Metalanguage : to use language to describe language.

Ex: the word (Watch) : we can describe it as a device to tell time

we usually wear it on the left hand.

( the definition is a Metalanguage)

But in linguistics meta language is a neutral way of describing.

Example : at the grammatical level :

John broke the window. John \ subject Broke \ verb

At the semantic level : John broke the window.

John \ agent ( doer) Broke \ action verb

The Window \ ( affected)

** ‫طرٌمة وصف محاٌدة‬.

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Lecture 4
Meeting the challenges : ( part 2 )

2) the second problem...

The real issue is the amount of knowledge that is necessary to

know in order to use a word..

( native speaker shouldn't know all the Semantic features in order

to communicate smoothly ( we will understand each other
without knowing all the semantic features).

‫فً فرق بٌن المعرفة اللغوٌة والمعرفة الموسوعٌة‬.

3) the third problem.. ( context)

One traditional solution has been to assume a split in an (

expression's meaning) between the local contextual affects and
context- free elements of meaning.

Or in other word to assume a split between ( conventional and

literal) meaning.
‫فً مادة السٌمانتكس احنا ما بندرس تغٌٌر المعنى الناتج عن السٌاق‬
The study of these processes and the role in them of conext is in a
special area of study called ( pragmatic).

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Semantics in model of grammar :

Semantics can be studied as a subfield of linguistics ( we need

rules fo semantics).

* semantics cannot be studied separately from other fields of

language.

This means that, in at least one sense, meaning is a product of all

linguistics levels. ( we cannot study semantics alone)

changing one phoneme for another, or one word order for

another will produce ( differences of meaning).

Example : bat, pat, cat

So semantics can be found with all levels of language.

Word meaning & sentence meaning

As a native speakers of a language we know many words.

This words are saved in your mental dictionary = lexicon.

This mental dictionary is large but its

1) finite ( we can't invent new words in daily basis ) ‫كلمات محدودة‬

‫)ٌعنً بمدر اضٌف كلمات بس مش بشكل كبٌر ( كم كلمة كل سنة‬

2) it's not static ( we add new words).

This what we mean by word meaning.

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But when we compare this with sentences.

1) sentences are very large and its infinite.

( we can add invent new sentences in daily basis).

‫غٌر محدودة ٌعنً بمدر اضٌف جمل جدٌدة بشكل ٌومً وتكون صحٌحة وممبولة‬.

2) not static.

Its very productive / creative.

We can create new sentences depend on some rules.

‫بناءا ً على لواعد معٌنة بمدر انشئ مالٌٌن الجمل‬.

Example : subject / verb / object.

* we can invent millions of sentences depending on this rule..

John plays football.... Etc.

Example : the passive rule.

Note : the rules of a language are very limited but we can use
those rules in a very large way.

This what we mean by sentence meaning.

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On other words ( ‫)شرح الكتاب‬.

Phrases and sentences also have meaning of course, but an

important dif-ference between word meaning on the one hand
and phrase and sentence meaning on the other concerns
productivity.

It is always possible to create new words, but this is a relatively

infrequent occurrence.

On the other hand, speakers regularly create sentences that they

have never used or heard before, confident that their audience
will understand them.

Noam Chomsky ‫هاد كلو كالم‬

** To allow this the rules for sentence formation must be

recursive, ‫التكرار‬

( what we mean by recursive) : �

allowing repetitive embedding or coordination of syntactic

categorie.

Example : i saw the man who bought the dog which chased the
cat which chased the mouse which ate the cheese.

‫استخدمت جمل متكررة‬.

. ( S and S and)

(s S and S and S)

( S and S And s And S) etc.

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Lecture 5 :-
** the meaning of sentences cannot be listed in a lexicon like the
meaning of words, they must be created by rules of combination
too.

- semanticists often describe this by saying that ( sentence

meaning is compositionalً‫تركٌب‬

) - what do we mean by compositionality??

This term means that the meaning of an expression is determined

by the meaning of it's component parts and the way in which they
are combined.

Examples : ‫عشان نفهم أكثر‬

‫كلمة‬boy / boys are different in meaning

- the boy / a boy are different in meaning.

* the meaning of phrases and sentences are compositional.

Any changes in the sentence will change the whole meaning

because ( we study the whole sentence).

Examples :

The boy is at home.

( it's different from) a boy is at home.

( different from) some boys are at home.

** that's why the meaning of sentences cannot be stored in the

lexicon.

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Examples :

The cat chased the mouse.

( different from) the mouse chased the cat.

** Even if we used the same words.. But the word order is

different.

Reference and sense :

Reference is : to use language to refer to something specific in the
real world.

Example : John ( the name or the word itself is part of a language)

But the person John isn't a part of a language.

So it's the relationship between language and things in the real

world.

** Reference is made of :

1) referring expressions ( part of language)

2) referent ( specific thing in the real world)

Example : My book ( the expression itself is a part of language).

But the book itself in the real life in referent.

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Sense : the relationship between meanings. Examples :
Big / small �� antinomy

Hide / conceal �� synonym

Cat / animal �� Hyponymy

Example : The word Chair ( without backrest)

the word Stool ( with backrest)

‫��بس كلمة كرسً بالعربً ممكن تعنً الثنتٌن‬

( stool and chair).

So it's determined by the language and the world they refer.

Example : the word Mouton ( French word) It could mean

sheep� ( animal) and the meat of the sheep�.

- but in English it's different we have

sheep � and mutton � ( tow different words).

Again the meaning is determined by the language and the world.

Example : in the grammatical system :

‫ٌختلف من لغة للغة أخرى‬.

Plural ‫الجمع‬In English : it starts from ( 2)

But in Arabic it starts from (3) because we have the dual ( ‫)المثنى‬.

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Lecture 6
Utterance & sentence & proposition
Utterance : piece of language ‫اي كلمة باللغة‬

** if you can say a hundred words with one breath it's Utterence.

In other words ( before of after which there is silence)

- but it must have meaning.

- it's physical ( spoken or written)Not mental

( can be described by physical features).

- Utterance could be :

Loud / low / fast /slow / big /small.

- can / can't be grammatical.

** ‫ بشرط تكون الها‬..‫ٌعنً هً اي كلمة أو جملة باللغة بمدر انطمها خالل نفس واحد‬
‫معنى ومكتوبة أو منطولة (مش موجودة بذهنً بس) وممكن تكون لواعدٌا ً صحٌحة أو‬
‫خاطئة‬.

Sentence :
- abstract / mental. ( ‫)ذهنٌة‬

- perfect grammatically.

- it has complete meaning.

- it's the base for several Utterances.

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Example :

‫ارٌد ان اعتذر منن عما بدر منً من خطأ تجاهن‬

We build this sentence in our minds.

ً‫بس احنا بالوضع الطبٌعً لما بدنا نعتذر من حد ما بنحكً هاي الجملة الطوٌلة وبنحك‬
‫بدالها‬
‫ الخ‬...‫ بعتذر‬/ ً‫ حمن عل‬/ ‫اسف‬
‫هاي البدائل أو شو احنا بنحكً وبننطك بنعتبره‬
( Utterance).

‫ (لو الجملة الطوٌلة إلى فوق انا نطمتها أو كتبتها وبطلت‬Utterance) ‫ذهنٌة هون‬
‫بتٌصر‬

Proposition :
- an idea

- universal ( can be shared by different people speaking different

languages).

Example : ( being rich)

‫ ارٌد ان اصبح غنٌا ً عندما أكبر‬: ً‫العربً بحك‬.

In English : I wanna to be rich when I grow up.

‫ مشتركة وعالمٌة‬+ ‫فكرة‬

- the proposition can be the base for different sentences.

-Proposition not affected by information structure.

‫شو ٌعنً هالكالم؟‬

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Example : John broke the window ( regular word order).

‫ممكن نحكً كمان من هاي الجملة‬:

-The window was broken by John.

- the person who broke the window was John.

- it was the window that John broke

- it was John how broke the window

-JOHN BROKE THE WINDOW.

- Break ( John, window).

All of these sentences are Proposition. ��

‫المعنى والمضمون واحد مش مهم ترتٌب الكلمات‬.

* we change the word order in a sentence to Emphasis a specific

information.

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Lecture 7.
We have 3 types of sentences :

Declarative sentences.

Interrogative sentences.

Imperative sentences.

All of them can have the same proposition.

Example :

John broke the window

Did John break the window.

John, break the window.

But only in Declarative sentences the speaker is responsible about

his words ( assert).

Literal Vs Non-literal meaning.

Literal meaning : ‫المعنى الحرفً للكالم‬

Non-literal : uses of language are traditionally called figurative)

and are described by a host of rhetorical terms including
metaphor irony metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole and litotes).

Example : surfing the internet ‫تصفح اإلنترنت‬

Mouse : ‫الفأرة‬

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* our life is full of metaphors ( but we don't see them as
metaphors anymore).

George Lakoff and Johnson se to claim that there is no

principled distinction between literal and metaphorical uses of
language.

see metaphor as an integral part of human categorization:

a basic way of organizing our thoughts about the world.

Lakoff and Johnson identify clustering’s of metaphoric uses.

Themes ‫إلى‬Metaphors ‫صنفوا إل‬

Example : time is money.

Money ‫بسبب هذا المثال صارو بستخدمو تعابٌر ال‬

Time ‫مع تعابٌر ال‬.

ً‫مثال‬:

You're wasting my time.

This gadget will save you time

I don't have time to give to you.

The flat tire cost me an hour.

I've invested a lot of time in her.

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How do we process metaphorical language

Native speakers : they process the metaphor at the Literal

meaning.

Ex: it rains cats and dogs..

This sentence has no sense in the Literal level.

Then they realize it's not acceptable so they analyze the sentence
al higher level.

‫مش كثٌر مهم‬

Semantics and pragmatics :

Semantics : the study of the Literal meaning. ( context free

meaning).

Pragmatics : the study of non- Literal meaning ( context based

meaning).

Example : ‫لما تكون ببٌت شخص وتحكٌلو‬

It's cold in here.

At the pragmatic level it could mean

( close the window)

( turn on the heater)

** context based meaning.

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Or( the place is closing)

It could mean harry up.

Or ( is he awake).

semantic level : we will not know who is ( he).. We will know that
the person A asked B weather a male third person is awake or
not.)

But in pragmatics : we should know who is ( he) in order to

answer.

- meaning described in relation to speakers and hearers (

pragmatics)

- meaning abstracted away from users (semantics).

Lecture 8
Chapter 2.

Meaning, thoughts and reality.

How it is that we can use language to describe the world?

1) I saw Nelson Mandela on television last night.

2) we've just flown back from Paris.

where Nelson Mandela and Paris are names allowing us to do this.

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As we said earlier :

The words Nelson Mandela and Paris ( are referring expressions)

but the person Nelson Mandela and the city Paris itself are
referent.

In semantics this action of picking out or identifying with words is

often called referring or denoting.

Thus one can use the word Paris to refer to or denote the city.

Some writers, like John Lyons separate the terms refer and
denote.

So what is the difference between denotation and referring??? ‫مهم‬

denote: is used for the relationship between a linguistic

expression and the world,

while refer is used for the action of a speaker in picking out

entities in the world.

Example :

Cow �: the word itself is a referring expression.

The caw itself is a referent

‫لٌش ؟‬Denotation ‫بس العملٌة كلها هون عندي اسمها‬

Because it names a kind of animals in general ( not a specific

animal).

But when I say This Cow � it's a reference because I pick a specific
cow.

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What is sense?
The relationship between meanings

( tall / short).

Example : the word ( so) it does not have references but it has
Sense.

Because I don't have a picture in my mind to this word ( functional

word).

So meaning of words called sense.

The deference between :

Reference. Vs. sense

Reference ( the relationship between languages and things in the

world).

Sense : meanings relationships.

Reference. Vs denotation

Reference : to pick out / to select a specific entity.

Denotation : Name of class / kind in general

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‫شرح من الكتاب‬:
We will adopt this usage, so that if I say

A sparrow fleto into the room,

I am using the two noun phrases a sparrow and the room to refer
to things in the world,

while the nouns sparrow and room denote certain classes of

items.(‫)بالنسبة للمتحدث‬

In other words, referring is what speakers do.

while denoting is a property of words. Another difference which

follows from these definitions is that denotation is a stable
relationship in a language

‫عالقة ثابتة ال تتغير مع الزمن‬..

which is enot dependent on 'any one use of a word.

‫ما الها عاللة بولت معٌن دائما نفس الصفات‬.

Reference, on the other hand is a moment-by-moment

relationship:

‫عالقة تتغير بالنسبة للموقف‬.

what entity somebody refers to by using the word sparrow

depends on the context.

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Lecture 9
There are different views of how semanticists should approach
this ability to talk about the world :

1) referential / denotational

2) representational

What is the difference between them?

Example :

I saw a sparrow.

I / the sparrow are referring expressions.

So referential : relates words / sentences to the real world.

( the relationship between meaning and things in the world).

Example :

There is a casino in Grafton street.

This sentence is referential ( it describes

that we have something in Grafton street)

But if I said " there isn't a casino in Grafton street)

It's not referential.

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Representational :

Our ability to talk about certain situations depends on our

language.

Our language ( can Restrict / Facilitates)

Our ability to talk about certain situations.

Example :

John is sleeping ( here we have activity)

John is a sleep ( here we have state).

So language can restrict our ability to talk.

- such decisions are influenced by each languages conventional

ways of viewing situations :

Example :

‫ بشرح الفرق بالكالم لنفس الجملة من لغة للغة ثانٌة‬٦٢ ‫ صفحة‬٦.٢ ‫مثال‬.

Example :

ً‫ لما نحكً بالعربً " عمل حادث" ٌعن‬It's something you do.

" he had an accident" ‫نفس التعبٌر باالنجلٌزي‬

It's something you have ( all) ‫شًء امتلكته‬

‫او لما احكً بالعربً عمل عملٌه‬

( ‫)ٌعنً هو الفاعل إلً عملها‬

In English I say " he has surgery" ‫كأنه العملٌه اشً امتلكته‬

** ‫كل لغة تصف الحدث بشكل معٌن مختلف‬

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Representational theory :

‫ كل لغة الها طرٌمتها حتى لو كان المعنى نفسه‬/ ‫اللغة بتمٌد‬.

Reference :

As we said earlier ( to use language to refer to something

specific).

- names / Noun phrases ( called nominal)

Names / noun phrases / pronouns ( can be used to refer.

- verbs / adjectives / adverbs.... Can't be used to refer.

Types of reference :

1) Referring / non- referring.

- some expressions can never be words to refer for example the

word ( so).

* intrinsic / non - referring expressions.

2) Names / Noun phrases / pronoun

Can be used to refer or not to refer.

( depends on the situation)

Example :

I saw a lion this morning

This is referring expression.

A lion is a wild animal. Not referring expression ( to specific thing)

It depends on the context .

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- sometimes the linguistics context is not enough ( it does not help
us).

Example :

I'm looking for a car.

‫ممكن ٌكون فً نوع سٌارة محدد عند المتحدث وممكن ال‬.

( this sentence could be referring / non - referring)

‫السٌاق اللغوي ما أعطانً اشً محدد بالزبط‬

So we must have also ( situational context)

She's going to marry a French man.

If the speaker ( knows a specific French man it's a referring

expression).

But if she does not know a specific man it's non referring.

- our names are referring ( but in the context it could be non

referring)...

Constant Vs variable reference.

Constant ‫ثابتة‬

- names that have the same referent all the time ( Petra) (Ali)

‫ بترا اسمها وراح ٌضل بتراء‬،‫هاي األسماء ثابته ما بتتغٌر‬

‫هً أشٌاء ثابته ما بتتغٌر من السٌاق‬
Also they are limited.

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Variable ‫تتغٌر‬

- The man

It could change depend on the situation.

-I

( this pronoun change depends on the speak).

- ‫رئٌس الوزراء‬

Could change depend on the time and the situation.

Also it's the Norm ( ‫)الماعدة أو األساس‬.

Lecture 10
Reference and extension

Extension :(to an expression) is the set of things which could

possibly be the referent of an expression.

Example :

The Book ( I mean the semantics book).

The expression ( the book) is a referring expression / the

semantics book itself is a referent.

The extension : the set of books that can be a referent of a

referring expression.

‫ كل الخٌارات عندي إلً ممكن استخدمها‬،‫االكستٌنشن هون عندي هو كل الكتب بالعالم‬

‫للتعبٌر‬
The Book.

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My dog : it's a referring expression/ the dog itself is a referent.

The extension : all the dogs in the world

( in the past, present and the future).

Extension & Referent ‫العاللة بٌن ال‬

Denoting ‫بسمٌها العملٌه كلها‬.

** as we mentioned, names and noun phrases which together we

can call nominals, are the paradigmatic ( the typical elements)
case of linguistics elements used to refer.

Names :

The simplest case of nominals which have reference, names after

all are labels for people, places etc..

‫لكن فً بعض األحٌان بحتاج ارجع للسٌاق عشان افهم أكثر‬.

Context in important in the use of names, names are definite in

that thay carry the speaker's assumption that her audience can
identify the referent.

Example : If someone says :

He looks just like Eddie Murphy.

The speaker assuming you can identify this person.

‫المتحدث لبل م ٌحكً بٌفترض انن بتعرف هالشخص‬.

29
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Noun & Noun Phrases
Nouns an NPs can be used to refer.

Example :

I spoke to a woman ( the hearer don't know the woman)

I spoke to the woman ( the hearer knows the woman) .

But both of them are referring expressions.

But for example when I say :

Man cannot live without a woman

It's not a referring expression.

Because it's generally speaking.

- the king of France is bald.

This is not a referring expression anymore.

ً‫ االشً المش حمٌمً ( الخٌال‬: ‫)مالحظة جدا مهمة‬

IS NOT a referring expression.

Zeus / unicorns ‫لما احكً مثال‬

‫هما مش اشً حمٌمً بالعالم ف ما بمدر اعتبره مرجع‬.

The wizard of Oz. ( not a referring expression).

- NPs can also be used to refer to groups of individuals, either

distributivly ( ‫)بشكل منفصل‬

Where we can focus on the individual members of the group.

30
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Example :

The people in the lift avoided each other's eyes.

‫بنمٌز‬Each ‫من كلمة‬.

Or collectively when we focus on the aggregate. ( ‫)المجموعة كاملة‬.

Example :

The people in the lift proved too heavy for the lift motor.

** as well as individuals and groups of individuals, nominals can of

course denote substances, actions and abstract ideas.

Examples :

Who can afford Coffee?

( it's not a referent, ‫)ما بحكً عن نوع لهوة معٌن‬

Sleeping is his hobby.

( denotation because I mean the whole sleeping types.).

She has a passion for justice.

So its denotation ‫بحكً عن كل العدالة الً فً العالم‬.

Denotation ‫ وال‬Reference ‫حاالت بنعتبرها مش‬

Example :

No student enjoyed the lecture.

No student does not denote an individual who enjoyed the

lecture.

31
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Lecture 11 :
Let’s assume that semantics is the = the reference :

Or semantics it the theory of reference .

‫هل هذه النظرٌة كافٌة لتفسٌر كل شًء بالسٌمانتكس ؟‬
Its not enough , but why , what is the problems in this theory ?

The first problem : Some words have no meanings .

‫لو اعتبرنا انو المرجع هو نظرٌة السٌمانتكس اول مشكلة فً بعض الكلمات ما الها‬
. ‫معنى‬
Example : (so ) is a word , cannot be used to refer to things .

( if ) (and ) … etc . so its cannot be explained by the theory of

semantics if the theory of semantics is reference .

The second problem : some nominal expressions don’t have

reference .

Example : unicorn .

‫ النو زي ما حكٌنا‬. ‫الكلمة بتوصف حٌوان خٌالً بالتالً ما الها مرجع بالحٌاة الوالعٌة‬
. ‫انو االشٌاء الخٌالٌة ما الها مرجع‬
The third problem : there is not always one-to one
correspondence between a linguistics expressions and the item
we want to identify .
. ‫ما فً عاللة ثابتة بٌن التعبٌر اللغوي واالشً الً انا بدي احددو او اعرفو‬

32
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
‫‪ .‬ارجعو للجمل صفحة ‪Example : 13‬‬

‫) ‪( 2.32 ) \ ( 2.33‬‬

‫‪.‬هون بهاي الجمل انور السادات ورئٌس مصر‬

‫‪These are two referring expressions for the same referent .‬‬

‫‪They refer to the same person Anwar El Sadat .‬‬

‫? ‪But is their meaning the same‬‬

‫هل لهم نفس المعنى ؟ ال ‪ ..‬انور السادات هو اسم لشخص معٌن بس لما احكً رئٌس‬
‫مصر بحكً هون عن منصب معٌن لشخص ‪.‬‬
‫( نركز على معنى الكلمات بالتحدٌد مش نركز علٌه كمرجع لكلمة ‪).‬‬
‫المعنى مختلف ‪ + ..‬انور السادات ممكن ٌتغٌر وهو تغٌر اصال ف مش ثابت لمرجع‬
‫لرئٌس مصر ‪...‬‬
‫) ‪ sense ( meaning relationships‬عشان هٌن طلعو ب اشً اسمو‬

‫‪So they have different senses .‬‬

‫‪From these three problems we can say that the theory of‬‬
‫‪reference is not enough as a theory of semantics .‬‬

‫اخر اربع سطور من صفحة ‪ . 13‬بشرحلنا اكثر عن الموضوع‬

‫( باختصار بعطٌنا مثال لما بدن تحكً عن جارتن مثال ممكن توصفها ب اكثر من اسم‬
‫‪ :‬ممكن تحكً جارتً ‪ ,‬او ام كذا ‪ ,‬او اسمها الحمٌمً ‪ ...‬الخ هدول كلهم مرجع لنفس‬
‫الشخص بس لو اجٌنا لمعنى كل كلمة منهم فهو مختلف )‬
‫عشان هٌن الزم ٌكون عنا نظرٌة احسن ‪.‬‬

‫‪33‬‬
‫‪Amneh k. Alabdullah ‬‬
12 ‫شرح صفحة‬

We know that nominal has one referent .

..‫ بتختلف بحسب البلد والمكان والخ‬: ‫بس مثال زي كلمة رئٌس الوزراء‬
Example : Veins ‫كوكب الزهرة‬

2.34 .

Has two other names : the morning star \ the evening star .

‫بعضنا ما كنا نعرف انو كوكب الزهرة اله اسماء ثانٌة فهاي اٌضا مشكلة للنظرٌة‬
One referent may have more than one name ( referring
expressions ) .

Tautology : ‫الحشو وعادة ٌستخدم للتاكٌد او للتفسٌر‬

When I say war is war its tautology ‫بس اكٌد الها معنى ٌعنً حتى لو حشو‬
, but when I say the morning star is the evening star its not
tautology .

Because they are two different names .

Also when I say Veins is Veins .its tautology .

Mental representations : ‫الصورة الذهنٌة‬

The question here : what are the mental representations
that we have for certain terms ?
Example : what is the mental representation for the word
triangle .
. ‫عدة اشكال للمثلث حسب كل الشخص الصورة الذهنٌة الً عنده‬

34
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
So what are the mental representations ?
Some people say its an image in this case the relationship
is visual \ ‫عاللة تشابه‬resemblance
. ‫ بشرح الموضوع‬11 ‫السطر الخامس صفحة‬
Example :
But When you say the word mother .
What is the mental representations for the word mother
?? of course you own mother .
.‫ امن‬, ‫لما تحكً كلمة ام شو الصورة الذهنٌة الً راح تخطر ببالن‬
‫ الصورة الذهنٌة ٌا سٌارتن الحالٌة او سٌارة احالمن مثال‬, ‫او لكلمة سٌارة‬
‫بالعادة فمش راح تكون مشكلة‬.
. ‫عاللة بصرٌة انت شاٌفها لدامن بذهنن‬
Because of these differences between the images for the
mental representation they said that mental
representation is a concept . ‫مفهوم‬
‫المعنى عبارة عن خلٌط بٌن‬
Denotation + conceptual elements .

35
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Lecture 12 :
There are two basic questions for conceptual elements :
1) How form can we assign to concept ?
2) How do children acquire them , long with their
linguistics labels ??
we can look at some answers to these questions . in our
discussion we will concentrate on concepts that correspond to
single word .

concept form ‫ ما هو شكل المفهوم او‬: ‫بالنسبة للسؤال االول‬

concept can be expressed in phrases or It can be lexicalized .

what do we mean by lexicalized ??

to make them one term \ given a lexical word .

example : 13 ‫مثال صفحة‬

2.37

‫هاد المثال عنا بوصف اله معٌنه بنستخدمها لتشكٌل اوراق الشجر المٌت على شكل‬
. ‫تمثال‬
‫ بس ممكن اطلعلها اسم مكون من كلمة‬, ‫استخدمنا جملة طوٌلة لوصف الة معٌنه‬
: ‫واحدة وهاي العملٌة انً اخلٌها كلمة واحدة بس بسمٌه‬
Lexicalized

Example :
36
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Sharper : a tool that we use to make the knife sharp ‫زمان كانو ٌحكو‬

Then it became sharper . ( lexicalized) because of something we

call ( utility )

‫بس مع مرور الولت وبسبب استخدام هاي االلة بشكل شائع طلعولها اسم‬
Sharper .

: ‫لما بدنا نجاوب السؤال الثانً عنا شغلتٌن اساسٌتٌن الزم ننتبهلهم‬
Under extension : a concept is narrower than it should be .
. ‫الزم نتذكر انو احنا هون بنحكً عن اطفال‬
Example : Dog : they use the word dog to refer to their pet only

Or to the kind name .

. ‫ ٌعنً بس الً عندهم بالبٌت اسمو كلب الً عند البالً ال‬, ‫بضٌك استخدام الكلمة‬
Over extension : a concept is border than it should be .

Example : dog : they use the word dog to refer to all kinds of
animals .

‫بصٌر الطفل ٌستخدم كلمة كلب بشكل اوسع من استخداماتها ٌعنً مثال ممكن ٌصٌر‬
. ‫ٌحكً عن كل الحٌوانات كلب‬

Necessary and sufficient conditions : ‫شروط‬

37
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
: ‫ب اختصار هون بنسال سؤال‬
What are the conditions that X must meet in order to be
called for example woman , cat , chair … etc .
‫شو هً الشروط االساسٌة الً الزم تتوافر ب س عشا اطلك علٌه اسم معٌن‬
: ‫مثال امرأة‬
Example :
X is a woman if and only if L
Where L is a list of attributes like :
1) Is human
2) Is adult
3) Is female .. Etc..
If something must have them to be a woman , then they
can be called necessary conditions .
‫ٌعنً هاي الشروط الً الزم تتوافر بالشًء عشان الدر اطلك علٌه اسم امرأة‬
Sufficient set of conditions : conditions that are enough
and necessary to the concept .

38
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Chapter 2.

Meaning, thoughts and reality.

How it is that we can use language to describe the world?

1) I saw Nelson Mandela on television last night.

2) we've just flown back from Paris.

where Nelson Mandela and Paris are names allowing us to do this.

As we said earlier :

The words Nelson Mandela and Paris ( are referring expressions)

but the person Nelson Mandela and the city Paris itself are
referent.

In semantics this action of picking out or identifying with words is

often called referring or denoting.

Thus one can use the word Paris to refer to or denote the city.

Some writers, like John Lyons separate the terms refer and
denote.

So what is the difference between denotation and referring??? ‫مهم‬

denote: is used for the relationship between a linguistic

expression and the world,

while refer is used for the action of a speaker in picking out

entities in the world.

39
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Example :

Cow �: the word itself is a referring expression.

The caw itself is a referent

‫لٌش ؟‬Denotation ‫بس العملٌة كلها هون عندي اسمها‬

Because it names a kind of animals in general ( not a specific

animal).

But when I say This Cow � it's a reference because I pick a specific
cow.

What is sense?
The relationship between meanings

( tall / short).

Example : the word ( so) it does not have references but it has
Sense.

Because I don't have a picture in my mind to this word ( functional

word).

So meaning of words called sense.

The deference between :

Reference. Vs. sense

Reference ( the relationship between languages and things in the

world).

Sense : meanings relationships.

40
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Reference. Vs denotation

Reference : to pick out / to select a specific entity.

Denotation : Name of class / kind in general

‫شرح من الكتاب‬:
We will adopt this usage, so that if I say

A sparrow fleto into the room,

I am using the two noun phrases a sparrow and the room to refer
to things in the world,

while the nouns sparrow and room denote certain classes of

items.(‫)بالنسبة للمتحدث‬

In other words, referring is what speakers do.

while denoting is a property of words. Another difference which

follows from these definitions is that denotation is a stable
relationship in a language

‫عالقة ثابتة ال تتغير مع الزمن‬..

which is enot dependent on 'any one use of a word.

‫ما الها عاللة بولت معٌن دائما نفس الصفات‬.

Reference, on the other hand is a moment-by-moment

relationship:

‫عالقة تتغير بالنسبة للموقف‬.

what entity somebody refers to by using the word sparrow

depends on the context
41
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Lecture 9
There are different views of how semanticists should approach
this ability to talk about the world :

1) referential / denotational

2) representational

What is the difference between them?

Example :

I saw a sparrow.

I / the sparrow are referring expressions.

So referential : relates words / sentences to the real world.

( the relationship between meaning and things in the world).

Example :

There is a casino in Grafton street.

This sentence is referential ( it describes

that we have something in Grafton street)

But if I said " there isn't a casino in Grafton street)

It's not referential.

42
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Representational :

Our ability to talk about certain situations depends on our

language.

Our language ( can Restrict / Facilitates)

Our ability to talk about certain situations.

Example :

John is sleeping ( here we have activity)

John is a sleep ( here we have state).

So language can restrict our ability to talk.

- such decisions are influenced by each languages conventional

ways of viewing situations :

Example :

‫ بشرح الفرق بالكالم لنفس الجملة من لغة للغة ثانٌة‬٦٢ ‫ صفحة‬٦.٢ ‫مثال‬.

Example :

ً‫ لما نحكً بالعربً " عمل حادث" ٌعن‬It's something you do.

" he had an accident" ‫نفس التعبٌر باالنجلٌزي‬

It's something you have ( all) ‫شًء امتلكته‬

‫او لما احكً بالعربً عمل عملٌه‬

( ‫)ٌعنً هو الفاعل إلً عملها‬

In English I say " he has surgery" ‫كأنه العملٌه اشً امتلكته‬

** ‫كل لغة تصف الحدث بشكل معٌن مختلف‬

43
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Representational theory :

‫ كل لغة الها طرٌمتها حتى لو كان المعنى نفسه‬/ ‫اللغة بتمٌد‬.

Reference :

As we said earlier ( to use language to refer to something

specific).

- names / Noun phrases ( called nominal)

Names / noun phrases / pronouns ( can be used to refer.

- verbs / adjectives / adverbs.... Can't be used to refer.

Types of reference :

1) Referring / non- referring.

- some expressions can never be words to refer for example the

word ( so).

* intrinsic / non - referring expressions.

2) Names / Noun phrases / pronoun

Can be used to refer or not to refer.

( depends on the situation)

Example :

I saw a lion this morning

This is referring expression.

A lion is a wild animal. Not referring expression ( to specific thing)

It depends on the context .

44
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
- sometimes the linguistics context is not enough ( it does not help
us).

Example :

I'm looking for a car.

‫ممكن ٌكون فً نوع سٌارة محدد عند المتحدث وممكن ال‬.

( this sentence could be referring / non - referring)

‫السٌاق اللغوي ما أعطانً اشً محدد بالزبط‬

So we must have also ( situational context)

She's going to marry a French man.

If the speaker ( knows a specific French man it's a referring

expression).

But if she does not know a specific man it's non referring.

- our names are referring ( but in the context it could be non

referring)...

Constant Vs variable reference.

Constant ‫ثابتة‬

- names that have the same referent all the time ( Petra) (Ali)

‫ بترا اسمها وراح ٌضل بتراء‬،‫هاي األسماء ثابته ما بتتغٌر‬

‫هً أشٌاء ثابته ما بتتغٌر من السٌاق‬
Also they are limited.

45
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Variable ‫تتغٌر‬

- The man

It could change depend on the situation.

-I

( this pronoun change depends on the speak).

- ‫رئٌس الوزراء‬

Could change depend on the time and the situation.

Also it's the Norm ( ‫)الماعدة أو األساس‬.

Lecture 10
Reference and extension

Extension :(to an expression) is the set of things which could

possibly be the referent of an expression.

Example :

The Book ( I mean the semantics book).

The expression ( the book) is a referring expression / the

semantics book itself is a referent.

The extension : the set of books that can be a referent of a

referring expression.

‫ كل الخٌارات عندي إلً ممكن استخدمها‬،‫االكستٌنشن هون عندي هو كل الكتب بالعالم‬

‫للتعبٌر‬
The Book.

46
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
My dog : it's a referring expression/ the dog itself is a referent.

The extension : all the dogs in the world

( in the past, present and the future).

Extension & Referent ‫العاللة بٌن ال‬

Denoting ‫بسمٌها العملٌه كلها‬.

** as we mentioned, names and noun phrases which together we

can call nominals, are the paradigmatic ( the typical elements)
case of linguistics elements used to refer.

Names :

The simplest case of nominals which have reference, names after

all are labels for people, places etc..

‫لكن فً بعض األحٌان بحتاج ارجع للسٌاق عشان افهم أكثر‬.

Context in important in the use of names, names are definite in

that thay carry the speaker's assumption that her audience can
identify the referent.

Example : If someone says :

He looks just like Eddie Murphy.

The speaker assuming you can identify this person.

‫المتحدث لبل م ٌحكً بٌفترض انن بتعرف هالشخص‬.

47
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Noun & Noun Phrases
Nouns an NPs can be used to refer.

Example :

I spoke to a woman ( the hearer don't know the woman)

I spoke to the woman ( the hearer knows the woman) .

But both of them are referring expressions.

But for example when I say :

Man cannot live without a woman

It's not a referring expression.

Because it's generally speaking.

- the king of France is bald.

This is not a referring expression anymore.

ً‫ االشً المش حمٌمً ( الخٌال‬: ‫)مالحظة جدا مهمة‬

IS NOT a referring expression.

Zeus / unicorns ‫لما احكً مثال‬

‫هما مش اشً حمٌمً بالعالم ف ما بمدر اعتبره مرجع‬.

The wizard of Oz. ( not a referring expression).

- NPs can also be used to refer to groups of individuals, either

distributivly ( ‫)بشكل منفصل‬

Where we can focus on the individual members of the group.

48
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Example :

The people in the lift avoided each other's eyes.

‫بنمٌز‬Each ‫من كلمة‬.

Or collectively when we focus on the aggregate. ( ‫)المجموعة كاملة‬.

Example :

The people in the lift proved too heavy for the lift motor.

** as well as individuals and groups of individuals, nominals can of

course denote substances, actions and abstract ideas.

Examples :

Who can afford Coffee?

( it's not a referent, ‫)ما بحكً عن نوع لهوة معٌن‬

Sleeping is his hobby.

( denotation because I mean the whole sleeping types.).

She has a passion for justice.

So its denotation ‫بحكً عن كل العدالة الً فً العالم‬.

Denotation ‫ وال‬Reference ‫حاالت بنعتبرها مش‬

Example :

No student enjoyed the lecture.

No student does not denote an individual who enjoyed the

lecture.

49
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Lecture 11 :
Let’s assume that semantics is the = the reference :

Or semantics it the theory of reference .

‫هل هذه النظرٌة كافٌة لتفسٌر كل شًء بالسٌمانتكس ؟‬
Its not enough , but why , what is the problems in this theory ?

The first problem : Some words have no meanings .

‫لو اعتبرنا انو المرجع هو نظرٌة السٌمانتكس اول مشكلة فً بعض الكلمات ما الها‬
. ‫معنى‬
Example : (so ) is a word , cannot be used to refer to things .

( if ) (and ) … etc . so its cannot be explained by the theory of

semantics if the theory of semantics is reference .

The second problem : some nominal expressions don’t have

reference .

Example : unicorn .
‫ النو زي ما حكٌنا‬. ‫الكلمة بتوصف حٌوان خٌالً بالتالً ما الها مرجع بالحٌاة الوالعٌة‬
. ‫انو االشٌاء الخٌالٌة ما الها مرجع‬
The third problem : there is not always one-to one
correspondence between a linguistics expressions and the item
we want to identify .

. ‫ما فً عاللة ثابتة بٌن التعبٌر اللغوي واالشً الً انا بدي احددو او اعرفو‬

50
Amneh k. Alabdullah 
‫‪ .‬ارجعو للجمل صفحة ‪Example : 13‬‬

‫) ‪( 2.32 ) \ ( 2.33‬‬

‫‪.‬هون بهاي الجمل انور السادات ورئٌس مصر‬

‫‪These are two referring expressions for the same referent .‬‬

‫‪They refer to the same person Anwar El Sadat .‬‬

‫? ‪But is their meaning the same‬‬

‫هل لهم نفس المعنى ؟ ال ‪ ..‬انور السادات هو اسم لشخص معٌن بس لما احكً رئٌس‬
‫مصر بحكً هون عن منصب معٌن لشخص ‪.‬‬
‫( نركز على معنى الكلمات بالتحدٌد مش نركز علٌه كمرجع لكلمة ‪).‬‬
‫المعنى مختلف ‪ + ..‬انور السادات ممكن ٌتغٌر وهو تغٌر اصال ف مش ثابت لمرجع‬
‫لرئٌس مصر ‪...‬‬
‫) ‪ sense ( meaning relationships‬عشان هٌن طلعو ب اشً اسمو‬

‫‪So they have different senses .‬‬

‫‪From these three problems we can say that the theory of‬‬
‫‪reference is not enough as a theory of semantics .‬‬

‫اخر اربع سطور من صفحة ‪ . 13‬بشرحلنا اكثر عن الموضوع‬

‫( باختصار بعطٌنا مثال لما بدن تحكً عن جارتن مثال ممكن توصفها ب اكثر من اسم‬
‫‪ :‬ممكن تحكً جارتً ‪ ,‬او ام كذا ‪ ,‬او اسمها الحمٌمً ‪ ...‬الخ هدول كلهم مرجع لنفس‬
‫الشخص بس لو اجٌنا لمعنى كل كلمة منهم فهو مختلف )‬
‫عشان هٌن الزم ٌكون عنا نظرٌة احسن ‪.‬‬
‫شرح صفحة ‪12‬‬

‫‪We know that nominal has one referent .‬‬

‫‪51‬‬
‫‪Amneh k. Alabdullah ‬‬
..‫ بتختلف بحسب البلد والمكان والخ‬: ‫بس مثال زي كلمة رئٌس الوزراء‬
Example : Veins ‫كوكب الزهرة‬

2.34 .Has two other names : the morning star \ the evening star .

‫بعضنا ما كنا نعرف انو كوكب الزهرة اله اسماء ثانٌة فهاي اٌضا مشكلة للنظرٌة‬
One referent may have more than one name ( referring
expressions ) .

Tautology : ‫الحشو وعادة ٌستخدم للتاكٌد او للتفسٌر‬

When I say war is war its tautology ‫بس اكٌد الها معنى ٌعنً حتى لو حشو‬
, but when I say the morning star is the evening star its not
tautology .

Because they are two different names .

Also when I say Veins is Veins .its tautology .

Mental representations : ‫الصورة الذهنٌة‬

The question here : what are the mental representations that we

have for certain terms ?

Example : what is the mental representation for the word triangle

.
. ‫عدة اشكال للمثلث حسب كل الشخص الصورة الذهنٌة الً عنده‬
So what are the mental representations ?

Some people say its an image in this case the relationship is visual
\ ‫عاللة تشابه‬resemblance

. ‫ بشرح الموضوع‬11 ‫السطر الخامس صفحة‬

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Example :

But When you say the word mother .

What is the mental representations for the word mother ?? of

course you own mother .

.‫ امن‬, ‫لما تحكً كلمة ام شو الصورة الذهنٌة الً راح تخطر ببالن‬
‫بالعادة‬. ‫ الصورة الذهنٌة ٌا سٌارتن الحالٌة او سٌارة احالمن مثال‬, ‫او لكلمة سٌارة‬
‫فمش راح تكون مشكلة‬
. ‫عاللة بصرٌة انت شاٌفها لدامن بذهنن‬
Because of these differences between the images for the mental
representation they said that mental representation is a concept .
‫مفهوم‬
‫المعنى عبارة عن خلٌط بٌن‬
Denotation + conceptual elements .

Lecture 12 :

There are two basic questions for conceptual elements :

3) How form can we assign to concept ?

4) How do children acquire them , long with their linguistics
labels ??
we can look at some answers to these questions . in our
discussion we will concentrate on concepts that correspond to
single word .

concept form ‫ ما هو شكل المفهوم او‬: ‫بالنسبة للسؤال االول‬

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concept can be expressed in phrases or It can be lexicalized .

what do we mean by lexicalized ??

to make them one term \ given a lexical word .

example : 13 ‫مثال صفحة‬

2.37

‫هاد المثال عنا بوصف اله معٌنه بنستخدمها لتشكٌل اوراق الشجر المٌت على شكل‬
. ‫تمثال‬
‫ بس ممكن اطلعلها اسم مكون من كلمة‬, ‫استخدمنا جملة طوٌلة لوصف الة معٌنه‬
: ‫واحدة وهاي العملٌة انً اخلٌها كلمة واحدة بس بسمٌه‬
Lexicalized

Example :

Sharper : a tool that we use to make the knife sharp ‫زمان كانو ٌحكو‬

Then it became sharper . ( lexicalized) because of something we

call ( utility )

‫بس مع مرور الولت وبسبب استخدام هاي االلة بشكل شائع طلعولها اسم‬
Sharper .

: ‫لما بدنا نجاوب السؤال الثانً عنا شغلتٌن اساسٌتٌن الزم ننتبهلهم‬
Under extension : a concept is narrower than it should be .

. ‫الزم نتذكر انو احنا هون بنحكً عن اطفال‬

Example : Dog : they use the word dog to refer to their pet only

Or to the kind name .

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 . ‫ ٌعنً بس الً عندهم بالبٌت اسمو كلب الً عند البالً ال‬, ‫بضٌك استخدام الكلمة‬
Over extension : a concept is border than it should be .

Example : dog : they use the word dog to refer to all kinds of
animals .

‫بصٌر الطفل ٌستخدم كلمة كلب بشكل اوسع من استخداماتها ٌعنً مثال ممكن ٌصٌر‬
. ‫ٌحكً عن كل الحٌوانات كلب‬

Necessary and sufficient conditions : ‫شروط‬

: ‫ب اختصار هون بنسال سؤال‬
What are the conditions that X must meet in order to be called for
example woman , cat , chair … etc .

‫شو هً الشروط االساسٌة الً الزم تتوافر ب س عشا اطلك علٌه اسم معٌن مثال امرأة‬
:
Example :

X is a woman if and only if L

Where L is a list of attributes like :

4) Is human
5) Is adult
6) Is female .. Etc..
If something must have them to be a woman , then they can be
called necessary conditions .

‫ٌعنً هاي الشروط الً الزم تتوافر بالشًء عشان الدر اطلك علٌه اسم امرأة‬
Sufficient set of conditions : conditions that are enough and
necessary to the concept .

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Lecture 13 + 14 .
Prototype :
What do we mean by prototype ?

( the typical representation) .

Example: if we want to define the word ( cat) for children .

We will use the typical image .

a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short

snout Weighing 6 kg .

ً‫راح نستخدم لطة شكلها ووزنها وتصرفها شائع وطبٌع‬

So prototype is :

A model of concept , ( central or typical members of a category,

such as birds or furniture .

Furniture : we use the word chair for example to show the typical
representation for the word furniture .

Or sparrow a more typical member of the category Bird than

penguin . So when we teach children we teach them typical
images ( with typical features) .

** prototype depends on the culture .

‫ ٌعنً ٌختلف من ثمافة لثمافة ثانٌة‬.

Example: if i ask about the typical tree in Jordan : it will be olive

tree .

But is Saudi Arabia : it will be Palm tree .

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Relations between concepts :

Words are in a network of semantics links .

‫ مثال عشان نفهم اكثر شو الممصود بهالكالم‬:

Example: ‫لو اخذنا هالثالث كلمات‬

Fish. whale shark

‫ لو بدنا نحكً خصائص كل وحدة بشكل عام‬:

Fish :

- It has fins

- Can swim

- Has gills

- live in the water .

- lay eggs

Whale : It has the same features with fish ( or it inherited some

features from Fish + it has it's own features )

‫ الها صفاتها‬+ ‫ٌعنً بتشترن ببعض الصفات مع كلمة سمكة او بتورث بعض الصفات‬
‫ الخاصة‬.

- It has fins

- can swim

- has gills

- live in the water .

- its a mammal
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Shark : - It has fins

- can swim

- has gills

- live in the water .

+ - predatory

Coneptual Network ‫هاد الممصود بال‬

Basic level ‫ اهمٌة ال‬:

1) most used in everyday life .

2) acquired first by children .

3) in experiments it is the level at which adults spontaneously

name objects .

4) such objects are recognized more quickly in tests .

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Lecture 15 :
Acquiring concepts :

How do we acquire concepts ?!

Ostensive definition : to define by pointing ( to the typical things )

I show the child typical dog / color / cat for example .

Even the body parts the children acquire them by pointing .

Some terms cannot be defined by ostensive definition .

Example : battle Electricity \Ambition / happiness/ Justice ...etc .

The abstract things can't be defined ostensivly .

‫ بنمدر نعرف بهاي الطرٌمة بس االشٌاء الً بنمدر نلمسها او نأشر علٌها‬.

+ most verbs can't be defined ostensivly

.. ‫ ٌأكل‬، ً‫ ٌمش‬، ‫لكن بعض االفعال البسٌطة ممكن نعرفها بهاي الطرٌمة مثل ٌنام‬
‫ بس افعال زي‬: Watch / see .

Watch is purposeful .

But see it takes just a moment . ً‫شًء لحظ‬

‫ما بتمدر تعرف الفرق بٌنهم بهاي الطرٌمة‬

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Words, concepts and thinking.

As a native speakers we have a lexicon in our minds, we use word

( just one word) to define things.

We have a list of lexicalized items ( and they smaller in numbers

than we use in the daily basis.

There are two approaches to explain the relationship between the

lexicalized items and general thinking :

1) linguistic relativity :

The language entirely

‫اللغة هي التي تحدد مدى العمليات الذهنية المتاحة للشخص‬.

Example :

If your language does not have a word for snow, you will not be
able to talk about snow ❄ Because your language prevents
you Language shapes ideas.

‫ اللغة بتحدد االفكار الً انت ممكن تحكً عنها‬،‫اللغة ما بتمدم االفكار‬.

People's thoughts are determined by the categories available to

them in their language. Some words are available in your
language ( Arabic) for example but the English people can't talk
about it, because it's not available in their language.

+ ‫ اللغات تختلف بتصنٌفها للعالم‬Some languages have two color terms (

black and white), they will not be able to talk about green for
example.

‫العالم ٌرتكز على العادات اللغوٌة للمجموعة‬.

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Language of thought hypothesis :

‫فرضٌة لغة التفكٌر‬.

They dismiss as a fallacy such a strict identification of thought and

language.

Two main arguments to support this view:

1) there is an evidence that we can think without a language.

‫بنقدر نفكر بدون ما نحتاج اللغة‬.

Pinker says there is evidence that language is different from

thinking. Who can we think without a language? We can imagine
things/ think of images.

We have another language called a language of thought.

‫مختلفة عن بالً اللغات‬

The language doesn't affect/ shape / determine our cognitive
process.

The basic idea is that memory and processes such as reasoning

seem to make use of a kind of propositional representation that
doesn't have the syntax of a spoken language like English.

** what we have in our minds in usually propositional / abstract

ideas. ‫ اللغة ما الها‬،‫ال شًء ٌمنع رجل عربً واجنبً انهم ٌشتركو بنفس االفكار‬
‫دخل‬.

We think in a propositional way. Propositions are universal /

abstract.

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Lecture 16 :Chapter 3 :
Word meaning : Meaning relationships between words.

Example : I saw my mother just now.

The word mother is connected to other words like ( woman,

human, gave birth.. Etc.)

Words are defined through their relationships with other words.

When you know the meaning of mother, you know the word
female, woman, human because they related to each other.

‫ بتشرح المثال إلً فوق‬١.٣ ‫الفمرة تحت مثال‬.

example :

My bank manager has just been murdered.

My bank manager is dead.

My bank will be getting a new manager.

The first sentence entails the second one.

‫ فهاي الجملة بشكل تلمائً بتحكٌلً انو مدٌر‬،‫الجملة األولى بتحكٌلً انو مدٌر البنن لتل‬
‫البنن مٌت‬.

‫لكن مش بالضرورة انو تكون الجملة الثالثة صحٌحة‬.

‫ احتمال‬/ ‫ممكن ما ٌجٌبو مدٌر جدٌد‬.

So the third sentence does not follow automatically of The first

sentence.
٢٥ ‫ صفحة‬١.٦ ‫ونفس الحكً ببالً األمثلة‬

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
B followed A but c does not follow A automatically.
And if A is true B must be true, if A is false B must be False.

Entailment.

We can easily imagine situations where we believe the A sentence

but can deny the associated C sentence.

C ‫ممكن تكون خطأ‬

This entailment relationship is important here because in these

examples it is a reflection of our lexical knowledge the
entailments in these sentences can be seen to follow from the
semantic relations between murder and dead for example.

Words and Grammatical Categories :

Words and Grammatical Categories like noun, preposition, verb
etc.,

‫بنستخدمهم معظم األحٌان بالمواعد‬

thougn defined in modern linguistics at the level of syntax and
morphology, do reflect semantics differences

Noun ( ‫ )الكلمة بس‬as a grammatical category does not have

similarities with the word verb as an grammatical category .

Grammatical categories is used often in syntax, but they have role

in semantics.

Noun ( ‫ )بحددلً األسماء‬verb ( ‫)بحددلً أفعال‬.

To take a few examples:

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
names ( our names)

common nouns( university) ,

pronouns ( our, you.. Etc.)

and what we might call logical words ( not, and, if, all, any but..
etc.) ‫ هاي الكلمات بتأثر على معنى الجملة كاملة‬.

+ these words operate in different ways, some types maybe used

to refer ( names) but others may not ( logical words)

** logical words cannot be used to refer.

* some can only be interpreted in particular contexts (e.g

pronouns).

‫ٌمكن تفسٌرها فً سٌالات محددة‬.

Pronouns have different references depending on the context.

others are very consistent in meaning across a whole range of

conțexts (e.g. logical words)‫ معناهم ثابت بغض النظر عن السٌاق‬.

; and so on It seems too that semantic links will -tend to hold

between members of the same group rather than across groups.

Example : Logical words Words like ( and, but.. etc) they

connected to each other more than their connection to the word
Man for example. *Function ‫ ** بشبهو بعض بال‬they behave in the
same manner.

Nouns are put in the same group because they behave in the
same manner and so on...

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Words and Lexical Items :

we must have list of all the words in a language , together with

(idiosyncratic)

‫معلومات ممٌزة لهذه الكلمات زي انها اسم أو فعل إلخ‬..

information about them; and call this body information a

dictionary or lexicon.

**Each one of us have a lexicon in his mind.

This mental dictionary has the meaning of the words +

idiosyncratic information about the word.

Our interest in semantics is with Iexemes!

What do we mean by lexemes? A Semantic word.

Phoneme / morpheme ‫ٌعنً زي مبدأ ال‬

and as we shall see there are a number of ways of listing these in

a lexicon.

first we should examine this unit ( word)

Words can be identified at level of writing, ‫ممكن تعرٌفه على المستوى‬

ً‫الكتاب‬..

Example : boy ( one word) a boy ( two words) ‫بٌنهم فراغ ألنه‬

‫ لو‬..‫تعرٌف الكلمة على المستوى الكتابً هً الً بتكون وحدة واحدة ما فً فراغ‬
‫صار فً فراغ بتكون أكثر من كلمة‬.

where we are familiar with them being separated by white

spaces.

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
- where we can call them orthographic words. ( written words).

They ( words) can also be identified at the levels of phonology

‫المستوى الثاني‬.

where they are strings of sounds which may show internal

structuring which does not occur outside the word, and syntax
where the same semantic word can be represented by several
grammatical distinct variants.

Example : walk | Phonologically is one unit (cvcc) one syllabul. It

cannot be divided into smaller units.

Walks ً‫بس لما تحك‬

It's grammatical word ‫صارت فعل الزمه فاعل مفرد‬.

Because of the grammar we can see ( s) in the end.

Lecture 17 :
Walks / walking / walked

These are instances of the same lexeme the verb walk ( semantic
word).

The three grammatical words share the meaning of the lexeme.

** the usual approach in semantics is to try to associate

phonological and Grammatical words with semantic words or
lexemes,.

** several lexemes can be represented by one phonological and

Grammatical word.

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Example :

-He scored with his left foot. ( ‫)لَ َدم‬

-They made camp at the foot of the mountain.( ‫)أسفل الجبل‬

-I ate a foot long Hot-dog. ( ‫)أداة لٌاس‬

One phonological word, stands for

3 different lexemes..

Or we can say we have 3 senses of the word foot.

Example : Bank ( could mean the edge of the river, and the
financial institution).

One phonological word with tow lexemes \ Or two senses.

Once we have established our lexemes, the lexicon will be a listing

of them with a representation of :

‫ ٌعنً شو الزم ٌكون موجود بس نكتب الماموس‬:

1) the lexemes pronunciation.

2) it's grammatical status ( adj, verb...)

3) it's meaning.

4) it's meaning relations with other lexemes ( ‫ الخ‬... ‫)الها مرادفات‬.

5) any information that cannot be predicted by general rules. ‫هاي‬

‫ مثال باب جمعها ابواب‬Irregular plural ‫الزم ٌذكر مثال‬

Irregular past Form ( go / went)

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
( unpredictable pronunciation, exceptional morphological
behavior ،syntactic category the item is, and the semantic
information).

** lexicographer tries to group words that, as well as sharing

phonological and Grammatical properties, make some sense as a
semantic grouping either by having some common elements of
meaning, or by being historically related.

: Problematic ‫بعض الحاالت إلً بنعتبرها‬

Phrasal verbs, throw up..

Idioms, kick the bucket..

Problems with pinning down word meaning

. 1) the influence of context on word meaning.

‫ شرح‬:

Usually it's easier to define a word if you are given the phrase or a
sentence it occurs in.

Contextual effects seem to pull word meaning in two opposite

directions . The first one : restricting influence the tendency for
words to occur together repeatedly. ( collocation).

‫كلمات بتٌجً مع بعض داٌما وبنفس الترتٌب‬.

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Example : Strong / powerful.

They are synonymous, but we can't use them all the time
interchangeably.

Powerful‫ بدل‬Strong ‫بجمل معٌنه ما بمدر استخدم‬

ً‫ٌعنً بمدر احك‬

Strong argument / powerful argument

‫ هون اعتبرناهم‬synonymous

‫ بس بجمل زي‬: Strong tea / Powerful car.

‫ما بمدر ابدل الكلمات ٌعنً خطأ لو حكٌت‬

Powerful tea.

Or deep / profound.

Feelings ( interchangeable ‫ممكن استخدم الثنٌن‬

But physical things I can use just deep. ( deep lack ).

Or broad / wide.

Both of them can be used to physical things

( wide streets, broad streets).

But with mental things we use only broad.

Also with the words that always occur together : like Hot and Cold
( we can't say cold and Hot) .

Husband and wife. ‫مكة والمدٌنه‬.

Occur together in the Same word order.

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Lecture 18 :
Contextual effects seem to pull word meaning in two opposite
directions .

The second one : ‫عكس الثبات والتجحر‬

Contextual effects can also pull word meaning in the other

direction towards creativity and semantic shift, in different
context for example :

RUN can have somewhat different meanings :

1. I go for a run every morning. ‫ركض‬

2.The ball player hit a home run. ‫اللعبه‬

3.We took the new car for a run. ‫جولة‬

4.We built a new run for chickens. ‫حضٌرة‬

Over time in certain context the word run has occurred new
meanings.

Are these seven different senses of the word run ?

RUN ‫هل هما سبع معانً مختلفة لل كلمة‬

Or are they examples of the same sense influenced by different

contexts ?

‫وال هما امثلة لنفس المعنى بس تحت تأثٌر سٌالات مختلفة؟‬

Some writers have described this distinction in terms of Ambiguity
and vagueness.
‫الثنٌن معناهم غموض بس شو الفرق بٌنهم؟‬
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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
‫تطبٌك ع المثال إلً فوق‬.

If each of the meanings of RUN a different senses then run is

seven ways Ambiguous.‫ معانً مختلف‬٧ ‫اذا كانت الها‬

But if the word Run share the same sense then run is merely
vague between the different uses. ‫اشتركو بنفس المعنى بس اختلف‬
‫السٌاق‬.

Tests to differentiate between Ambiguity and vagueness :

In vagueness the context can add information that in not specified

in the sense.

Example : Bank ( edge of the river)

Bank ( the financial institution)

Ambiguity ‫المثال هون على‬

‫من المستحيل انك تخربط بين المعنيين ألنهم مختلفين‬

The context Clearfield the meaning.

But in Ambiguity the context will case one of the senses to be

selected.

* Ambiguity is more potential than real since in any given context

one of the readings is likely to fit the context and be automatically
selected.

One test proposed by Zwicky and Sadock and Kempson relies on

the use of abbreviatory forms like do so, do so too, so do.

I bought a book and so did Basel.

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Amneh k. Alabdullah 
Example : Charlie hates mayonnaise and so does Mary.

b. He took a form and Sean did too.

‫ مستحٌل ٌكون فً فرق حتى لو الكلمة الها أكثر من‬،ً‫الزم الشخصٌن ٌعملو نفس االش‬
‫معنى‬.

Such expressions are understandable because there is a

convention of identity

(sameness) between them and the preceding verb phrase:

The test relies on this identity: if the preceding verb phrase has
more than one sense, then whichever sense is selected in this
first full verb phrase must be kept the same in the following do
so clause.

For example

a. (Duffy discovered a mole). Mole ‫كلمة‬

‫الها أكثر من معنى بختلف حسب السٌاق‬.

b. Duffy discovered a small burrowing mammal. ‫نوع من الثدٌات‬

‫ٌحفر تحت األرض‬
c. Duffy discovered a long dormant spy.) ‫جاسوس لدٌم‬

d. Duffy discovered a mole, and so did Clark.

ً‫ الزم الشخص الثانً ٌكون اكتشف نفس االش‬،‫ اذا دفً اكتشفت الحٌوان‬.
‫ مستحٌل تكون‬،‫واذا دفً اكتشفت جاسوس الزم كالرن تكون اكتشفت جاسوس برضو‬
‫مختلفة‬

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Lexical Ambiguity.

I went to the bank and so did Ali.

‫ الزم ٌكونو نفس‬...‫مستحٌل اكون رحت ع البنن المصرفً وعلً راح ع حفة النهر‬
ً‫االش‬
Ds whichever sense is selected in the first clause has to be
repeated in the Second.

By contrast a word is vague, the unspecified aspects of meaning

are invisible this do so identity. ‫ال تتأثر‬

Basically, they are not part of the meaning and therefore are not
available for the identity check, We can compare this using the
student. We can't tell from the word student whether it's male or
female.

can be used to mean either a male or female,

He's our student.

She's our student.

They funded a student and so did we.

( can be male or female, it's possible that we funded a male

student and they funded a female student.)

So it's vagueness

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Lecture 19 :

Other tests for ambiguity rely on one sense being in a network

relations with certain other lexemes and another sense being in a
different network.ً‫ اختبار ثان‬.

Example : the word Run in this sentences :

In 3.12 a and b run ‫ مشابهة لمعنى‬jog. ( synonym)

Run ‫ عنا مثال اجت فٌه كلمة‬06 ‫بس لو رجعنا لصفحة‬

‫بمعنى حظٌرة‬
‫ المثال‬: he built a new run for his chickens.

Enclosure ‫ ما راح تكون مشابهة لكلمة‬Run ً‫بالتال‬

‫ حتى لو لبل كان واحد من معانٌها حظٌرة‬،‫بالمثل إلً فوق‬.

But in 3.22 example : Run in A is synonymous to run on b.

‫ بس ما بتعنً أنها مشابهة ل‬،‫إلً معناها حظٌرة‬

Run In c which mean jog.

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‫ اختصار هالحكً كلو‬:This sense relations test suggests that run is
ambiguous.( has different meanings that are not related to each
other).‫الزم نرجع للسٌاق عشان نحد‬

Lexical relations :
It's more accurate to think of the lexicon an a network, rather
than listing of words as in a published dictionary.
‫الماموس عبارة عن شبكة من الكلمات الها عاللة ببعض‬
‫أكثر من أنها لائمة كلمات‬.

An important organizational principle in the lexicon in the lexical

field. What is the lexical field?

This is a group of lexemes, which belong to a particular activity

or area of specialist knowledge.

‫مجموعة كلمات مختصة بمجال معٌن أو نشاط معٌن‬.

For example : cooking is a lexical field.

The vocabulary used by doctors.

Mountain climbers.. Etc.

Example :

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The first type of lexical relations :

1) Homonymy :

Words that different unrelated meaning ( ambiguity).

‫كلمة الها أكثر من معنى ما الهم عاللة ببعض‬

Example : ‫عٌن( مجلس االعٌان) أو عٌن االنسان‬

‫ الزم نمٌز بٌن مصطلحٌن‬: 1) Homographs ( the same writing)

Ground. (‫ والمطحون‬، ‫)األرض‬

‫نفس الكتابة بس المعنى مختلف‬.

Light ( ‫ ضوء‬،‫)خفٌف‬

2) homophones : have the same sound but different meanings.

Example : week, weak. Write, right See, sea.

‫ عنا أنواع كثٌرة‬: different types.

‫ألول نفس التصنٌف المواعد ( اسم أو صفة أو فعل) ونفس االمالء‬.

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‫الثانً نفس التصنٌف المواعدي بس اإلمالء مختلف‬.

Time, thyme ( both of them are noun, but different spelling).

‫ تصنٌف مختلف بس اإلمالء نفسه‬: ‫الثالث‬

Run ‫ ٌركض‬+ run ‫حضٌرة‬

‫ وامالء مختلف‬،‫ تصنٌف مختلف‬: ‫الرابع‬

Not, knot.

All of them are not related to each other.

Lexical relations : ‫النوع الثاني من‬

Polysemy :

Word that has more than one related meanings.

Example :chimney ‫مدخنه‬

But it has another meaning ( a narrow vertical opening in the

rock.) ‫شك عامودي بالصخر‬.

* ‫فً عاللة شبه بالشكل بٌن المعنٌٌن‬.

Safe ( ‫)خزنه مكان آمن‬

Safe ( ‫)امن‬.

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** this is an important distinction for lexicographers in the design
of thier dictionaries because Polysemous sense are listed under
the same lexical entry.

‫ٌعنً الكلمات هاي زي األمثلة إلى فوق بحطو المعنٌٌن تحت الكلمة نفسها‬.

While Homonymous senses are given separate entries.

‫مداخل مختلفة منفصلة مش تحت بعض‬.

1223 ‫( مثال‬related senses for the word hook).

‫ مهم‬1220 ‫برضو مثال‬.

Lecture 20 :
‫ بال‬: ‫ بتشرحلً كٌف ممكن ٌكونو المعنٌٌن الهم عاللة ببعض‬٢٢ ‫الفمرة األولى صفحة‬
Polysemy

Such decisions are not always clear cut . Speakers may differ in
their intuitions

‫ المتحدث بٌشعر انهم الهم عاللة ببعض‬, and worse , historical fact and
speaker intuitions may contradict each other .

For example :

most English speakers seem to feel that the two words sole '
bottom of the foot ' and sole ' flatfish ' are unrelated ,

‫بعتمدو انو هالمعنٌٌن ما الهم عاللة ببعض‬.

and should be given separate lexical entries as a case of

homonymy

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They are however historcally derived via French from the same
Latin word solea ' sandal ' .

‫بس بالحقيقة الكلمتين مشتقات من اللغة الفرنسية من نفس الكلمة الالتينيه‬.

So an argument could be made for polysemy .

Another example :

A more recent example is the adjective gay with the two

meanings ' lively , light - hearted , bright ' and ' homosexual ' .

‫ ثالث نوع‬:

Synonymy :

Words that have the same meaning.

Examples :

3.27 couch / sofa. boy /lad

lawyer / attorney toilet / lavatory large / big.

Even these few examples show that true or exact synonyms are
very rare . But why?

As Palmer ( 1981 ) notes , the synonyms often have different

distributions along a number of parameters .

‫تختلف فً مجاالت مختلفة‬

They may have belonged to different dialects and then become
synonyms

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‫ممكن ٌكونو من لغات مختلفة بس صارو مترادفات‬
for speakers familiar with both dialects.

Example : like Irish English press and British English cupboard .

‫كلمتٌن اجو من ثمافات مختلفة بس صارو مترادفات‬

‫ لاير‬/ ‫ راجل‬/ ‫ رجال‬/ ‫زلمة‬
So this is the first source for synonym ( the words from different
dialects)

The second source is, the words may originate from different
languages.

Example : Cloth ( old English) Fabric ( from Latin)

An important source of synonymy range of euphemisms may

occur ,

for example 3.28 die : cease living : decease , demise , depart ,

drop , expire , go , pass away , pass. ‫كل هاي مترادفات لكلمة مات‬
‫ممكن هاي مترادفات ما تكون داٌما نفس المعنى ( بعتمد ع السٌاق) زي لما حكٌنا مثال‬
Example :

Strong / powerful

Strong tea. / powerful car.

Big / large

Large house / big sister.

Apposites (antonymy)‫ متضادات‬/ ‫متقابالت‬

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There are 4 types of Apposites :

1. Simple antonyms : ( the negative of one implies the positive

of the other. Complementary pairs... Binary pairs Dead/alive
pass/fail. Hit/miss. ً‫مستحٌل ٌكون الثنٌن بنفس الولت ٌا مٌت ٌا عاٌش ما ف‬
‫ وسط‬correct / incorrect. same / different.
Example : my pet python is dead but luckily it's still alive (
unacceptable sentence). ‫شرح أكثر‬

Speakers can creatively later these tow term classifications for

special effects.

We can speak of some one half dead ( like the walking dead)...
This is fictional ( not true)

2.Gradable antonyms : ‫درجات‬

Hot / cold ‫ فً بٌنهم درجات‬warm ً‫مثال‬

Also what is hot in one situation is cold in another situation.

They typically associated with adjectives and has two major

identifying characteristics :

‫فً ثالث مزاٌا لهاد النوع‬.

Firstly : there are usually intermediate terms. Example : between

hot ( warm) cold.

Secondly : the terms are usually relative. What is hot in one

situation could be cold in another. Or the light thing for you could
be heavy for another person.

Thirdly : is that in some pairs one term is more basic and common.

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‫في بعضهم واحد بكون شائع أكثر من الثاني‬.

Long / short ... Long is more basic ( we use it in questions.. How

long). ...But for other pairs there is no such pattern.

Hot / cold. ً‫ ممكن تحك‬how hot / how cold.

Both of them is basic.

Lecture 21 :
3) Reverse :

It has to do with motion and movement.

‫متمابالت بس الهم عاللة بالحركة واالتجاهات أكثر‬

Movement in the same direction ➡ and the other in the

opposite direction .

Example : push / pull. \\ Come /go\\ Go / return.

Ascend / discend.

When describing motion the following can be called reverse

( go) + up / down ( Go) + in / out ( Turn) right / left.

By extension, the term is also applied to any process which can be

reversed : example

Inflate / deflate full /empty

Expand / contract knit/ unravel

4) converses :
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These are terms which describe a relation between two entities
from alternative viewpoint..

It Describes the relationship between

A and B / B and A

A own B

So B belong to A.

Example : above / below

Employee / employer

‫عامل‬ ‫صاحب العمل‬.

Father /son.

Same relationship ‫انعكس الترتٌب‬

+ all comparatives are converses.

Example : Ali is taller than Sami

Sami is shorter than Ali.

These relations are part of speaker's semantic knowledge and

explain why the two sentences below are paragraphs :

( give the same meaning)

1. My office is above the library.

2.The library is below my office.

Taxonomic sisters : ‫تصنيفي‬

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Groups have more than 2.

Taxonomies are classification system,

‫مجموعة بتضم أشٌاء نفس التصنٌف‬

we talk as an example : colors.

3. 41 red, orange, white, green, blue.... Etc.

We can say that the word red and blue is are sister-members of
the same taxonomy.

And therefore incompatible with each other.

Example : his car isn't red, it's blue.

Another example or taxonomic sisters : Days of the week /

months of the year..

** some taxonomies are closed ( we can't add to them) like days

of the week.

Others are open ( we can add to them) like colors.

Hyponymy :
A relation of inclusion ( ‫)تضمٌن‬.

A relationship between 2 terms one of them bigger than the

other.

1.hyponym

2.Hypernym ( the more general term) or superordinate.

Example : cat ( Hyponym)

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 Animal ( Hypernym)

Example : Semantic network from the hierarchical taxonomies.

** the relationship here is transitive ( ‫)عابرة‬

Kestrel is kind of birds too. ً‫ٌعنً ممكن احك‬

‫من األسفل لألعلى‬.

** hyponymy is a vertical relationship in a taxonomy.

Another lexical relation that seems like a special subcase of

taxonomy the ADULT - YOUNG relation, as shown in the following
examples: 3.46

Dog / puppy Cat / kitten Crow / calf

A similar relation holds between the MALE - Female pairs :

Dog / bitch Bull / cow Cob / pen

‫فً بعض التنالضات فً هذه النظرٌة‬

Sometimes the General term between male or female ( the male
term Dog)

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Sometimes the female term (cow)

Meronymy :
is a term used to describe a part - whole relationship between
lexical items .

We can identify : relationship by using sentence frames like X is

part of Y , or Y has X. ‫عاللة بٌن جزء وكل‬

‫زي العاللة بٌن الٌد واالصبع‬

Meronymy reflects hierarchy classifications in the lexicon
somewhat like taxonomies.‫عالقة تراتبية‬

‫ هاد الممصود‬،‫الٌد جزء رئٌسً فٌها األصابع واالصابع جزء رئٌسً فٌها األظافر‬
‫بالتراتبٌة‬.

Example 3.48.

Lecture 22 +23
Meronymy ‫تكلمة شرح ال‬

Meronyms vary for example in how necessary the part is to the

whole .
ً‫ مثال‬،‫بٌتغٌر على حسب أهمٌة الجزء للكل‬

examples , such as nose as a meronym of face , ‫أهم جزء بالوجه األنف‬

others are usual but not obligatory

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‫بعض األشٌاء اعتٌادٌة بس مش ضرورٌة مثل‬
, like collar as a meronym of shirt , still others are ( optional like
cellar ‫المبو‬, for house .

Meronymy also differs from hyponymy in transivity . Hyponymy

is always transitive, as we saw ,but meronymy may or may not be
‫ ممكن تكون عابرة وممكن ال‬،‫بتختلف من ناحٌة أنها عابرة ( متعدٌة) أو ال‬
A transitive example is: nail as a meronym of finger , and finger of
hand.

non - transitive example is :

pane ً‫ اللوح الزجاج‬is a meronym of window ( A window has a pane

) , and window of room ( A room has a window ); but pane is not a
meronym of room , for we cannot say A room has a pane

‫ بس هاالشً ما بٌعنً انو‬،‫ والشبان جزء من الغرفة‬.،‫اللوح الزجاجً جزء من الشبان‬

‫اللوح الزجاجً هو جزء من الغرفة‬.

Another example :

Or hole is a meronym of button , and button of shirt , but we

wouldn't want to say that hole is a meronym of shirt ( A shirt has
holes ! ) .

Member - collection ‫عضو ومجموعة‬

This is a relationship between the word for a unit and the usual
word for a collection of the units .

Examples :

Book / library ‫كتاب ومكتبة‬

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Ship / fleet ‫اسطول وسفٌنة‬

Bird / flock ‫طٌر وسرب طٌور‬

The last semantic relation is :

Portion-mass :

uncountable nouns ‫األسماء غٌر المعدودة‬

This is a relationship between mass nouns and the usual unit of

measurement.

Example : Drop of A liquid ‫لطرة من السائل‬

Grain of salt /sand ‫حفنه‬

Sheet of paper ‫صفحة‬

Strand of hair ‫خصلة من الشعر‬

Derivational relations : ‫العاللات االشتمالٌة‬

Our lexicon should derived words their meaning is not
predictable.

‫)معناها غٌر متولع ( الزم الماموس ٌذكرها‬

Lexicographers often find it more economical to list many (

derivatives) rather than attempt to define the morphological rules
with their various irregularities and exceptions.

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We have two derivational relations :

1) causative verbs : it's one step in a four step derivational

process :
‫هً خطوة واحدة من عملٌة اشتماق تتكون اربع خطوات‬
‫)شو هما األربع خطوات بالترتٌب ( مختلف عن ترتٌب الكتاب بس نفس المضمون‬

1. Initial state. ( adj) ‫ جاف مثال‬by itself

2.Inchoative state ( verb i.. Intransitive) verb that indicates the

beginning of the state. Example : ً‫ بدل عندي انه كان مبلل أظلم ( ٌعن‬..‫جف‬
‫ وجف لحاله‬، )‫كان ضاوي‬
Another example : the road widens here ( indicates that the
road was narrow)

3. Causative state ( verb t... Transitive). Verb that name a cause

Example : ‫جفف‬

4. Resultative state ( adj.. ‫)اسم مفعول‬in a form of a past participle.

Example : ‫مجفف‬.

Another example : the road was widened.

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Sometimes there are gaps ( noble we don't have the inchoative
state in English).

‫( كتب‬initial)

__

__

‫ ( مكتوب‬causative).

We have gaps.

‫ زي مثال كلمة‬،‫ممكن مرات الكلمة ما ٌتغٌر شكلها‬ open

‫ الفمرة األولى وتكون بتشكل األربع حاالت‬٧١ ‫صفحة‬

‫ مهمة‬٧١ ‫الفمرة األولى صفحة‬.

Lecture 23
2. Agentive nouns : ( the doer of the action)

There are different types of Agentive nouns, one is derived from a

verb and ends with ( er, or) example : walker, employer actor ..

( er) Is more productive than ( or).

Dictionary writers tend to list even these forms , for two reasons.:

The first is that there are some irregularities : we can't use ( er, or)
from verb all the time.

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for instance , some nouns don't obey the informal rule given
above : footballer , for example , is not derived from a verb to
football .

Some agent nouns have meanings not related to the original verb.

Example : 3.51

A second reason : for listing these forms in published dictionaries

is that even though this process is quite regular, it is not possible
to predict for any given verb which of the strategies for agentive
nouns will be followed. (hard to predict the form used)

Example :, one who depends upon you financially is not a

*depender but a dependent.

and a person who cooks is a cook not a cooker. Elsewhere

conditions.

Lexical universals ( topology). ‫تصنيف‬

Speaks in different languages may think in different ways.

‫ هل فً اشٌاء عالمٌة مشتركة بٌن جمٌع اللغات على‬yes‫المستوى الداللً؟‬

The first one :

1) color terms :

It might be surprising that terms for colors should vary.

‫اللغات بتختلف بتصنٌف األلوان وبعدد اسماء األلوان الرئٌسٌة الموجودة‬.

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Basic color term ً‫ ٌعن‬:

1. The color is monolexemic ( one word/ lexeme ) ً‫ بن‬two lexemes

( ‫ ٌاء النسبة‬+ ‫ )بن‬Red is one lexeme.

2. The term is not a hyponym of any other color term. Example (

scarlet is a hyponym of red) ‫المرمزي واألحمر‬.

3.The term has wide applicability. ‫استعمال كبٌر مش زي اللون األشمر‬

‫مثال ٌستخدم بس لوصف الشعر‬
4.THE term is not a semantic extension of something manifest
that color. ً‫لٌست امتداد للون الرئٌس‬

ً‫مثال اصفر رئٌسً أكثر من الذهب‬.

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Basic color terms :

‫بتمدر تمرأه باالتجاهٌن‬

If the language has two Color terms ( will be Black and white)

If the language has 3 color terms ( will be black, white and red..
And so on). ** it's implicational ( if the language has the color
yellow so it must have the color ( black, white, red)..

The basic system page ( 76.. 3.55) important. ‫تطور األلوان باللغات‬..

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Chapter 4 :

What kind of knowledge about the meaning of his or her language

does the native speaker have?

Semantics theory should reflect an English speaker's knowledge :

1) synonymous

2) entailment

3) contradicts ( inconsistent with other sentence).

4) presupposes : ‫افتراض مسبك‬

- the mayor of Manchester is a woman.

‫افترضت وعرفت من هالجملة انو‬

- there is a mayor of Manchester.

+ Manchester is a city ‫عرفت منها انو‬

‫النها الها عمدة‬....

Another example : i regret eating your sandwich

- i ate your sandwich ‫بنعرف منها‬

The difference between Entailment and presuppositions

( Presupposition is what the speaker assumes to be the case prior

to making an utterance. Entailment, which is not a pragmatic
concept, is what logically follows from what is asserted in the

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utterance. Speakers have presuppositions while sentences, not
speakers, have entailments.)

5) tautology : ‫الحشو‬

Rich people are rich. / war is war.

6) contradictions. ( inconsistent with it self)

- Now is not now ( the whole sentence is contradiction).

- nobody goes to that restaurant because its too crowded.

** the semantics knowledge is very close to logic.

Logic and truth : the study of logic comes down to us from the
Classical Greek would, specifically from Aristotle.

A well-known example is Aristotles modus ponens : a type of

argument in three steps

Example: ‫عملٌة لٌاس‬

1- If arnd left work early, then he is in the pub.

‫عندي هون فعل شرط وجواب شرط‬
2- Arnd left work early.

3- Arnd is in the pub.

‫ ( ممارسة ٌومٌة‬.‫)استنتاج مبنً على المٌاس‬.

Of steps 1and 2 ( called the premises) are true then step 3 ( the
conclusion) is also guaranteed to be true.

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ً‫ انت خلصت توجٌه‬،‫اذا انت بتدرس جامعة‬.

- ‫انت بتدرس جامعة‬

- ً‫انت خلصت توجٌه‬

‫ خطوات‬١ ‫�☝ نركز هون عنا‬.

** we can judge the sentence is true or not if it alone but what if

we add it to another structures? Some time it will be difficult to
judge if it true or not.

Example : i saw a cat

Its entails that i saw an animal...

But when i say i didn't see a cat... It doesn't entail that i didn't see
an animal ( maybe i saw a dog not a cat).

A part of this study is concerned with truth statement...

What do we mean by truth statement : correspondence with

facts
‫ حسب اذا بطابك الوالع‬..‫كٌف بحكم اذا هالجملة صحٌحة او ال‬
or in other words correct descriptions of states of affairs in the
world.

** for the most part this truth is said to be empirical

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( or contingent). ً‫تحمٌم‬

Because we have to have some access to the facts of the world.

Example : my father is the first man to visit Mars.

‫ بمارنها بالوالع وبشوف اذا ابو هالشخص‬،‫كٌف ممكن اعرف هالجملة صحٌحة او ال‬
‫فعال اول رجل بزور المرٌخ‬.

If the speaker's father did go to Mars and was the first man there,
then the sentence is true otherwise it is false. semanticists call a
sentence's being true or false its truth-value. And call the facts
that make the sentence true or false truth conditions.

( the conditions thay a sentence must meet in order to be judged

as a true sentence)

A simple example of a linguistic effect on truth- value comes from

negating sentence.

a. Your car has been stolen. (p)

B. Your car has not been stolen.(q)

Its impossible for both of them to be true)

One of them must be true and the other false. if a is false then b
is true ‫والعكس صحٌح‬

To show that this relationship works for any statement, logicians

use a schema called logical form, where a lower case letter (p, q,
r,) stands for the statement and a special symbol for negating .

( ‫)الزم نحفظ الرموز‬

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 The effect of negation on the truth value can be shown by a truth
table, where T represents 'true' and F 'false'.

Truth table ‫فً عنا كثٌر امثلة من ال‬

The truth-value of other linguistic elements is studied in logic in

the same way.

What it the influence of connectives in truth values???? ‫تأثٌر أدوات‬

‫الربط‬
A number of connectives are especially important to logicians
because they have a predictable effect on the truth conditions of
compound statements.

‫الها تأثٌر واضٌح ومركب‬

For example the truth-value of a compound formed by using
and)to join two statements is predictable from the truth of the
constituent statements.

** And ‫ معناها‬٨ ‫رمز‬

, for example:

A. The house is on fire.

B. The fire brigade are on the way

C. The house is on fire and the fire brigade are on the way. ‫ربطنا‬
‫الجملتٌن الً فوق‬
If a and b above are true, then the compound c is also true.

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‫اذا اول جملتٌن صح ف اكٌد بس نربط الجملتٌن مع بعض النتٌجة راح تكون صحٌحة‬
‫ ومطابمة للوالع‬If however either of a or b is false then the compound
will be false.

‫اذا وحدة من الجملتٌن او الجملتٌن خطأ ف النتٌجة المركبة راح تكون برضو خطأ‬
‫ مهم جدا ممكن ٌجً تطبٌك‬And ‫تطبٌك الجدول ع‬
‫شرح اكثر للمثال الً فوق‬
This table tells us that only when both statements connected by a
are true will the compound be true.

c above will be false if the house is on fire but the firc brigade are
not on the way,

The study of the truth effects of connectives like - and a is called

propositional logic,

‫صحة الفكرة الموجودة فً الجملة‬

and logicians have studied the truth effects of a number of other
connectives, for example those corresponding to the English word
or and if... then,

‫برضو هاي امثلة ع أدوات ربط راح ندرسها ونشوف تأثٌرها‬

Or in logic has tow meanings :

Inclusive(‫ & )شامل‬exclusive ( ً‫)استثنائ‬

Or. ‫ معناها‬٧ ‫الرمز‬.

The first is called disjunction (or alternatively inclusive or) and is

symbolized as v, thus giving logical forms like p v q.

Example : I'll see you today or tomorrow.

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‫)ٌا بشوفن الٌوم او بكرا ( او الٌوم وبكرا برضو صح‬

If i see you today ( true)

If i see you tomorrow (true)

If i see in both today and tomorrow ( true)

Inclusive ‫وهاد معنى‬

‫)متى بتكون خطأ ( اذا الثنتٌن بس خطأ‬

It will be false if both of them are false ( if i don't see you today
and tomorrow)

The exclusive Or : e‫ وجمبها حرف‬٧ ‫رمزها‬

Example : you will pay the fine or you will go to jail.

YOU will pah the fine (P)

You will go to jail (q)

‫ ٌعنً ٌا بتدفع الغرامة ٌا اما‬...ً‫واحد منهم راح ٌكون صح وراح نستثنً الخٌار الثان‬
‫بتروح ع السجن بس ما راح تكون صح اذا دفعت الغرامة ورحت ع السجن‬
٩٦ ‫ تطبٌك مهم حفظ صفحة‬3220 ‫جدول‬

If P and q are true then the result will be false.

Only One of them must be true.

3224 ‫حفظ جدول‬

This exclusive Or seems to have an implicit qualifications ( ‫معنى‬

ً‫)ضمن‬

"But not both "‫شو هو‬

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The next connective is called ( material implication) ‫→ ورمزها‬

‫ ( تلمٌح مادي‬if.... Then)

Example : if it rains, then I'll go to the movies.

If it rains (P) antecedent

I'll go to the movies (q) consequent

if it rains, then I'll go to the movies. (p→q)

‫اذا فعال مطرت ورحت ع السٌمنا ف النتٌجة صح‬
True

‫اذا امطرت وما رحت ع السٌنما ف هو خطأ‬

( ‫النتٌجة عندي ما تحممت) بعتمد ع جواب الشرط‬

‫اذا ما امطرت ( ثلجت مثال) ورحت ع السٌنما راح تكون‬

‫ صح‬true

The antecedent is not the only condition here ( if it snows for

example)

‫ضو كٌف؟‬
َ ‫اخر حالة عندي اذا ما مطرت وما رحت ف النتٌجة صح بر‬
Truth ‫الزم نتذكر شو معنى‬

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‫معناها انو الجملة مطابمة للحٌاة فً الوالع ف اذا انا ما رحت وما مطرت اختل عندي‬
‫الشرطٌن بالتالً حتكون مطابمة للوالع‬
٩٦ ‫ صفحة‬3224 .‫تطبٌك للحكً الً فوق جدول‬

This relation is a little hard to grasp and the reason is because we

intuitively try to match it with our ordinary use of conditional
sentences in English.
‫هً فكرة منطمٌة واحنا بنحاول نربطها مع اللغة‬
However conditionals in real languages often have more to them
than this nth-conditional connective shows.

For example, there is often an assumption of a causal connection

between the antecedent clause (the if-clause) and the consequent
(the then-clause),

‫فً عاللة سببٌة بٌن جملة الشرط وجواب الشرط‬

Example :4.30 If Patricia goes to the party, then Emmet will go
too.

‫اعتبرو ذهاب باترٌشا هو سبب ذهاب اٌمٌت‬

A natural implication of sentence 4.30 is that Emmet is going
because Patricia is.

This truth-conditional relation also seems to miss our intuitions

about another ordinary language use of conditional if... then
constructions: counter factuals,

‫اشٌاء ال تتحمك بسؤال الشرط‬

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for example: 4.31 If wishes were money, then we'd all be rich.

The antecedent is false...

‫اذا كانت االحالم فلوس كلنا راح نصٌر اغنٌاء ( لٌش حكٌنا اشٌاء ما راح تتحمك النو‬
‫)االحالم مش فلوس وال كلنا راح نصٌر اغنٌاء‬

The lack of fit here with our intuitions can be shown by the
sentences in

4.32 below:

a. If I were an ostrich, then I would be a bird.

‫)على مستوى لفظً هاي الجملة صحٌحة ( بدون م نستخدم المنطك‬

b. If I were an ostrich, then I would not be a bird.

‫ ما راح اكون طائر‬،‫� اذا كنت نعامة‬

‫هون ع مستوى والعً او منطمً اذا كنت نعامة ف انا مش طائر ( النو انا اساسا‬
‫) بالوالع مش نعامة فكٌف ممكن اكون طائر‬

The antecedent is false ‫اصال من عندهم‬

In counter factuals the antecedent is always false.

The last related connective is bi-conditional ( if and only f)

‫وبنرمزله ب ثالاث خطوط افمٌه‬
‫ ٌعنً من االسم عنا هون الزم ٌتحمك شرطٌن‬:

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Example : we will leave if and only if we're forced to.

This sentence will be true if p and q have the same truth value.

‫ اذا الثنتٌن خطأ ف النتٌجة صح‬..‫ٌعنً اذا الثنتٌن صح ف النتٌجة صح‬.

‫اذا واحد منهم اختلف ف النتٌجة خطأ‬

P= q is equivalent to the compound conditional expression.

Necessary Truth, A Priori Truth and Analyticity

‫ حمٌمة وتحلٌلٌة مسبمة‬،‫الحمٌمة الضرورٌة‬

As we have scen, the notion of empirical truth depends on a
correlation to states of affairs in reality. Philosophers and
logicians have identified another type of truth which seems
instead to be a function of linguistic structure. For example, we
know that the tautology:

‫حدد الفالسفة والمنطمون نوعا آخر من الحمٌمة ٌبدو بدال من ذلن أنها وظٌفة من بنٌة‬
‫لغوٌة‬.

‫التلمٌح‬:

My father is my father.

ً‫أبً هو أب‬.

is always true (in its literal meaning)

without having to refer to the facts of the world, as is a sentence

like Either he's still alive or he's dead.
ً ‫إما أنه ال ٌزال حٌا ً أو مٌتا‬.

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We do not have to check a pulse to find out whethe r this
sentence is true. In the same way, contradictions are false sim ply
by virtue of their own meaning‫مش ضروري نتحمك اذا فعال هً صح او ال‬

we started out by characterizing this type of truth in epistemo

logical terms, i.e. in terms of what the speaker knows

‫عندنا نوعٌن من اإلثبات‬

From this perspective, truth that is known before or without
experience has traditionally been called a priori

posteriori truth: ( post ‫ )بعد‬That comes after experience. Example

My father is the first man to visit mars.

( how we can know this true or not.. We need to check)

Posteriori‫ٌعنً عرفنا صح او ال بعد التجربة والتحمٌك‬

My father is my father ً‫بس لما نحك‬

We don't need to check ... Priori ( knowledge without experience).

Based in what the world is like ‫حمٌمة العالم‬

Necessary truth / contingent ..

Necessary truth : its true without be able to negate it. ‫ما بتكون لادر‬
‫انن تنفٌه‬
2+2 is 4.... ‫صحٌحة مثبته وما بتمدر انن تنفٌه‬

-The sun rises from the east..

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Contingent truth : can be turned into negative ( contradict it).

The Hashemaite University is the biggest university in the world...

‫ممكن ننفٌها ونحكً الجامعة الهاشمٌة مش اكبر جامعة بالعالم بناءا على حمٌمة‬
Depending on the facts.

The third type : depends on the semantic orientation... ‫بناءا على‬

ً‫التوجه الدالل‬

we have 3 types of sentences ( analytic, synthetic, contradictions)

analytic sentences : are true because of the meaning of the word.

Example : priori... An elephant is an animal.

If you know the meaning of elephant and animal you will know
that this sentence is true without checking.

Synthetic : can be true or false depending on the situation

Abdullah lives in Amman ( we can't know if this sentence is true or

not only if we check it) we need to check in real life.

Contradiction : its false from the meaning of the words. Example :

an elephant can flys.

But if i say an elephant can't fly ( it becomes analytic).

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Presupposition : ‫افتراض مسبك‬
Entailment ‫عكس ال‬

Example : he stopped smoking

We knew from this sentence he was smoking.

- i regret telling you the story..means that i told you a story. ‫افتراض‬
‫مسبك‬
‫ امثلة الكتاب‬:
a. He's stopped turning into a werewoIf every full moon

b. He used to turn into a werewolf every full moon

A- Her husband is a fool.

b- She has a husband

A- I don't regret leaving London,

b. I left London.

‫كلو بعتمد ع السٌاق‬

‫راح ٌجٌب الدكتور سؤال‬
What is the presupposition in each of the following sentences..

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Presupposition triggers : ‫محفزات‬
The triggers for presupposition are two types : syntactic / lexical

Syntactic : cleft / pseudo cleft construction

Cleft : it was his behavior with frogs that disgusted me.

Cleft :: ‫ ببلش ب‬it was...

Pseudo clefts : what disgusted me was his behavior with frogs.

Pseudo clefts::‫ بتبلش ب‬what

The two sentences have the same proposition ( something

disgusted me)

Other forms of subordinate clauses may produce presuppositions,

for example, time adverbial clauses ‫ ظروف زمانٌة‬and comparative

clauses.

Syntactic triggers ‫كمان بنعتبرهم‬

Examples :

a. I was riding motorcycles before you learned to walk.

b. You learned to walk.

c. He's even more gullible than you are.

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 d. You are gullible.

Lexical triggers : Many presuppositions are produced by the

presence of certain words. Many of these lexical triggers are
verbs.

For example, there is a class of verbs like regret and realize that
are called factive verbs ‫النوع االول‬

I realized that he was happy

- he was happy.

I thought she was happy...

Happy ‫مش ضروري تكون فعال‬

Consider ‫ نفس مبدأ‬thought ‫مش ضروري‬

Realize / regret ‫ٌعنً الجملة الً بتٌجً بعد‬

Presupposes the truth.

Example :

Sheila regretted eating the banana.

‫ٌعنً هً فعال اكلتها‬.

Sheila considered eating the banana.

‫مش اكٌد ممكن اه وممكن ال‬

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** some verbs of judgment produce presuppositions : ‫افعال الحكم‬

examples :

John accused me of telling her

‫مش اكٌد‬
John blamed me for telling her

‫مؤكدة‬
I told her.

Change of state verbs : ( start, being, stop)

‫ أفعال تغٌر الحال‬these verbs have a kind of switch

presuppositions : the new state is both described and is

presupposed not to have held prior to the change.

Example : Judy started smoking cigars

Judy used not to smoke cigars.

ً‫ بس ما بنمدر نحك‬Judy used not to smoke..

ً‫ممكن كانت تدخن اشً ثان‬

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Presuppositions and context :

As mentioned earlier, one problem for a simple truth-based

account of presupposition is that often the presuppositional
behavior seems sensitive to context,

‫االفتراض المسبك بتأثر بالسٌاق‬

While a given sentence always produces the same set of
entailments, it seems that this is not true of presuppositions.

Example :

she cried before she finished her thesis.

She finished her thesis.

She died ‫بس لو حطٌنا‬

‫راح ٌنتج عندي افتراض ثانً النه تغٌر السٌاق‬

Why?

It is argued that in the presupposition is blocked or cancelled by

our general knowledge of the world:

٣٠٨ ‫شرح اكثر للمثاال الً فوق صفحة‬

quite simply we know that dead people do not normally complete
unfinished theses.

This characteristic is sometimes known as defeasibility,(the

cancelling of presuppositions.)

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If presuppositions arise or not depending on the con text of
knowledge, this We don't have the same presupposition.

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