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Unit 1: About Semantic

SEMANTICS

- Is the study of MEANING of words and sentence in language.

- Semantic features may be defined as the smallest units of meaning in a word
 Eg: BOY: human – male – adult

MEANING

- Meaning is the relation between language and context/use. (as maintained by some
linguists.)
- Types:

Denotation: Connotation:
- Maybe regard as the central or core - Additional meaning(s) that a word or
meaning of lexical item. phrase has beyond its central meaning
- Part of a word or phrase that relates it (denotation).
to phenomena in real word or in a - Connotative meanings show people’s
fictional or possible world. emotion and attitude towards what the
 Eg: bird: a two-legged, winged, egg- word or phrase refers too.
laying, warm blood creature with a  Eg: lonely = alone, without company
break (denotation)
= melancholy, sad (emotive
connotation)
Notorious = widely known
(denotation)
= for bad traits of characters
or criminal acts ( connotation)
Literal (explicit): Information directly Non- Literal (implicit): Information
associated with linguistic form. inferable from linguistic from (in addition to
the explicit meaning).
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Speaker meaning: what a speaker means Sentence meaning (or word meaning) is what a
(intends to convey) when he uses a piece of sentence or words mean. What it counts as the
language. equivalent of in the language concerned.
Eg: She is very clever. => The same sentences are used on different
 The speaker may mean that the occasions to mean (speaker meaning) different
girl/woman he is talking about is bright things.
or intelligent.
 The speaker may imply that the
girl/woman is not very honest but witty

 Semantic theory deals with semantic facts, facts about meaning.

 E.g:

- Alive means the opposite of dead

- If the sentence “John killed Bill” is true of any situation, then so is the sentence “Bill is
dead”.
- Proper names have a different kind of meaning from common nouns.
APPOACHES TO MEANING – 3 CONCEPTIONS

 The Denotational/Referential Theory of Meaning: Words  Things

 Mentalistic Theory of Meaning: Words  Ideas
 The Use theory of Meaning (Modern Semantics): Words  Their uses
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Components of language

No theory [including: chemical theory, phonetic theory, mathematical theory, even semantic
theory,...] is complete.

 That means, No matter how many facts a theory can explain or predict, there are always
more facts to be explained or made a prediction.

Unit 2: SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, AND PROPOSITIONS.

 In the tree diagram: Propositions -> Sentences -> Utterances

PROPOSITION

SENTENCE SENTENCE SENTENCE

UTTERANCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE UTTERANCE

SENTENCES
- A sentence is an abstractly ideal string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a
language.
 Rules:
- A given sentence always consists of the same words, and in the same order.
- Any change in the words, or in their order, makes a different sentence, for our purposes.
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 E.g. Helen rolled up the carpet.

Helen rolled the carpet up.

=> different sentences

- A SENTENCE is a grammatically complete string of words expressing a complete thought.

 E.g. I would like a cup of coffee. - S Coffee, please. – NS

UTTERANCES
- An utterance is a phrase or a sentence that is spoken by one person before and after a silence has
occurred.
 Eg: a sequence of sentences / a single phrase /a single word)

 Rules:
- An utterance is in a particular accent (i.e. a particular way of pronouncing words).
- Accent and voice belong strictly to the utterance, not to the sentence uttered.
- Not all utterances are actually tokens of sentences, but sometimes only of parts of
sentences (phrases/single words).

PROPOSITIONS
- A proposition is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which
describe some state of affairs.
 Rules:
- The notion of truth can be used to decide whether two sentences express different
propositions. If one sentence is true and the other is false (in any circumstances)  they
express different propositions.
 E.g. - John gave Mary a book.
=> Mary was given a book by John.

+ Tom loves Helen. Helen loves Tom.

- By uttering a simple interrogative/ imperative, a speaker can mention a particular

proposition, without asserting its truth.
 E.g. ‘John can go.’ ‘Can John go?’
 E.g. The proposition of ‘Tom, open the door, please.’ is not asserted.
 E.g. Can you pass the salt? -- The salt shaker is nearly empty
=> Have the same propositional content.

- Proposition  declarative sentences also involved in the meanings of other types of

sentences (interrogatives, imperatives)
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=>When a speaker utters a simple declarative sentence, he asserts the proposition.

- The same proposition can be expressed by different sentences and the same sentence can
be realized by different utterance.
 The convention: - italicized
 E.g. John is coming.
Single quotation marks ‘......’
 E.g. ‘John is coming.’

SENTENCES UTTERANCES PROPOSITIONS

Can be loud or quiet + - -

Can be grammatical or not + + -

Can be true or false + + +

In a particular regional accent + - -

In a particular language + + -

Unit 3: REFERENCE AND SENSE

 Sense - dealing with relationships inside the language
 Reference - dealing with relationships between the language & the world

REFERENCE
- Using reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world (including persons) are being talked
about.
 Reference is a relationship between parts of a language and things outside the language.
- The same expression can, in some cases, be used to refer to different things  have variable
reference
 Eg: the President of the US, my car, this page,..
- There are cases of expressions that in normal conversation never refer to different things  have
a constant reference.
 E.g: moon, Angola, Halley’s Comet, The People's Republic of China, the sun,
England,...
- A relationship between a particular object in the world and an expression used in an utterance to
pick that object out.
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- In everyday discourse almost all the fixing of reference comes from the context in which
expressions are used.

SENSE
- The SENSE of an expression is its place in a system of semantic relationships with other expressions
in the language.
- The first of the semantic relationships - sameness of meaning.
 Eg:- I almost/nearly fell over =>Same
- I’ll see you on Wednesday /Thursday

=>Different

- I took off my hat / I took my hat off =>Same

- A word can have more than one sense.

 Eg: - I have an account at the Bank of Scotland
- We steered the raft to the other bank of the river
=> the word bank has a number of different senses

Relationship between Sense and Reference

- The referent of an expression: a thing person in the world; the sense of an expression: an
abstraction fully understood a language user.

Relationship between Sense & Propositions

- A proposition corresponds to completely independent thought.

 Eg: Merry has got a new teacher

=> expressions proposition

A new teacher
Merry
=> No
Relationship between reference & utterance

- Both referring and uttering are acts performed by particular speakers on particular occasions
 Eg: pavement in British English and sidewalk in American English => have the same
sense

pal and chum => have the same sense

People walking in close spatio-temporal proximity

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People walking near each other

=> have the same sense

- In everyday conversation the words meaning, means, meant, ... are sometimes used to indicate
reference and sometimes to indicate sense.
 Eg: When Han talks about ‘her former friend’ she means me.

If you look out of the window now, you’ll see who I mean.

=> Reference

Mom, what does unique mean?

Purchase has the same meaning as buy

Look up the meaning of apoplexy in your dictionary

=> Sense

 Note:
- Different expressions having one referent or the same referent:
The morning star and The Evening star => both of which normally refer to the planet Venus
- expressions that has no referent: and, if, above …
- Same expressions have different referent: your hand, my hat is under the table...
-
Unit 4: REFERRING EXPRESSIONS
A referring expression

- Any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or someone with a particular referent in
mind.
 E.g. + Jay hit me

The speaker has a particular person in mind  "Jay" is a referring expression.

+ Explain the ambiguity in: I'm looking for a pencil.

- I might say "I am looking for that pencil I have just mentioned" or "I am looking for
this pencil I am about to describe", in which case that is roughly equivalent to the and this is
roughly equivalent to "a".

- The same expression can(not) be a referring expression depending on the context.

 E.g. + A man was in here looking for you last night => referring expression

= A man was existed.

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+ The first sign of the monsoon is a cloud on the horizon no bigger

than a man’s hand => No referring expression

“a man’s hand”: generic of common hand, not a particular hand of somebody

+ Forty buses have been withdrawn from service by Liverpool Corporation =>
referring expression.

“Forty buses” belong to Liverpool Corporation – was cancelled not server

anymore => exist

+ This engine has the power of forty busses => No referring

expression

 Common power

Indefinite noun phrase

- A linguistic context gives a vital clue as to whether the indefinite NP was(not) a referring expression
but doesn’t always give a clear indication.
 E.g.

- Nancy married a Norwegian.

- Nancy wants to marry a Norwegian.

- John is looking for a car.

- John is looking for a certain car

Definite noun phrase

- Proper names, personal pronouns, and longer descriptive expressions can be used as referring
expressions.
 E.g.

1. Jane is my best friend.

2. He’s a very intelligent boy.

3. It’s in the garage.

4. The man who shot Abraham Lincoln was an unemployed actor.

 Even with definite NPs, there are examples in which they are not (or not clearly) referring to
expressions.
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 Whether an expression is a referring expression is heavily dependent on linguistic context

and circumstances of utterance.
 The question of whether definite NPs are used as ref. exp. is also very much dependent on
the context and circumstances of use.

An equative sentence is used to assert the An opaque context - A part of a sentence

identity of the referents of two referring which could be made into a complete sentence
expressions to assert that two referring by the addition of a referring expression, but
expressions have the same referent. where the addition of different referring
E.g. + John is the person in the corner. expressions, even though they refer to the
+ Henry the Eighth is the current same thing or person, in a given situation, will
President of the USA. yield sentences with DIFFERENT meanings
+ Dr Jekyll is Mr Hyde. when uttered in a given situation.

Unit 5: PREDICATES
PREDICATOR

- The Predicator of a simple declarative sentences is the word ( sometime a group of words)
which does not belong to any of the referring expression and which, of the remained;
makes the most specific contribution to the meaning of the sentence
- The Predicator describes the state or process in which the referring expressions are
involved.
- The role of predicator and the role of argument: The semantic analysis of simple declarative
sentences reveals two major semantic roles played by different subparts of the sentence

 The Predicator in sentences can be of various parts of speech: Adj (red, asleep, hungry,
whimsical,..), Verbs (write, stink), Prepositions (in, between, behind), and nouns (genius,
crook).
 Conjunction (and, but, or) and articles (the, a) cannot serve as predicator in sentences.

PREDICATE

- A Predicate is any word ( or sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can function
as the predicator of a sentence
 Eg: proud, between, genius, wait for  are all predicates
And, a, not  are not predicates
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- The Degree of a predicate is a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally

understood to have in simple sentences.
- The Degree of a predicate is a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally
understood to have in simple sentences.
- Any word (or sequence of words) which (in a given simple sense) can function as the
predicator of a sentence.
 E.g: about, woman, dusty, drink
- In above definition, the condition ‘(in a given single sense)’ is important. A ‘word’, as we
use the term, can be ambiguous, i.e can have more than one sense, but we use “predicate”
in a way which does not allow a predicate to be ambiguous. A predicate can have only one
sense.

PREDICATOR VS PREDICATE
- The term ‘predicator’ identifies the semantic role - The term ‘predicate’ identifies elements in the
played by a particular word (or group of words) in a language system.
particular sentence.  E.g: A tall, handsome stranger entered the
 E.g: A tall, handsome stranger saloon
entered the saloon Predicate: tall, handsome, stranger, and saloon (can
Predicator: enter function as predicators in other sentences)

 A simple sentence only has one predicator,

although it may well contain more than one
instance of a predicate.

Unit 6: Predicate, Referring expressions and Universe of Discourse

PREDICATING EXPRESSION
- There are some phrases, in particular indefinite noun phrases, that can be used in two ways,
either as referring expressions or as predicating expressions, depending on the context.
GENERIC SENTENCE
- A generic sentence is a sentence in which some statement is made about a whole
unrestricted class of individuals, as opposed to any particular individual.
 E.g. - The whale is a mammal. (G)
- The whale over there is a mammal. (NG)
UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE
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- Universe of discourse can be defined, for any utterance, as the particular world, real or
imaginary (or part real, part imaginary) that the speaker assumes he is talking about at the
time.
- Language is used for talking about things in the real world (E.g: tables, chairs, ...)
- Language creates unreal worlds and allows us to talk about non-existent things (E.g: a
unicorn, Santa Claus).

Unit 7: Deixis and Definiteness

DEICTIC WORDS

- Small sets of words whose meanings vary systematically according to who uses them, and where
and when they are used are called deictic words.
- A Deictic word is one which takes some element of its meaning from the context or situation (i.e.
the speaker, the addressee, the time and the place) of the utterance in which it is used.
- Deictic terms <=> referring expressions
- Deictic terms help the hearer to identify the referent of a referring expression through its spatial or
temporal relationship with the situation of utterance.
- Some predicates with a deictic ingredient:
 E.g. - come: toward the speaker
- go: away from the speaker
Person deixis: used to indicate Spatial deixis: used to indicate Temporal deixis: used to
people (I, he, me, you) location (here, there, this) indicate time (today,
yesterday, now, then

INTERPRETATION

- In the definition of deixis, ‘time of utterance’ and ‘place of utterance’ must generally be
taken very flexibly. Sometimes these are interpreted very broadly, and sometimes very
narrowly and strictly.
- Grammatical devices (tenses for indicating past, present, and future time) are also regarded
as deictic.
CONTEXT
- The context of an utterance is a small subpart of the universe of discourse shared by
speaker and hearer, and includes facts about the topic of the conversation in which the
utterance occurs, and also facts about the situation in which the conversation itself takes
place.
UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE

CONTEXT OF UTTERANCE

IMMEDIATE SITUATION
OF UTTERANCE
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Rule: If some entity (entities) (person(s), object(s), place(s), ...) is(are) the Only entity
(entities) of its (their) type in the context of an utterance, then the definite article the is the
appropriate article to use in referring to that entity (or those entities).
DEFINITENESS
- A feature of a Noun Phrase selected by a speaker to convey his assumption that the hearer
will be able to identify the referent of the NP, usually because it is the only thing of its kind
in the context of the utterance, or because it is unique in the universe of discourse.
- There are 3 main types of definite NP in English:
 Proper names
 Personal pronouns
 Phrases introduced by a definite determiner (the, that, this, these, those)
 All definite NPs are referring expressions. They are necessarily semantically definite.
 Don’t assume that definite NP in generic sentences, every NP using the so-called definite
article THE is necessarily semantically definite.
 Eg: + in generic sentences ( The whale is a mammal)
+ in other case ( If anyone make too much noise, you have my permission to
strangle him).
 Utterances (containing definite or indefinite referring expression) do not differ in truth
value.
 Eg: I’ve just stuck the fork through my foot
I’ve just stuck the fork through my foot
 The definiteness of a referring expression gives the hearer a clue in identifying its
relevant, tell us nothing about the referent itself, but rather relates to the question of
whether the referent has been mentioned in the preceding discourse.

Unit 8: Words and Things: Extensions and Prototypes

EXTENSION

- The Extension of a one-place predicates is the set of all individuals to which that predicate can
truthfully be applied. It is the set of things which can Potentially be referred to by using an
expression whose main element is that predicate.
 Eg: The extension of window is the set of all windows in the universe.

Relationship between sense, extension & reference

- A speaker’s knowledge of the sense of a predicate provides him with an idea of its extension.
- The sense of a predicate ‘fixes’ the extension of that predicate.
- The referent of extension referring expression used in a particular utterance is an individual member
of the extension of the predicate used in the expression; the context of the utterance usually helps
the hearer to identity which particular member it is.
 Eg: The cat’s stolen your pork chop
- Extension are relative to all times, past, present or future
 Eg: The extension of window includes all past, present and future windows
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- Predicates are tenseless.

- In actual use, predicate are almost always accompanied in sentences by a marker of tense =>
restricting the extension of the predicate
 Eg: was dead; is dead
- In a language community as wide as that of English, there are problems with the idea of prototype,
due to cultural differences between various English – speaking communities
 E.g: A double decker bus – prototype for predicate bus for a British English speaker.

PROTOTYPE
- The prototype is a typical member of its extension.
- A prototype of a predicate is an object which is held to be very Typical of the kind of object which
can be referred to by an object which can be referred to by an expression containing the predicate.

Unit 9: Sense properties and stereotypes

SENSE
- The Sense of an expression is its indispensable hard core of meaning.
- The sense of an expression can be thought of as the sum of its sense properties and sense relations
with other expression.
- Associated with words and sentences by the language system.
- Not the speaker meaning associated with utterances made by speakers on particular occasions
ANALYTIC SYNTHETIC CONTRADICTION
- An analytic sentence is - A synthetic sentence is - A contradiction is a
one that is necessarily one wich is not analytic, sentecne that is
True, as a result of the but may be either True or necessarily False, as a
senses of the words in it. False, depending on the result of the senses of the
 Eg: Bachelors are way the world is. words in it.
unmaried  Eg: Bachelors are  Eg: Bachelors cannot form
lonely lasting relationships

 Notes:
- No attention is paid the figurative use of analytic and contradiction.
- Imperative and interrogative sentences can not be true or false, so they can not be analytic
or synthetic.
- Synthetic sentences are informative in real-word situations, whereas analytic sentences and
contradictions are not (to anyone who already knows the meaning of the words in them).
STEREOTYPE
- The Stereotype of a predicate is a list of the Typical characteristics or features of things to which the
predicate maybe applied
- Eg: The steretype of Cat: Quadruped/ domesticated, black/white/grey/tortoise-shell/marmalade/...
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Unit 10: Sense relations (1) Identity and Similarity of sense

SYNONYMY => SYNONYMS

- Words of the same part of speech having the same or nearly the same meanings.
- Sameness of meaning.
- Different words that have the same meanings in some contexts.
- No 2 words have exactly the same meaning. Some words are interchangeable in certain
environments only.
- Many types of synonyms:
Absolute: e.g: also - too Territorial: e.g: Autumn-Fall Semantic: e.g: To look – to glance –
to glare
Colloquial: e.g: Mother - Mummy Poetic: e.g: valley - dale Euphemism: e.g: to die – to be more
Set expression: e.g: after all – in the long run

PRAPHRASE

- A sentence which expresses the same proposition as another sentences a Paraphrase of that
sentence (assuming the same referents for any referring expressions involved).
- Paraphrase is to Sentences (have the same truth value) as Synonymy is to Predicates.
 Eg: James is the child of James => John is the child of James.

HYPONYMY => HYPONYMS

- Hyponymy is a paradigmatic relation between words (predicates/or sometimes longer phrase)

which refer to the inclusion of the meaning of the meaning of 1 word in that of another.
- “meaning inclusion”
 Eg: Scarlet the hyponym of red => red is the superordinate (more general or inclusive in
meaning)
 Sadness, anger, happiness are co-hyponyms of flower (superordinate).

ENTAILMENT

- A proposition (X) Entails a proposition (Y) if the truth of (Y) follows necessarily from the truth of (X)
- A sentence expressing proposition (X) entails a sentence expressing proposition (Y) if the truth of (Y)
follows necessarily from the truth of (X).
 Eg: John killed Bill (X) entails Bill died (Y)

BASIC RULE

- Given two negative sentences A&B, identical in every way except that A contains a word (X) where B
contains a different word (Y), and (X) is a hyponymy of (Y), the B entails sentence.
Relation between pair of Relation between pair of
sentences words
Asymmetric (‘one –way’) Entailment Hyponymy
Symmetric (‘both-way’) Paraphrase Synonymy
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Unit 11: Sense relations (2) oppositeness and dissimilarity of sense and ambiguity
ANTONYMY => ANTONYMS

- Words of the part of speech but they are opposite in meaning.

- Oppositeness of meaning.
- Words that are opposite in meaning; they must be in the same semantic category.
- Many types of antonyms:
Gradable Complementary/Binary Converses/ Relational Multiple incompatibles
Opposites
- If they are at opposite ends of - Are words which - A word describes a - There are many
continuous scale of values. come in pairs and relationship between systems of words in
 Eg: Hot – Cold ( Hot- between them 2 things (or people) which the
warm-cool-cold) exhaust all the - And some other word meanings of the
 Rich – Poor relevant possibilities describes the same words are opposite
 Tall – Short - If the one word is relationship when the in the manner.
 Good – Bad applicable, then the 2 things (or people) - Other systems have
other cannot be and are mentioned in the more than 2.
vice – versa. opposite order, then - Open-ended
 E.g: True – False the two words are systems of multiple
 Same – different converses of each incompatibility.
 Dead – Alive other. - All the terms in a
 Male – Female  Eg: Parent – Child given system are
 Pass – Fail  Below – Above mutually
 Buy – Sell incompatible.
 Borrow – Lend

CONTRADICTIONESS:
- A proposition is a CONTRADICTORY of another proposition if it is impossible for them both to be
true at the same time and of the same circumstances.
- A sentence expressing one proposition is a contradictory of a sentence expressing another
proposition if it is impossible for both propositions to be true at the same time and of the same
circumstances.
- A sentence contradicts another sentence if it entails the negation of the other sentence.
-
AMBIGUITY
- A word or sentence is Ambiguous when it has more than one sense.
- A sentence is Ambiguous if it has 2 (or more) Paraphrases which are not themselves paraphrases of
each other.
- In the case of words and phrases, a word or phrase is Ambiguous if it has 2 (or more) Synonyms that
are not themselves synonyms of each other.
Homonymy => Homonyms Polysemy
- Are words which sound alike, written in the - Occurs when a word has 2 or more
same way, but have different meanings. related senses.
- A case of Homonymy is one of an  Eg: Mouth (of a river vs of an
ambiguous words whose different senses animal)
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are far apart from each other and not  Occurs when a word has several vety
obviously related to each other in any way closely related sense.
with respect to a native speaker’s intuition.
 Exist where a single word form has
entirely distinct meaning
 Eg: Bank: - Financial institution vs
the side of a river

 Note: The difference between Homonymy and Polysemy

 Difficult to distinguish
- Homonymy: Different senses are far apart from each other and not obviously related to each other
in any way.
- One will have a separate entry for each of the homonyms.
- Can be of different parts of speech ( Eg: sack: V vs N)
- Variant of homonyms: Homographs (written in the same way but are pronounced differently) Eg:
lead /li:/ & lead /led/) & Homophones (words which sound alike but written differently) Eg: no and
know
- Polysemy: A word has several very closely related senses.
- Will be treated as a single entry

Structural/ Grammatical ambiguity Lexical ambiguity

- A sentence which is ambiguous - Any ambiguity resulting from the ambiguity of
because its words relate to each other a word is a lexical ambiguity.
in different ways, even though non of  Resulting from the ambiguity of
the individual words are ambiguous, is grammatical structures underlying the words in
structurally. a sentence (even though the sentence contains
 Resulting from the ambiguity of a no ambiguous word)
word.  E.g: They passes the port at
 Eg: Old men and women midnight.
=> [Old men] and women - They passed the seaport at midnight
=> Old [men and women] - They passes the port wine at midnight

 Note: Some sentences which contain ambiguous words are ambiguous while others are not, and
some sentences which contain no ambiguous while others are not

REFERENTIAL VAGUENESS
- A phrase is REFERENTIALLY VERSATILE if it can be used to refer to a wide range of different things or
persons.

Unit 20: PARTICIPANT ROLES

- The AGENT of a sentence is the person deliberately carrying out the activities described.
- The AFFECTED participant is the thing (not usually a person, although it may be) upon which
the action is carried out. /Some semanticists refer to the affected participant as the PATIENT.
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- The INSTRUMENT is the thing (hardly ever a person) by means of which the action is carried
out.
 E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
2. The key opened the door.
3. The door opened. John
----- AGENT: John
----- AFFECTED: The key
----- INSTRUMENT: The door
- The role of LOCATION is played by any expression referring to the place where the action
described by a sentence takes place.
- The BENEFICIARY is the person for whose benefit or to whose detriment the action described
by the sentence is carried out.
 Note: The Beneficiary of action might not always be positively affected by that action but
could be negatively affected, depending on the action in question.
- The EXPERIENCER is typically a person who is mentally aware of, perceives, or experiences
the action or state described by the sentence, but who is not in control of the situation.
(Experiencer characteristics can also sometimes be attributed to animals.)
- The THEME participant is a thing or person whose location is described or a thing or person
that is perceived by an Experiencer.
 Note: None of the roles mentioned (Agent, Instrument, Beneficiary, Location, Affected,
Experiencer, Theme) fit the relation borne by a grammatical Subject to a noun, adjective,
or preposition predicate.
 E.g: David bought a computer for his son.
Agent Affect Benefit
Note:

- Chủ ngữ đi với Predicator(Adj, P, N) không được gọi là Theme

- Obligatory: bắt buộc
- Optional: không bắt buộc(có đc, k có cũng được)\
- Predicator: for, in, crow, red,.....
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Note:
- Agent: Tác nhân, người ảnh hưởng, người chủ động tác động
- Instrument: công cụ
- Beneficiary: người hưởng lợi có thể tiêu cực hoặc tích cực
E.g: The Prime Minister received a letter bomb.