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Modul1 Semantics Introduction

The document provides an introduction to semantics, focusing on the distinction between sentence meaning and speaker meaning. It discusses semantic properties, denotation, and connotation, emphasizing that meaning can vary based on context and speaker intent. Additionally, it outlines the goals of semantic theory within the broader field of linguistics, highlighting the importance of understanding similarities across languages.

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tran huy
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2 views

Modul1 Semantics Introduction

The document provides an introduction to semantics, focusing on the distinction between sentence meaning and speaker meaning. It discusses semantic properties, denotation, and connotation, emphasizing that meaning can vary based on context and speaker intent. Additionally, it outlines the goals of semantic theory within the broader field of linguistics, highlighting the importance of understanding similarities across languages.

Uploaded by

tran huy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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English Semantics

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MODULE 1
Introduction to Semantics

Instructor: Lam Hoang Phuc


1.1. What is meaning?

▪ Semantics is the study of meaning in language.


▪ The first step in working out a theory of what meaning is,
is to recognize the distinction between:
o Sentence meaning (or word meaning): is what a
sentence (or word) means, i.e. what it counts as the
equivalent of in the language concerned.
E.g. “I can carry that suitcase” means “I have the ability to
carry that suitcase.”
o Speaker meaning: is what a speaker means (i.e.
intends to convey) when he uses a piece of language.
E.g. In saying “I can carry that suitcase,” the speaker is
making an offer rather than a statement of his ability.
1.1. What is meaning?

▪ One must not equate meaningfulness with


informativeness. While it is true that many sentences do
carry information in a straightforward way, it is also true
that many sentences are used by speakers not to give
information at all, but to keep the social wheels turning
smoothly.
E.g.
- A: ‘Nice day’
- B: ‘Yes, a bit warmer than yesterday, isn’t it?’
▪ The social relationships formed and maintained by the
use of language are not all courteous and amicable.
Speaker meaning can include both courtesy and hostility,
praise and insult, endearment and taunt.
1.1. What is meaning?

▪ The same sentences can be used by different speakers on


different occasions to mean (speaker meaning) different
things. Once a person has mastered the stable meanings
of words and sentences as defined by the language
system, he can quickly grasp the different conversational
and social uses that they can be put to.
▪ Sentence meaning and speaker meaning are both
important, but systematic study proceeds more easily if
one carefully distinguishes the two, and, for the most
part, gives prior consideration to sentence meaning and
those aspects of meaning generally which are determined
by the language system, rather than those which reflect
the will of individual speakers and the circumstances of
use on particular occasions.
1.1. What is meaning?

▪ Speakers can convey meaning quite vividly by using


sentences whose meanings are in some sense
problematical.
E.g. Hungry person at the dinner table: ‘I could eat a horse!’
1.2. Semantic properties

▪ The meaning of a word can be analysed as having


different pieces of information upon which speakers of
the language agree.
E.g. The meaning of assassin has the following pieces of
information: human, murderer, killer of important people.
▪ These pieces of information are called semantic
properties.
1.3. Denotation and connotation

▪ We may distinguish between two types of meaning:


o Denotative: The type of meaning which may be
described in terms of a set of semantic properties
which serves to identify the particular concept
associated with the word in question.
o Connotative: Certain affective or evaluative
associations based on certain characteristics of the
item to which the word refers.
E.g. The meaning of the word woman may be associated
with attributes such as frailty, inconstancy, and irrationality.
▪ Connotative meanings vary from individual to individual,
and community to community.
1.4. The study of meaning

▪ Semantics is an attempt to set up a theory of meaning.


▪ A theory is a precisely specified, coherent, and
economical frame-work of interdependent statements
and definitions, constructed so that as large a number as
possible of particular basic facts can either be seen to
follow from it or be describable in terms of it.
▪ In aiming to discover some system and pattern in an
assortment of particular facts about the meanings of
individual words, sentences, and utterances, it is
obviously necessary to try to move from particular facts,
to generalizations, i.e. statements about whole classes of
items.
1.4. The study of meaning

▪ Semantics concentrates on the similarities between


languages, rather than on the differences.
▪ Semantic theory is a part of a larger enterprise, linguistic
theory, which includes the study of syntax (grammar) and
phonetics (pronunciation) besides the study of meaning.
It is a characteristic of Linguistics as a whole that it
concentrates on the similarities between languages.
▪ No theory is complete. That is, no matter how many facts
a theory actually succeeds in explaining or predicting,
there are always further facts in need of explanation,
other facts about which the theory as yet makes no
prediction (or possibly about which it makes a false
prediction), and facts which do not seem to be readily
describable in the terms provided by the theory.
REFERENCES

Fromkin, V. et al. (1984). An introduction to language.


(Australian edition). Singapore: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich Group Pty Limited, 1984.
Hurford, J. R., Heasley, B. & Smith, M. B. (2007).
Semantics: A course book. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

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