INTRODUCTION TO

SEMANTICS
I KETUT SEKEN

DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT OF
OF ENGLISH
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE EDUCATION
EDUCATION
FACULTY
FACULTY OF
OF LANGUAGES
LANGUAGES AND
AND ARTS
ARTS
GANESHA
GANESHA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF
OF EDUCATION
EDUCATION

Semantics Defined
Semantics is traditionally defined as the study of meaning.
Semantics is the subfield of general linguistics that is devoted
to the study of meaning, as inherent at the levels of words,
phrases, sentences, and larger units of discourse (termed texts).
The study of semantics is also closely linked to the subjects of
representation, reference and denotation.
Semantics is the historical and psychological study and the
classification of changes in the signification of words or
forms viewed as factors in linguistic development.
Semantics is a branch of semiotic dealing with the relations
between signs and what they refer to and including theories
of denotation, extension, naming, and truth.

An understanding of
semantics
The study of
language
acquisition

is essential
to

The study of
language change
Understanding
language in social
contexts,
The study of
varieties of English
Understanding
the effects of
style

The study of
semantics

includes

the study of how meaning is

constructed, interpreted,
clarified, obscured,
illustrated, simplified
negotiated, contradicted and
paraphrased.

Symbol and
referent
A symbol is something which we use to represent
another thing - it might be a picture, a letter, a
spoken or written word - anything we use
conventionally for the purpose.
The thing that the symbol identifies is the referent.
This may sometimes be an object in the physical
world (the word cat is the symbol; a real cat
(animal) is the referent).
But it may be something which is not at all, or not
obviously, present - like freedom, unicorns or Hamlet.

Conceptions of
meaning

Words things: This view

is found in the Cratylus of
Plato (427-347 BC). Words
name or refer to
things.

Words concepts things: This theory was

classically expressed by C.K. Ogden and I.A.
Richards, in The Meaning of Meaning (1923). It
states that there is no direct connection of symbol
and referent, but an indirect connection in our
minds. For each word there is a related concept.
Conce
pt

Word/
symbol

Referen
t/Thing

The Meaning of Meaning

to imply
intention

to mean
conventional
to
represent/symbolize
natural
John means well.
His words mean threat.
White flag means
surrender.
Red rose means passion.
Smoke means fire.
Dark clouds mean rain

Ambiguity in
meaning
1. Pattrick means trouble.
2. No maid means cleaning your room
yourself.
Pattrick is associated with trouble
conventionally or naturally.
The unavailability of maid has a
consequence of self working, such as
cleaning the room. This consequence can
come naturally or conventionally.

Semantic analysis is more

concerned with the way we
categorize the things to which we
give the labels. We make
abstractions from the real world
about us, putting things into
categories according to their
function, shape, size, color, etc. We
also break up the continuum of
reality in order to be able to talk
about it in a generalized way (hint:
colors).
There are cultural, social, or
political distinctions made by a
particular community (English:
horses nag, gelding, filly, colt,
mare. stallion).

A NAME CAN NEVER BE

NEUTRAL
There are plenty of words from various
areas of human activity that we can think
of only in terms of our emotional attitude
to what they describe: democracy,
propaganda, politics; America, Arab,
gepeng, pemulung, revolusi. In this case,
for this reason, it is impossible to find
synonyms.
Denotative (strictly referential) vs.
connotative (emotional overtones that
vary from person to person; very
subjective) meaning.

Word Meaning,
Sentence Meaning
and
Communication
Word meaning is taken
as the construct in terms
of which sentence
meaning and
communication can be
explained.

Relation between words and

objects. Words are used to refer
to objects and to actions, such as
cup, horse, woman, boy,
tree, car, driving, cooking,
sweeping, working.

The task
of
semantics
to explain
this
relation

It is sentence meaning which is

taken as basic. Words are
characterized in terms of the
systematic contribution they
make to sentence meaning.

Sentences are used

to describe events,
beliefs, opinions
and other states of
affairs

Semantics
explains
this
relation.

Both sentence meaning and

word meaning are explained in
terms of the ways sentences
and words are used in the act
of communication

Language is the vehicle by

means of which we
communicate. The
interpretation of language
should be explained in terms
of its role in communication.

Different
uses of
the word
mean
Word
Meaning

Sentence
Meaning

Communicatio
n

Spinster means unmarried woman.

Widow means woman whose husband
has died.
The sentence Bill murdered Pattrick
means that someone called Bill
deliberately killed someone called
Pattrick.
A : Will you be staying long?
B : What dyou mean?
A : I mean that Im in hurry, and if you
are staying long I will have to leave
first.

Meaning and
Reference
Relation between a word and its
object is most transparent with
proper names (one-to-one
correspondence between name
and object).
The name Jokowi refers to
the individual who is the
president elect of
Indonesia.

This is called
the relationship
of reference

Proper Names
refer to
Individuals

Common
Names refer to
Sets of
Individuals
Adjectives
refer to
properties of
individual

Verbs refer
to Actions

Jokowi
Walk
A set of
actions

An
individual

Red

Property of
redness of a
set of
individuals

Adverbs
refer to
properties of
actions

Mouse
A set of
individuals
of the same
kind

Quickl
y
Property of
quickness
(speed) of
a set of

Not all word meanings are

accountable in terms of
reference relationship
Abstract
words/
concepts
Conjunctive
s
Syntactic
Markers
Non-existent
objects/action
s

beauty,

imagination,
democracy ,
love, etc.
and, but,
or, etc.
preposition,
articles, etc.
intensifiers (very,
quite, most, etc.)
Hamlet, Tom
Sawyer,
Jayaprana, etc.

Meaning and
Concepts
F. de
Saussure
Signifian
t

Signifi
e

Form
(Signifier
)

Concept
(Signifie
d)

ca
t

an animal
of some
sort

Value

Adjacent
Concept

dog
animal
tail
leg
fur
walk

have

Adjacency of
Concepts
criticize

angry

mother

give

praise

happy

uncle

lend

accuse

calm

aunt

borrow

assess

rent

blame

hire

reprimen
t

pleased grandpare
nt
annoyed nephew
upset

cousin

Componential
Analysis
The meaning of words are analyzed not as
unitary concepts but as complexes made
up of components of meaning which are
themselves semantic primitives.
spinster is a semantic complex made up of the
components:
[FEMALE]
[NEVER MARRIED]
[ADULT]
[HUMAN]

Who studies
meaning?
Philosophers
Psychologists
Anthropologists
Logicians
Linguists

Philosophical
Semantics
Psychological
Semantics
Anthropological
Semantics
Logical Semantics
Linguistic Semantics

The study of
meaning of natural
language

The Metalanguage of Semantics

Language used
to talk about
itself
Terms such as:
Sentence, clause, phrase, words, morpheme,
allomorph, phoneme, allophone, noun, verb,
adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction,
article, comma, colon, semi-colon, juncture,
intonation, meaning, utterance, etc.
are used to describe
language.

Lexical and
Semantics
Word
Meaning
Lexeme
s

Grammatical
Meaning of
arrangement of
words
Phrases,
clauses,
sentences, and
above

Words in a particular arrangement have

meaning which is different from that of
another arrangement involving the same
words.

Meanin
g

Grammar

Intimately
interwoven

The purpose of grammar: to serve the

conveyance of meaning. (Meaning
Grammar)
However, meaning can be intuitively
distinguished from grammar.

What is deviant? Meaning or

grammar?
Green ideas sleep furiously.
The tree feeds the friendly enemy.
Them church singed in yesterday.
By us train going to home.

How young are you, Son?

Semantically
Its too light for me to
deviant.
lift.
Full lexical item to
This radio overthere is
be replaced.
Grammaticall
broken.
The woman walking toward
y deviant.
the door.
Syntactic
I met a teacher of me at the
change is
mall.
needed
Please,
give
me
one
of
those
To be substituted by semantically
book.
distinct but syntactically identical
word

Closed Set Items and Open Set

Items
Those belonging to
classes where
membership is
virtually constant
Affixes, independent
words (markers) like
articles,
conjunctions,
prepositions, etc,
which function to
signal organization
of sentences.

Those which belong to

classes which are
subject to a relatively
rapid turnover in
membership as new
terms are coined and
the other fall into
obsolescence.

The concern of
lexical
semantics

Semanti
cs

Lexical
Items
Syntagmatic
Relation
Johns
Mary
BillSue
MaryTim
TomKaren
Made-

kindness amazed
cool-

amuse-

rude-

disturb-

sad-

shock-

stupid-

annoy-

Paradigmatic
Relation

Sentences can be both

semantically and
grammatically deviant.
The green idea sleep.
The green idea is
sleeping.
The green lizard is
sleeping.
The tree feed the angry table.
The tree is feeding the angry
table.
The woman is feeding the
hungry child.

Semantics-pragmaticssyntax trinity

Semantics tells about the meaning in a language, code, or other

forms of representation. Semantics is all about the meaning.
Pragmatics is concerned with bridging the explanatory gap
between sentence meaning and speaker's meaning.
Pragmatics is all about use.
Syntax is the study of the rules, or "patterned relations", that
govern the way words combine to form phrases and phrases
combine to form sentences. Syntax is all about form.

SYNTAX:
Form or Sign

SEMANTICS:
Meaning

PRAGMATICS:
Use (Speaker)

Semantic Change
Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic
progression or semantic drift) is the evolution
of word usage usually to the point that the
modern meaning is radically different from the
original usage.
In diachronic (or historical) linguistics,
semantic change is a change in one of the
meanings of a word. Every word has a variety of
senses and connotations, which can be added,
removed, or altered over time, often to the
extent that cognates across space and time
have very different meanings.

Semantic Change and

Etymology
Over time lexemes
may change their
meaning. A
connotation will
take the place of
the original
denotation
Gay has both the
sense of happy and
homosexual

Often a second (or

third) meaning will
develop side by side
with the original. In
time, this may come to
be the primary
reference meaning.

Queer has the sense of

both odd and
homosexual
The context of the
lexeme suggests the
meaning.

Etymolog
y
The systematic study and
classification of word
origins, especially as
regards forms and
meanings - it is therefore
an important concept both
for semantics and the
study of language change.
The etymology of a given
lexeme denotes an
account of its historicallinguistic origin.

Some Types of Semantic Change

Narrowing: Change from superordinate level to
subordinate level. For example, skyline formerly referred
to any horizon, but now in the USA it has narrowed to a
horizon decorated by skyscrapers.
Widening: There are many examples of specific brand
names being used for the general product, such as with
Kleenex. Such uses are known as generonyms.
Metaphor: Change based on similarity of thing. For
example, broadcast originally meant "to cast seeds out";
with the advent of radio and television, the word was
extended to indicate the transmission of audio and video
signals. Outside of agricultural circles, very few use
broadcast in the earlier sense.

Some Types of Semantic Change

(Contd)
Metonymy: Change based on nearness in space or time, e.g.,
jaw "cheek" "mandible".
Synecdoche: Change based on whole-part relation. The
convention of using capital cities to represent countries or
their governments is an example of this.
Hyperbole: Change from weaker to stronger meaning, e.g., kill
"torment" "slaughter"
Meiosis: Change from stronger to weaker meaning, e.g.,
astound "strike with thunder" "surprise strongly".
Degeneration: e.g., knave "boy" "servant" "deceitful or
despicable man".
Elevation: e.g., knight "boy" "nobleman".

Blank (1998)
Metaphor: Change based on similarity between concepts, e.g., mouse
"rodent" "computer device".
Metonymy: Change based on contiguity between concepts, e.g., horn
"animal horn" "musical instrument".
Synecdoche: A type of metonymy involving a part to whole relationship,
e.g. "hands" from "all hands on deck" "bodies"
Specialization of meaning: Downward shift in a taxonomy, e.g., corn
"grain" "wheat" (UK), "maize" (US).
Generalization of meaning: Upward shift in a taxonomy, e.g., hoover
"Hoover vacuum cleaner" "any type of vacuum cleaner".
Cohyponymic transfer: Horizontal shift in a taxonomy, e.g., the
confusion of mouse and rat in some dialects.

Blank (1998) (Contd)

Antiphrasis: Change based on a contrastive aspect of the
concepts, e.g., perfect lady in the sense of "prostitute".
Auto-antonymy: Change of a word's sense and concept
to the complementary opposite, e.g., bad in the slang
sense of "good".
Auto-converse: Lexical expression of a relationship by
the two extremes of the respective relationship, e.g., take
in the dialectal use as "give".
Ellipsis: Semantic change based on the contiguity of
names, e.g., car "cart" "automobile", due to the
invention of the (motor) car.
Folk-etymology: Semantic change based on the similarity
of names, e.g., French contredanse, orig. English country
dance.

Forces triggering semantic

change

Linguistic forces
Psychological forces
Sociocultural forces
Cultural/encyclopedic forces

Words as Lexical Units

Lexeme
and
Lexical
Meaning

A lexeme is a lexical unit; a

unit of lexicon (form &
meaning).
Lexical meaning is word
meaning.
Not all words are lexemes
and not all lexemes are
word.

Forms and
Expressions
Words as
Tokens
and
Words as
Types

He who laughs last laughs

longest.
A friend in need is a
friend indeed.
Different
tokens of the
same type

W
Fo o
rd
r
Ex Wo m s
p r rd s a as
es s n d
si as
on
s

Forms and Expressions

(Contd)
If you are right and
I am wrong, she is
in trouble.
Expressio
n

b
e

Form
am
are
is

Forms and Expressions

(Contd)
They have found it impossible to
found hospitals or charitable
institutions of any kind without
breaking the law.
Tokens of the same
type but not forms
of the same
expression

Word
Expressions

pass the
exam
pass the
Lexicall
salt
y Simple
politeness Constructed out
impolite
of lexically
Lexeme (word
simple by way
or phrase)
of grammatical
rules
Vocabulary unit
Lexically
found as entry
Composit
of a dictionary polite
pass
e
away
pass by

Lexical Meaning vs.

Grammatical Meaning of Words

girl
girls

go
went
gone

Same lexical
meaning but
different
grammatical
meanings walk

walking
walks
walked

Lexical Meaning vs.

Grammatical Meaning of
Words (Contd)
That sheep belongs to the
farmer.
Those sheep belong to the
farmer.
Two morphemes: /i:p/
Formall
+ //
y
identica
Zero allomorph of
l
Grammatically or
the English
Morphosyntactic
plural morpheme
ally distinct

Homonymy, Polysemy and

Synonymy

m
o

n
o

ym

Different
words
(lexemes)
with the
same form

Absolute
Homonymy

Unrelated in
meaning
Identical form
(gtrammatically
equivalent)

Partial
Homonymy
Unrelated in

meaning
Not identical form
Not grammatically
equivalent

Absolute
Homonymy
ban
k

que
er

Meaning
Meaning
A
A
Meaning
Meaning
B
B

ga
y
Meaning
Meaning
A
A

le
t

Meaning
Meaning
A
A
Meaning
Meaning
B
B

Meaning
Meaning
B
B

Meaning
Meaning
A
A

Meaning
Meaning
B
B

Partial
Homonymy
Other forms: find,
finds, finding

foun
d

Other forms:
founds,
founding,
founded

Polysemy (Multiple
Meaning)
A
property
of single
lexemes
Based on
etimologic
al analysis

leg
han
d
fac
e
foo
t

of a
person
of a table
of a chair
of a person
of a clock
general
hand
of a person
of a watch
of a coin
of a person
of a mountain
one foot

Synonym
y
Expression
s with the
same
meaning

Nearsynonymy
Partial
Synonymy

big large
mist fog
charming
goodlooking (?)

Absolute
Synonymy

More
More or
or less
less similar
similar
but
but not
not identical
identical in
in
meaning
meaning
Identical
Identical meaning
meaning
but
but not
not absolutely
absolutely
the
the same
same
Extremely
Extremely rare:
rare:
Meanings
Meanings are
are identical
identical
Synonymous
Synonymous in
in all
all
contexts
contexts
Semantically
Semantically
equivalent
equivalent on
on all
all
dimensions
dimensions of
of meaning
meaning

Lexical
Relations
Homonym
Homograph
Homophone
Heteronym
Polyseme
Capitonym
Synonym
Opposite / Antonym
Hyponymy and
hypernymy
Meronymy
Metonymy
Holonymy

Homonym
A homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of
words that share the same pronunciation but may
have different meanings. Thus homonyms are
simultaneously homographs (words that share the
same spelling, regardless of their pronunciation)
and homophones (words that share the same
pronunciation, regardless of their spelling). The
state of being a homonym is called homonymy.
A distinction is sometimes made between "true"
homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as
skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and
polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which
have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river)
and mouth (of an animal)

TERM

MEANING

SPELLING

PRONUNCIATIO
N

Homonym

Different

Same

Same

Homograph

Different

Same

Same or different

Homophone

Different

Same or
different

Same

Heteronym

Different

Same

Different

Polyseme

Different but
related

Same

Same or different

Capitonym

Different when
capitalized

Same except
for
capitalization

Same or different

Synomym

Same

Different

Different

an d
or
e
m
y
m
a
n
es
et o
h
ds
t
m
r
h
o
o
t
i
s
l
W
(a
dw
rd.
r
m
o
o
y
w
n
w
o
a
er
A syn onym) is of anoth
be
o
t
a
id
il
g
g
a
c
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n
i
s
e
i
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o
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p
ar
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a
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st
on
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e
si m
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h
.
t
s
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d
m
r
n
y
a
a
non
that ymous,
y
s
d
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syno ym is cal
ds
r
n
o
o
w
syn
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t
alk
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e
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ms
,
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m
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L
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m
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m
m
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An e and com e or an
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y
s
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beg a long t ed beco
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sa
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sam e

Synonym

Synonym

Opposite and Antonym

In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently
incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs big : small, long :
short, and precede : follow.
The notion of incompatibility here refers to the fact that one word in an
opposite pair entails that it is not the other pair member. For example,
something that is long entails that it is not short. It is referred to as a
'binary' relationship because there are two members in a set of opposites.
The relationship between opposites is known as opposition
The term antonym (and the related antonymy) is commonly taken to be
synonymous with opposite, but antonym also has other more restricted
meanings.
Graded (or gradable) antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are
opposite and which lie on a continuous spectrum (hot, cold).
Complementary antonyms are word pairs whose meanings are opposite
but whose meanings do not lie on a continuous spectrum (push, pull).
Relational antonyms are word pairs where opposite makes sense only in
the context of the relationship between the two meanings (teacher, pupil).

Gradable antonyms
A
A gradable
gradable antonym
antonym is
is one
one of
of aa pair
pair of
of words
words with
with opposite
opposite meanings
meanings
where
where the
the two
two meanings
meanings lie
lie on
on aa continuous
continuous spectrum.
spectrum.
Temperature
Temperature is
is such
such aa continuous
continuous spectrum
spectrum so
so hot
hot and
and cold,
cold, two
two
meanings
meanings on
on opposite
opposite ends
ends of
of the
the spectrum,
spectrum, are
are gradable
gradable antonyms.
antonyms.
Other
Other examples
examples include:
include: heavy,
heavy, light;
light; fat,
fat, skinny;
skinny; dark,
dark, light;
light; young,
young, old;
old;
early,
early, late;
late; empty,
empty, full;
full; dull,
dull, interesting.
interesting.

Complementary antonyms
A
A complementary
complementary antonym
antonym is
is one
one of
of aa pair
pair of
of words
words with
with opposite
opposite
meanings,
meanings, where
where the
the two
two meanings
meanings do
do not
not lie
lie on
on aa continuous
continuous
spectrum.
spectrum.
There
There is
is no
no continuous
continuous spectrum
spectrum between
between push
push and
and pull
pull but
but they
they are
are
opposite
opposite in
in meaning
meaning and
and are
are therefore
therefore complementary
complementary antonyms.
antonyms.
Other
Other examples
examples include:
include: dead,
dead, alive;
alive; off,
off, on;
on; day,
day, night;
night; exit,
exit, entrance;
entrance;
exhale,
exhale, inhale;
inhale; occupied,
occupied, vacant;
vacant; identical,
identical, different.
different.

Relational antonyms
A
A relational
relational antonym
antonym is
is one
one of
of aa pair
pair of
of words
words with
with
opposite
opposite meanings,
meanings, where
where opposite
opposite makes
makes sense
sense only
only in
in
the
the context
context of
of the
the relationship
relationship between
between the
the two
two meanings.
meanings.
There
There is
is no
no lexical
lexical opposite
opposite of
of teacher,
teacher, but
but teacher
teacher and
and
pupil
pupil are
are opposite
opposite within
within the
the context
context of
of their
their relationship.
relationship.
This
This makes
makes them
them relational
relational antonyms.
antonyms.
Other
Other examples
examples include:
include: husband,
husband, wife;
wife; doctor,
doctor, patient;
patient;
predator,
predator, prey;
prey; teach,
teach, learn;
learn; servant,
servant, master;
master; come,
come, go;
go;
parent,
parent, child.
child.

Hyponymy and Hypernymy

A hyponym is a word or phrase whose semantic field is included

within that of another word, its hypernym.
In simpler terms, a hyponym shares a type-of relationship with
its hypernym. For example, "pigeon", "crow", "eagle" and
"seagull" are all hyponyms of "bird" (their hypernym); which, in
turn, is a hyponym of "animal.

X is a Y
Hyponymy

Hypernymy

Meronymy

Meronymy
Meronymy is
is aa semantic
semantic relation
relation used
used in
in linguistics.
linguistics.
A
A meronym
meronym denotes
denotes aa constituent
constituent part
part of,
of, or
or aa
member
member of
of something.
something.
That
That is,
is, X
X is
is aa meronym
meronym of
of Y
Y if
if Xs
Xs are
are parts
parts of
of
Y(s),
Y(s), or
or X
X is
is aa meronym
meronym of
of Y
Y if
if Xs
Xs are
are members
members
of
of Y(s).
Y(s).
For
For example,
example, "finger"
"finger" is
is aa meronym
meronym of
of "hand"
"hand"
because
because aa finger
finger is
is part
part of
of aa hand.
hand. Similarly,
Similarly,
wheels"
wheels" is
is aa meronym
meronym of
of "automobile".
"automobile".

Metonymy
Metonymy
Metonymy is
is aa figure
figure of
of speech
speech in
in which
which aa thing
thing or
or concept
concept is
is
called
called not
not by
by its
its own
own name
name but
but rather
rather by
by the
the name
name of
of
something
something associated
associated in
in meaning
meaning with
with that
that thing
thing or
or concept.
concept.
For
For instance,
instance, Wall
Wall Street"
Street" is
is often
often used
used metonymously
metonymously to
to
describe
describe the
the U.S.
U.S. financial
financial and
and corporate
corporate sector,
sector, while
while
Hollywood"
Hollywood" is
is used
used as
as aa metonym
metonym for
for the
the U.S.
U.S. film
film industry
industry
because
because of
of the
the fame
fame and
and cultural
cultural identity
identity of
of Hollywood,
Hollywood, aa
district
district of
of the
the city
city of
of Los
Los Angeles,
Angeles, California,
California, as
as the
the historical
historical
center
center of
of film
film studios
studios and
and film
film stars.
stars.
The
The national
national capital
capital is
is often
often used
used to
to represent
represent the
the government
government
or
or monarchy
monarchy of
of aa country,
country, such
such as
as Washington"
Washington" for
for United
United
States
States government
government or
or Buckingham
Buckingham Palace"
Palace" for
for the
the monarchy
monarchy
of
of the
the United
United Kingdom.
Kingdom.

Holonymy
Holonymy is a semantic relation. Holonymy
defines the relationship between a term
denoting the whole and a term denoting a
part of, or a member of, the whole.
That is, 'X' is a holonym of 'Y' if Ys are parts
of Xs, or 'X' is a holonym of 'Y' if Ys are
members of Xs. For example, 'tree' is a
holonym of 'bark', of 'trunk' and of 'limb.'
Holonymy is the opposite of meronymy.

Words as Lexical Units

Lexeme
and Lexical
Meaning

A lexeme is a lexical unit; a

unit of lexicon (form &
meaning)
Lexical meaning is word
meaning
Not all words are lexemes
and not all lexemes are
words

Seven Types
of Meaning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Connotative Meaning
Social Meaning
Affective Meaning
Reflected Meaning
Collocative Meaning
Thematic Meaning
Conceptual Meaning

Conceptual Meaning

Also called denotative or cognitive meaning.

Overlaps with reference. A referent is what a
word refers to.
The denotation of a word is its explicit definition as
listed in a dictionary. For example, the word home.
The denotative or literal meaning of home is a
place where one lives; a residence.
Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relation of words.

Connotative Meaning
It
It is
is the
the communicative
communicative value
value
an
an expression
expression has
has by
by virtue
virtue of
of
what
what it
it refers
refers to,
to, over
over and
and
above
above its
its purely
purely conceptual
conceptual
content.
content. Also
Also called
called
suggestive
suggestive meaning.
meaning.
The
The expressiveness
expressiveness of
of
language
language
connotation,
connotation,
or
or the
the association
association or
or set
set of
of
associations
associations that
that aa word
word
usually
usually brings
brings to
to mind
mind ..
The
The connotative
connotative meaning
meaning
of
of home
home is
is aa place
place of
of
security,
security, comfort,
comfort, and
and
family.
family.

Depending
Depending on
on the
the context,
context, the
the
connotation
connotation of
of aa word
word choice
choice can
can
change
change the
the meaning
meaning of
of aa sentence
sentence
considerably.
considerably. For
For example,
example, using
using
the
the words
words chick"
chick" or
or "babe"
"babe" to
to
refer
refer to
to aa woman
woman often
often carry
carry aa
negative
negative connotation,
connotation, especially
especially if
if
women
women are
are part
part of
of the
the audience.
audience.
Those
Those same
same words,
words, however,
however, may
may
not
not cause
cause much
much offence
offence amongst
amongst
aa group
group of
of men
men talking
talking about
about
Angelina
Angelina Jolie.
Jolie.

A
A connotation
connotation is
is aa
commonly
commonly understood
understood
cultural
cultural or
or emotional
emotional
association
association that
that some
some
word
word or
or phrase
phrase carries,
carries,
in
in addition
addition to
to the
the
word's
word's or
or phrase's
phrase's
explicit
explicit or
or literal
literal
meaning,
meaning, which
which is
is its
its
denotation.
denotation.

CONNOTATION
A
A connotation
connotation is
is frequently
frequently
described
described as
as either
either positive
positive or
or
negative,
negative, with
with regards
regards to
to its
its
pleasing
pleasing or
or displeasing
displeasing
emotional
emotional connection.
connection.

For
For example,
example, aa stubborn
stubborn person
person may
may be
be described
described as
as
being
being either
either strong-willed
strong-willed or
or pig-headed;
pig-headed; although
although
these
these have
have the
the same
same literal
literal meaning
meaning (stubborn),
(stubborn), strongstrongwilled
willed connotes
connotes admiration
admiration for
for the
the level
level of
of someone's
someone's
will
will (a
(a positive
positive connotation),
connotation), while
while pig-headed
pig-headed
connotes
connotes frustration
frustration in
in dealing
dealing with
with someone
someone (a
(a
negative
negative connotation).
connotation).

The denotation of this example is a red rose

with a green stem. The connotation is that it is
a symbol of passion and love this is what the
rose represents.

The denotation is a brown cross. The

connotation is a symbol of religion, according to
the media connotation. However, to be more
specific this is a symbol of Christianity.

The denotation is a representation of a cartoon

heart. The connotation is a symbol of love and
affection.

Three Facts about Connotative

Meaning
Connotative
Connotative meaning
meaning is
is
somehow
somehow incidental
incidental to
to
language
language rather
rather than
than an
an
essential
essential part
part of
of it.
it.
Connotative
Connotative meaning
meaning is
is
not
not specific
specific to
to language,
language,
but
but is
is shared
shared by
by other
other
communicative
communicative systems,
systems,
such
such as
as visual
visual arts
arts and
and
music.
music.

Connotative
Connotative meaning
meaning is
is
peripheral
peripheral compared
compared with
with
conceptual
conceptual meaning.
meaning.
Connotations
Connotations are
are unstable
unstable
and
and vary
vary considerably
considerably
according
according to
to culture,
culture,
historical
historical period,
period, and
and the
the
experience
experience of
of the
the individual.
individual.

Connotative
Connotative meaning
meaning is
is
indeterminate
indeterminate and
and openopenended
ended in
in the
the sense
sense in
in which
which
conceptual
conceptual meaning
meaning is
is not.
not.

Social Meaning
Social
Social meaning
meaning is
is that
that which
which aa piece
piece of
of language
language conveys
conveys about
about
the
the social
social circumstances
circumstances of
of its
its use.
use.
In
In aa way
way it
it refers
refers to
to socio-stylistic
socio-stylistic variation,
variation, that
that is,
is, variation
variation
according
according to:
to: dialect
dialect (geographical
(geographical or
or social),
social), time
time (language
(language of
of
the
the 18
18thth century),
century), province
province (law,
(law, science,
science, advertising),
advertising), modality
modality
(lectures,
(lectures, sermons,
sermons, jokes),
jokes), singularity
singularity (Dickens,
(Dickens, Hemingway).
Hemingway).

Stylistic overtones:

steed
steed (poetic)
(poetic)
horse
horse (general)
(general)
nag
nag (slang)
(slang)
gee-gee
gee-gee (baby
(baby language)
language)

Affective Meaning
It
It refers
refers to
to how
how language
language reflects
reflects the
the personal
personal feeling
feeling of
of the
the
speaker,
speaker, including
including his/her
his/her attitude
attitude to
to the
the listener,
listener, or
or his/her
his/her
attitude
attitude to
to something
something he
he is
is talking
talking about.
about.
Affective
Affective meaning
meaning can
can be
be explicitly
explicitly conveyed
conveyed through
through the
the
conceptual
conceptual or
or connotative
connotative content
content of
of the
the words
words used.
used.
Affective
Affective meaning
meaning is
is often
often manifest
manifest in
in polite
polite communication
communication and
and
as
as such
such it
it overlaps
overlaps with
with the
the area
area of
of meaning
meaning within
within pragmatics
pragmatics
(so
(so does
does social
social meaning).
meaning).

SOCIAL
MEANING
AFFECTIVE
MEANING

POLITENESS

Reflected Meaning
It reflects emotive suggestion such as that related
to words which have a taboo meaning, such as
words denoting sexual organs or genitals.
A sexologist often uses the expression Mr. P. or
Miss V. when communicating with readers in a
popular magazine.

Collocative Meaning
Collocative
Collocative meaning
meaning consists
consists of
of the
the associations
associations aa word
word
acquires
acquires on
on account
account of
of the
the meanings
meanings of
of words
words which
which tend
tend to
to
occur
occur in
in its
its environment.
environment.
pretty
pretty

handsome
handsome
good
good looking
looking

Girl
Girl
Boy
Boy
woman
woman
Flower
Flower
Garden
Garden
Color
Color
Village
Village

boy
boy
man
man
car
car
vessel
vessel
overcoat
overcoat
airliner
airliner
typewriter
typewriter

Thematic Meaning
It is related to the way
speaker or writer organizes
the message in terms of
ordering, focus, and
emphasis. For example, the
case of a passive sentence
compared with its active
counterpart.
The bear was killed by the hunter.
The hunter killed the bear.

LEXICAL
RELATIONSHIP
REITERATION
REPETITION

Were looking for John.

John is a friend of ours.

SYNONYM

She married an oculist.

She first met the eye
doctor at a party.

SUPERORDINATE

GENERAL WORD

The cat didnt touch

its food. The animal
was sick.
Where should I put
these hats?
Put the things on the
table.

COLLOCATION
SEMANTICALLY
RELATED WORDS

ROSE <> FLOWER <> PLANT

MOSQUITO <> INSECT <> ANIMAL

I like the car because of the design of

its dashboard. The steering wheel,
too, looks fantastic. Its engine
sounds like new.

INFORMATION
STRUCTURE
IT CONCERNS WAYS IN
WHICH INFORMATION IS
ORGANIZED

BEYOND THE
SENTENCE

CONVERSATION
Transaction
Exchanges
Moves
Speech Acts

WITHIN THE
SENTENCE

ADJACENCY PAIRS
(Pairs of utterances that
commonly co-occur)

GIVEN & NEW

INFORMATION

THEME & RHEME

Question Answer
Introduction Greeting

The cat ate the rat.

The rat was eaten by the cat.
It was the cat that ate the rat.
It was the rat that the cat ate.
What the cat did was ate the rat.
Ate the rat, the cat did.
The cat, it ate the rat.
WAYS IN WHICH A
SEMANTIC
CONTENT CAN BE
EXPRESSED
Given Information =
Assumed to be known
to the reader/hearer
BASED ON THE
WRITER/SPEAKERS
DECISION

UNMARKED
(SVO)

It depends on the
context in which
the utterance
occurs and the
status of the
information within
the discourse
New Information =
Introduced for the
first time (not known
before)

The cat ate the rat.

The rat was eaten by the cat.
THEMATICALLY
DIFFERENT
UTTERANCES
THEME
A grammatical category which refers to
the initial element in an utterance.
It is an element around which the utterance
is organized and to which the speaker/writer
gives prominence.
It is the point of departure of the message; it
TOPICAL
is what the utterance is about.
INTERPERSONAL
TEXTUAL

RHEME
Everything that
follows the
theme.

Frankly, the car is fantastic. However, it really

costs a lot of money.

INTERPERSONAL
THEME

TOPICAL THEME

TEXTUAL THEME

Reveals something
of the attitude of the
speaker/writer.

The information
conveyed in the
discourse.

Links a clause to
the rest of the
discourse.

TEXTUAL OPTIONS
OF THEMATIC
STRUCTURE

Theme 1

Rheme 1

Theme 1

Rheme 1

Theme 2

Rheme 2

Theme 1

Rheme 2

Theme 3

Rheme 3

Theme 1

Rheme 3

PROPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS
& LEXICAL DENSITY
A proposition is a single
statement about some
entity or event.

PROPOSITIONAL
ANALYSIS
The number of propositions
in a discourse.

An utterance may contain a

single proposition or several
propositions.

LEXICAL DENSITY
The number of content
words in the discourse

EASE OR
DIFFICULTY OF
READING

RHETORICAL
PATTERN

I was on sentry duty.

I opened fire.
I saw the enemy
I was on sentry duty.
approaching.
I beat off the attack.
I opened fire.
I saw the enemy
I beat off the attack.
approaching.

Ordering of information
in discourse can reflect
a certain rhetorical
pattern.
Cause Consequence
Problem Solution
Instrument Result, Etc.

While I was on sentry duty, I

opened fire because I saw the
enemy approaching. Thus I beat
off the attack.

GRAMMATICAL
DEVICES

THE INTERNAL
STRUCTURE OF
MESSAGES
AT THE SENTENCE /
UTTERANCE LEVEL

THEMATIC
ORGANIZATION

THEME RHEME

A FORMAL
CATEGORY
THE LEFTMOST
CONSTITUENT OF
THE SENTENCE
THE POINT OF
DEPARTURE

COMPONENTS
OF A SIMPLE
SENTENCE
EVERYTHING ELSE THAT
FOLLOWS THE THEME
WHAT THE SPEAKER
STATES ABOUT THE THEME

THEME
1. Declarative Theme: Noun Phrase
IN UNMARKED
SENTENCE

2. Interrogative Theme: The interrogative word

3. Imperative Theme: The imperative form of the verb

1. Angelina saw Brad.

2. Did Brad kiss Angelina?
3. Do as you are told.

DIFFERENT
SYNTACTIC
FORMS

THE SAME
PROPOSITION

a.

Brad kissed Angelina.

b.

Angelina was kissed by Brad.

c.

It was Brad who kissed Angelina.

d.

It was Angelina who was kissed by

Brad.

e.

What Brad did was kissed Angelina.

f.

Who Brad kissed was Angelina.

g.

Angelina, Brad kissed her.

IN EACH OF THESE THE SPEAKER HAS DIFFERENT

ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE
OF HIS HEARER.

1. CONCEPTUAL MEANING

ASSOCIATIVE
MEANING

Logical, cognitive, or denotative

content

2. Connotative
Meaning

What is communicated by virtue of

what language refers to.

3. Social
Meaning

What is communicated of the social

circumstances of language use.

4. Affective
Meaning

What is communicated of the feelings

and attitudes of the speaker/writer.

5. Reflected
Meaning

What is communicated through

association with another sense of the
same expression.

6. Collocative
Meaning

What is communicated through

association with words which tend to
occur in the environment of another
word.

7. THEMATIC MEANING

What is communicated by the way in

which the message is organized in
terms of order and emphasis.

STRUCTURAL
SEMANTICS:
Meaning is conventional and
nurtured (i.e. the child learns the
meaning of a linguistic form as it is
used conventionally by the
members of a speech community).
Meaning is situational (the
speakers situation). A form is
often said to express meaning.

R
r

PHILOSOPHICAL
SEMANTICS
Nominalists vs.
Realists
The nominalists: there
is no inherent
connexion between
the real thing and the
name which we give to
it by convention.

The realists: the name

we give to real things
are in some way linked
to essential features of
the things to which they
refer.

The essence of the

thing that is said is
believed to be changed
if the name is changed
(against the rose
philosophy).

Linguistic
subjectivity
babu vs
pembantu;
pelacur vs wanita
penghibur; GPK
vs.

GENERATIVE
SEMANTICS
1957.

Chomsky published Syntactic

Structures. Semantics must be put outside
the grammar. In some sense, after a lot of
criticism, Chomsky took a position that
grammar is the input to semantics.

GRAMMAR

TRIPARTITE
ARRANGEMEN
TS

SEMANTIC
S
PHRASE STRUCTURE
TRANSFORMATIONAL
STRUCTURE
MORPHOPHONEMICS

1963.
Katz and Fodor
published
Semantic
Theory.
Semantics does
have significant
role in the
grammar.

1964.
Katz and
Postal:
Grammar is
viewed as
having three
components:
phonological,
syntactic, and
semantic.

1965. Chomsky published Aspects of the Theory of

Syntax, a revision of the 1957 publication and an
acknowledgement and standardization of the threecomponent grammar. This is referred to as the
standard theory of syntax.
GRAMMA
R
Phonological
Comp.

Semantic
Comp.

Syntactic
Component

Base

Lexicon
Rules
PR

Phon.
Rules

PS-

SS
DS

T-Rules

Sem.
Rules

S
R

1965
George Lakoff: Irregularity in Syntax, a
rejection that syntax and semantics are two
separate entities. It presents a theory of the
merging of deep structures with semantic
representation (simplification of the base,
wider roles of the transformational processes).

1968
Fillmore: Case Grammar (The Case for Case).
Semantic functions are known as (deep
structure) case. Verb is beginning to be viewed
as a significant semantic clue since a predicator
consists mainly of verb plus some other entities
(nouns, etc.)

1971.
Wallace Chafe stresses the predominance of
semantics over grammar at the heart of an
adequate theory of language must be the theory
of semantic structure. Further, conceptual
universe is dichotomized initially into two major
areas the area of the verb (which embraces
states and events) and the area of noun
(which embraces things). Chafe considers the
verb is central and the noun is peripheral.
A schema of Chafes
view:
Post
Semantic
Semantic
Structure

Symbolizati
on

Surface
Structur
e

Phonologic
al
Processes

Underlying
Phonologic
al Structure

Phonetic
Structur
e

1975.
Frank Smith
understanding/comprehension is derived
from meaning. Semantic process is prior to
grammatical process in realization of the
idea/concept (i.e. meaning) that the
speaker has in mind. Verb is central, while
other entities give information about the
verb.

DISCOURSE SEMANTICS

Cohesive
Relation

Lexical

Substitutional
Referential

Conjunctive

Elliptical

TEXT / DISCOURSE

TEXTURE
COHESIVE
MARKERS
COHESIVE
RELATION

WHERE
WHERE THE
THE INTERPRETATION
INTERPRETATION OF
OF SOME
SOME
ELEMENT
ELEMENT IN
IN THE
THE DISCOURSE
DISCOURSE IS
IS
DEPENDENT
DEPENDENT ON
ON THAT
THAT OF
OF THE
THE OTHER
OTHER

FORMAL
FORMAL
MARKERS
MARKERS OF
OF
COHESION
COHESION

LINGUISTIC
ELEMENTS OF
DISCOURSE

REFERENCE
REFERENCE

SUBSTITUTION
SUBSTITUTION

COHESION

5 DIFFERENT
TYPES OF
COHESION

ELLIPSIS
ELLIPSIS

The
The surface
surface markmarking
ing of
of semantic
semantic
links
links between
between
clauses
clauses and
and
sentences
sentences in
in
written
written discourse
discourse
and
and between
between
utterances
utterances and
and
turns
turns in
in speech.
speech.

LEXICAL
LEXICAL COHESION
COHESION

CONJUNCTION
CONJUNCTION

REFERENTIAL
COHESION
PERSONAL
PERSONAL
DEMONSTRATIVE
DEMONSTRATIVE
COMPARATIVE
COMPARATIVE

ENDOPHORIC
ENDOPHORIC

(INSIDE
(INSIDE THE
THE TEXT)
TEXT)

ANAPHORIC
ANAPHORIC (POINTS
(POINTS
BACKWARD)
BACKWARD)

CATAPHORIC
CATAPHORIC

EXOPHORIC
EXOPHORIC

(OUTSIDE
(OUTSIDE THE
THE TEXT)
TEXT)

(POINTS
(POINTS FORWARD)
FORWARD)

SUBSTITUTION
NOMINAL

VERBAL

CLAUSAL

Which of the shirts

do you like?

I dont smoke.

Its going to rain.

The red one.

Neither do I.

I think so.

ELLIPSIS
OMISSION OF
SOME ESSENTIAL
STRUCTURAL
ELEMENT

RECOVERED ONLY
BY REFERRING TO
AN ELEMENT IN THE
PRECEDING TEXT

NOMINAL

Both John and Mary were here.

VERBAL

Yes, I have done it.

CLAUSAL

He didnt tell me he went with her.

CONJUNCTIVE
RELATIONSHIP
ADVERSATIVE
ADVERSATIVE

HOWEVER,
BUT, YET, ON
THE OTHER
HAND, ETC.

ADDITIVE

AND, IN
ADDITION,
MOREOVER,ETC.

4
TYPES

CAUSAL

TEMPORAL

FIRST, THEN,
AFTER THAT,
AFTERWARDS,
ETC.

BECAUSE,
BECAUSE, FOR,
FOR,
AS
AS A
A RESULT,
RESULT,
SO,
SO, ETC.
ETC.

LEXICAL
RELATIONSHIP
REITERATION
REPETITION
REPETITION

Were looking for John.

John is a friend of ours.

SYNONYM
SYNONYM

She married an oculist.

She first met the eye
doctor at a party.

SUPERORDINATE
SUPERORDINATE

GENERAL
GENERAL WORD
WORD

The cat didnt touch

its food. The animal
was sick.
Where should I put
these hats?
Put the things on the
table.

COLLOCATION
SEMANTICALLY
RELATED WORDS

ROSE <> FLOWER <> PLANT

MOSQUITO <> INSECT <> ANIMAL

I like the car because of the design of

its dashboard. The steering wheel,
too, looks fantastic. Its engine
sounds like new.

LINEARISATION
1

The speaker/writer has

to choose a beginning
point. This point will
influence the
hearer/readers
interpretation of
everything that follows
in the discourse. It
constitutes the initial
textual context for
everything that follows.

I cant stand Jennifer Wilson.

Shes tall and thin and walks
like a crane.
I admire Jennifer Wilson.
Shes tall and thin and walks
like a crane

The same
sequence of
words may take
different value
when uttered in
a different cotext

Different
implicature
from different
ordering.

Unattractive,
awkward

She married
and became
pregnant.

Elegant,
graceful

She became
pregnant and
married.

Thank You. See

you in another
course!