Semantics

By
Tayyaba Sadaf
 Semantics
Language

Sound Form Meaning

Phonetics& Phonology Words, Phrases, Clauses, Syntax Semantics& Pragmatics
Triangle of Meaning
 What is Semantics?
• The study of linguistic meaning is called
semantics. Linguistic semantics deals with
the conventional, objective, general
meaning of words, phrases and sentences
of a language.
Conceptual versus Associative meaning

Semantics

Conceptual Associative
Conceptual (denotative) meaning
• covers those basic, essential components of
meaning which are conveyed by the literal use
of a word.
• It is analogous to the dictionary definition of
word.
• For example: the basic components of words
like needle might be thin, sharp, steel,
instrument.
Associative (connotative) meaning
It refers to the association and emotional
reaction one has to a word. – suggested
meaning.
• For example: The word needle makes you to
think something ‘painful’ which is not treated
as part of conceptual meaning.
 Semantic Features
• The basic features involved in differentiating
the meanings of each word in a language from
every other word.
• For example: animate, human, male, and
adult.
• These features are assigned + or – values.
+ animate (denotes an animate being).
- animate (does not denote an animate being).
 Continue……..
• The meaning of the words – table, cow, girl,
woman, boy, man can be differentiated in
terms of the semantic features indicated
above, but not of the words – advice, threat,
warning.
• Differentiation of the meaning of the words of
a language in terms of the semantic features is
not without problem.
 Semantic Feature Analysis
Semantic features are helpful in accounting the
‘oddness’ of the following sentences:
• The hamburger ate the man.
• My cat studies linguistics.
• A table was listening to some music.
• These sentences are syntactically good, but semantically
odd, since ‘hamburger’ cannot eat anything, being
inanimate; table cannot listen to anything, being
inanimate; and cat cannot study anything, being
nonhuman.
 Semantic Roles
Semantic Roles

Agent Theme Instrument Experiencer Location Source Goal

 Semantic Roles
1. Agent: the performer of the action, the doer.
2. Theme: the entity involved in or affected by
the action.
3. Instrument: the entity used in performing or
carrying out an action.
• For example: in ‘Pat ate her soup with a spoon’
‘Pat’ is agent, ‘soup’ is theme, and ‘spoon’ is
instrument.
 Semantic Roles
4. Experiencer: the entity – human or animal who has a
feeling, a perception, a state
5. Location: where an entity is or event takes place.
6. Source: where the entity moves from.
7. Goal: where the entity moves to.
For example: in ‘Mary saw a dog in the street’ – ‘Mary’
is experiencer, ‘a dog’ is theme, ‘the street’ is location;
and in ‘The dog ran from the street to her house’ – ‘the
dog’ is agent; ‘the street’ is source, ‘her house’ is goal.
Difference between Semantics &
Pragmatics
by
Tayyaba sadaf
 Pragmatics
• Pragmatics is concerned with the use of these tools in
meaningful communication. It is about the interaction
of semantic knowledge with our knowledge of the
world, taking into account contexts of use.
• the study of the practical aspects of human action
and thought.
• the study of the use of linguistic signs, words and
sentences, in actual situations.
• Pragmatics is the study of utterance meaning.
 Types of Context
• Physical Context

• Epistemic Context

• Linguistic Context

• Social Context
 Physical Context

• The Physical context is the location of a given

word, the situation in which it is used, as well
as timings, all of which aid proper
understating of the words.
• Epistemic Context refers to what speakers
know about the world. For example, what
background knowledge is shared by the
speakers is part of your epistemic knowledge.
 Linguistic Context

• Linguistic Context refers to what has been

said already in the utterance.

• Social Context refers to the social relationship

among speakers and hearers.
 Distinguish between Pragmatics and
Semantics
• Semantics and Pragmatics are both sub-
branches of the field of linguistics. Yet, as
different disciplines, they are only similar in that
both sub-branches deal with meaning.
• The main difference is that the semantics studies
the meaning of words and their meaning within
sentences whereas the pragmatics studies the
same words and meanings but with emphasis on
their context as well.
 Sentence and Utterance

• In our immediate experience as language

users, the things that have meaning are
utterances. Utterances are the raw data of
linguistics. Each utterance is unique, having
been introduced by a particular sender in a
specific situation.
• Example: “In 233”
 Continue…….
• The abstract linguistic object on which an
utterance is based is a sentence.
• My recollection is that the utterance “ In 233”
was based on the sentence The class will be in
Room 233, because it was said in response to
me asking “Where’s the class going to be?
• We talk of repetition when two or more
utterances are based on the same sentence.
 Three stages of interpretations
• Literal meaning

• Explicature

• Implicature
 1st stage
Literal meaning
(Semantic) its meaning is based on the semantic
information that you know from your knowledge
of English. The meaning can be recognized
without wondering who might say or write the
words, where or when. No consideration of
context is involved.
 2nd stage
Explicature
(Pragmatic) Goes beyond the literal meaning. It’s
a basic interpretation of an utterance, using
contextual information and world knowledge to
work out what is being referred to and which
way to understand ambiguous expressions.
 3rd stage
Implicature

(Pragmatic) it goes further and looks for what is

hinted at by an utterance in its particular
context. What the speaker means.
Conclusion
 Level of Semantic Analysis
Level of Semantic Analysis

Word Semantics
Sentence Level Utterance
Lexical Semantics

Refere
Sense
nce
 Reference
• Reference: (directing attention to)
• Reference can be defined as an act by which a
speaker (or writer) uses language to enable a
listener (or reader) to identify something.
• For Example: Restaurant talk: Waiter to waiter
“Where’s the fresh salad sitting?”
“He’s sitting by the door”.
• Name of a thing (salad) is used to refer to a
person.
 Continue……
• Someone studying linguistics
• “Can I look at your Chomsky?”
• “Sure, it’s on the shelf over there.”
• #2. Name of a person (Chomsky) is used to refer to the
book he
• wrote.
• #3. The process involved here is called inference
(deriving by
• reasoning). By this process listener connects what is said
to what is meant.
 s
Watch out For the dog. Reference

Speaker Act

Intension of the speaker

Referent
 Sense

• ‘the dog’ concept

Mental Representation

Sense Knowledge
 Sense
• Sense is something which doesn’t have any
physical existence.
• Sense deals with the intralinguistic
relationships.
• Both sense and reference are different but
relative aspects of semantics.
 Sense and Reference
• Reference is the essential element of
semantics. Because semantics is the way we
relate our language to the world of experience
and reference does the same.
• Sense too plays an important role in the study
of language.
 Sense and Reference

• Examples:-

• Ram + Ewe kinds of animals

Reference
• Ram + Ewe Gender categories Sense
 Two kinds of Semantics
• One that deals with semantics structures
=Sense.
• The other that deals with meaning in terms of
our experience outside language= Reference
• The relationship between Denotation and
sense is stable. 
 The Semiotic Triangle

Stable relation
The dog
• Denotes( Denotation is the
Linguistic Phenomena)

• Linguistic expression

• Signal Signifies Object

 Types of Reference
• Constant Reference
• Non-Physical Referant
• 1 Expression__________ Multiple Referants
• Multiple Expressions Object referant
• Donald Trump
• The President of USA
• The star of the Apprentics show
 What is a Sentence

• A sentence is a complete thought or statement which conveys a complete

meaning. This can either be in the spoken or written form. Thus, a
sentence at least primarily consists of a subject, a verb, and an object.
Addition to this fundamental parts in a sentence, there may be phrases
and clauses as well. However, what should be kept in mind is that a
sentence is a group of words that give a complete meaning. In linguistics,
sentence structures with regard to varied languages are learned. In the
English language, the structure of a sentence is as follows:
• Subject + Verb + Object
• Accordingly, a sentence should consist at least these three fundamental
components in order to categorize it as a sentence, or it must at least
have a main clause to stand independently. He went to school. We study
English.
 What is an Utterance
• An utterance is considered the smallest unit of speech. It can be defined as
“a natural unit of speech bounded by breaths or pauses.” Thus, it necessarily
doesn’t covey a complete meaning. An utterance can, therefore, be a clause,
a single word, pause, and even a meaningful statement.
• However, unlike a sentence that can exist in both oral and written form,
utterance exists only in the oral form. However, they can be represented and
delineated in the written form using many ways.
• An utterance, since it happens primarily in the oral speech, has several
related features such as facial expressions, gestures, and posture. These
include stress, intonation, and tone of voice, as well as ellipsis, which are
words that the listener inserts in spoken language to fill gaps. In addition to
these, an utterance may also include voiced/un-voiced pauses like “umm”,
tag questions, false starts, fillers like “and stuff”, deictic expressions such as
“over there” with other simple conjunctions like “and,” “but,” etc
 Sentence VS Utterance
• The difference between a sentence and utterance is
that while a sentence conveys a complete meaning
through a combination of clauses, an utterance
conveys a meaning through a few words that may
not even compile a clause. A sentence is in both
written and spoken language, but an utterance is in
spoken language only. sentence coveys a complete
meaning, either spoken or written, whereas
utterance usually does not necessarily convey a
complete meaning.
 Sentence Utterance

1. A group of words that convey a 1. A natural unit of speech bounded by

complete meaning breaths or pauses, thus usually
not conveying a complete meaning

2. Exists in both spoken and 2. Exists only in the spoken form

written form

3. Basic structure is semantics 3. Smallest unit of speech

4. The semantic structure varies 4. Does not have a specific semantic

according to the language. structure since even a burp, or a pause
however, a sentence basically is categorized as an utterance
has a subject, a verb and an
object.
 Conclusion
• Both sentence and utterance bear significance in
linguistics and in communication among humans.
Though they appear similar, they have distinct
differences between them. The main difference
between sentence and utterance is that sentence
coveys a complete meaning expressed either in the
spoken or written form whereas Page 3 of 3
utterance usually does not convey a complete
meaning and it is primarily expressed in the spoken
form
 Chap 5: Figurative Language
• Stage 1 of the three-stage model sketched of how pragmatics
connects to semantics, the idea of context-free semantic
knowledge that people have simply because of knowing the
language. In Stage 1 the meanings of words are literal
meanings. Abstracted from contexts of use, they are suitable
for re-use in many different situations, rather than only in re-
enactments of the original contexts in which we met them.
Literal meanings are encoded in the language system and
underpin the entailment possibilities of sentences. According
to the notion of compositionality, the meanings of sentences
derive from just the meanings of the component expressions
and the way they have been put together
• In Stage 2, the process of explicature, context
is applied to sentence meaning to
disambiguate it and establish what the
referring expressions refer to. If the only word
meanings used in the explicature are literal
meanings, then we have a literal
interpretation. The traditional term figures of
speech covers various kinds of figurative – as
distinct from literal – uses of language.
• Griffiths defines a figurative interpretation as an explicature
• (a Stage 2 interpretation) that involves treating one or more words as if
they had meanings different from their literal ones. Context is used not
only as a foundation for inferring which referents are being talked about
and which senses of ambiguous expressions are likely to be the intended
ones, but also to decide whether any meanings should be replaced to
yield figurative explicatures. The reason why a particular figurative
interpretation is chosen as better than other interpretations that the
listener or reader can think of may be that a literal interpretation is
somehow deviant (untrue, too obvious, or empty of content, for
instance); alternatively – or additionally – the context may be one that
favours figurative usage. (Stage 3, implicature is a further constraint: the
explicature – among the available ones – whether literal or figurative,
that yields the most plausible implicatures will be preferred.)
• 1st stage: Literal meaning (Semantic) its meaning is based on the
semantic information that you know from your knowledge of
English. The meaning can be recognized without wondering who
might say or write the words, where or when. No consideration of
context is involved.
• 2nd stage: Explicature (Pragmatic) Goes beyond the literal meaning.
It’s a basic interpretation of an utterance, using contextual
information and world knowledge to work out what is being
referred to and which way to understand ambiguous expressions
• 3rd stage: Implicature (Pragmatic) it goes further and looks for what
is hinted at by an utterance in its particular context. What the
speaker means.
 Figurative language
• Figurative language is often employed whenever we are
unable to find the words which, used in their literal and
conventional sense, will adequately express our
meaning. The use of figurative language requires to use
abstract meaning beyond “physical” words. It’s about
being capable of inferring information beyond syntax or
semantics. If the not grammatically expressed
information is not unveiled, the real meaning is not
accomplished and the figurative effect is lost. The use of
figurative language shows us how Pragmatics
complements semantics.
 1. Presuppositions:
• Are those beliefs, preconceptions and information, that are taken for
granted by the speaker/writer and are expected to be used for
interpreting the message. Presuppositions do not have to be true:
communication may depend on mutual awareness of fiction,
ideologies, prejudices, national stereotypes that are false of many
individuals. For anything that humans talk or write about, there are
always presuppositions to be retrieved from memory. Presuppositions
are involved in formulating utterances and interpreting them. To
presuppose something is to take it for granted in a way that contrasts
with asserting it. For example, if one assertively utters (1) It was Sam
who broke the typewriter. one presupposes that the typewriter was
broken and asserts that Sam was the one who did it. 3 Similarly, if one
assertively utters (2) John is going to drop out of school again.
 2. Irony:
• Irony communicates an opposite meaning; when a
speaker says something that seems to be the
opposite of what he/she means.
• This can be a difference between the surface
meaning of something that is said and the underlying
meaning. It can also be a difference between what
might be expected to happen and what actually
occurs.
• For example: “What a pleasant day” (when it is
raining heavily)
 3. Metaphors:
• Metaphors tend to provoke thoughts and feelings to a greater extend than more literal
descriptions do.
• Metaphor is a figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase
ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another.
• A metaphor is distinct from, but related to a simile, which is also a comparison. The primary
difference is that a simile uses the word like or as to compare two things, while a metaphor
simply suggests that the dissimilar things are the same.
• One of the most prominent examples of a metaphor in English literature is the All the world’s a
stage monologue from As you like it:
• All the world’s a stage
• And all the men and women merely players
• They have their exits and their entrances.
• (William Shakespeare, As you like it)
This quote is a metaphor because the world is not literally a stage. By figuratively asserting that the
world is a stage, Shakespeare uses the points of comparison between the world and a stage to
convey an understanding about the mechanics of the world and the lives of the people within it
 4. Similes:
• Similes are very close to metaphors, but make a comparison instead of
actually suggesting that two things are essentially the same. Some authors
agree on that we can explain how metaphors work by saying that they are
just similes with the like erased.
• For example, the quote by Qan Zhang that "Success is like a pie, there are
different layers" compares success to a pie.
• It was proposed that there should be a superficial distinction between these
two figures. Stern states that “Similes should be analysed on the model as
metaphors”.
• While both similes and metaphors are used to make comparisons, the
difference between similes and metaphors comes down to a word. Similes
use the words like or as to compare things—“Life is like a box of chocolates.”
In contrast, metaphors directly state a comparison— “Love is a battlefield.”
 5. Metonymy:
• A person or object being referred to using as the
vehicle a word whose literal denotation is somehow
pertinently related. Metonym vehicles must be
distinctive properties of the people or objects
referred to. The vehicle must also be relevant in the
context of utterance. e.g. crown is a metonymy for
King Hollywood is a metonymy for film industry
“The White House” is a metonymy for the Executive
Branch of the United States government
 Points to consider:
• • Semantically, words and sentences have literal meanings. A literal
interpretation of an utterance in context is an explicature that
involves only literal meanings.
• • Figurative interpretation is explicature in which one or more literal
meanings are replaced, for example by an antonym in some types of
irony.
• • Wilson and Sperber’s more sophisticated account of irony was one
illustration of how presuppositions (beliefs presumed to be shared)
are the source for figurative alternatives to literal meanings.
• • Figurative interpretation is somewhat open-ended because
different people come with different presuppositions and differ over
what they regard as relevant in a given context.