Chapter 5 Semantics

• Semantics----the study of language meaning.

• Meaning is central to the study of

communication.

• What is meaning?---- Scholars under

different scientific backgrounds have
different understandings of language
meaning.
 Some views concerning the
study of meaning
• Naming theory (Plato)
• The conceptualist view
• Contextualism (Bloomfield)
• Behaviorism
 Naming theory (Plato)
• Words are names or labels for things.
• Limitations:
1) Applicable to nouns only.
2) There are nouns which denote things that
do not exist in the real world, e.g. ghost,
dragon, unicorn, phoenix…
3) There are nouns that do not refer to
physical objects but abstract notions, e.g.
joy, impulse, hatred…
 The conceptualist view

• The conceptualist view holds that there is no

direct link between a linguistic form and
what it refers to (i.e. between language and
the real world); rather, in the interpretation
of meaning they are linked through the
mediation of concepts in the mind.
 Ogden and Richards: semantic triangle

Thought/reference/concept

Symbol/form Referent/object in
word/phrase/sentence the world of
experience
 things

Linguistic
unit
• e. g A desk differs from a table.
• Which picture does “a desk” refer
to in the sentence?
• A desk : a piece of furniture with a
flat or sloping surface and typically
with drawers, at which one can concept
read , write, or do other work.
5.3 The Referential Theory
？

Semantic
Triangle
Ogden
&
Richard

desk
机（つくえ）
탁자
桌子
Semantic triangle The concept of the
things or objects in the
hearer or the
speaker’s mind…
Semantic
Triangle
Ogden
&
Richard CONCEPT

word thing
The linguistic elements (such as
The things or objects
words, sentences) used to in the world of
express things or experience……
objects ……

The relationship between a word and the thing it

refers to is not direct, but indicated by concept.
 The contextualism
• Meaning should be studied in terms of situation,
use, context—elements closely linked with
language behavior. Two types of contexts are
recognized:
• Situational context: spatiotemporal situation
• Linguistic context: the probability of a word’s co-
occurrence or collocation.

• For example, “black” in black hair & black coffee,

or black sheep differs in meaning

.black tea 红茶 black coffee 黑咖啡 a black sheep 害群之马 a green hand 生手
 Behaviorism

• Behaviorists attempted to define meaning

as “the situation in which the speaker utters
it and the response it calls forth in the
hearer”.
• The story of Jack and Jill:

Jill Jack
S_________r--------s_________R
 Lexical meaning
• Sense and reference are both concerned
with the study of word meaning. They
are two related but different aspects of
meaning.
• Sense 意 义 ---- is concerned with the inherent
meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection
of all the features of the linguistic form; it is
abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of
meaning dictionary compilers are interested in.

• Reference 指称 ----what a linguistic form refers to

in the real, physical world; it deals with the
relationship between the linguistic element and
the non-linguistic world of experience.
 Note:

• Linguistic forms having the same

sense may have different references
in different situations;
• I want to borrow the book on the
shelf.
• Mike wants to borrow the book on
the table.
• On the other hand, there are also
occasions, when linguistic forms
with the same reference might
differ in sense 。
• rising sun （朝阳） in the morning and
the sunset （落日） at dusk.
 Major sense relations

• Synonymy 同义关系
• Antonymy 反义关系
• Polysemy 一词多义
• Homonymy 同音 / 同形异义
• Hyponymy 上下义关系
 Synonymy
• Synonymy refers to the sameness or close
similarity of meaning. Words that are close
in meaning are called synonyms.
1) Dialectal synonyms---- synonyms used in
different regional dialects, e.g. autumn -
fall, biscuit - cracker, petrol – gasoline…
2) Stylistic synonyms----synonyms differing in
style, e.g. kid, child, offspring; start, begin,
commence;…
 Synonymy
3) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or
evaluative meaning, e.g. collaborator-
accomplice,…
4) Collocational synonyms, e.g. accuse…of,
charge…with, rebuke…for; …
5) Semantically different synonyms, e.g.
amaze, astound,…
 Antonymy
• Gradable antonyms----there are often
intermediate forms between the two members of
a pair, e.g. old-young, hot-cold, tall-short, …
• Complementary antonyms----the denial of one
member of the pair implies the assertion of the
other, e.g. alive-dead, male-female, …
• Relational opposites----exhibits the reversal of the
relationship between the two items, e.g. husband-
wife, father-son, doctor-patient, buy-sell, let-rent,
employer-employee, give-receive, above-below, …
Gradable antonyms
• Features:
• Degrees: intermediate forms between two words
• Very modification: They can be modified by “Very”
• Criterion: no absolute criterion
• Cover term: the term for the higher degree.

not dry not wet

wet moist dampish dry

Complementary antonyms
Complementary antonyms

male female single married

Features: Denial of one implies the assertion of the

other and the assertion of one implies the denial of
the other. They are complementary to each other.
 Polysemy
• Polysemy----the same one word may have
more than one meaning, e.g. “table” may
mean:
• A piece of furniture
• All the people seated at a table
• The food that is put on a table
• A thin flat piece of stone, metal wood, etc.
• Orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc.
……
 Homonymy
• Homonymy 同 音 同 形 异 义 现 象 ---- the
phenomenon that words having
different meanings have the same
form, e.g. different words are
identical in sound or spelling, or in
both.
• homonyms
• Homophone 同 音 异 形 异 义 词 ---- when two
words are identical in sound, e.g. rain-
reign, night/knight, …
• Homogragh 同 形 异 音 异 义 词 ---- when two
words are identical in spelling, e.g.
tear(n.)-tear(v.), lead(n.)-lead(v.), …
• Complete homonym 完 全 同 音 同 形 异 义 词 ----
when two words are identical in both
sound and spelling, e.g. ball, bank, watch,
scale, fast, …
 Note:
• A polysemic word is the result of the
evolution of the primary meaning of the
word (the etymology of the word); while
complete homonyms are often brought
into being by coincidence.
 Hyponymy
• Hyponymy----the sense relation between a
more general, more inclusive word and a
more specific word.
• Superordinate 上 义 词 : the word which is
more general in meaning.
• Hyponyms 下 义 词 : the word which is more
specific in meaning.
• Co-hyponyms 并 列 下 义 词 : hyponyms of the
same superordinate.
 Super-ordinate 上坐标词

co-hyponyms flower
同下义词

orchid orchidlily peony sunflower tulip

A superordinate ( 上坐标词 ) may be a superordinate to itself.
auto-hyponym 自我下义词
living

Plant animal

bird fish insect animal

human animal

tiger lion elephant

 Hyponymy
• Superordinate: flower
• Hyponyms: rose, tulip, lily, chrysanthemum,
peony, narcissus, …

• Superordinate: furniture
• Hyponyms: bed, table, desk, dresser,
wardrobe, sofa, …
Sense relations between sentences
• (1) X is synonymous with Y 同义
• (2) X is inconsistent with Y 不一致
• (3) X entails Y 蕴含
• (4) X presupposes Y 预设
• (5) X is a contradiction 矛盾
• (6) X is semantically anomalous 语义异常
 X is synonymous with Y
• X: He was a bachelor all his life.
Y: He never got married all his life.

• X: The boy killed the cat.

Y: The cat was killed by the boy.

• If X is true, Y is true; if X is false, Y is false.

 X is inconsistent with Y

• X: He is single.
• Y: He has a wife.

• X: This is my first visit to Beijing.

• Y: I have been to Beijing twice.

• If X is true, Y is false; if X is false, Y is true.

 X entails Y
• X: John married a blond heiress.
• Y: John married a blond.

• X: Marry has been to Beijing.

• Y: Marry has been to China.

• Entailment is a relation of inclusion. If X entails Y,

then the meaning of X is included in Y.
• If X is true, Y is necessarily true; if X is false, Y may
be true or false.
 X presupposes Y
• X: His bike needs repairing.
• Y: He has a bike.

• Paul has given up smoking.

• Paul once smoked.

• If X is true, Y must be true; If X is false, Y is

still true.
 X is a contradiction

• *My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor.

• *The orphan’s parents are pretty well-off.

 X is semantically anomalous

• *The man is pregnant.

• *The table has bad intentions.

• *Sincerity shakes hands with the black apple.

 Analysis of meaning

• Componential analysis 成分分析

• Predication analysis 述谓结构分析
 Componential analysis
• Componential analysis---- a way to analyze lexical
meaning. The approach is based on the belief that
the meaning of a word can be dissected into
meaning components, called semantic features 语义
特征、语义成分 .
• For example,
• Man: [+HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE]
• Boy: [+HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, +MALE]
• Woman: [+HUMAN, +ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]
• Girl: [+HUMAN, -ADULT, +ANIMATE, -MALE]
Componential Analysis （ C
A）

adult, male adult, female non-adult

human
A B C
cattle 1 man woman child
brood 2 bull cow calf
3 rooster hen chicken
4 Drake Duck （母鸭） duckling
anatine （公鸭） （小鸭）
5 Stallion （种 Mare （母马） foal 马驹
horse 马）
From the list, we may abstract the same properties of
words.
Componential Analysis

From the 15adult,

wordsmale adult,some
above,we can abstract female non-adult
human semantic components, in other words,the meaning of
the words are composed of some semantic
cattle A B C
components,for example:
1 man woman child
brood man = human + adult + male
2 bull cow calf
child = human + non-adult
3 rooster hen chicken
4 cow drake
= cattle + adult +duck
female duckling
anatine
5 stallion mare foal
horse
From the list, we may abstract the same properties of words.
 Predication analysis
• Predication analysis---- a way to analyze sentence
meaning (British G. Leech).
• Predication----the abstraction of the meaning of a
sentence. A predication consists of argument(s)
and predicate.
• An argument 谓 项 is a logical participant in a
predication, largely identical with the nominal
elements in a sentence.
• A predicate 谓 词 is something said about an
argument or it states the logical relation linking
the arguments in a sentence.
 Predication analysis

• Tom smokes.  TOM (SMOKE)

• The tree grows well.  TREE (GROW)
• The kids like apples.  KIDS (LIKE) APPLE
• I sent him a letter.  I (SEND) HIM LETTER
 Predication analysis
• According to the number of arguments contained in
a predication, we may classify the predications into
the following types:
• One-place predication 单项述谓
• Two-place predication
• Three-place predication
• No-place predication

• Exercise: P83