Introduction to semantics

Defining Semantics
Linguistics Semantics
Scientific study of language scientific study of meaning implication of corpus and
methodology - no general agreement about the nature of meaning
Formal vs functional approaches to meaning
FORMAL: semantic logics logic semantics symbolic logics !"arnapp #uine$% truth as basic
category% logics and mathematics associations
F&'"(IO'AL: analysis of meaning in natural languages
About the term semantics
First used in )*+, in -Reflected meanings: a point in semantics./
M/ 0r1al: -An 2ssay on Semantics. !)*+3$
Most important usage of the term: Ogden and Richards: -(he Meaning of Meaning. !)+45$
!Malino6s7i:-(he problem of meaning in primiti8e languages.$
Areas of semantic analysis
)/ 9ord meaning
4/ Meaning in 8ocabulary organisation !paradigmatic le8el$
5/ Meaning in linear se:uence !in synta;$ !syntagmatic le8el$
Historical semantics
- deals 6ith the study of change of meaning in time
- 0loomfield lists a number of different changes:
- 'arro6ing: meat <food<
- 9idening:bird <nestling<
- Metonymy: !nearness in space or time$: =a6 <chee7<
- Synecdoche: !6hole>part relation$: sto8e <heated room<
- ?egeneration: 7na8e <boy<
- 2le8ation: 7night <boy<
Reasons for these changes:
- Accidental: tan7s are called as they are because of a security decision in First 9orld 9ar to
decei8e the @ermans into thin7ing that 6ater-tan7s 6ere being dispatched
- ?ue to needs: the 6ord car 6as an obsolete poetic 6ord for <chariot< until the motor-car 6as
in8ented/ Most scientific 6ords ha8e ac:uired specialiAed meanings that ha8e no close
relationship to the non-scientific use !mass energy$
- (aboo: pri8y-la8atory-toilet-bathroom-loo/
)
Semantics and other linguistic disciplines
)/ 2(BMOLO@B-disco8ery of the earlier meanings of 6ords the <true< meaning of 6ords
!first serious discussion is in Clato<s "ratylus$
"hief difficulty: there can be no <true< or <original< meaning since human l/ stretches bac7
too far/ !nice once meant <silly</ Lat/ nescius-<ignorant<$/
4/ L2DI"OLO@B- study of le;emes
Le;icography- art of dictionaryma7ing
Roget.s (hesaurus conceptual dictionary
5/ S(BLIS(I"S stylistic 8ariation in speech and 6riting
achie8ing style: choice of 6ords use of metaphor
entered linguistics in ,Es and FEs of the pre8ious ct/
,/ ?IS"O&RS2 A'ALBSIS
!CRA@MA(I"S$ analysis of all 7inds of 6ritten and spo7en te;ts
- great de8elopment in )+3Es !Austin Searle$
Semantics in other disciplines
- Semantics has been of concern to philosophers anthropologists and psychologists
- Chilosophy: Some thought that many philosophical problems can be sol8ed by the study of
<ordinary l/< (hey argue that the nature of good and e8il in moral philosophy can be dealt 6ith
by seeing the 6ay in 6hich 6ords as good are used/
- Anthropology: (hey are concerned 6ith language as an essential part of cultural and
beha8ioural patterns/ One specific area of anthropological research that is particularly
interesting in connection to semantics is that of 7inship !comple; 7inship relations of many
societies are re8ealed in e:ually comple; semantic patterns of the 7inship terminology$
- Csychology: (hey try to understand ho6 6e process l/ in production and reception/ (here
are problems 6ith understanding sentences 6ith <selfembedding<: (he boy the man the 6oman
lo8ed sa6 ran a6ay/-rely on the meaning to help us 6ith the interpretation/
- "ommunication theory: comm/system carries information% it should ha8e minimum
redundancy !parts of the message that can be remo8ed 6ithout remo8ing any information$ and
minimum noise !anything that interferes 6ith transmission$/ (he human spea7er unli7e the
comm/ system doesn<t merely transmit the message% he also creates it/
Eact beginning of semantics!
- R2ISI@ !philologist )*5+$ forerunner of serious semantic analysis
- Future of linguistics: analysis of ALL natural languages
- Importance of the study of meaning
- 0RGAL !-An essay on semantics. )*+3$ considered father of semantics first to populariAe
the term SGMA'(I#&2
- no serious linguistic analysis 6ithout touching on meaning
- semantics has to be an integral part of linguistics
- need for syntactic semantics
4
Development of semantics
- Structural semantics !beginning of the 4Eth ct/$: disco8ery of the general principles of
semantic change
- Le;eme meaning: "OMCO'2'(IAL A'ALBSIS
- M2B2R !)+)E$:Hsemantic systemH- grouping of 6ords by meaning in coordinated 6hole
!military ran7s$
- (RI2R !)+5)$: elaboration of S2MA'(I" !L2DI"AL$ FI2L?S
-2nd of )+IEs: establishment of (@ !focus on synta;$
)+I5/ JatA and Fodor.s generati8e theory of semantics
-)+*Es: ma=or o8erturn in general linguistics:
"O@'I(IK2 LI'@&IS(I"S L "O@'I(IK2 S2MA'(I"S
5
'ature and types of linguistic meaning
A language is a comple; system of symbols or signs that are shared by members of a
community/ (he symbols may be spo7en 6ritten or signed 6ith the hands/
Ceople 6ho use a language to communicate 6ith one another constitute a society a language
communityMthe 2nglish language community for instance/
9hile linguistic semantics is concerned 6ith the language system that people ha8e in
common that ma7es them able to communicate 6ith one another pragmatics is the study !and
description$ of ho6 people actually use language in communicating/ (he elements of
language are similar to natural signs and more especially to con8entional signals/ A sign is
meaningful to us only if 6e percei8e it identify it and interpret it/
Spea7ers do not merely ha8e certain abstract 7no6ledge% they use that 7no6ledge in 8arious
social conte;ts/ Cieces of language li7e other signs depend on conte;t for 6hat they signify/
9e recogniAe social conte;t and linguistic conte;t/
"#$$%&'"A('#& A&D '&F#R$A('#&
"ommunication is intentional transfer of information and primary function of language/
Meaning includes choice: possibility of choice is a necessary condition of meaningfulness/
Ncommunicati8eH- 6hat has meaning for the sender
Ninformati8eH- 6hat has meaning for the recei8er
NinformationH can refer to:
a$ signal information: physical characteristics of the signal !acoustic and 8isual information$
b$ semantic information: meaning of the signal
'A(&R2 OF M2A'I'@
(here is t6o-6ay approach to meaning:
l/ signO language !form$Pcontent
and there is also three-6ay approach to meaning:
l/ signOlanguage !form$
PthoughtPreality
Ogden Q Richards: meaning is a process 6hich goes on by the interaction of the mental
picture 6ith reality
)HA( 'S $EA&'&* A&D H#) D# )E DEF'&E '(!
@eneral agreement is that meaning is a CRO"2SS
Follo6ing Semantic tradition there are promentalist and antimentalist theories
antimentalist t/: negati8e to6ards
R2F2R2'"2 !(RO&@R($- indi8idual and inaccessible
O Q R: A'ALB(I" RI@O&R
no one definite ans6er to the :uestion of meaning !both a ling/ and psycho/ problem$
Meaning is limited by:
)/ conceptualiAation !mental images$
4/ en8ironment !e/g/ 2s7imos$
5/ culture !e/g/ "roatian and 2nglish 7inship terms$
,
Jinship systems ma7e an interesting area for componential analysis/ Jinship is uni8ersal
since all humans are related to other humans through blood ties and through marriage but
7inship systems differ from society to society/ A relationship is a 7ind of predicate/ 'ote that
in 2nglish and in 2uropean languages generally the difference bet6een male and female is
mar7ed only 6ith regard to the person indicated: both males and females call their female
sibling -sister. a male sibling -brother/. In contrast some 7inship systems ha8e -cross-
siblings/.
O Q R gi8e a list of definitions of meaning- partial focus insistence on analytical rigour:
application of strict rules% looseness of meaning
after this plea- negati8e stands to6ards mentalism
structuralism: l/ as a set of S(RI"( rules% incapable of dealing 6ith meaning
Nthe problem of meaning is that it 6ill escape any cage you put it inH !@/ Sampson: Ma7ing
Sense )+*)$
culmination of struct/:L/ 0loomfield:
Language !)+55$ !NMeaningH$: relied on natural sciences for meaning !e/g/ meaning of -salt.:
'a"l 8s 6hite po6der you put in food% -lo8e. and -hate.$
death penalty for semantics !N"inderella of linguisticsH$
(+,ES #F -'&*%'S('" $EA&'&*: "#&"E,(%A-.,R'$AR+./AS'" 0S
SE"#&DAR+ (+,ES
"O'"2C(&AL M2A'I'@: dictionary or literal m/ of a 6ord% core meaning% relati8ely
!not absolutely$ constant Q stable
changes in time% differences bet6een cult/
e/g/ ?r/ Sohnson.s and modern definition of c/ meaning of -6oman.
certain aspects are fi;ed: al6ays human adult female !-male$
no secondary m/ 6ithout conceptual
SE"#&DAR+ (+,ES #F $EA&'&*
)/ S(BLIS(I"-6hat is common of the social circumstances of l/ use% stylistic features of
6ords
l/use: formal neutral informal !casual$ in s/ e/g/ horse>steed>nag>gee-gee
home>residence>abode>domicile small>tiny>diminuti8e>6ee thro6>cast>chuc7
4/ AFF2"(IK2- part of meaning 6hich con8eys emotions and attitudes of the l/ user% 6hat is
comm/ of the feelings and attitudes of the
pea7er>6riter% basic facility: intonation
e/g/ Bou.re a 8iscious tyrant and I hate you for itT
I.m terribly sorry to interupt you but 6ould you be so 7ind enough and lo6er your 8oiceU
5/ R2FL2"(2?- 6hat is common through the association 6ith another sense of the same
e;pression
e/g/ taboo 6ords-traditionally stigmatiAed !se; erection intercourse the Roly @host$
9hen a 6ord ac:uires taboo meaning !po6erful$ primary m/ gradually disappears
F
,/ "OLLO"A(IK2- 6hat is common through the association 6ith 6ords 6hich tend to occur
in the en8ironment of another 6ord% that part of the 6ord meaning suggested by the 6ords
that go before or come after it
arises on the syntagmatic le8el
e/g/ Ad=P' prettyPgirl 6oman flo6er garden///
prettyPboy !handsome$
handsomePboy man o8ercoat 8essel///
handsomeP6oman
'PK
"o6s 6andered across the field/
"o6s strolled across the field/
al6ays conceptual m/Psecondary m/
Ro6 do 0ritish define AmericansU
born in the &SA !"M$
brash boastful materialistic !SM$
Ro6 do Americans define AmericansU
born in the &SA !"M$
generous fair busy !SM$
I
Linguistic sign
Linguistic signs are the prototypical con8entional signs/ 28en onomatopoeic 6ords usually
ha8e a significant con8entional element% often the iconic nature of the 6ord can only be
appreciated as it 6ere 6ith hindsight/ Linguistic signs are for the most part arbitrary
discrete and con8entional/
Instead of relating things and 6ords directly 6e can relate them through the mediation of
concepts of the mind/
4 8ersions of this 8ie6:
)/ SI@' (R2ORB of Ferdinand de Saussure
4/ S2MIO(I" (RIA'@L2 of O Q R
De Saussures l1 sign O SI@'IFI2R P SI@'IFI2? !sound imagePconcept$
(he t6o are lin7ed by a psychological -associati8e. bond/ 0oth elements of a linguistic sign
are psychological in nature and connected in our minds by means of association/ (he meaning
of any sign- in the association bet6een the sound image and the concept
(RO&@R(>R2F2R2'"2>"O'"2C(
process
SBM0OL>SI@' R2F2R2'(
Linguistic sign doesn.t connect one thing and one name but a concept and a sound !acoustic$
image/
Acoustic image is not a material sound !physical entity$ but a psychological impression of
that sound/ Its psychological nature: tal7ing to yourself 6ithout mo8ing any organs/
3
concept
sound
!acoustic
image$
VtreeN
tree
stablo > tree
Replacing terms: instead of concept-signifi1 !signified$% sound image-signifiant !signifier$W
2 /AS'" "HARA"(ER'S('"S #F DE SA%SS%RE S -'&*%'S('" S'*&
)/ AR0I(RARI(B- the lin7 bet6een signifier and signified !i/e/ l/ sign$ is arbitrary/ (he
concept NcatH doesn.t ha8e any internal lin7 6ith the se:uence of sounds c-a-t/ Instead of this
se:uence of sounds you can connect e/g/ m-a-X-7-a 6ith the same concept/ Arbitrarity leads
to ambiguity and multiplicity of meaning !a single signifier associated 6ith more than one
signified$/
4/ LI'2ARI(B OF (R2 SI@'IFI2R !sound image$- signifier has an acoustic and a temporal
nature and therefore represents a stretch in time and space/ Signifier e;ists in time and that
time can be measured as linear !not being able to utter or 6rite 4 6ords at the e;act same
time$/ Ris contribution to the in8estigation of paradigmatic meaning relations is the notion of
8alue/
Signs can e;ist only in opposition to other signs/ (heir meaning depends on their 8alue
relationships to other signs !e/g/ the 7inship terminology$/
# 3 R triangle:
SBM0OL- l/ element !6ord sentence$
R2F2R2'(-ob=ect in the 6orld of e;perience
(RO&@R( !R2F2R2'"2$-mind concept
(here is no direct lin7 bet6een symbol !language$ and referent !6orld$ the lin7 is 8ia thought
!reference% concepts in our minds$/
,R#/-E$S )'(H (H'S '&(ER,RE(A('#&
9hat is de Saussure.s associati8e bond or Ogden Q Richards. lin7 bet6een symbol and
conceptU
'ai8e and unsatisfactory 8ie6: the lin7 is psychological !6hen 6e thin7 of a name 6e thin7
of a concept and 8ice-8ersa$/
A more plausible 8ie6: 6e do not ma7e this lin7 e8ery time 6e use a 6ord% the lin7 is a
permanent association stored in the mind/
'either can be accepted: if there are concepts in the mind they are accessible only to the
indi8idual so 6e are left 6ith sub=ecti8e 8ie6s/
Furthermore meaning is not some entity that 6ords -ha8e. in any literal sense of
-ha8ing.!6ords ha8e meanings Y people ha8e legs$/
5 @RO&CS OF ACCROA"R2S (O M2A'I'@
)/ symbol !le;eme$- concentration on the le;eme as a part of the system of linguistic signs
Sohn Lyons: meanings are learnt 8ia connection to the meaning of other 6ords/
0ut ho6 do 6e learn the m/ of basic 6ordsU e/g/ scarlet-red
4/ le;ical concept !Fillmore La7off 9ierAbic7a$-meanings of 6ords are learnt by means of
their le;ical concepts
- no denial of the importance of le;ical interrelationships but not enough
- the dominant 8ie6 today
*
5/ denotatum !referent$- 0loomfield e;plains the meaning of the 6ord -salt. by using the
formula 'a"l/ 0ut 6hat about le;emes such as -lo8e.U
SB'O'BMB Q A'(O'BMB
41 Synonymy refers to -sameness of meaning. sense relation in 6hich different linguistic
forms ha8e the NsameH meaning/ Calmer calls synonymy Nsymmetric hyponymyH/
If D is a hyponym of B and if B is a hyponym of D then D and B are syn/ e/g/ all children are
7ids-all 7ids are children
It has often been suggested that 2nglish is particularly rich in synonyms for the historical
reason that its 8ocabulary has come from 4 different sources from Anglo-Sa;ons and from
French Latin and @ree7/ (he NAnglo-Sa;onH 6ords are often considered to be Nnati8eH 6hile
those from F/ L/ and @ree7 are NforeignH/ 0&( e8en some of the Nnati8eH 6ords may 6ell
ha8e been Nborro6edH from some other language at some time in the more remote past/ It is
true that there are pairs of Nnati8eH and NforeignH 6ords/ (hus 6e ha8e brotherly and
fraternal buy and purchase 6orld and uni8erse/
It can be maintained that there are no real synonyms that no 4 6ords ha8e e;actly the same
meaning/ If 6e loo7 at possible synonyms there are at least 5 6ays in 6hich they can be seen
to differ1
)/ Some sets of synonyms belong to different dialects of the language/ 2/g/ the term fall
is used in the &S and in some 6estern counties of 0ritain 6here others 6ould use
autumn/
4/ Some 6ords are used in different styles or registers/ 2/g/ gentleman man and chap%
pass a6ay die and pop off/ (hese are more difficult to deal 6ith because there is a far
less clear distinction bet6een the styles than bet6een the geographically defined
dialects/
5/ Some 6ords may be said to differ only in their emoti8e or e8aluati8e meanings/ (heir
cogniti8e meaning remains the same/ 2/g/ statesman>politician hide>conceal/
,/ Some 6ords are collocationally restricted i/e/ they occur in con=unction 6ith other
6ords/ (hus rancid occurs only 6ith bacon and butter addleld 6ith eggs or brains/
F/ Many 6ords are close in meaning or their meanings o8erlap/ (here is a loose sense of
synonymy/ (his is the 7inds of synonymy used by the dictionary ma7ers/ 2/g/ for
mature possible synonyms are adult ripe perfect due/ For go8ern 6e may use dire;t
control determine/ LooseOfree rela;ed 8ague la; slac7 etc/
(esting Synonymy
Some 6ays of testing synonymy are:
)/ Substitution- substituting one 6ord for another/ It has been suggested that true or total
synonyms are mutually interchangeable in all their en8ironments/ It is almost certain
that there are no total synonyms in this sense yet some 6ords are interchangeable only
in certain en8ironments/ 2/g/ deep or profound may be used 6ith sympathy but only
deep 6ith 6ater A'? a road may be broad or 6ide but an accent only broad/
4/ In8estigation of Nopposites>antonymsH- (hus superficial is to be contrasted 6ith both
deep and profound but shallo6 is in contrast only 6ith deep/
2 basic types of synonymy
+
)/ "onte;t-dependent synonymy 6here 4 items appear to be synonymous in a particular
conte;t/ 2/g/ dog and bitch in My/////has =ust had pups and buy and get in I.ll go to the
shop and ///// some bread/ 0ut this is not an argument for synonymy but rather
hyponymy !one term is more specific than the other$/ (he fact that information can be
guessed from the conte;t doesn<t affect the meaning !the boo7 and the red boo7 could
be conte;tual synonyms but do not ha8e the same meaning$/
4/ type of synonymy found bet6een bull and male adult bo8ine animal/ (he test of
interchangeability rules them out as synonyms as it is not said (here is a male adult
bo8ine animal in the field/ (his is not a natural linguistic phenomenon it is created by
the le;icographer for the purposes of definition and paraphrase/
Absolute synonyms
Absolute synonymy refers to complete identity of meaning items 6hich are e:uinormal in all
conte;ts/ Absolute synonyms are 8anishingly rare and do not form a significant feature of
natural 8ocabularies/ (here are 5 criteria for absolute synonymy:
41 synonyms are absolute synonyms if and only if all their meanings !senses$ are
identical
21 synonyms are absolute synonyms if and only if they are synonymous in all conte;ts
71 synonyms are absolute synonyms if and only if they are identical in all rele8ant
dimensions of meaning
,artial synonyms
Cartial synonyms are e;pressions 6hich satisfy at least one but not all 5 of the abo8e criteria/
e/g/ radio-6ireless old-fashioned Q dialectal not interchangeable in all conte;ts
e/g/ airport-airfield-airdrome
e/g/ pneumonia-inflamation of the lungs
A collocational range is a set of conte;ts in 6hich a certain term may be used/ 2/g/ big>large/
I li8e in a big>large house/
I 6ill tell my big>large sister/
(his is a big>large mista7e/
Antonymy refers to -oppositeness of meaning.% 6ords that are opposite are antonyms/
Antonyms refer to paradigmatic opposition !According to (rier -e8ery uttered 6ord e8o7es
its opposite in the mind of the spea7er or listener during the articulation./$ (here is no precise
use of the term: high-lo6% buy-sell% male-female% arri8e-depart% left-right% front bac7/
0inary opposition is the most important principle shaping l/ structure/ Its most ob8ious
manifestation in le;is is antonymy/
Antonyms e;ist uni8ersally but e8en they reflect spea7er.s culture !left-right% north-south-
east-6est distinction$/
/asic types of oppositeness
2nglish abounds in pairs of 6ords such as 6ide>narro6 old>young big>small etc/ (hese ha8e
in common the fact that they may be seen in terms of degrees of the :uality in8ol8ed/ (hus a
road may be 6ide or 8ery 6ide and one road may be 6ider than another/ Sapir argued that 6e
should handle all these 6ords in terms of @RA?A0ILI(B/
41*RADA/-E
)E
@radiation includes comparison/ 9hen comparing 4 or more ob=ects in terms of possessing a
certain :uality !ad=$ 6e :uestion the possession of a :uality in degrees 6ide-narro6% old-
young% big-small/
e/g/ Our house is big !ger than the normal house$
(he comparati8e forms of the ad=ecti8es !those ending in er or occurring 6ith more$ are
2DCLI"I(LB graded since to say that one road is 6ider than another% one boy is older than
another etc/ is to place them in a graded scale for comparison/ 0ut although these
comparati8e forms are preceded linguistically by the simple forms !i/e/ formed from them by
adding er or more$ they precede them logically in that 6ide old and big can only be
understood in terms of being 6ider older bigger than something/ (hey are thus IMCLI"I(LB
graded antonyms/
'ot only are these ad=ecti8es gradable but they are graded against different norms according
to the items being discussed/ 2/g/ if 6e say that not many people 6ere present this might
mean F or I !an intimate party$ but also 4EEEE !football match at 9embley$/
(his accounts for apparent parado;es of a small elephant being bigger than a big mouse for
small means -small as elephants go. and big -big as mice go./
(hus 6e ha8e not =ust hot>cold but hot>6arm>cool>cold 6ith the intermediate 6arm and cool
forming a pair of antonyms themsel8es/ In each pair one of the terms is the -mar7ed. and the
other -unmar7ed. in that only one is used simply to as7 about or describe the degree of
:uality/
2/g/ 6e say Ro6 high is itU Ro6 6ide is itU It is three feet high/ It is four yards 6ide 6ith no
implication that it is either high or 6ide/ 0ut the other terms of pair is not so used it is the
-mar7ed. term/ (hus Ro6 lo6 is itU Ro6 narro6 is itU imply that the ob=ect in :uestion
actually is lo6 or narro6 and 6e 6ould not say It is three feet lo6 or It is four yards narro6/
Semi-e;plicit gradation is the use of a comparison construction 6ithout mention of the
standard/
2/g/ Our house is bigger/ !standard introduced earlier$
Clatosaid that -co-e;istence of 4 opposite :ualities in the same ob=ect. !tallness and shortness$/
e/g/ D is taller than B and shorter than Z
9hen graded antonyms are used as predicati8e elements:
predication of one element implies the predication of the negation of the other
D is hot implies D is not cold
D is cold implies D is not hot
T D is not hot doesn.t imply D is coldT
21 %&*RADA/-E 8"omplementary9 /inary: A&(#&+$S
(he pairs male>female married>single ali8e>dead are in complementary distribution/ (heir
characteristic is that they are members of t6o-term sets instead of the multiple-term sets that
6e discussed in gradable antonyms/ (o say that something is 6ide is to say that it is not
narro6/ (o say that someone is married is to say that he is not single/ (o say something is
'O( the one is to say that it is the other/ If Ceter is 'O( married he is single and 8ice 8ersa/
(his results from the fact that there are only 4 possibilities/
9hen ungraded antonyms are used as predicati8e elements:
)/ predication of one element implies the predication of the negation of the other
4/ predication of the negation of either implies the predication of the other
D is female implies D is not male
))
D is not female implies D is male
$orphological relatedness
Morphological unrelated antonyms are e/g/ : good bad high- lo6 beautiful ugly big-
small old young 6hile morphological related antonyms are: married- unmarried friendly
unfriendly/ Most morphological unrelated antonyms are graded 6hile those related are
ungraded/
71 Symetrically reversible antonyms are those to 6hich the relationship -.more and less..
cannot be applied/ ! brilliant stupid: more brilliant doesn.t e:ual less stupid$/
?ifferent from ungradable: if you are not ali8e you.re dead but if you.re not brilliant you
don.t ha8e to be stupid/
?ifferent from gradable: more and less can.t be applied/
;1 Relational opposites 8converses: < a different 7ind of -.opposite.. 6ith pairs of 6ords
6hich e;hibit the re8ersal of relationship bet6een items/ For e;ample: buy> sell
husband>6ife: If Sohn sells to Fred Fred buys from Sohn: If 0ill is Mary.s husband
Mary is 0ill.s 6ife/
Kerbs that form pairs in this 6ay% buy sell lend-borro6 rent-let o6n-belong to gi8e-recei8e
are relational opposites
'ouns that form pairs in this 6ay: husband-6ife fianc1- fianc1e parent-child debtor-
creditor teacher pupil are relational opposites
Also terms referring to spatial position: abo8e- belo6 in front of- behind north of- south of
and in grammar acti8e and passi8e e;hibit relational opposition: If (om hits Rarry Rarry is
hit by (om/
So if a predicate describes a relationship bet6een t6o things !or people$ and some other
predicate describes the same relationship 6hen the t6o things !or people$ are mentioned in
the opposite order then the t6o predicates are "#&0ERSES of each other/ Let.s see another
e;ample: Parent and child are con8erses because D is the parent of B and B is the child of D/
=inship terms many of them indicate not only the relationship but the se; of the person
concerned !father is the male parent daughter is a female child$/ (his bloc7s re8ersibility !to
say that Sohn is Sam.s father does not entail that Sam is Sohn.s son/ Sam could be his
daughter$/ So 6e ha8e pairs indicating the same relationship but different se;: father- mother
son- daughter uncle- aunt nephe6 niece/
Some terms are not strictly related as relational opposites but indicate a temporal relationship
e/g/ as7>reply% offer>accept/ Reply and accept <presuppose< that there has been an act of as7ing
or gi8ing% this is a natural result of the temporal relationship/
Directional> orthogonal and antipodal opposition
?irectional opposition
&nderlying many le;ical opposites there is a type of opposition 6hich is called directional/ It
can be seen in its purest form in the e8eryday notion of contrary motion/ (his is relati8ely
easy to define in the simplest case t6o bodies A and 0 mo8ing in straight lines at speeds
S!)$ and S!4$ respecti8ely are mo8ing in opposite directions if the speed of A relati8e to 0 is
)4
e:ual to the sum of S!)$ and S!4$/9e shall ta7e this as the most primiti8e manifestation of the
directional opposition/ As 6e shall see no pair of le;ical opposites e;presses pure linear
contrary motion not e8en such a pair as ascend descend/
Although there are no le;ical pairs denoting pure contrary motion there are pairs 6hich in
their most basic senses denote pure opposite directions/ (hey are all ad8erbs or prepositions:
north:south up:do6n for6ards:bac76ards [
2ach is in ortogonal opposition 6ith the other t6o: north 6ith east and 6est% east 6ith south
and north and antipodally one 6ith the other: north and south% east and 6est/
Antopodal opposition
0uilding on the notion of oppositeness of direction a category of antipodal opposites can be
defined in 6hich one term represents an e;treme in one direction along some salient a;is
6hile the other term denotes the corresponding e;treme in other direction/ For instance if 6e
go &C as far as 6e can 6hile remaining 6ithin the confines of some spatial entity 6e reach
its (OC and in the other direction the lo6er limit is the 0O((OM/ Other e;amples: cellar-
attic source mouth pea7 foot!mountain$ head- toe ma;imum- minimum[
?1 &on binary contrasts
Multiple incompatibles
Relationship bet6een \Sunday Monday (uesday//]is described as incompatibility
(rier: e;cellent good a8erage fair poor !student perf/$- set of incompatible and ungradable
le;emes 6hose meanings are determined by their position in the set
Military terms: field marshal general corporal pri8ate
"yclic sets:seasons days of the 6ee7
no e;treme points !as 6ith field marshal pri8ate$% culturally determined not antonymic but
subantonymic sets
true prototypical antonyms: direct oppositions of the ungradable type
graded setsOentering cultural spheres
)5
COLBS2MB ROMO'BMB A'? RBCO'BMB
H#$#&+$+ is sense relation in 6hich one form has different meaning% those are
different 6ords 6ith the same form !treated as such in dictionaries$
In homonyms such as ban7 -a financial institution. and ban7 -the edge of a stream.
pronunciation and spelling are identical but meanings are unrelated/ In other pairs numerous
in 2nglish such as steak and stake pronunciation is identical but spelling is different
reflecting the fact that the 6ords 6ere once different in their phonological form/
Absolute vs partial homonymy
(here are 5 criteria for absolute homonyms:
)/ their forms must be unrelated in meaning
4/ all their forms must be identical
5/ identical forms must be syntactically e:ual
sole list
They found hospitals and charitable institutions.
The bell was rung at midnight. A rung of the ladder is broken.
Result of partial homonymy is ambiguity
Ambiguous 6ord is one 6hich has more than one sense/
Ambiguous sentences are ones 6hich ha8e 4 or more paraphrases 6hich are not themsel8es
paraphrases of each other/
e/g/ 9e sa6 her duc7/ !9e sa6 her lo6er her head 8s 9e sa6 the duc7 that belongs to her$
According to some semanticists a sentence cannot be ambiguous !(he chic7en is ready to eat
represents 4 different sentences$/
Ambiguous 6ords or phrases are ones 6hich ha8e 4 or more synonyms 6hich are not
themsel8es synonyms of each other: trunk, coach
H#$#&+$+@,#-+SE$+ D'S('&"('#&
(he distinction bet6een homonymy and polysemy is not an easy one to ma7e/ (6o le;emes
are either identical in form or not but relatedness of meaning is not a matter of yes or no% it is
a matter of more or less/
Romonymy-polysemy distinction: closeness or relatedness of senses of ambiguous 6ord
Romonymy- different senses of an ambiguous 6ord are far apart from each other and not
related 8ia spea7er.s intuition% matter of accident or coincidence
e/g/ ban7 mug% 7it bar
),
,#-+SE$+ refers to one 6ord ha8ing se8eral closely related senses/
(he noun head for instance seems to ha8e related meanings 6hen 6e spea7 of the head of a
person the head of a company head of a table or bed a head of lettuce or cabbage/ If 6e ta7e
the anatomical referent as the basic one the other meanings can be seen as deri8ed from the
basic one either reflecting the general shape of the human head or more abstractly the
relation of the head to the rest of the body/
'ati8e spea7er has clear intuition that the different senses are related to each other/
Colysemy e;presses close relatedness in meaning 6hich is usually connected to metaphorical
e;tension/ Meaning relatedness has to be synchronic/
e/g/ neck; loza, ogranak
mouth !of a ri8er% of an animal$: relatedness- opening from the interior of solid mass to the
outside and of a place of issue at the end of some long narro6 channel/
EAT- literal sense of -taking food. and deri8ed meanings of -use up. and -corrode. treat these
as 5 different meaningsU
0ut distinction bet6een eating meat and eating soup% eating and drin7ing soup
Is eating =elly the same as eating toffee !in8ol8ing che6ing$ or eating s6eets !in8ol8ing
suc7ing$U
"arelessness- eat has different meaning 6ith e8ery type of food 6e eat
9e shouldn.t loo7 for all possible differences but for sameness of meaning as far as 6e can/
?ictionary has to decide 6hether a particular item is to be handled in terms of polysemy or
homonymy% a polysemic item 6ill be treated as a single entry and a homonymous one 6ill
ha8e a separate entry for each of the homonyms/ Free to :uestion the decisions of a
dictionaryma7er as they may be arbitrary/ ?ictionaries usually base their decisions upon
etymology/ If identical forms ha8e different origin they are treated as homonyms and gi8en
separate entries/ If they ha8e one origin e8en if they ha8e different meaning they are treated
as polysemic and gi8en a separate entry/
'ot satisfactory: history of linguistics doesn.t accurately reflect its present state !e/g/ pupil$
9e can ha8e problematic cases because difference in spelling doesn.t al6ays indicate a
difference in origin: 6hat are today homophones may be deri8ed from the same original form
!metal-mettle% flo6er-flour$
If semanticist relies on his historical 7no6ledge they are the same 6ord !polysemy$ e8en
though they.re spelt differently/ "an 6e consider e;pressions that are spelt differently to be
the same 6ordU
)F
H+,#&+$+ is sense relation in 6hich the meaning of one item is included in the meaning
of the other/ It refers to the notion of inclusion/
(he meaning of red is included in the meaning of scarlet red- superordinate term
!RBC2RO'BM$ scarlet- RBCO'BM of red !7ind of red$
tulip, rose-flower; lion, elephant-mammalanimal
Flo6er is an immediate hyponym of plant and tulip is an immediate hyponim of flo6er/ Rose
and tulip- "ORBCO'BMS of flo6er
Any le;eme that can be substituted for a hyponym is also a hyponym/ "hihuahua ?almatian
and Irish setter are other hyponyms of dog and they are co-hyponyms of collie/ ?affodil and
rose are t6o co-hyponyms of tulip/
(he denotation of the hyponym is included in the denotation of the superordinate !the set of
all collies is included in the set of all dogs$ but the meaning of the superordinate is included
in the meaning of the hyponym !the characteristic of being a dog is part of the characteristic
of being a collie$/ A sentence 6ith a hyponym !e/g/ (here.s a Calomino in that field$ is more
informati8e than a sentence 6ith the corresponding superordinate !(here.s a horse in that
field$/
(here is no superordinate term in all situations/
Lyons: in "lassical @ree7 a superordinate term for different professions !carpenter doctor
flute player shoema7er$ but no such term in 2ngglish% craftsman !e;cluding doctor and flute
player$/
(here is no superordinate term for all colour 6ords !coloured e;cludes blac7 and 6hite% e8en
grey$/
If polysemic the same term may appear in se8eral places in the hierarchy !in one of its
meanings it may be superordinate to itself in another meaning$ /
e/g/ animal may be used:
- in contrast 6ith 8egetable to include mammals birds fishes insect
- in the sense of mammal to contrast 6ith birds fishes and insects !including humans
and beasts$
- in the sense of beast to contrast 6ith human
Sheep is used for all creatures of the species-it is the superordinate term of e6e lamb ram
0ut the superordinate term for dogs !as species$ is dog though dog is also the hyponym
different from bitch
"attle and poultry are odd-although superordinate they are all used only for plural reference/
9e say those are cattle to include those are co6s but no single term to put in a frame that is a
------------/
Synonymy is a special case of hyponymy/
-mercury-:uic7sil8er: defined as synonyms or hyponyms of each other
Synonym- SBMM2(RI"AL RBCO'BMB
If D is a hyponym of B and if B is a hyponym of D then D and B are synonyms
Ryponymy in8ol8es entailment/ A prop/ D entails a prop/ B if the truth of B follo6s
necessarily from the truth of D
(o say this is a tulip entails this is a flo6er
)I
Ryponymy is often defined in terms of entailment bet6een sentences 6hich differ only in
respect of the le;ical items being tested: It<s an apple entails but is not entailed by It<s a fruit
Mary slapped Sohn entails but is not entailed by Mary hit Sohn/ (here are t6o sorts of
difficulty 6ith defining hyponymy in this 6ay/ One is that a sentence containing a hyponym
does not in8ariably entail the corresponding sentence 6ith the superordinate/ For instance
although It<s a tulip entails It<s a flo6er It<s not a tulip does not entail It<s not a flo6er nor
does (he fact that it 6as a tulip surprised Mary entail (he fact that it 6as a flo6er surprised
Mary/ Ideally it ought to be possible to specify the sorts of sentence 6ithin 6hich entailment
holds% ho6e8er this turns out to be no easy tas7/
2ntailment needs to be conte;t independent 6hereas =udgements of hyponymy are conte;t
sensiti8e/ 9hile it is true that not all dogs are pets for most people in the default conte;t of
e8eryday urban life dogs are pets and perhaps the default conte;t e8o7ed by the le;ical item
7nife out of conte;t is the mealtime conte;t/
)3