Semantics Workshop

Benito, Joberson Geronimo, Carolyn Herrera, Rachelle Mallari, Benjamin

To mean or not to mean, That is the question.

Workshop flow
40 minutes Lecture Activities Semantic Mapping 10 minutes What do you mean? 35 minutes Synthesis

Lecture Outline
I. Meaning A. Reference & Sense Mr. Benito B. Sense & Connotations Ms. Geronimo C. Literal & Figurative meaning Ms. Herrera D. Sentence and utterance meaning Mr. Mallari II. Semantics Mr. Benito A. Issues B. Semantics vs. Pragmatics Ms. Geronimo C. Semantic roles & features Ms. Herrera III. Homophony, Polysemy and vagueness Mr. Mallari Back to workshop flow

Workshop flow
Lecture 40 minutes Activities Semantic Mapping 10 minutes What do you mean? 35 minutes Synthesis

Now, Lets get started!

Lecture parts for Workshop

Part One: Meaning

The Notion of Meaning

that speakers intend to their utterances in a particular instances of speech

encoded by words and

sentences

MEANING

Reference and Sense

Reference- the actual object that the sign represents

dog

Sense contextual meaning of a word or sentence

Morning Star Evening Star

VENUS

Signs always have sense but not all signs have reference at, to, and, the Value- aspect of sense derived from the contrasts with other members of the language system

Intension- defining properties that must be satisfied in any application of aAnimal item linguistic

dog

Fluffy ears Barks Bites Hairy

Sense and Connotation

Connotation - an idea that is implied or suggested in order to determine the reference of an expression.

Unlike the sense of word, connotations are not always present.

Connotations can differ according to a person s attitude.

Connotations also differ according to the linguistic or speech context.

Literal and Figurative Meaning

Literal Meaning Also known as Denotative meaning The sense actually encoded by its component lexical and grammatical signs. . Figurative Meaning Also known as Connotative meaning. Considered to be an extension of the literal meaning.

He tied the knot last November.

Another Example

He kicked the bucket.

Literal Meaning Figurative meaning

Processes of Meaning extension

Metaphor- the sense of an expression is extended to another concept on the basis of resemblance. Metonymy- the sense is extended to another concept via a typical or habitual association. Synedoche- the sense is extended via partwhole relation.

We know that life isn t really a roller coaster. It is just compared to a roller coaster because of its twists and turns.

Sentence and Utterance Meaning

 Semantics vs. Pragmatics Semantics study of sentence meaning. - deals with the meaning of expressions taken in isolation, with the meaning they have within the system of language. Pragmatics study of sentence utterance meaning. - deals with the specific meaning of actual instances of language use conveyed by a linguistic expression in a particular context of speech.

 Sentence vs. Utterance meaning Sentence meaning is directly connected to grammar. Utterance meaning is related to both grammar and context. Ex. The car broke down yesterday - describes a situation, the failure of a car.

1) Carol: What s been happening while I ve been away? Paolo: The car broke down yesterday. - Plain statement of fact, and giving a direct question to the answer. 2) Carol: Do you feel like going out tonight? Paolo: The car broke down yesterday. - refusal, or request  The meaning of the sentence still remains constant but depending on context, different meanings are conveyed by uttering the sentence.

Part Two: Semantics

Three Issues in Semantics

1. Homophony, Polysemy and Vagueness Homophony- two different words that share the same phonological form e.g. meat and meet

Polysemy- one form having multiple meanings which are all related by extension e.g. 1. head as the object on top of your body 2. top of a company 3. on top of a glass of beer

Homophony Vs. Polysemy

Bank Voice

1. Separate entries in the dictionary 2. vagueness or the lack of specificity of meaning Wrong Good

Lexical Relations
Synonymy- relation of sameness or close similarity of meaning e.g. mad, crazy small, tiny Antonymy- relation of the opposite in meaning e.g. absent, present high, low

Hyponymy- meaning of one word includes the meaning of the other Specific included in a general meaning tools- hammer, saw, screwdriver animal- dog, cat, bat Meronymy- the part-whole relation Car- windshield, wheel, sidemirror Room- window, door, ceiling

Transitivity- distinction between hyponymy and meronymy

Semantics VS Pragmatics
Semantics Semantics invites a focus on meaning and truth conditions without regard to communication and context.

Semantics is compositional: The meaning of a

complex expression relates in a predictable way to the meanings of the parts from which it is constructed. The meaning of the whole is a function of the meaning of the parts.

Semantics VS Pragmatics
Pragmatics
Pragmatics involves how speakers use language in contextualized social interactions -- how they do things with words. Aspects of the interpretation of utterances that do not involve truth conditions are commonly considered outside the domain of semantics. Whether an utterance is a promise, a prediction, or a question and how metaphorical expressions are understood are matters of pragmatics, not semantics.

Semantic Roles
Agent- entity that performs the action. Experiencer- entity as the person who has a feeling, perception or a state. Theme- entity that is involved in or affected by the actions or just the entity being described. Instrument- another entity the agent uses in performing an action.

 Location- entity is in the description of an event. Source- where an entity moves from. Goal- where an entity is heading to/ moves to.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:

The Hamburger ate the mango. My cat studied linguistics. The green idea slept in my pocket.

The previous sentences are odd, aren t they? What do you think makes them odd?

THEY ARE SYNTACTICALLY GOOD BUT SEMANTICALLY ODD.

The cat is an animal who is not capable of studying that s why it is odd to say that the cat studies linguistics.

My cat studied linguistics.

NP V NP

The verb studied requires a subject who is capable of doing the action-studying.

What are the possible noun phrases that could substitute cat in the sentence?

My_________ studied linguistics.

This approach then gives us the ability to predict what nouns would make the above sentence semantically correct.

Agent

The boy kicked the ball.

How about

What components or features would you use to distinguish them?

The boy kicked the ball.

Instead of thinking the words as containers of meaning, we can look at them at the roles they fulfill within the situation described by the sentence.

Homophony, Polysemy and Vagueness

 Homophony when two different lexemes accidentally share the same phonological form but have different meanings. Homophones different form but same pronunciation Ex. 1) The rain poured heavily from the sky. rain /re n/- a heavy or continuous descent or inflicting of anything. 2) His reign of terror has finally come to an end. reign /re n/ - the period during which a sovereign occupies the throne.

 Homonyms one form has two or more unrelated meanings Ex. 1) The bear hibernates during winter season. Bear/b r/ - a forest animal 2) She could not bear to watch the horrible scene. Bear/b r/- to hold up under; be capable of

 Homophony is sometimes exploited for humorous effect.

 Polysemy when identical forms have related meanings. - close relationships between meanings Ex. 1) The sun glared down from the hot desert sky. - to shine with or reflect a very harsh, bright, dazzling light. 2) The policeman glared at the troublesome man. - to stare with a fiercely or angrily piercing look.

 Ex.
1) I put cottonwool in my ear. - the organ of hearing and equilibrium 2) Classical music is pleasing to the ear. - sense of hearing 3) I tried to get her ear. - attention; heed Ear organ hearing attention

 Vagueness and generality lack of specificity of meaning. - Meanings are so closely related that they fall under a single general specification. (generality) Ex. 1) It is wrong to speak with your mouth full. - improper 2) It was wrong to take additional taxes from the poor. - immoral 3) It is wrong to dribble the ball with your palm. - incorrect

 The meanings of a word acquired from its contexts of use are called contextual meanings. It was wrong to take additional taxes from the poor. - immoral - mistaken