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Chapter 5 Meaning
5.1 Meanings of “meaning”
5.2 The referential theory
5.3 Sense relations
5.3.1
Synonymy
5.3.2 Antonymy
5.3.3 Hyponymy
5.4
Componential analysis
5.5. Sentence
meaning
5.5.1 An integrated theory
5.5.2 Logical semantics
Semantics:
the
study
of
the
meaning
of
linguistic
units,
words
and
sentences
in
particular.
5.1
Meanings of “meaning”
Ogden
& Richards: 16 major categories of meaning, with
22 sub-categories
Ogden,
C.
K.
&
I.
A.
Richards.
1923.
The
Meaning
of
Meaning
[M].
London:
Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
Leech: 7 types of meaning
Leech,
G
.
1981[1974].
Semantics:
The
study
of
Meaning
[M].
Harmondsworth:
Penguin.
?
Conceptual
meaning (
概念意义
): similar to
reference (
指称
)
?
Connotative
meaning (
内涵意义
): some
additional, especially emotive meaning.
E.g. c.f.
politician
&
statesman
Note: Connotation and denotation in
philosophy
CONNOTATION
(
内涵
)
DENOTATION
(
外延
)
E.g. human
?
Thematic meaning
(
主题意义
)
Question:
How to explain the meaning of a word in the
conceptual meaning?
E.g. DESK
1) to point to a desk
directly
2) to describe it as “a piece
of furniture with a flat top and four legs, at
which one
reads and writes.
3) to paraphrase it as “a desk is a
kind of table, which has drawers”
4) to give the Chinese equivalent
书桌
5.2 The referential theory
Problems
:
The concrete thing pointed at differs
from the abstract concept behind the thing.
The object pointed at does not directly
correspond to the concept.
CONCEPT
Semantic triangle
concept
word
thing
C.f. Sense
& reference
1) Sense: the abstract
properties of an entity
——
concept
——
connotation
Reference: the concrete entities having
these entities
——
denotation
2) Every word has
a sense, but not every word has a reference.
E.g. grammatical words like
but, if, and
5.3
Sense relations
?
Sense
?
Reference
Three
kinds
of
sense
relations:
sameness
relation,
oppositeness
relation,
and
inclusiveness relation
5.3.1 Synonymy
SYNONYMY: the
sameness relation
?
Stylistic difference
E.g. Little Tom ___________
a toy bear.
c.f. buy & purchase
?
Connotative
difference.
E.g. “I’m thrifty. You are
economical. And he is stingy.”
?
Dialectical
difference
E.g. c.f. autumn & fall
5.3.2 Antonymy
Antonymy: the oppositeness relation
(1) Gradable antonymy
E.g.
good: bad, long: short, big: small
gradable---comparative and superlative
degree; lexicalization
E.g. good & bad
graded against different norms---no
absolute criterion
E.g. c.f. a big car
& a small plane
one member of a pair,
usually the term for the higher degree, serves as
the cover term
E.g. How old are you?
C.f. Unmarked & marked
?
Unmarked: the
term is more often used
?
Marked: the term is less used, odd, or
unusual
(2) Complementary
antonymy
E.g alive:dead, male:female
NOTE 1
: Not only
the assertion of one means the denial of the
other, the denial of
one also means the
assertion of the other.
NOTE 2
: No comparative or
superlative degrees are allowed.
E.g.
alive, dead,
半死不活
*John is more dead than Mary.
C.f. John is more mad than stupid.
C.f. Gradable and
complementary
1. The
difference between the gradable and the
complementary is somewhat similar to
that between the contrary and the
contradictory.
In logic, a proposition
is the contrary of another if it is impossible for
both to true, or
false.
E.g.
The coffee is hot.
The coffee is cold.
A proposition is the contradictory of
another if it is impossible for both to be true,
or
false.
E.g. This is a
male cat.
This is a female cat.
b
a
a
b
gradable
complementary
2. The norm in complementary is
absolute.
E.g. male & female
3. There is no cover term
for the two members of a pair.
E.g.
Is it a boy or a girl
?
*
How male is
it
?
Exception:
true & false (Pp 167)
(3)
Converse antonymy
E.g. buy: sell, lend:
borrow
X buys something from
Y
. == Y sells something to X.
RELATIONAL OPPOSITES
5.3.3 Hyponymy
HYPONYMY
SUPERORDINATE
HYPONYMS
CO-HYPONYMS
flower
rose
peony
jasmine
chrysanthemum
tulip
violet
AUTO-HYPONMY
living
plant
animal
bird
fish
insect
animal
human
animal
tiger
lion
elephant
…
5.4 Componential analysis
carnation