Assessment of Semantics

Semantics Introduction: Definitions: Semantics: is the study of the meaning of words and word combinations Lexeme is the minimal unit of vocabulary Lexicon is the mental dictionary

Introduction Cont’d: Types of meaning: Lexical meaning (Lexical semantics) refers to the meaning of individual words , more specifically, lexemes Referential meaning (relational semantics) refers to the relation between semantic categories in an utterance Non-literal meaning Word’s relation not to their usual referents but to some characteristic of those referents Referents (class of beings, objects, events, or characteristics the meaning of word applies to)

Lexical Meaning Organization of vocabulary: means how we learn, store, and access words Semantic fields and semantic subfields theory Overextension & underextension Context-bound words Development of definitional meaning

Lexical Meaning reason e.g. What is it Incomplete acquisition of semantic features Apple for plate and another rounded object A lexical item used to refer to a larger category of objects overextension Limited experience Car for cars only moving on the street, not for cars standing still, pictured cars...etc A use of word for only a subset of the referents in the adult category underextension

Lexical Meaning Cont’d: Overextension: Occurs in normally developing children between the ages of 1;1 and 2;6 yrs Disappears by the age of 3 yrs Understanding lexical meaning Child’s first understanding of single words is context bound. (i.e. words are understood only if they pertain to present, familiar, and perceptually salient objects)

Development of definitional meaning Giving sensory properties or function e.g. banana is to eat Giving categorical membership e.g. banana is a fruit (starts at 7 years of age) Adult-like definition e.g. a banana is a fruit that has a thick yellow skin when ripe. (starts at 10 years of age)

Relational Meaning Utterances may be analyzed in terms of grammatical or semantic categories ex: The boy kicked the ball Semantic elements Clause elements Utterance Actor Subject The boy Dynamic Verb kicked Goal Object the ball Semantic elements Clause elements Utterance Goal Subject The ball Dynamic Verb Was kicked Actor Object The boy

Relational Meaning Cont’d: studies the meaning of vocabulary in different contexts Linguistic situations not situational context (situational contexts: refers to the situation in which the utterance occurred and its function) Also called sentence meaning, grammatical meaning and semantic functions

Relational Meaning Cont’d: The first systematic analysis of the relational meaning of words –case grammar-was done by Fillmore (1968) Case grammar : is the semantic role of case of nouns in relation to other elements in the sentence. The cases include: Agentive The animate instigator of action  “Sam cut the bread” Instrumental The force or object causally involved in a state or action  “ The knife cut the bread” Dative The animate being affected by the state or action  “ Harry pushed Joe”

Relational Meaning Cont’d: Case grammar Cont’d: Factitive The object or being resulting from a state or action “She baked brownies” Locative The location or spatial orientation of a state or action  “ I ate at home” Objective The referent whose role depends on the meaning of the verb “ She hit the ball”

Semantic relations: Include nouns and other word classes agent+action (car go) action+object (throw ball) agent+object (mommy soup) X+dative (throw daddy) X+locative (baby chair) (X is any variable; Dative is the recepient)

Semantic-syntactic relations: refers to the interrelationship between the syntactic role that a particular word fills in the utterance and its semantic role. Like categories that: represent a relationship between two referents e.g. Possession : people and the objects within their domain (baby cap) Identify ways in which events can be related to each other e.g. Causality : cause-and-effect relationship expressed with because

Non-literal Meaning Metaphor Idioms Proverbs

Word Retrieval and Word Learning Is word-finding problem a word retrieval or a word learning problem? Requirements of vocabulary acquisition Understand item’s conceptual attributes – i.e. which semantic field it belongs to, which contexts it can be used in , …etc perceive and produce its phonological form Store the information in memory

Symptoms of having a word retrieval problem The use of initial speech sounds or silent articulatory gestures preceding the target word Giving semantic information Self correcting Gesturing Frustration gestures

Assessing Semantics The other aspects of language Which type of meaning to assess?

Assessing Lexical Meaning Vocabulary comprehension and expression BPVS  British Picture Vocabulary Scale PRISM-L Profile in Semantics-Lexicon semantic fields type & token Type refers to the no. of different vocabulary items used by a subject Token refers to the no. of examples of that particular items Vocabulary checklists

Assessing Lexical Meaning Cont’d: Semantic analysis of a language sample The different use of words Words deficits (when a word is replaced by another one) Absence of any word class Elicitation procedures Alternative referents Definitions Games Set ups

Assessing Abstract Relational Meaning PRISM-G PRISM-Grammar (shows e.g. which clausal elements are being used by the subject and in what combinations) BLADES The Bristol Language Developmental Scales Looks at three aspects of language: functions, sentence meaning, and syntax

Assessing Abstract Relational Meaning Cont’d: Semantic analysis of a language sample Types of relational meaning used (e.g. possession, location relation) Elicitation procedures Following directions that will require the comprehension of various relational meanings Story re-telling by choosing a story that includes several kinds of relations Metalinguistic excersizes

Assessing Word Retrieval Picture naming (nouns - verbs) Sentence completion Naming an object from a given description Naming the category of a group of objects Looking at the substitutions produced by the child Assessing word learning Teaching a new word in a naturalistic context and examining it later

Children with Semantic Impairments Extended use of semantic strategies Confusion of polar position e.g. high,low Word retrieval problems Word deficit Semantic-pragmatic difficulty