1. An Introduction to Linguistics
SEMANTICS
An Introduction to Linguistics

2. What does semantics study?
Semantics studies the meaning of language.

3. Overview Semantics Lexical semantics Compositional semantics
The meanings of the words
Word relations
Compositional semantics
The meanings of sentences

4. THE MEANINGS OF WORDS

5. Two aspects of linguistic meaning
Reference
The part of the meaning that associates it with some object (referent)
Sense
The part of the meaning that determines its referent

6. Reference
An act in which a speaker uses linguistic forms to enable an addressee to identify something in the world.
coffee

7. What if we cannot refer the referent that we want to refer to in this world?

8. WORD RELATIONS

9. Types of word relations
Definition
Examples
Homonyms
Different words, pronounced the same
Different meaning
Two, too
Polysemy
Multiple meanings
bank
Homograph
Spelled identically
Lead the verb; lead the metal
synonyms
The same or similar meaning
Sofa, couch

10. Types of word relations
Antonyms
type
example
Complementary pairs
Present/absent
Gradable pairs
Hot/cold;
Not happy =// sad
Relationship opposites
Buy/sell

11. Sentential Meaning
Truth condition
paraphrase
entailment
contradiction

12. Truth condition Definition Examples
The circumstances that determine whether a sentence is true
Examples
The first U.S. president is George Bush
The first U.S. president is George Washington.

13. Two sentences with the same truth condition Example:
Paraphrase
Two sentences with the same truth condition
Example:
Two people were killed in a car accident.
Two people died in a car accident.

14. JFK was assassinated in Dallas in 1968.
Entailment
Definition
The truth of one sentence necessarily implies the truth of another sentence.
Example
JFK was assassinated in Dallas in 1968.
JFK is dead.

15. Contradiction Definition Example
The truth of one sentence necessarily implies the false of another sentence.
Example
John is single.
John is married.

16. Questions?