1. LI 2013 NATHALIE F. MARTIN S EMANTICS

2. Table of Content 1. C ONCEPT, R EFERENT AND F ORM C ONCEPT, R EFERENT AND F ORM 2. S EMANTICS S EMANTICS 3. S EMANTIC R ELATIONS A MONG W ORDS S EMANTIC R ELATIONS A MONG W ORDS 1. T HE –NYMS T HE –NYMS 4. A MBIGUITY ( REVIEW OF TEXT - S TAGEBERG ) A MBIGUITY ( REVIEW OF TEXT - S TAGEBERG ) 5. M EANING M EANING 6. M EANING OF W ORDS T HROUGH T IME M EANING OF W ORDS T HROUGH T IME

3. References References:  A Concise Introduction to Linguistics (Rowe & Levine, 2009; 153-173)  Contemporary Linguistic Analysis (O’Grady & Archibald, 2009, p. 190-207)  Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb, Norman C., in Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Application, by Dallin D. Oaks, 1998)

4. Semantics

5. Definition: Semantics Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic expressions, such as morphemes, words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

6. What is the Meaning of This? Cold Old Fine Cool Fly Behind Accent Nobody This Getting in touch

7. CONTEXT is Key ! – Certain aspects of meaning change with the _____________________  Nobody bought milk (store owner vs. room mates)  X is old: “old” means different things depending on what X is (person, food, currency, place, friend…)  Context is therefore very important!!  Can you think of words or expressions that have more than one definition depending on the context?

8. Semantics Two types of semantics: 1. ______________: meaning of words 2. ______________: meaning of utterances larger than words

9. THE –NYMS: 1. HYPONYM, HYPERNYM AND COHYPONYM 2. SYNONYM AND PARASYNONYMS 3. ANTONYMS 4. POLYSEMY 5. HOMONYM 1. Homonyms 2. Homophone 3. Homographs Semantic Relations Among Words

10. Hyponyms and hypernyms  Hyponymy: Words whose meanings are _________ instances of a more general word, e.g. isosceles and equilateral are hyponyms of the word triangle. Hyponyms and cohyponyms 1. Hyponyms (Semantic Relations among Words)

11. Let’s organize these words:  Dance (verb)  Salsa  Exercice  Tango 1. Hyponyms (Semantic Relations among Words)

12. 2. Synonyms (Semantic Relations among Words) Synonymy: words that have the ____ meanings, e.g. start & begin.

13. Synonyms or Parasynonyms? Do they really have the same meanings? Are they interchangable? o Vacation = holidays o Youth = adolescent o Remember = recall o Purchase = buy o Big = large

14. Synonyms & Parasynonyms Pride and Prejudice, a screenplay by Deborah Moggach  The danger of parasynonyms and over- extension  Chapter 3 : 20 minutes into the movie http://dictionary.reference.com/

15. Notice the Words with Many Meanings

16. An Accomplished Woman

17. Synonyms & Parasynonyms The danger of parasynonyms and over-extension Chapter 3 : 20 minutes into the movie  Odious: deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable.  Long: to have an earnest or strong desire or craving; yearn  Dote one her: to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually  In raptures: ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstasy.  Accomplished having all the social graces, manners, and other attainments of polite society. http://dictionary.reference.com/

18. a. GRADABLE VS UNGRADABLE b. RELAQTIONAL: Converse Reversives 3. Antonyms

19. Antonymy: words that are ________ in meanings, e.g. hot & cold. Synonymy or Antonymy Flourish – thrive Intelligent – stupid Casual – informal Flog – whip Drunk – sober a.synonym b.antonym c.synonym d.synonym e.antonym Antonyms vs Synonyms

20. a. Gradable/ungradable antonyms Grading involves ______________. When we compare two or more objects. Do the objects have the property to the same _________ or not: - + … cold cool warm hot … Gradable: “cold” and “colder” The weather is much colder this week than last week. Ungradable: “male” ٭ John is as much male as Peter. ٭ John is more male than Peter.

21. a. Gradable/ungradable antonyms (continued) Exception: Normal language behavior: ungradable antonyms can sometimes be graded in speech. Example John is more of a bachelor than Daniel (i.e. more determined never to get married, partying, had never had a stable girlfriend, etc.) I am more alive now than ever (i.e. feeling more energetic, satisfied with my life, etc).

22. b. Relational: Conversives There is a ______________ between both. Without one you don’t have the other.  Examples: o Husband – wife o Doctor – patient o Master – mistress o Before - after o Above – below, etc.  Often used to speak of ______________social roles, ______________and ______________relations.

23. c. Relational: Reversives Another term: ____________________________. Examples: o Up - down o Come - go o Arrive – depart o Marry – divorce  You can reverse one by doing the other.  Common feature: implication of__________in one of the two opposite directions _______________ _____________.

24. Mind Mapping http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

25. Antonyms (review)  Gradable vs Ungradable? (too, more, less, etc.)  Relational: Conversive? (different points of view)  Relational: Reversives? (one can reverse the other)

26. 4. Polysemy Semantic Relations among Words Polysemy: A word which has ____ or more ________ meanings  e.g. bright: ‘bright light’ ; ‘bright colors’  A words' ____________is helpful in determining polysemy  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polysemy http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polysemy  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polysemy?show=0&t=1290530170 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polysemy?show=0&t=1290530170

27. 5. Homonymy Semantic Relations among Words Homonymy: A word which has __ or more ______________ meanings  Ex: Club: ‘a social organization’ ; ‘a blunt weapon’.

28. Identifying Homonyms in Jokes 1. Time flies ____ an arrow Fruit flies ____ a banana 2. Policeman: Why have you parked your car here? Motorist: Because the sign says “ ______ for Parking”. 3. Customer: Have you got half-inch ______ ? Ironmonger: Yes, sir. Customer: Then could you scratch my back. It’s very itchy http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/like

29. Polysemy & Homonymy ? http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accent

30. Homonyms, Homophony & Homography Homophony: Different words ______________ but ______________, ex. two and too., Homography: Different words ______________ but ______________, e.g. minute and minute.  Homonyms _____  Homonyms are words that are _____ homophones and homographs.

31. Identifying homophones 1. [steər]  1. Stair, stare 2. [weist]  2. waste, waist 3. [si:lIη]  3. sealing, ceiling 4. [kju:]  4. cue, queue 5. [sent]  5. sent, cent, scent

32. 1.Read 2.Wind 3.Live 4.Tear 5.Invalid 6.Bow 7.Dove Identifying Homographs

33. Polysemy or Homonymy*? GRASS: herbage used for grazing animals; marijuana LEECH: a bloodsucking worm; a hanger-on who seeks advantage RANGE: A cooking stove; a series of mountains KEY: An instrument used to apply to a lock; an answer sheet for tests or assignments STEAL/STEEL: rob ; a type of metal RACE: the act of running competitively; people belonging to the same genetic grouping FLOWER/FLOUR: a type of plant; finely ground wheat

34. Homonymy or Polysemy ? PASS ?

35. A Few Other Relations P ARTS OF A W HOLE Meronym: Part of a whole Holonym: The whole to which parts belong Metonym: is a figure of speech where a thing is called by the name of something closely associated to it.figure of speech  Ex: "ear" means "attention” (lending an ear)  Ex: Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power.

36. http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

37. Application: Bible Translation A case study of a polysemous word : I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 1 Timothy 2:12 (English Standard Version) Context: I allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to remain in quietness and keep silence [in religious assemblies]. 1 Timothy 2:12 (Amplified Bible) Polysemy and Cooccurance: “Woman” or “Wife” ? But I suffer not a woman to teach, neither to have lordship on the husband [neither for to have lordship on the man], but to be in silence. 1 Timothy 2:12 (Wycliffe New Testament) Key word Bible:

38. Review of the text: Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb, Norman C., in Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Application, by Dallin D. Oaks, 1998) Ambiguity

39. Multiple Meanings L EXICAL ( OR POLYSEMANTIC ) AMBIGUITY  E.g. For many purposes they used obsidian or volcanic rock. S YNTACTIC ( OR STRUCTURAL ) AMBIGUITY  E.g. a fat lady’s man C LASS AMBIGUITY :  E.g. Many hands make light work. (in given example) S CRIPT AMBIGUITY :  E.g. I am an outdoor lover.  “lover of the Out-of-doors” … or … ? Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb)

40. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

41. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

42. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

43. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

44. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

45. What Ambiguity?  Lexical ambiguity?  Syntactic ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

46. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

47. What Ambiguity?  Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?  Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

48. What Ambiguity?  Lexical ambiguity?  Syntactic ambiguity?  Class ambiguity?  Script ambiguity?

49. PRELIMINARY THEORY TO SEMANTICS Concept, Referent and Form

50. The Abstract Side of Language Don’t think of a pink elephant!

51. Referent: the actual thing

52. Referent, Concept and Symbol Qu’est-ce que le langage? (Leclerc) [ bərd ]

53. Referent, Concept and Symbol Qu’est-ce que le langage? (Leclerc)Ferdinand de Saussure [ bərd ]

54. The _________ refers to the linguistic elements (word, sentence, etc.), the ______ refers to the object in the world of experience, and THOUGHT or REFERENCE refers to _________.  The symbol or a word signifies “things” by virtue of the “concept” associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker of the language, and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word.  e.g. The dog over there looks friendly.  The word “dog” is directly associated with a certain concept in our mind, i.e. what a “dog” is like, but it is not directly linked to the referent (the particular dog) in this particular case. Referent, Concept and Symbol

55. Referent Concept Refers to Symbol evokes Stands for There is not a direct link between the sound of the word dog (Symbol) and the object it refers to. What is called the signified is not actually what we have been shown but an abstract concept formed in our mind. Ogden & Richards  no direct relationship

56. Juliet: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! W HAT ' S IN A NAME ? THAT WHICH WE CALL A ROSE B Y ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL AS SWEET ; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself

57. Review: The Psychic Side of Things S YMBOL C ONCEPT Sounds  b ə rd] -Mental representation of the sound -« acoustic image » (sound pattern) -A string of phonemes (sounds) -Psychic imprint - We refer to this mental imprint to understand when someone speaks -Common to speakers of that language (therefore conventional) Concept (mental representation of reality) -Psychic -Mental image of the referent - Ex: covered in feathers, has a beak, etc. Ferdinand de Saussure

58. Concepts Across Languages « W IN » (Eng) « G AGNER » (Fr) « D EVANCER » (fr) (to be ahead) B EAT / « B EATER » (Acadian French)

59. SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING: 1. Connotation 2. Denotation 3. Extension and intention 4. Componential Analysis 5. Subcategorization of verbs 6. Actantial Approach Meaning

60.  What does it mean when you say you know the meaning of a word?  What does it mean when you say you know a word, such as “bird” “blue”, or “happy” ?  How do we _________ of a word meaning? What is “word meaning”?

61. Approaches to Word Meaning Here are a few ways to look at meaning: 1. Connotation 2. Denotation 3. Extension and intention 4. Componential Analysis 5. Subcategorization of verbs 6. Actantial Approach

62. 1. Connotation _______ « Set of associations that a word’s use can _______ » e.g. winter  Let’s do some word mapping around the word winter !  This is not enough to define the meaning …

63. According to _________ _________ … To equate meaning to a word or phrase with actual entities to which it refers e.g. an animal that can bark = dog Prime Minister of Canada = Paul Martin * But what about imaginary things that have no referents !!! 2. Denotation

64. ____ And what about words/expressions that have ____referents for one thing, for the same thing e.g. Stephen Harper the Prime Minister of Canada ‡ the leader of Conservative Party Denotation

65. 3. Extension versus intention

66. ALSO CALLED: COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS OR SEMANTIC DECOMPOSITION 4. Componential Analysis

67. Componential Analysis Semantic properties: The _________ of meaning of a word. Semantic feature: A notational device for expressing the _________ or _________ of semantic properties by “+” and “-”.  Example of componential analysis: “baby” is [+ young], [+ human], [– abstract]. Contemporary Linguistics Analysis : p. 196

68. Componential Analysis 1. (a) widow, mother, sister, aunt, maid (b) widower, father, brother, uncle, valet  The (a) and (b) words are  The (a) words are  The (b) words are [ human] [ female] [ male] 2. (a) bachelor, paperboy, pope, chief (b) bull, rooster, drake, ram  The (a) and (b) words are  The (a) words are  The (b) words are [ male] [ human] [ animal]

69. Componential Analysis 3. (a) table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship (b) milk, alcohol, rice, soup, mud  The (a) words are  The (b) words are [ count] 4. (a) pine, elm, sycamore (b) dandelion, aster, daisy  The (a) and (b) words are  The (a) words are  The (b) words are [ plant] [ tree] [ flower]

70. Componential Analysis SWINE Definition: an adult female swine; also : the adult female of various other animals (as a bear)  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ Semantic Analysis:

71. Componential Analysis CAR Definition: A vehicle moving on wheels  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ Semantic Analysis: How would we know that it is not a truck?

72. Componential Analysis BUTTERFLY Definition: any of numerous slender-bodied diurnal lepidopteran insects including one superfamily (Papilionoidea) with broad often brightly colored wings and usually another superfamily comprising the skippers  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ Semantic Analysis: [+ ], [+ ], [- ] …

73. 2 COMPLEMENTS :N O COMPLEMENT : Fax Murmur Radio Mumble Wire Mutter Phone ShriekEmphasis on: - _________  So there’s a link between _________ and _________ !!! 5. Subcategorization of Verbs

74. The Word’s Context / Word Combinations T HE IMPORTANCE OF W ORD COMBINATION : An example: What is wrong with this sentence:  The colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

75. The Word’s Context / Word Combinations There are many reasons why two words cannot be combined: Meaning Inherent meaning (ex: colorless green*) Connotation (ex: sleep furiously*) Semantic limits of words (ex: watched the intelligence*; or green ideas*) Syntax Complements (ex: he closed the telephone*) Subject (ex: the door danced*)

76. In defining a verb we should also describe it’s _________ and _________ :  A1 tosses A2 to A3:  A1 = [+ human]  A2 = [+ concrete], [+ movable], [+ small]  A3 = [± human] or [+ living/moving], [+ with hands/arms] …  We can also use this approach with other lexical categories like adjectives, nouns, adverbs, etc. * Again, this is a combination of ______ and _________ ! 6. Actantial Approach Jacqueline Picoche

77. SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING Therefore: The colorless green ideas sleep furiously.  “IDEAS” cannot have a color since it is [+ abstract]  “FURIOUSLY” has to modify a verbs where one is conscious, amongst other things.  “SLEEP” has a “restful” connotation. “FURIOUSLY” doesn’t.  Something cannot be “colorless” and “green” at the same time. There is semantic contradiction here.

78. SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING 1. Connotation 2. Denotation 3. Extension and intention 4. Componential Analysis 5. Subcategorization of verbs 6. Actantial Approach.

79. Meaning of Words Through Time

80. Neologism (or Coinage)

81. Using derivation:

82. Evolution of Meaning Language Changes a lot, not just in adding new words here and there, but also as the meaning of these words change with time. o « Cool » used to mean « not warm/cold ». Then the meaning changed. o Now, « cool », is not really that « cool » anymore !

83. Evolution of Meaning = Polysemy BARRÉ (Acadian French): - Blocked door (with actual bar) - Blocked door (locked) - Blocked river - Blocked road  This is how you get _________

84. Evolution of Meaning

85. MEANING AND DICTIONARIES Lexicology

86. Analogy Definition of the French words “PLUME”: 1. A feather 2. A feather used for writing (“plume-fontaine”) 3. A ball point pen (ou “stylo”)  Definitions drawn out of a metaphor (or _________ ).  From something concrete to something concrete. Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998Dictionary.com

87. Analogy, Figurative Sense & Metonymy Definition of the words “SWORD” : 1. a weapon (…). 2. this weapon as the symbol of military power, punitive justice. authority, etc. Ex: The pen is mightier than the sword. 3. war, combat, slaughter, or violence. 4. The Bible.  What meanings are drawn out of a certain metaphor?  _________– from concrete to concrete:  _________– from concrete to abstract:  _________ : pen and sword Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998Dictionary.com