Anthropology 1027A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Principle Of Compositionality, Collateral Damage, Intension

• School: Western University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: Anthropology 1027A/B
• Professor: Tania Granadillo

Document Summary

Four major topics: nature of meaning, conceptual system, syntax and sentence interpretation, other factors in sentence interpretation. Hyponymy: x is always contained within y, hierarchical. Synonymy: similar meaning, no two words are complete synonyms, cannot be used in all context interchangeably. Reverses (zip/unzip; build/destroy) opposite action of the other; un-action of the other. Converses (above the chair/chair is below the shirt) depend on your point of view of one thing; relative to the point of view. Polysymy: a word has 2 or more related meanings. Deposit: minerals in the earth, money in the bank. Homophony: single phonetic form has 2 or more entirely distinct meanings. Bank: financial institution, land at edge of the river. Polysemy and homophony create lexical ambiguity (gives clues as to why there can be more than one meaning) Entailment: truth of first sentences implies truth of second, examples: Mutual entailment - harry has a grandson. Harry has a child (not a double entailment)