Chapter 6 – Semantics: the analysis of meaning
semantics the study of meaning in human language
6.1 The nature of meaning
o semantic relations among words:
synonymy – have the same meaning in some or all contexts
(i.e. vacation, holidays) *perfect synonymy is rare
antonymy – are opposites with respect to some component
(i.e. dark, light)
polysemy – a word has two or more related meanings
(i.e. bright: (a) ‘shining’ (b) ‘intelligent’)
homophony – a single form has two or more entirely distinct meanings
(i.e. light: (a) ‘not heavy’ (b) ‘illumination’) *homophones do not have to be spelled identically;
write and right are homophones
polysemy and homophony create lexical ambiguity relies on context;
surrounding words and sentences make the intended meaning clear
o semantic relations among sentences:
paraphrase – have the same meaning
(i.e. (a) The police chased the burglar (b) The burglar was chased by the police)
*must have the same truth conditions, active sentences = ambiguous, passive sentences can only have 2nd
meaning
entailment – the truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another
sentence (i.e. (a) The park wardens killed the bear (b) The bear is dead)
contradiction – if one sentence is true, then another sentence must be false
(i.e. (a) Charles is a bachelor (b) Charles is married)
connotation – the set of associations that a word’s use can evoke
(i.e. winter: snow, cold, short days, ice)
denotation - equating the meaning of a word with the entities to which it refers
to (i.e. winter = the season between winter and spring)
extension – corresponds to the set of entities that it picks out in the world
(referents)
intension – involves notions like ‘female’ and ‘human’ (mental images)
Prime Minister of Canada: (E) Stephen Harper (I) leader of the governing party
componential analysis – an approach to represent a word’s intension by
breaking it down into smaller semantic components using semantic features
[man:] [boy:]
+human +human
+male +male
+adult -adult
*allows us to group entities into natural classes; go = denotes the entity undergoing change
Circulatory Issue, Infinite Regress
verb meaning and subcategorization – see textbook pg. 191
6.2 The conceptual system