SEMANTICS
LI 2013
NATHALIE F. MARTIN
Table of Content
1. CONCEPT, REFERENT AND FORM
2. SEMANTICS
3. SEMANTIC RELATIONS AMONG
WORDS
1.
THE –NYMS
4. AMBIGUITY (REVIEW OF TEXT -
STAGEBERG)
5. MEANING
6. MEANING OF WORDS THROUGH TIME
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)
Semantics
Definition: Semantics
 Semantics is the
study of the
meaning of
linguistic
expressions, such
as morphemes,
words, phrases,
clauses, and
sentences.
What is the Meaning of These words?
 Cold
 Behind
 Old
 Accent
 Fine
 Nobody
 Cool
 This
 Fly
 Getting in
touch
Dictionary Definition: Explaining Meaning
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Cool?s=t
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?
Semantics
 Two types of semantics:
1.
_____________: meaning of words
2.
_____________: meaning of
utterances larger than words
Semantic Relations
Among Words
THE –NYMS:
1.HYPONYM, HYPERNYM AND COHYPONYM
2.SYNONYM AND PARASYNONYMS
3.ANTONYMS
4.POLYSEMY
5.HOMONYM
1.
2.
3.
Homonyms
Homophone
Homographs
Web of words – Relations Among Words
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
1. Hyponyms
(Semantic Relations among Words)
 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)
Let’s organize these words:
Dance
(verb)
Salsa
Exercice
Tango
2. Synonyms
(Semantic Relations among Words)
2. Synonyms
(Semantic Relations among Words)
 Synonymy: words that have the ____
meanings, e.g. start & begin.
2. Parasynonyms
(Semantic Relations among Words)
Parasynonymy: words that
have _____________
meanings, e.g. stool & bench.
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
Synonyms & Parasynonyms
 Pride and Prejudice, a screenplay by
Deborah Moggach
 The
danger of parasynonyms and overextension
 Chapter 3 : 20 minutes into the movie
http://dictionary.reference.com/
3. Antonyms
a. GRADABLE VS UNGRADABLE
(or complementary)
b. RELATIONAL:
•
•
Converse
Reversive
Antonyms vs Synonyms
 Antonymy: words that are ________
in meanings, e.g. hot & cold.
Synonymy or Antonymy
 Flourish – thrive
 Intelligent – stupid
 Casual – informal
 Flog – whip
 Drunk – sober
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
synonym
antonym
synonym
synonym
antonym
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.
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).
b. Relational: Conversives
 There is a __________between both. Without
one you don’t have the other.

o
o
o
o
o

Examples:
Husband – wife
Doctor – patient
Master – mistress
Before - after
Above – below, etc.
Often used to speak of reciprocal social roles,
temporal and spatial relations.
c. Relational: Reversives
 Another term: _____________.
Examples:
o Go up – go down
o Come - go
o Arrive – depart
o Married – divorced
 You can reverse one by doing the other.
 Common feature: implication of _____in one of the two
opposite directions _ _____________
Mind Mapping
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
Antonyms (review)
 Gradable or Complementary? (too, more, less, etc.)
 Relational:


Conversive? (different points of view)
Reversives? (one can reverse the other)
Opposing
POLYSEMY &
HOMONYMY
4. Polysemy
/pɒlisimi, pəlɪsəmi/
Semantic Relations among Words
 Polysemy: A word which has ___or
more _______meanings
 e.g.
bright: ‘bright light’ ; ‘bright colors’
A
words' etymology is helpful in
determining polysemy


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polysemy
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polysemy?show=0&t=1290530170
5. Homonymy
/həmɒnəmi/
Semantic Relations among Words
 Homonymy: A word which has __
or more _____________meanings
 Ex:
Club:
‘a social organization’ ;
‘a blunt weapon’.
Identifying Homonyms in Jokes
1. Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
2. Policeman: Why have you parked your car here?
Motorist: Because the sign says “Fine for
Parking”.
3. Customer: Have you got half-inch nails?
Ironmonger: Yes, sir.
Customer: Then could you scratch my back. It’s
very itchy
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nail
Homonym, Homophone & Homograph
 Homophony: Different words _____________
but _____________ , ex. two and too.
 Homography: Different words _____________
but _____________, e.g. minute and minute.
Homonyms are words that are ___homophones and
homographs.
Homonym, Homophone & Homograph
 Types of HOMONYMY:
Homophone
Homograph
Homonym
Same
SOUNDS
Same
SPELLING

X

X


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
Identifying Homographs
1.Read /rid/ & /rɛd/
2.Wind /wɪnd/ & /waɪd/
3.Live /lɪv/ & /laɪv/
4.Tear
5.Invalid
6.Bow
7.Dove
Polysemy or Homonymy*?
 GRASS: herbage used for grazing animals;




marijuana
LEECH: a bloodsucking worm; a hangeron 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
RACE: the act of running competitively;
people belonging to the same genetic
grouping
Homonymy or Polysemy ?
PASS ?
6. Meronym / 7. Holonym
PARTS OF A WHOLE
Meronym: Part of a whole
Holonym: The whole to
which parts belong
8. Metonym
Metonym: is a _____
________where a thing is
called by the name of
something closely associated
to it.
Examples of METONYMS
"ear"
ex:
means "attention”
lending an ear
“Washington”
for the “United
States government”
ex:
Washington passed a law
“Sword”
ex:
for “military power”
not by sword
Examples of METONYMS
 Crown - in place of a royal person
 The White House - in place of the President
or others who work there
 The suits - in place of business people
 Dish - for an entire plate of food
 Cup - for a mug
 The Pentagon - to refer to the staff
 The restaurant - to refer to the staff
Examples of METONYMS
 Ears - for giving attention ("Lend me your
ears!" from Mark Antony in Julius Caesar)
 Eyes - for sight
 The library - for the staff or the books
 Pen - for the written word
 Sword - for military might
 Silver fox - for an attractive older man
 Hand - for help
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:
Ambiguity
Review of the text:
Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb, Norman C., in
Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Application, by Dallin D.
Oaks, 1998)
Multiple Meanings
 LEXICAL (or POLYSEMANTIC) AMBIGUITY
 E.g. For many purposes they used obsidian or volcanic
rock.
 SYNTACTIC (or STRUCTURAL) AMBIGUITY
 E.g. a fat lady’s man
 CLASS (or PART-OF-SPEECH) AMBIGUITY:
 E.g. Many hands make light work. (in given example)
 SCRIPT AMBIGUITY:
 E.g. I am an outdoor lover.
 “lover of the Out-of-doors” … or … ?
Ambiguity in College Writing (Stageberb)
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (or structural) ambiguity?
 Class (or part-of-speech) ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (or structural) ambiguity?
 Class (or part-of-speech) ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (or structural) ambiguity?
 Class (or part-of-speech) ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical ambiguity?
 Syntactic ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (or structural) ambiguity?
 Class (or part-of-speech) ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (or structural) ambiguity?
 Class (or part-of-speech) ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical ambiguity?
 Syntactic ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
Concept, Referent and Form
PRELIMINARY THEORY TO SEMANTICS
The Abstract Side of Language
Don’t think of a pink
elephant!
Referent: the actual thing
CONCEPT: the thought in our head
SYMBOL: the associated sounds in our head
[bərd]
[bərd]
Qu’est-ce que le langage? (Leclerc)
Referent, Concept and SYMBOL
[bərd]
Ferdinand de Saussure
Qu’est-ce que le langage? (Leclerc)
Referent, Concept and Symbol
 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 _______ .
Referent, Concept and Symbol
Concept
evokes
Symbol
Refers to
There is not a direct link
between the sound of the
word dog (Symbol) and
the object it refers to.
Referent
What is called the
signified is not actually
what we have been shown
but an abstract concept
formed in our mind.
Stands for
 no direct relationship
Ogden & Richards

ROMEO AND JULIETTE
(SHAKESPEARE)
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!
WHAT'S IN A NAME? THAT WHICH WE CALL A ROSE
BY 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
Review: The Abstract Side of Things
SYMBOL
CONCEPT
Sounds bərd]
-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
Concept
(mental representation of reality)
-Psychic
-Mental image of the referent
-Common to speakers of that
language (therefore conventional)
Ferdinand de Saussure
- Ex: covered in feathers, has a
beak, etc.
Concepts Across Languages
WIN (English) = GAGNER (French)
•Both are intransitive verb = Subject + verb
DEVANCER (French) = “to pass”, “to move ahead” or “to be ahead”
(English)
•In the French word, there is more emphasis on the fact of “being ahead”
than on the idea of passing.
BEAT (English) … not really a French equivalent (in Standard French)
•Transitive verb = Subject + verb + object
So what happens when I want to say that I beat someone in French?
•JE T’AI GAGNÉ (Litt. Translated: “I won you”)
• transitive verb
•JE T’AI BEATÉ (Acadian French)
• transitive verb
A FEW APPROACHES TO
MEANING
Connotation
2. Referents:
1.


3.
Denotation
Extension
Intention:

Semantic Analysis
4.
Syntax:
 Word
Combination
What is “word meaning”?
 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?
Approaches to Word Meaning
 Here are a few ways
3.
to look at meaning:
Connotation
2. Referents:
1.
Denotation
 Extension

4.
Intention:
 Semantic
Analysis
Syntax:

Word
Combination
1. Connotation
« Set of associations that a word’s
use can _______ »
Ex: winter
Let’s do some word mapping around the
word winter !
This is not enough to define the meaning …
2. Referents: Denotation
According to _______ _______ …
To equate meaning to a word or phrase with
actual entities to which it refers
An animal
that can bark
dog
Prime Minister
of Canada
Stephen
Harper
2. Referents: Denotation
To equate meaning to a word or
phrase with actual entities to which
it refers

But what about imaginary
things that have
no referents !!!
Referents: Denotation
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
3. Referents: Extension
A word’s
corresponds
to the __________ that it _______ in
the world (_______ )
Extension in Child Speech
 Overextension is when a child uses a word too
broadly. Like if they called
 ALL males 'daddy'
 All animals 'dog'
Extension in Child Speech
 Underextension is the opposite. For example, a
child may only call black labs 'dog' but no other dogs.
 Ex: Calling their rattle a rattle,
but calling other ones 'toys'.
Extension in Child Speech
 Underextension
 Ex: Calling soft ball “balls”, but not when they are
hard as in a pool ball.
Extension often in Adults
 Underextension :
 Ex: Calling oranges and apples fruit, but not
including tomatoes.
KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS !!!
 My cousin's daughter looked at my feet the other
day and saw the state of my torn shoes.
 She looked over to her mother and said: "Mommy,
look. She has broken feet!“

Classic example
of over-extension
of “feet” :)
Overextension
Referents: Denotation
vs.Extension
A word’s
corresponds to the set of
entities that it picks out
in the world (referents).
To equate meaning to a
word or phrase with
actual entities to which
it refers
4. Intention: Semantic Analysis
ALSO CALLED:
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS
OR
SEMANTIC DECOMPOSITION
4. Intention
A word’s
corresponds
to its ____________ or the _______
that is _______ .
* The distinction stipulates the
relation between referents and
meanings
Contemporary
Linguistics
Analysis: p. 196
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature Analysis )
 Semantic properties: The _________
of meaning of a word.
 Distinctive
feature Analysis: to illustrate
semantic properties linguist’s use a notational
system for expressing the ______ or _______
of semantic properties by “+” and “-”.
 Example
of Distinctive feature
Analysis analysis:
“baby” is [+ young], [+ human]
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature Analysis )
SOW
Definition:
 a fully grown female pig

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
Semantic Analysis:
 [+ animal], [+ pig], [- male]
[+ adult]
or [+ female]
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature Analysis )
[PIG]
(species)
[ADULT]
[MALE]
[FEMALE]
PIG
HOG
SOW
PIGLET
+
+
+/+/-
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+/+/-
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature 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
[+ ______]
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
[+ _______]
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature Analysis )
3. (a) table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship
(b) milk, alcohol, rice, soup, mud
 The (a) words are
[+ _______]
 The (b) words are []
4. (a) pine, elm, sycamore
(b) dandelion, aster, daisy
The (a) and (b) words are [+
 The (a) words are [+
]
 The (b) words are
[+
]

]
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature Analysis )
CAR
Definition:
 A vehicle moving on wheels

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
Semantic Analysis:
 [+ vehicle], [+ motorized], [+ 4 wheels] …
How would we know that it is not a truck?
Intention: Semantic Analysis
(or Distinctive feature 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/
Semantic Analysis:
 [+
], [+
], [-
]…
5. Syntax
Subcategorization of Verbs
2 COMPLEMENTS:
Fax
Radio
Wire
Phone
Emphasis on:
- ____________
NO COMPLEMENT:
Murmur
Mumble
Mutter
Shriek
Emphasis on:
- ____________
 So there’s a link between _______ and _______ !!!
The Word’s Context / Word Combinations
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORD COMBINATION:
An example:
What is wrong with this sentence:
 The colorless green ideas sleep
furiously.
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*)
A FEW 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.
Meaning of Words
Through Time
THE MEANING OF WORDS CAN EVOLVE INTO
MORE POLYSEMANTIC MEANINGS
Neologism (or Coinage)
Neologism (or
 Using derivation:


Coffeefy
…
Coinage)
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
o
« Cool » used to mean « not warm/cold ». Then the meaning changed.
Now, « cool », is not really that « cool » anymore !
Evolution of Meaning = Polysemy
BARRÉ (Acadian French):
- Blocked door (with actual bar)
- Blocked door (locked)
- Blocked river
- Blocked road
This is how you get _______ 
Evolution of Meaning 
Lexicology
MEANING AND DICTIONARIES
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 analogy).
 From
Dictionary.com
something concrete to something concrete.
Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998
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.
war, combat, slaughter, or violence.
4. The Bible.
3.

What meanings are drawn out of a certain metaphor?



Analogy – from concrete to concrete:
Figurative – from concrete to abstract:
Metonymy: pen and sword
Dictionary.com
Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998