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 This?
 Cold
 Behind
 Old
 Accent
 Fine
 Nobody
 Cool
 This
 Fly
 Getting in
touch
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
2.
3.
4.
5.
COHYPONYM
SYNONYM AND PARASYNONYMS
ANTONYMS
POLYSEMY
HOMONYM
1.
2.
3.
Homonyms
Homophone
Homographs
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)
 Synonymy: words that have the ____
meanings, e.g. start & begin.
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/
Notice the Words with Many Meanings
An Accomplished Woman
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/
3. Antonyms
a. GRADABLE VS UNGRADABLE
b. RELAQTIONAL:
•
•
Converse
Reversives
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.


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.
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 _______________
_____________.
Mind Mapping
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
Antonyms (review)
 Gradable vs Ungradable? (too, more, less, etc.)
 Relational: Conversive? (different points of view)
 Relational: Reversives? (one can reverse the other)
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://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polysemy?show=0&t=1290530170
5. Homonymy
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 ____ 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
Polysemy & Homonymy ?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accent
Homonyms, Homophony & Homography
 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.
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
2.Wind
3.Live
4.Tear
5.Invalid
6.Bow
7.Dove
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
Homonymy or Polysemy ?
PASS ?
A Few Other Relations
PARTS OF A WHOLE
 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.


Ex: "ear" means "attention” (lending an ear) 
Ex: Washington for the United States government or
of the sword for military power.
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
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 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 ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical ambiguity?
 Syntactic ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?
 Class ambiguity?
 Script ambiguity?
What
Ambiguity?
 Lexical (or polysemantic) ambiguity?
 Syntactic (structural) ambiguity?
 Class 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
Referent, Concept and Symbol
[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 _________ .



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
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
 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 Psychic 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 »
(Eng)
« GAGNER »
(Fr)
« DEVANCER »
(fr)
(to be ahead)
BEAT /
« BEATER »
(Acadian
French)
Meaning
SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Connotation
Denotation
Extension and intention
Componential Analysis
Subcategorization of verbs
Actantial Approach
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 to look at meaning:
Connotation
2. Denotation
3. Extension and intention
4. Componential Analysis
5. Subcategorization of verbs
6. Actantial Approach
1.
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 …
2. Denotation
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 !!!
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. Extension versus intention
A word’s
corresponds to the ______
___ _________ that it _________ in the world
(_________ )
A word’s
corresponds to its _________
_________ or the _________ that _________ .
* The distinction stipulates the relation
between referents and meanings
4. Componential Analysis
ALSO CALLED:
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS
OR
SEMANTIC DECOMPOSITION
Componential Analysis
Contemporary
Linguistics
Analysis: p. 196
 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].
Componential Analysis
1. (a) widow, mother, sister, aunt, maid
(b) widower, father, brother, uncle, valet
[ human]
 The (a) and (b) words are
 The (a) words are
[ female]
 The (b) words are
[ male]
2. (a) bachelor, paperboy, pope, chief
(b) bull, rooster, drake, ram
 The (a) and (b) words are
[ male]
 The (a) words are [ human]
 The (b) words are
[ animal]
Componential Analysis
3. (a) table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship
(b) milk, alcohol, rice, soup, mud
 The (a) words are [ count]
 The (b) words are [ count]
4. (a) pine, elm, sycamore
(b) dandelion, aster, daisy
The (a) and (b) words are [ plant]
 The (a) words are [ tree]
 The (b) words are
[ flower]

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/
Semantic Analysis:
Componential Analysis
CAR
Definition:
 A vehicle moving on wheels

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
Semantic Analysis:
How would we know that it is not a truck?
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/
Semantic Analysis:
 [+
], [+
], [-
]…
5. Subcategorization of Verbs
2 COMPLEMENTS:
Fax
Radio
Wire
Phone
NO COMPLEMENT:
Murmur
Mumble
Mutter
Shriek
Emphasis on:
- _________
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*)
6. Actantial Approach
 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 _________ !
Jacqueline Picoche
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.
SIX APPROACHES TO MEANING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
.
Connotation
Denotation
Extension and intention
Componential Analysis
Subcategorization of verbs
Actantial Approach
Meaning of Words
Through Time
Neologism (or Coinage)
Neologism (or
 Using derivation:
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 _________ ).

From something concrete to something concrete.
Dictionary.com
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?



_________– from concrete to concrete:
_________– from concrete to abstract:
_________ : pen and sword
Dictionary.com
Choi-Jonin & Delhay, 1998