LINGUISTICS: SEMANTICS & SYNTAX
3RD YEAR – 2ND SEMESTER
SENSE RELATIONS
Dr. Batoul Diab
30.4.2011
SENSE RELATIONS:
_ Primary focus is how to relate words to each other
within the framework of their language – on their
‘sense’, rather than their reference to the external
world.
_ Who is:
_ Biological brother of female parent
_ Biological sister of female parent
_ Female parent
_ Male parent
_ Biological brother of male parent
_ Biological sister of male parent
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS TO MEANING
_ breaks down word meanings into more basic units. Words of
similar
meanings are directly related through their semantic descriptions
having one or more features in common.
_ It provides us “with a systematic and economical means of
presenting
the sense-relations that hold among lexemes in particular
languages
and, on the assumption that the components are universal, across
languages” (Lyons, 1981: 82 – p. 75)
_ Define the following words according to their propositions:
man, woman,
boy and girl in both Arabic and English.
_ Man: +human, +male, +adult , (+/- authority?)
_ Woman: + human, +female, +adult (+married?)
_ Boy: + human, +male, - adult
_ Girl: +human, +female, -adult (+/- adult , +single)
_ One drawback of this approach is that it doesn’t take into
consideration
grammar.
_ Another drawback is a lot of features have to be presented
which forces
us to think in terms of long lists of features for the words instead
of a
simple one.
HYPONYMY:
_ Hyponyms are words included in other words.
_ Hyponyms = subordinate, inclusive words are
superordinate.
_ E.g.
_ Rose, flower, tulip… what is/are included in
what?
_ Entailment is part of hyponymy… tulip entails
Flower
STUDY THE FIGURE
Living
Vegitable
animal
Bird fish insect
Human
animal
animal
INCOMPATIBILITY
_ This is a dirty, round, green football.
_ This is a red green t-shirt.
_ Are these two sentences acceptable in English?
Why?
_ Red and green are incompatible within colour.
_ Green is not incompatible with dirty and round.
SYNONYMY:
_ Sameness of meaning
_ It is rare that we find two words with the exact same meaning.
_ True/total synonyms: mutually interchangeable in all contexts
.
_ True synonyms have two conditions:
_Interchangeability in all contexts
_Identical in both cognitive and emotive
There are five ways _ synonyms can differ:
_ Belonging to different dialects (fall-autumn, flat, apartment,
etc)
_ Stylistics: gentleman/man/chap
_ Emotional: thin/slim/skinny
_ Collocation association: rancid bacon/butter addled
eggs/brains
_ Degree of synonymy:
_ Stylistic, regional, emotional and contextual variations are to
be
taken into consideration when using synonyms.
QUANTIFICATION OF SYNONYMS
_ Strict vs. loose interpretation:
_ Strict: identical in the meaning …..
_ Loose: similar in meaning (nice + good/exact, etc)
_ “It is almost a truism that total synonymy is an
extremely rare occurrence, a luxury that language
cannot afford” (Ullman)
COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE BY CHOOSING A
SYNONYM FOR THE WORD IN CAPITALS.
1. In the survey you must use a REPRESENTATIVE ( specimen
/
sample / model ) population.
2. I think men and women should get IDENTICAL ( matched /
equal /
level ) pay.
3. What sort of APPROACH ( line / system / path ) should we
take with
the boss?
4. Hundreds of people were CROWDED ( compressed / filled /
packed
) into the concert hall. My job is to CREATE ( propose / design
/
describe ) computer programs for businesses.
5. The area was HIT ( smashed / struck / knocked ) by an
earthquake
causing massive devastation.
6. I think his decisions are very FAIR ( true / precise / just ).
7. Are you sure you can DEAL WITH ( conduct / handle /
operate )
that much work?
8. I’m going to telephone the agents and REQUEST ( order /
book /
reserve ) a catalogue of their goods.
9. He had to show his passport at the FRONTIER ( line /
boundary /
border ).
COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE BY CHOOSING A
SYNONYM FOR THE WORD IN CAPITALS.
1. In the survey you must use a REPRESENTATIVE sample
population.
2. I think men and women should get IDENTICAL equal pay.
3. What sort of APPROACH line should we take with the boss?
4. Hundreds of people were CROWDED packed into the
concert hall.
5. My job is to CREATE design computer programs for
businesses.
6. The area was HIT struck by an earthquake causing
massive devastation.
7. I think his decisions are very FAIR just .
8. Are you sure you can DEAL WITH handle that much work?
9. I’m going to telephone the agents and REQUEST order a
catalogue of their goods.
10. He had to show his passport at the FRONTIER border
COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE BY CHOOSING A
SYNONYM FOR THE WORD IN CAPITALS.
_ Sales have been good so we are expecting the shares to
PRODUCE ( output
/ yield / afford ) a good return.
_ As it’s his first time you should MONITOR ( control / study /
check ) what
he’s doing.
_ I FEEL SAD ( miss / repent / regret ) not taking that job now!
_ My jeans are WEAKENING ( wearing / wasting / holing ) at
the knees — I
need some new ones.
_ It’s difficult when you feel you can’t AFFECT ( influence /
lead / control )
events.
_ She was shouting so she must have been very CROSS ( angry
/ displeased
/ irritated ).
_ She is an ACCURATE ( cautious / careful / correct ) worker
and pays
attention to detail.
_ They’ve decided to go on a 3-month LONG SEA JOURNEY (
voyage / travel /
passage ) from Australia to South America.
_ You must have a clear GOAL ( course / aim / design ) if you
want to achieve
something.
_ We have to PRESERVE ( provide / maintain / support )
standards in the
industry.
COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE BY CHOOSING A
SYNONYM FOR THE WORD IN CAPITALS.
_ Sales have been good so we are expecting the shares to
PRODUCE yield a good return.
_ As it’s his first time you should MONITOR check what he’s
doing.
_ I FEEL SAD regret not taking that job now!
_ My jeans are WEAKENING wearing at the knees — I need
some new
ones.
_ It’s difficult when you feel you can’t AFFECT influence
events.
She was shouting so she must have been very CROSS angry.
_ _ She is an ACCURATE careful worker and pays attention to
detail.
_ They’ve decided to go on a 3-month LONG SEA JOURNEY
voyage
from Australia to South America.
_ You must have a clear GOAL aim if you want to achieve
something.
_ We have to PRESERVE maintain standards in the industry.
SYNONYMY AS SYMMETRICAL HYPONYMY
_ symmetrical hyponymy: If X is a hyponym of Y and Y is
also a hyponym of X _X and Y are synonyms
_ E.g. she is wearing a red dress … she is wearing a
crimson dress…
_ Transitive hyponyms: if X is a hyponym of Y and Y is a
hyponym of Z _X is a hyponym of Z
_ E.g. cow is a hyponym of mammal and mammal is a
hyponym of animal _cow is a hyponym of animal.
_ Relfexive: when the relation of hyponymy holds between
nouns, it is possible to insert syntactically appropriate
expressions containing them in place of x and Y in the
following formula (X is a kind of Y) where X is a hyponym
of Y….
_ E.g. ‘a cow is a kind/type/sort of animal’ , ‘a tulip is a
kind/type/sort of flower’
ANTONYMY
_ Oppositeness of meaning.
_ There are no true antonyms.
_ There are several types of antonyms, the most
important of which are:
_ Gradable: big/small, good/bad which permit the
expression of degrees (very big, quite small)
_ Nongradable (complementary) single/married,
male/female,
_ Converse: two-way contrasts that are
interdependent: buy/sell, parent/child,
honest/dishonest (where one item presupposes
the other).
SEMANTIC STRUCTURE
_ Compare these two statements. Is there is any
difference?
_ All bachelors are unmarried.
_ All men are arrogant.
_ Synthetic statement: of a proposition whose
truth value is determined by observation or
facts.
_ Analytic statement: necessarily true
CONTEXT, CULTURE AND STYLE
_ Deictics: the phenomenon wherein understanding
the meaning of certain words and phrases in an
utterance requires contextual information.
_ Three main types:
_ Speaker able to identify participants in a discourse
(I/we vs. you)
_ Spatial relationship: Position of speaker (closeness) …
this/that, here/there, come/go
_ Social relations: politeness, authority, formality, etc.