Words, Meaning and Vocabulary
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Homework from last week Last week I asked you to send me examples of long and complex sentences. Please send me some! IA901 2012 Session Eight Semantics From Ferdinand de Saussure’s Course in General Linguistics tree word / referent oink! oink! word / referent Essex University word / referent ???? word / referent hope word / referent tree word / referent tree word / denotata Sense relations “Sense is an internal meaning relation. Sense relations hold between words within the vocabulary.” (Jackson and Zé Amvela, 2000 : 106) HOMOPHONY Did you match any of these words and expressions? HOMONYMY What is the relationship between these sets of POLYSEMY pairs? flour and flower, meat and meet South Bank and Lloyds Bank Mickey Mouse, wireless mouse, head in headache and head in headteacher HOMOPHONY flour and flower, meat and meet HOMONYMY South Bank and Lloyds Bank POLYSEMY Mickey Mouse, wireless mouse, head in headache and head in headteacher HYPONYMY Did you match any flower and rose of these words and tree and oak expressions? building and house What is the relationship between these sets MERONYMY of pairs? house and dining room hand and knuckle day and afternoon plant and shoot HYPONYMY flower and rose tree and oak building and house MERONYMY house and dining room hand and knuckle day and afternoon plant and shoot METAPHOR Life is a… METAPHOR Life is a… Hope is a… METAPHOR Life is a… Hope is a… Opportunity is a… METAPHOR Life is a… Hope is a… Opportunity is a… Time is… METAPHOR Life is a… Hope is a… Opportunity is a… Time is… Love is a… METAPHOR and When do babies start crawling? METONYMY The traffic crawled to a halt. The morning crawled past. The UK Government and Downing Street The US President and The White House Word Association What’s the first thing that comes into your head when you see / hear the word… father baby puppy cake tree Synonyms You will see a number of word clouds. In each cloud, match words with their synonyms, and try to find a connection between all the words in the cloud. What is the theme that unites these example synonyms? Synonym 1 Connotation Synonym 2 ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign + Synonym 1 Connotation Synonym 2 ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign + Synonym 1 Connotation ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust privilege of power + Synonym 2 equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign Synonym 1 Connotation ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust privilege of power strikingly + Synonym 2 equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign Synonym 1 Connotation ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust privilege of power strikingly with effort + Synonym 2 equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign Synonym 1 Connotation ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust privilege of power strikingly with effort with distain + Synonym 2 equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign Synonym 1 Connotation ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust privilege of power strikingly with effort with distain with pleasure + Synonym 2 equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign Synonym 1 Connotation ambiguous famous hate misuse new obtain proud recollection simulate deliberate disreputably with disgust privilege of power strikingly with effort with distain with pleasure with craftiness + Synonym 2 equivocal notorious loathe abuse = novel procure haughty reminiscence feign Antonyms What’s the opposite of…? What do the words in each box have in common? To recap… SYNONYMY (LOOSE) find and discover pavement and sidewalk famous and notorious new and novel western and occidental (STRICT) heaven and sky, ghost and spirit GRADABLE ANTONYMS happy and unhappy, logical and illogical long and short, young and old, beautiful and ugly COMPLEMENTARY ANTONYMS alive and dead, asleep and awake CONVERSES above and below, husband and wife Sense What is a fish? What components define a fish? COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS Item / Components Human Mature Male man + + + woman + + - boy + - + girl + - - What’s the difference between a knife, fork, spoon, and chopsticks? COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS Item / cutlery component knife + can be used to eat soup - has a handle comes as a pair cuts safe for children + - + - has prongs (tines) - fork + - + - - - + spoon + + + - - + - chopsticks + - - + - - - What’s the difference between…. cook, boil, bake, fry, braise, stew, grill, and poach? Item / pan components dish covered uses liquid uses water uses oil inside the oven on a hob heat can be applied done to from eggs above cook +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- +/- boil + - - + + - - + - + bake - + - - - - + - - - fry + - - + - + - + - + braise - - + + - + -/+ -/+ - - stew + + + + - - -/+ -/+ - - grill +/- +/- - - - - -/+ - + - poach + - - + + - - + - + Definitions and difficulties COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS Item / cutlery component knife + can be used to eat soup - has a handle comes as a pair cuts safe for children has prongs + - + - - fork + - + - - - + spoon + + + - - + - chopsticks + - - + - - - A ______ is a piece of cutlery which has a handle and is used for cutting food. It neither has prongs nor comes in pairs. It cannot be used to eat soup and it is not safe for children to use. But…is this a spoon? …is this a cat? PROTOTYPES Imagine a bird… Does it look like this? PROTOTYPES PROTOTYPES Beg, entreat, beseech, implore, supplicate and importune all signify the making of an appeal which is likely to be refused or begs demurred at. A person ________for what he/she cannot claim as beg suggests earnestness, insistence, and sometimes a right; ________ entreat self-abasement. By ________ing someone, one hopes to persuade Beseech and him / her by earnest pleading and reasoning. ________ implore convey eager anxiety which seeks to inspire sympathy or ________ Implore beseech with a suggestion pity. ________may be stronger than ________, entreat a of tearfulness or evident anguish. Supplicate ________ adds to ________ Importunedenotes persistence with humble, prayerful attitude…________ one’s requests to the point of annoyance or even harassment. (from the 1991 Longman Dictionary of the English Language) Can you identify the following four words from their definitions, taken from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Online? 1._____________: of a high standard or quality [≠ bad, poor] 2._____________: [uncountable] a feeling of unhappiness because something is not as good as you expected, or has not happened in the way you hoped 3._____________: when something _____________, there is an event, especially one that is not planned [= occur] 4._____________: to happen SEMANTIC PRIMITIVES from Jackson and Zé Amvela (2000 : 127) after Wierzbicka (1996) Semantic fields ???? Semantic sets and collocation Hoey (2005) Train as a… Hoey (2005) train trains trained training as a teacher doctor nurse lawyer painter dancer barrister chef Braille shorthand typist Hoey (2005) train trains trained training as a teacher doctor nurse lawyer painter dancer barrister chef Braille shorthand typist SKILLED ROLE OR OCCUPATION Semantic Set Verbs following the pattern VERB + (from Francis et for + NP al, 1996) endure, keep, live, last extend, stretch wait plan, arrange, provide prepare, study, train pay, answer, apologise report, sign on, show up, enrol hunt, look, shop, listen beg, send, shout, call act, fight, play, speak substitute, stand in pray, speak up, vote feel, grieve Purpose of + for NOUN (Willis) Semantic Set Verbs following the pattern VERB + (from Francis et for + NP al, 1996) Purpose of + for NOUN (Willis) LAST endure, keep, live, last TIME LAST extend, stretch DISTANCE WAIT wait REASON WHY PLAN plan, arrange, provide REASON WHY PREPARE prepare, study, train REASON WHY COMPENSATE pay, answer, apologise REASON WHY VOLUNTEER report, sign on, show up, enrol REASON WHY SEARCH hunt, look, shop, listen ASK / LOOK FOR ASK beg, send, shout, call ASK / LOOK FOR WORK act, fight, play, speak WHO WANTS OR NEEDS DEPUTISE substitute, stand in WHO WANTS OR NEEDS ARGUE pray, speak up, vote WHO WANTS OR NEEDS CARE feel, grieve WHO WANTS OR NEEDS Back to the sentence… Hoey (2005) takes the opening sentence from a Bill Bryson travel book: In winter Hammerfest is a thirty-hour ride by bus from Oslo, though why anyone would want to go there in winter is a question worth considering. and compares it to: Through winter, rides between Oslo and Hammerfest use thirty hours up in a bus, though why travellers would select to ride there then might be pondered. The explanation is provided by attention to COLLOCATION and COLLIGATION. For example, Hoey’s corpus tells him that: •59% of uses of IN WINTER relate to a clause whose verb is PRESENT SIMPLE •54% of uses of IN THE WINTER relate to a clause whose verb is PAST SIMPLE •IN WINTER is more likely to occur with “relational process verbs” than “material process verbs” What do you already know about the University of Essex? Make notes on your answers to the following questions: Where is Essex university? How many campuses are there? How old is it? How many students are there? (who are they?) Is the university famous for anything? Is it a good university? Do you know any interesting 'facts' about the university? GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a more generous student maintenance grant of up to £3,250, which is nonrepayable. References and further reading Ballard, K. 2007 The Frameworks of English, 2nd Edition, Palgrave MacMillan Cobb, T. 2004 The Compleat Lexical Tutor. Available online at http://teslej.org/ej31/m2.html [Accessed 27 November 2011] Culpeper, J. et al (eds) 2009 English Language: Description, Variation and Context. Palgrave Macmillan Francis, S., Hunston, S. and Manning, E. 1996 Grammar Patterns 1: Verbs. Harper Collins Hoey, M. 2005 Lexical Priming, Routledge Jackson, H. and Ze Amvela, E. 2000 Words, Meaning and Vocabulary : An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology, Continuum Leech, G. 1974 Semantics, Penguin Schmitt, N. 2000 Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press Wierzbicka, A. 1996 Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford University Press Willis, D. 2003 Rules, Patterns and Words, Cambridge University Press Yule, G. 1985 The Study of Language, Cambridge University Press Don’t forget… …to send me some examples of long and complex sentences.
