Semantics

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Lecture 14

• Semantics

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Semantics

• The study of the meaning of words, phrases and
  sentences.
• In semantic analysis, there is always an attempt
  to focus on what the words conventionally mean.
• This technical approach emphasizes the objective
  and the general ( conceptual meaning).
• It avoids the subjective and the local (
  associative meaning).

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Conceptual versus associative meaning

• Conceptual meaning covers those basic, essential
  components of meaning which are conveyed by the
  literal use of a word.
• Associative meaning the stylistic meaning of
  words.
• Needle conceptual meaning thin, sharp, steel
  instrument.
• One of the associative meanings of Needle may be
  painful.

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Semantic features

• Semantic properties The components of meaning of
  a word.
• Semantic feature A way of analyzing meaning by
  demonstrating the presence or absence of semantic
  properties using pluses and minuses.
• Example of componential analysis
• baby is young, human, abstract.

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Identify the features (1)

• 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

human
female
male

• 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

male
human
animal
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Identify the features (2)

• 3. (a) table, stone, pencil, cup, house, ship
• (b) milk, alcohol, rice, soup, mud
• The (a) words are
• The (b) words are

count
- count

• 4. (a) pine, elm, sycamore
• (b) dandelion, aster, daisy
• The (a) and (b) words are
• The (a) words are
• The (b) words are

plant
tree
flower
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Lexical Relations

• Synonymy words that have the same meanings, e.g.
  start begin.
• Antonymy words that are opposites in meanings,
  e.g. hot cold.
• Hyponymy Words whose meanings are specific
  instances of a more general word, e.g. rose and
  daffodil are hyponyms of the word flower.
• Prototypes help explain the meaning of words not
  in the terms of component features but in the
  terms of resemblance to the clearest exemplar.

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Semantic Relations among Words

• Homonymy A word which has two or more entirely
  distinct meanings, e.g. club a social
  organization a blunt weapon.
• Homophony Different words pronounced the same
  but spelled differently, e.g. two and too.
• Polysemy A word which has two or more related
  meanings, e.g. bright shining intelligent

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Identifying homophones

• 1. ste? ?

1. Stair, stare
2. weist ?
2. waste, waist
3. sili? ?
3. sealing, ceiling
4. kju ?
4. cue, queue
5. sent ?
5. sent, cent, scent
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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. Its very itchy
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More semantic relations among words

• Metonymy A word substituted for another word
  with which it is closely associated, e.g. diamond
  for a baseball field.
• Collocations words frequently occurring together
• Such as salt and pepper, husband and wife, and
  knife and fork.