武汉理工大学：《英语言学》课程教学资源（PPT课件讲稿，英文版）Linguistic Meaning

Semantics The systematic study of linguistic meaning

Semantics The systematic study of linguistic meaning

Linguistic Meaning The meaning of linguistic items (linguistic item anything, from a word to a grammatical morpheme or a combination of words) Different from personal/social/ cultural meanIngs

Linguistic Meaning • The meaning of linguistic items. • (linguistic item = anything, from a word, to a grammatical morpheme or a combination of words). • Different from personal/social/ cultural meanings

Different meanings of meaning What is the meaning of the word book? ° A specific book? The class of all books? The idea of bookness'(i.e the idea of what makes a book a book)

Different meanings of meaning • What is the meaning of the word book? • A specific book? • The class of all books? • The idea of ‘bookness’(i.e. the idea of what makes a book a book)

Semantic triangle idea/concept sign(phonemes/graphemes) real world Concept: mental class of things/humans/ events/ properties, etc that share certain features in meaning (i.e. which are sufficiently similar to each other) In other words, a concept is what allows us to recognize something as a book, as green, as walking, etc

Semantic triangle idea/concept sign (phonemes/graphemes) real world • Concept: mental class of things/humans/events/ properties, etc. that share certain features in meaning (i.e. which are sufficiently similar to each other). • In other words, a concept is what allows us to recognize something as a book, as green, as walking, etc

Speaker meaning ■ He is really stupid! What do you mean by stupid? u Not the idea of stupidity but what is the intention of using this word at all Meaning as relation between sign and intention of speaker speaker meanIng. Speaker meaning is less an object for semantics but rather for pragmatics/discourse analysis

Speaker meaning ◼ He is really stupid! ◼ What do you mean by stupid? ◼ Not the idea of stupidity but what is the intention of using this word at all. ◼ Meaning as relation between sign and intention of speaker: speaker meaning. ◼ Speaker meaning is less an object for semantics but rather for pragmatics/discourse analysis

Reference Can you give me this book over there! u Meaning as relation between sign and specific thing/ person/event/property in the " real word" is reference u It only becomes relevant in discourse/texts, i.e. when linguistic item actually used

Reference ◼ Can you give me this book over there! ◼ Meaning as relation between sign and specific thing/ person/event/property in the “real word” is reference. ◼ It only becomes relevant in discourse/texts, i.e. when linguistic item actually used

Sense u Meaning as relation between the sign and the concept/idea sense

Sense ◼ Meaning as relation between the sign and the concept/idea: sense

Connotations slut Meaning as associations evoked by ● prostitute concept connotations brat affective connotations child intertextual connotations ethanol alcohol obtain get scopophilic Peeping Tom

Connotations • slut • prostitute • brat • child • ethanol • alcohol • obtain • get • scopophilic • Peeping Tom • Meaning as associations evoked by concept = connotations • affective connotations • intertextual connotations

How do we know whether it is just a connotation? He is not skinny but slim If you can say this then the two terms differ in sense. ?You cannot get it there but you can obtain it. PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT LYRICS ?It is a prick and not a penis

How do we know whether it is just a connotation? • He is not skinny but slim. • If you can say this then the two terms differ in sense. • ?You cannot get it there but you can obtain it. • PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT LYRICS • ?It is a prick and not a penis

Lexical semantics Mental lexicon: list of all the words that we know in our heads stored there together with information about the grammatical and phonological properties of the words together with information about their meanings Lexical semantics studies the organization of the mental lexicon, this is, how lexemes are ordered there. Lexical semantics thus particularly looks at the meaning relationships that lexemes have with each other in the lexicon Assumption: meanings of a word can be described by the company it keeps

Lexical semantics • Mental lexicon: list of all the words that we know in our heads, stored there together with information about the grammatical and phonological properties of the words together with information about their meanings. • Lexical semantics studies the organization of the mental lexicon, this is, how lexemes are ordered there. Lexical semantics thus particularly looks at the meaning relationships that lexemes have with each other in the lexicon. • Assumption: meanings of a word can be described by the company it keeps