Dr. Jessie Grace U Rubrico PBET 1101 TESL Program

Faculty of Education University of Malay

Semantics: Meaning of Language

SEMANTICS

lexical semantics – word meaning and relationships words – containers of meaning

phrasal/sentential semantics-

meaning of syntactic units larger than words

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

Conceptual and Associative

conceptual : denotation equate meaning of word to the

thing/entity it refers (referent)

associative : connotation set of associations a word’s use can

evoke

Lexical relations

synonymy- antonymy

homophony

polysemy

metonymy

me t apho r collocation

conceal - hide reply –answer No absolute synonyms Answer the phone. Reply to the phone.

Synonymy

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

antonymy

gradable antonyms

set of words in a continuum-

> tiny-small-medium-large-huge

negative does not imply opposite

> my car is not old ≠ my car is new

non-gradable: complementary pairs

> single – married; true – false

negation of one implies the other

reversives

enter- exit lengthen – shorten

pack – unpack come–go

antonymy

Hyponomy – inclusion

COLOR

BLUE GREEN YELLOW PURPLE

SUPERORDINATE/HYPERNYM

HYPONYMS

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

animals

bird dog human

hawk sparrow fowl

quail turkey chicken

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

homophony

homophones > different form, same pronunciation bear – bare meat- meet to-too-two right – write

homonyms/homographs one form, different meanings light not heavy illumination bank financial institution small cliff at the river edge pen writing instrument cage race contest ethnic group

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

polysemy

one form, multiple related meaning head – part of the body; top man in a company foot – of a person, of a bed, of a mountain date – point in time

arranged meeting/social meeting a person one goes out with

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

metonymy

whole-part relation car/wheels; house/roof

container – content relation bottle/wine; can/juice

representative – symbol relation -the Palace announced -answering the door

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

metaphor

understanding the concept in terms of another extension beyond the primary sense eye of the needle; see the point buying time; budget time; spend time borrowed time peak of health fell into depression

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

collocation

hammer – nail needle –thread butter – bread salt –pepper

Semantic Features

a. The table listens to the radio. b. The hamburger eats the boy. c. The horse reads the newspaper. Syntax: well-formed Semantics - odd

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

Semantic features : ±

table horse boy man girl woman

animate

- +

+ + + +

human

female

adult

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles

roles of NPs in a sentence

a. The boy kicked the ball

doer V entity affected by the action 1 2

Agent theme/patient

thematic roles: Agent, Patient

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

b. The boy hurt himself Agent theme c. Johnny cut the rope Agent theme/patient 1 2 with a knife. instrument 3

Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles

d. The boy feels sad

experiencer : one who sees, knows or

4 enjoys something

e. Mary saw a fly on the wall

experiencer theme location

5

location - the place of action

Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles

f. Mary borrowed a book from George Agent theme source 6

- starting point of movement

g. She returned the book to George. goal

7

- end point of movement

Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles

Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

References

O'Grady, William D., Archibald, John, [eds.] (2009). Contemporary Linguistic Analysis: An Introduction, 6th edition. Ontario: Pearson Education Canada.

Yule G. 2006. The study of language.

Cambridge: CUP.