Semantics Report

8/4/2019 Semantics Report

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Concept


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It is a study of linguistic meanings ofmorphemes, words, phrases, andsentences and largest units of discourseor texts.

It focuses on the relationship betweensignifiers ( words, phrases, signs andsymbol) and what they stand for(denotata).


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Subfields ofSemantics

a. Lexical semantics- it isconcerned with the meanings ofthe words.

b.Phrasal/ sententialsemantics- it is concernedwith the meanings ofsyntactic units larger than the

word.


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Humpty Dumpty: Theres a glory for you!

Alice: I dont know what you mean by gloryHD: (smiling contemptuously) Of course youdont- till I tell you. I mean theres a niceknock- down argument for you!A: But glory doesnt mean a nice knock-down argument.HD: When I used a word it means just what I

choose it to mean- neither more nor less.A: The question is whether you can makewords mean so many different things.


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Learning a language includes learning the agreed-upon meanings of certain strings of sounds andlearning how to combine these meaningful unitsinto larger units that also convey meaning.

You are a walking dictionary. You know themeanings of thousands of words.

Lexicon is our mental storehouse of informationabout words and morphemes


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Semantic properties.-These are pieces of information on which speakers of thelanguage agree. The semantic property may be part of the

meaning of many words.

Example: tigress hen aunt maidendoe mare debutante widow

ewe vixen girl woman

What is the semantic property that helps to define these words?

Answer: FEMALE

What about the 1st two columns?

Answer: Animals

The last two columns?

Answer: Human


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Semantic class

Words that share a semanticproperty are said to be in a semanticclass, for example, the semantic classof female words.

-nymsWords are related to one

another in a variety of ways.These relationships have wordsto describe them that often end

in the bound morpheme nym.


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In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group ofwords that share the same spelling andthe same pronunciation buthave different meanings.E.g. left (opposite of right) and left (past tense of leave)

Several similar linguistic concepts are related to homonymy. Theseinclude:

Homographs (literally "same writing") are usually defined as wordsthat share the same spelling, regardless of how they arepronounced.e.g. bark (the sound of a dog) and bark (the skin of a tree)

Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined aswords that share the same pronunciation, regardless of howthey are spelled.e.g. their theyre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguisticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homographhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homographhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics


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Heteronyms (literally "different name") are the subset ofhomographs (words that share the same spelling) that have differentpronunciations (and meanings).e.g. desert (to abandon) and desert (arid region)

Polysemes are words with the same spelling and distinct but relatedmeanings. The distinction between polysemy and homonymy isoften subtle and subjective, and not all sources considerpolysemous words to be homonyms. Words such as mouth, meaningeither the orifice on one's face, or the opening of a cave or river, are

polysemous and may or may not be considered homonyms.

Capitonyms are words that share the same spelling but have differentmeanings when capitalized (and may or may not have differentpronunciations).e.g. polish (to make shiny) and Polish (from Poland)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronym_(linguistics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitonymhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitonymhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronym_(linguistics)


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Synonyms are different words with almostidentical or similar meanings. Words that aresynonyms are said to be synonymous, and thestate of being a synonym is called synonymy.The words carand automobileare synonyms.Similarly, if we talk about a long timeoran extended time, longand extendedbecomesynonyms.


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The term antonym (and the related antonymy)has also been commonly used as a term that issynonymous with opposite.

Example: long- short

I am aman!

I am awoman!


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A hyponym is a word or phrase whose semantic field isincluded within that of another word, its hypernym.Hypernymy is the semantic relation in which one word isthe hypernym of another.

example: ,vermilion, carmine, and crimsonare allhyponyms ofred(their hypernym).

profession
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_fieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semanticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semanticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_fieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word


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Metonymy is a figure of speech usedin rhetoric in which a thing or concept isnot called by its own name, but by thename of something intimately associatedwith that thing or concept. For instance,"Westminster" is used as a metonym (aninstance of metonymy) for the Parliament

of the United Kingdom, because it islocated there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speechhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminsterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminsterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech


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T h a n kY o u!

Semantics Report

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