Chapter 9: Semantics

Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences.

1.Meaning

Referential meaning refers to the basic, literal meaning of a word (e.g., "needle" means a "thin, sharp, steel instrument").

Associative or emotive meaning includes the feelings or associations people might attach to a word (e.g., some might associate "needle" with "pain" or "illness"). These personal associations are not part of the referential meaning.

2.Semantic Features

the smallest unit of meanings in a word
We can use this idea to describe part of the meaning of words as having either plus (+) or minus (-) that particular feature.

Words as Containers of Meaning

A common idea is that words carry basic components of meaning, but this can be limiting. For some words (e.g., "advice," "threat," "warning"), it's hard to define meaning with simple components.

3.Semantic Roles

Instead of seeing words as containers of meaning, we can look at their roles in a sentence.

Agent and Theme

Agent: The one doing the action.
Ex:"The dog" in "The dog chased the cat."
Theme: The one affected by the action.
Ex: "The mouse" in "The cat chased the mouse."

Instrument and Experiencer

Instrument: The thing used to perform the action.
Ex: "A pen" in "She wrote the letter with a pen." ("a pen" is the instrument used to write the letter.)

Experiencer: The one feeling or perceiving something.
Ex: "John heard the music." ("John" is the experiencer because he is perceiving the music.)

Location, Source and Goal

Location: Where something is or happens.
Ex: "They met in the park."
Source: Where something comes from.
Ex: "The letter was sent from Paris."
Goal: Where something is going.
Ex: "She sent the package to London."

4.Lexical Relations

Synonymy

Two or more words with very closely related meanings are called synonyms.
While they often can be used interchangeably, they may differ slightly in context, formality, or regional usage.

Ex:

big/large
buy/purchase
freedom/liberty

Antonymy

Two forms with opposite meanings are called antonyms. (E.g: tall/short, fat/thin, true/false, etc)

They are divided into 3 main types:

Gradable Antonyms: word with opposite meaninga along a scale, can be used in the comparative or superlative. (e.g: big/ smal -> bigger/smaller, tall/short -> taller/shorter, etc)
Non-gradable Antonyms (or complementary pairs): words which are direct opposites (e.g: male/female, alive/dead, etc)
Reversives: antonyms in whcih the meaning of one is the reverse action of the other (e.g: lock/unlock, enter/exit, etc)

Hyponymy

The lexical relation in which the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of another
Ex: dog, cat, tiger are hyponyms of "animal"

car, motorbike are hyponyms of "vehicle"

shirt, pants are hyponyms of "clothing"

Prototypes

The most characteristics instance of a category

Ex: apple is the prototype of fruit

chair is the prototype of furniture

Homophones and homonyms

Homophones are words that have the same sound but different spellings and meanings.

Ex: sea / see, meet / meat, bare / bear, whole / hole, etc

Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings.

Ex: close (to shut) / close (near)

bank (financial institution) / bank (the side of a river)

Polysemy

a word having two or more related meaning
In contrast to homonyms, which have unrelated meanings, polysemous words share a common origin or idea.

Ex: light: Something that makes things visible/not heavy

match: a stick for making fire/a game or contest

Word Play: : Lexical relations like polysemy and homonymy are often used for humor in language.

Metonymy

a word used in place of another with which is closely connected in everyday experience.

Ex: bottle/ cup, the President/the White House, king/crown, etc

5.Collocation

a relationship between words that frequently occur together

Ex: salt and pepper

6.Study Questions

1 What semantic feature must a noun have in order to be used in this sentence? The ___________ were discussing what to do.

-> The noun must have animate

2 Using semantic features, how would you explain the oddness of these sentences?

(a) The television drank my water.

(b) His dog writes poetry.

-> The television is an inanimate object and lacks the ability to perform actions

His dos are capable of many actions and can be trained, they do not have the cognitive ability to understand or create poetry

3 What phrase is used more often instead of “thematic roles” and what other term is used instead of “theme” in the semantic analysis of noun phrases?

->"Thematic roles" are often referred to as "roles" or "participant roles." Instead of “theme,” the term "patient" or "theme" is commonly used.

4 What kind of opposites can be identified via the “negative test”?

->Non-gradable antonyms

5 How is the term “prototype” used in semantics?

-> In semantics, "prototype" refers to the most characteristic or typical example of a category

6 Identify the roles of the seven noun phrases in this sentence:

With her new golf club, Anne Marshall whacked the ball from the woods to the grassy area near the hole and she suddenly felt invincible.

-> her new golf club: instrument

Anne Marshall: agent

the ball: theme

from the woods: source

the grassy area: goal

near the hole: location

she: argent

7 Which of the following words are co-hyponyms?

ant, cabbage, insect, plant, turnip, vegetable

-> Co-hyponyms: ant and insect (both are types of insects).

Cabbage and turnip are both types of vegetable, making them co-hyponyms under the superordinate term vegetable.

Plant can also be a superordinate for both vegetable and insect.

8 What is the basic lexical relation between each pair of words listed here?

(a) assemble/disassemble (d) dog/schnauzer (g) move/run

(b) damp/moist (e) furniture/table (h) peace/piece

-> a) Antonyms

b) Synonyms

c)Gradable antonyms

d) Hyponymy

e) Hyponymy

f) Non-gradable antonyms

g) Hyponymy

h) Homonyms

i) Homonyms

9 Which of the following opposites are gradable, non-gradable, or reversive?

(a) absent/present (c) fail/pass (e) fill it/empty it

(b) appear/disappear (d) fair/unfair (f) high/low

-> a) Non-gradable antonyms

b) Reversive antonyms

c) Non-gradable antonyms

d) Non-gradable antonyms

e) Reversive antonyms

f) Gradable antonyms

g) Gradable antonyms

10 Are the underlined words in these sentences best described as examples of polysemy or metonymy?

(a) The pen is mightier than the sword.

->Metonymy

(b) I had to park on the shoulder of the road.

->Metonymy

->Polysemy

(d) The bookstore has some new titles in linguistics.

->Polysemy

(e) Computer chips created an important new technology

->Metonymy

(f) I’m going to sue your ass!

->Metonymy

(g) I think that kind of music was called new wave.

->Polysemy

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