An introduction to semantics

Academic Year: 2022/2023 Table of contents Preface……………………………………………………………………..….2 1. An overview of Semantics…………………………………………….3 1.1 Definition……………………………………………………….….3 1.2 Categories of Semantics…………………………………………..3 1.3 Traditional views on meaning…………………………………....4 1.4 Different units of analysis……………………………………...…5 2. Communication and Language…………………………………...….6 3. Compositionality Theory…………………………………………......6 3.1 Definition………………………………………………………..…6 3.2 Problems of Compositionality theory…………………………....7 4. Types of meaning………………………………………………….......8 5. Figures of Speech…………………………………………………...…9 6. Lexical relations………………………………………………………..11 1 Preface This booklet provides an introduction to the field of semantics and aims to give university students a brief summary of the main concepts and theories. Semantics is the study of meaning in language and encompasses a wide range of topics, from word meanings and sentence structures to the interpretation of texts and discourse. The purpose of this book is to help students understand the fundamental ideas of semantics and prepare them for exams and other assessments. The book is structured in a way that allows students to work through the material systematically. The booklet starts with an overview of semantics followed by an important theory in semantics compositionality theory , it covers also some related topics of namely the field including types of meaning, figures of speech and finally lexical relations. While this book is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to semantics, it is designed to give students a solid foundation in the subject and help them develop critical thinking skills. Whether you are new to the field or looking to refresh your knowledge, this book is a valuable resource for anyone studying semantics. However, it is primarily made for students of Ibn Zoh university ,AitMelloul , who could not attend to the sessions of the module, hoping this booklet would put them in the picture and making things clear for them. 2 1. An overview of Semantics 1.1 Definition The field of linguistics is concerned with the study of meaning in language. Linguistic semantics has been defined as the study of how languages organize and express meanings. The term semantics (from the Greek word for sign) was coined by French linguist Michel Bréal, who is commonly regarded as a founder of modern semantics. 1.2 subcategories of semantics According to Cruce (2000) semantics is divided into three subcategories:  Lexical semantics: is the study of word meanings, it includes the study of how words structure their meaning, how they act in grammar and compositionality.  Grammatical semantics: studies the aspects of meaning which have direct relevance to syntax,  Logical semantics: studies the relation between natural language and formal logical systems. It is used by logicians. 1.3 Traditional views on meaning The views on naming gave rise to two important schools in traditional analysis of meaning: the school of naturalists and the school of conventionalists. Proponents of each school supported their views with a considerable number of arguments. 3  Naturalist view: Ancient Greek philosophers who advocated this position viewed naming as a natural relationship between the signs and what these signs signified. They thought that the form of words was thus related to their meaning. This relationship was said to emanate from rigidly fixed inviolable principles on which man had no control.  The conventionalist view: Greek philosophers who argued for the conventionalist explanation viewed the relationship of naming as a matter of pure convention; in other words, the meaning of a word was not related or relatable to its form but rather was thought to derive from man-made decisions which were imposed by a given community.  The conceptualist view: Proponents of this explanation distinguish between the meaning conveyed by a word and the thing or things named by this word. In different terms, the forms that words had signified thing on the basis of the fact that these forms were thought to be associated with concepts in the minds of the speakers of a given language. As such, concepts constituted the meanings of words. 4 1.4 Different units of analysis  Word: is a minimal permutable element that is separated by silence in spoken language and by spaces in writing.  Utterance: is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is a silence on the part of that person.  Sentence: is a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language. 5 2. Communication and language Human language can be studied from four main perspectives:  Language is manifested as a physical object or physical event such as sounds of the language  Language is something abstract and intangible  Language is also a cognitive or physical entity  Language exists as a vehicle for communication between people. It is a manifestation of social interactive behavior. 3. Compositionality Theory 3.1 Definition: The principle of compositionality is the principle that the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them. This principle is also called Frege's principle. 3.2 Problems of compositionality theory  Idiomatic expressions: Many expressions have a meaning that cannot be predicted from the meanings of their individual words. For example, "kick the bucket" means to die, but the meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of the words "kick" and "bucket" taken separately. These expressions pose a challenge to the idea that the meaning of a complex expression can always be derived from the meanings of its parts. 6  Sentence meaning vs. speaker meaning: Sentence meaning refers to the meaning of a sentence as it is constructed according to the rules of grammar and syntax, without taking into account any contextual or pragmatic factors. It is the literal meaning of the sentence. Speaker meaning, on the other hand, refers to the meaning that a speaker intends to convey through their use of language. It takes into account the context of the situation, the speaker's tone of voice, and any other contextual cues that might affect the interpretation of the sentence. Example: sentence meaning: “It is cold outside” Speaker meaning: Be careful to avoid catching a cold  Contextualized meaning: The meaning of a word or expression can depend on the context in which it is used. Ex: "hot" can mean different things depending on whether it is used to describe the weather, food, or a person's temperament Ex: “I am hungry” for a beggar it means I need money, but for other person it means I want to eat.  Linguistic knowledge vs. World knowledge: “Please close the window” : literal meaning I feel cold : world knowledge 7  Individual differences: refer to the variations in how people interpret and understand words, concepts, and situations based on their unique experiences, knowledge, and cognitive abilities. Ex: “I like tea” what kind of tea (with sugar, without sugar) 4. Types of meaning  Descriptive and non-descriptive meaning: Descriptive meaning refers to the literal or explicit definition of a word or phrase, while non-descriptive meaning refers to the connotations or associations that a word or phrase may have beyond its literal definition. Ex: Descriptive meaning: "Rose" - a flowering plant with thorny stems and typically red or pink petals. Non-descriptive meaning: "Rose" - a symbol of love, romance, and beauty  Literal meaning and non-literal meaning: Literal meaning reflects the dictionary definitions of words, while nonliteral meaning used for effect to mean something else, it is called figurative and described by rhetorical terms ( irony, metaphor, litotes..).  Denotative and connotative meaning: Denotation refers to the dictionary definition of a word, while connotation refers to the cultural or emotional associations that a word may have. Ex: “Home’ has a denotative meaning of “ a place of living”, but it has also a connotative meaning of safety, comfort… 8 5. Figures of Speech  An expression that uses words to mean something different from their ordinary meaning  Simile: is a figure of speech that compares two things using the words "like" or "as". Similes are often used to create vivid imagery. Ex: Her face was as bright as the sun.  Metaphor: is a figure of speech that describes something by saying it is something else. Unlike a simile, a metaphor doesn't use "like" or "as" to make the comparison, but instead directly equates one thing with another. Ex: Life is a journey.  Litotes: is a figure of speech that uses a negative statement to express a positive affirmation, or to intensify the meaning of a statement. Ex: You are not ugly  Personification: is a figure of speech that gives human qualities or attributes to non-human objects or animals. Ex: The wind whispered through the trees.  Polysemy: refers to the coexistence of multiple meanings for a single word or phrase. Ex: verb to fix can mean to repair or to schedule. 9  Homonymy: refers to words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings. Ex: The word "bank" can refer to a financial institution or the side of a river.  Hyponymy: describes a hierarchical relationship between words, where the meaning of a more specific term (the hyponym) is included within the meaning of a more general term (the hypernym). Ex: Fruit is a hypernym that includes the hyponyms "apple," "banana," and "orange." 10 6. Lexical relations  Synonymy: a word that has the same meaning as another word. Ex: smart = intelligent  Antonyms: words with opposite meanings Ex: beautiful ≠ ugly  Relational / converse antonymy: pair of words that refer to a relationship from opposite points of view. Ex: Husband ≠ Wife  Gradable antonymy: it is related to scale. Ex: Hot≠ Cold  Complementary antonyms: they are contradictory antonyms. Ex: single≠ married  Incompatibility: lexical items which denote classes that have no members in common. They refer to mutual exclusiveness within the same superordinate category. Ex: Animals: dog, cat, lion…  Ambiguity: is when a word, phrase or statement could have more than one possible meaning. It includes lexical and linguistic ambiguity. Ex: The chicken is ready to eat  Redundancy: is the unnecessary use of more than one word or phrase meaning the same thing. Ex: She is a single unmarried woman.  Anomaly: It refers to sentences that are syntactically well formed, but they are meaningless. Ex: The cat barks at the mailman. 11 It includes two types: Pleonasm and Zeugma.  Pleonasm: is the express of redundant words to express ideas. Ex: I heard it with my own ears.  Zeugma: is the use of a word to link between two ideas. Ex: she took his hand and his breath away.  Paraphrase: It is two sentences or more with the same meaning. Ex: Mary made a story the story was made by Mary.  Entailment: is when we have something specific than it entails something general. Ex: She is young and beautiful she is young  Contradiction: is when two sentences cannot be both correct Ex: The sun is both hot and cold. 12 © Faculty of Languages, Arts and Human sciences, University campus AitMelloul ® Department of English studies Mohamed Fartas THAT IS ALL! GOOD LUCK TO U WITH YOUR FINALS! Reach me out via Email: 13