Thẻ ghi nhớ: SEMANTICS REVISION | Quizlet

SEMANTICS

the study of MEANING in LANGUAGE.

SPEAKER MEANING

is what a speaker means (i.e. intends to convey)

SENTENCE MEANING (or WORD MEANING)

is what a sentence (or word) means

UTTERANCE MEANING

is what a speaker means when he makes an utterance in a particular situation.

Denotative (conceptual/ logical/ cognitive) meaning

is the basic propositional meaning which corresponds to the primary dictionary definition. It is the essential or core meaning.

Connotative meaning

is the communicative value of an expression over and above its purely conceptual/denotative content.

An UTTERANCE

is any stretch of talk, by one person, before and after which there is silence on the part of that person.

SENTENCE

is a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language expressing a complete thought.

A PROPOSITION

is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs.

The state of affairs

persons or things, the situation or action they are involved in.

Utterances/Sentences/Propositions

Physical activity

Can be grammatical or not

Can be true or false

In a particular regional accent

In a particular language

P.23

REFERENCE

- By means of reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world (including persons) are being talked about.

- is a relationship between parts of a language and things outside the language (in the world).

The SENSE of an expression

is its place in a system of semantic relationships with other expressions in the language.

Every expression that has meaning has sense, but not every expression has reference. Can you give example?

almost, probable, and, if, above. (None of the above words refers to a thing in the world. Nevertheless all these words, almost, probable, and, if, and above have some sense.)

Referent

things the speaker wants to indicate

Some expressions can have variable reference according to the circumstances (time, place, etc.) or the topic of the conversation. Example?

President of the U.S.

-> Abraham Lincoln

-> Barack Obama

In normal everyday conversation, there are cases of expressions that have constant reference. Example?

the Sun, the Moon

Two different expressions can have the same referent. Example?

eg: the Morning Star and the Evening Star, both of which normally refer to the planet Venus.

The same proposition can be expressed by different sentence. Example?

John gave Mary a book.

Mary was given a book by John.

The notion of truth can be used to decide whether two sentences express different propositions. If there is any conceivable set of circumstances which one sentence is true, while the other is false, we can be sure that they express different propostions. Example?

"A love B" & "B love A" -> not same proposition

" A kill B" & "A cause B to die" -> not same proposition

The same sentence can be realized by different utterances (or have different utterances as tokens)

Cung 1 cau noi => Noi 2 lan thi la 2 utterances khac nhau

+ Propositions are also involved in the meanings of other types of sentences, such as interrogatives (câu nghi vấn) and imperatives (câu mệnh lệnh). Example?

=> Eg: In saying, 'John can go' a speaker asserts the proposition that John can go. In saying, 'Can John go?', he mentions the same proposition but merely questions its truth. We say that corresponding declaratives (câu trần thuật) and interrogative (câu ?) (and imperatives: câu mệnh lệnh) have the same propositional content.

AN ACT OF REFERRING

is the picking out of a particular referent by a speaker in the course of a particular utterance.

Remember hihi

Both referring and uttering are acts performed by particular speakers on particular occasions. Most utterances contain, or are accompanied by, one or more acts of referring.

A REFERRING EXPRESSION

is any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or someone i.e. used with a particular referent in mind.

Is "Fred" in "There's no Fred at this address" a referring expression?

No, since in this case, the speaker would not have a particular person in mind when uttering the word.

The same expression can be a referring expression or not, depending on the context. Eg?

→ E.g. a German, used in 'Nancy wants to marry a German": cứ Đức là muốn cưới hay người muốn cưới là Đức. Add certain following indefinite article a, as in, for example: 'Nancy wants to marry a certain German' -> referring expression

An OPAQUE CONTEXT

is a part of a sentence which could be made into a complete sentence by the addition of a referring expression, but where the addition of different referring expressions, even though they refer to the same thing or person, in a given situation, will yield sentences with DIFFERENT meanings when uttered in a given situation.

+ typically involve a certain kind of verb, like want, believe, think, and wonder about.

An EQUATIVE SENTENCE

is one which is used to assert the identity of the referents of two referring expressions, i.e. to assert that two referring expressions have the SAME REFERENT

→ E.g. Tony Blair is the Prime Minister

MOST of equative sentence can be reversed without loss of acceptability but it is not reversible. e.g.

"That is the man who kidnapped my boss" is ok.

But, "The man who kidnapped my boss is that" is unacceptable

A PREDICATE

is any word (or sequence of words) which (in a given single sense) can function as the predicator of a sentence.

e.g. List of predicates of English: hungry, in, crook, asleep, hit, show (NOT: and, or, but, not)

Predicator

is the word or a group of words which does not belong to any of referring meaning of the sentence. describes the state or process in which the referring expressions are involved.

Remember ahihi

A predicate can have only one sense.

Distinguish Predicate and Predicator.

+ Predicate: identifies elements in the language system, not particular example -> List of predicates, in a dictionary: OK

+ Predicator: identifies the semantic role played by a particular word (or group of words) in a particular sentence. -> in a particular sentence: Ok, X not list of predicators (giong subject)

Sentence = Argument + Predicate

Easy

DEGREE OF PREDICATE

a number indicating the number of arguments it is normally understood to have in simple sentences

3 degree of predicate

One place predicate: predicate that requires one argument.

Ex: I dance

+ Two place predicate: a verb or predicate with two arguments

Ex: I eat ice-cream

+ Third place predicate: predicate with three arguments.

Ex: I give her a flower.

PREDICATOR can be: adj, verbs, nouns and preposition. (be is non predicator)

hihi

She is asleep -> "asleep" la predicator

Identity relation

relation found in equative sentences. The identity of the referents of 2 different referring expressions is expressed by a form of verb "be".

(hai ve deu phai la referent)

e.g. This is my father (Ok).

The 43th president of the U.S is George W.Bush.

This is a spider. (NO - a spider -> not referrent)

A GENERIC SENTENCE

is a sentence in which some statement is made about a whole unrestricted class of individuals, as opposed to any particular individual.

e.g.

The whale is a mammal (understood in the most usual way) is a generic sentence. (predicating expression)

That whale over there is a mammal is not a generic sentence (referring expression)

UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE

the particular world, real or imaginary (or part real, part imaginary), that the speaker assumes he is talking about at the time. (a fictitious world: thế giới hư cấu)

e.g. When an astronomy lecturer, in a serious lecture, states that the Earth revolves around the Sun, we all assume the universe of discourse is the real world (or universe).

A DEICTIC word

one which takes some element of its meaning from the context or situation of the utterance in which it is used. (e.g. the speaker, the addressee, the time and the place)

How many types of deixis?

4 types of deixis:

+ Personal deixis (used to point to objects or people) I, you, he..

+ demonstratives: this, that, these, those..

+ Spatial deixis (used to point to a location): here, there,,

+ temporal deixis (used to point to a time): yesterday, today, tomorrow.

REFERENT of a referring expression

is the thing picked out by the use of that expression on a particular occasion of utterance.

EXTENSION of a predicate

is the complete set of all things which could potentially (i.e. in any possible utterance) be the referent of a referring expression whose head constituent is that predicate.

+ VD: The extension of window is the set of all windows in the universe.

+ Extension with no member = a dull/ null extension.

A PROTOTYPE of a predicate

is a typical member of its extension.

Ostensive definition

directly pointing out the typical prototype

3 IMPORTANT SENSE PROPERTIES OF SENTENCES

- An ANALYTIC sentence is one that is necessarily TRUE

Example: All elephants are animals

- A SYNTHETIC sentence is one which is NOT analytic, but may either true or false, depending on the way the world is

Example: John is from Ireland

- A CONTRADICTION: is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE.

Example: This animal is a vegetable

STEREOTYPE of a predicate

is a list of TYPICAL characteristics or features of things to which the [redicate may be applied

SYNONYMY

is the relationship between two predicates that have the same (partial) sense.

PARAPHRASE

A sentence which expresses the same proposition as another sentence is a PARAPHRASE of that sentence.

HYPONYMY

is a sense relation between predicates (or sometimes longer phrases) such that the meaning of one predicate (or phrase) is included in the meaning of the other.

Example: RED & SCARLET

+ "Scarlet" is the hyponymy of "red"

+ Red is superordinate term

SYMMETRICAL HYPONYMY:

SYNONYM is a special case of HYPNONYM

e.g. mercury = quicksilver → mercury and quicksilver are hypnonyms of each other

=> Rule: If X is a hyponym of Y and if Y is also a hyponym of X, then X and Y are synonymous.

-> VD: mercury & quicksilver

ENTAILMENT

A proposition X ENTAILS a proposition Y if the truth of Y follows necessarily from the truth of X.

-> VD: John killed Bill (X) entails Bill died (Y).

=> sentence X is true and sentence Y false => NOT POSSIBLE

- Entailment applies cumulatively (TÍCH LŨY)

=> if X entails Y and Y entails Z, then X entails Z. (transitive relation)

Special case of Entailment: Paraphrase

PARAPHRASES of each other if and only if they have exactly the same set of ENTAILMENTS (X and Y are paraphrases of each other <=> (X=>Y) and (Y=>X)

VD: John and Mary are twins entails Mary and John are twins; Mary and John are twins entails John and Mary are twins. Therefore, John and Mary are twins is a paraphrase of Mary and John are twins

- Entailment and paraphrase = hyponymy and synonymy?

synonymy is symmetric hyponymy

paraphrase is symmetric (đối xứng) entailment.)

Basic Rule of Sense Inclusion

Given two sentences A and B, identical in every way except that A contains a word X where B contains a different word Y, and X is a hyponym of Y, then sentence A entails sentence B.

Example:

a cat is an animal (A)

a cat is a creature (B)

animal (X) is a hyponym of creature (Y) → A entails B

BINARY ANTONYMS

trái nghĩa hoàn toàn- theo cặp) are predicates which come in pairs and between them exhaust all the relevant possibilities. If the one predicate is applicable, then the other cannot be, and vice versa.

e.g. true >< false

CONVERSE

If a predicate describes a relationship between two things (or people) and some other predicate describes the same relationship when the two things (or people) are mentioned in the opposite order, then the two predicates are CONVERSES (ngược) of each other.

Example:

"Parent"(X) and "child"(Y) are converses, because:

X is the parent of Y

Y is the child of X

=> same relationship, opposite order

MULTIPLE INCOMPATIBILITY

- A system includes a definite number of members.

- The members are mutually incompatible (not acceptable, not possible together)

Example:

A play card: cover only 4 types: hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades

A play card cannot belong to both hearts suit and spades suits, etc.

→ system of multiple incompatibility

GRADABLE ANTONYMS

Two predicates are GRADABLE antonyms (quan hệ trái nghĩa có thang độ) if they are at opposite ends of a continuous scale of values

Example:

+ tall - short; hot - cold; long - short

TIPS:

để biết nó có phải là GRADABLE ANTONYMS ko thì xem nó có kết hợp đc với từ VERY

or HOW MUCH

How tall NOT How top

CONTRADICTORY:

(CẤP ĐỘ CÂU) A proposition is a CONTRADICTORY (mâu thuẫn) of another proposition if it is impossible for them both to be true at the same time and of the same circumstances. The definition can naturally be extended to sentences thus: a sentence expressing one proposition is a contradictory of a sentence expressing another proposition if it is impossible for both propositions to be true at the same time and of the same circumstances. Alternatively (and equivalently) a sentence contradicts another sentence if it entails the negation of the other sentence.

Example: this beetle is alive (X); this beetle is dead (Y) => X and Y cannot be both true

X và Y ko thể cùng đúng =>

+ X đúng, Y sai

+ X sai, Y đúng

+ X sai, Y sai

Rule: Statement A: Contradictory

Given two sentences, both identical except that:

(a) one contains a word X where the other contains a word Y,

(b) X is an antonym of Y (or X is incompatible with Y)

=> the two sentences are contradictories of each other (i.e. contradict each other).

Ex

this beetle is alive, X: alive; (b) this beetle is dead, Y: dead. X&Y antonym

=> (a), (b): contradictory

AMBIGUOUS

A word or sentence is AMBIGUOUS (mơ hồ) when it has more than one sense. A Sentence is ambiguous if it has two (or more) paraphrases which are not themselves paraphrases of each other. (AMBIGUOUS -> 2 LOẠI: LEXICAL, STRUCTURAL/SYNTAX)

HOMONYMY

words of the same sound, same spelling, but different meaning

POLYSEMY

(đa nghĩa): one word with different but related meaning

NOTE: nếu là POLYSEMY: phải chỉ ra được cái chung

Examples: Mouth (of a river vs of an animal) => RELATED MEANING: an opening from the

interior of some solid mass to the outside vs of a place of issue at the end of some long narrow channel.

REFERENTIALLY VERSATILE

A phrase is REFERENTIALLY VERSATILE if it can be used to refer to a wide range of different things or persons.

-> VD: The pronoun she can be used to refer to any female person.

On a given occasion she might be used to refer to Mary, on another occasion to Lucy, etc., but this does NOT mean that she is ambiguous, because although it is used to refer to different people this is not a matter of a difference in sense

REFERENTIAL VAGUENESS

Some nouns and adjectives are gradable.

-> VD: are tall and short (adjectives) and mountain and hill (nouns).

+ Just as there is no absolute line drawn in the semantics of English between tall and short,

+ there is no absolute distinction between mountain and hill.

What is referred to on one occasion with that mountain might be called that hill on another occasion.

Hence expressions such as that hill and that mountain are referentially vague.

Referential vagueness is not the same thing as ambiguity.

The participant role

is the role in the semantics as the position or a role that is associated with arguments.

7 types of Participant roles

1. Agent: (Subject)

2. Affected: (Object): đối tượng chịu tác động từ hành động

3. Instrument: cái thứ giúp thực hiện hành động. (Complement)

4. Location

5. Beneficiary

6. Experiencer

7. Theme

Eg. John opened the door with the key. Participant roles?

John: agent

the key: instrument

the door: affected

- The BENEFICIARY i

is the person for whose benefit or to whose detriment the action described by the sentence is carried out. It is usually assumed that the Beneficiary, if mentioned, is distinct from both the Agent and the Affected.

Thầy Sinh nâng điểm/hạ điểm cho Golden dragon (Golden dragon: ng hg lợi/hg hại)

EXPERIENCER

(người này nhận thưc (trải nghiệm) hành động nhưng ko control, ko gây ra hành động

=> 'see, become, hear'

is typically a person who is mentally aware of, perceives, or experiences the action or state described by the sentence, but who is not in control of the situation.

THEME

(cái đối tượng được nhận thức (đi cặp với experiencer or được miêu tả rõ vị trí, na ná location khi ko đi cặp với experiencer)

- The ....... participant is a thing or person whose location is described, or a thing or person that is perceived by an Experiencer.

The DESCRIPTIVE FALLACY

is the view that the sole purpose of making assertions is to DESCRIBE some state of affairs.

An ACT of ASSERTION

is carried out when a speaker utters a declarative sentence (which can be either true or false), and undertakes a certain responsibility, or commitment, to the hearer, that a particular state of affairs, or situation, exists in the world.

Type of Speech Act (Searles)

6

REPRESENTATIVES: (the speaker asserts a proposition to be true, using such verbs as: affirm, believe, conclude, deny, report. (không tạo ra sự thay đổi gì hết)

(H: I swear that I will never be late again - (commissives - explicit performatives))

e.g. You can never do that. (Representatives - Constatives) I can't believe you one more time. Get out of my office. (Directives - (Implicit Performatives)

DIRECTIVES: the speaker tries to make the hearer do something, with such words as: ask, beg, challenge, command, dare, invite, insist, request. (ra lệnh cho người khác)

COMMISSIVES: the speaker commits himself (or herself) to a (future) course of action, with verbs such as: guarantee, pledge, promise, swear, vow, undertake, warrant. (người nói cam kết sẽ thực hiện ở tương lai)

EXPRESSIVES: the speaker expresses an attitude to or about a state of affairs, using such verbs as: apologize, appreciate, congratulate, deplore, detest, regret, thank, welcome. (thể hiện thái độ)

DECLARATIVES: the speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or situation, solely by making the utterance: I now pronounce you man and wife, I name this ship... (thay đổi trạng thái)

PHATIC: establish and maintain social relationships (eg: "How are you?")

Example: a simple, basic exchange between two acquaintances in a non-formal environment:

Identify speech acts in the utterance "This gun is loaded."

Locutionary act: informing/ describing

Illocutionary act: warning/ threatening/ suggesting

Perlocutionary act: the hearer feels scared and run away

a PERFORMATIVE utterance

is one that actually describes the act that it performs, i.e. it PERFORMS some act and simulatenuously describe that aces

A CONSTATIVE utterance

is one which makes an ASSERTION (i.e. it is often the utterance of a declarative sentence) but is Not performative

PERLOCUTIONARY ACT

carried out by a speaker making an utterance is the act of causing a certain effect on the hearer and others.

The ILLOCUTIONARY ACT

carried out by a speaker making an utterance is the act viewed in terms of the utterances' significance within a conventional system of social interaction./ intention of the speaker in the first place.