Semantics Review

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes about semantics.

Sense

All elements contained in our conventional understanding of a concept associated with a word.

dog is “a domesticated carnivorous mammal, which typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, non-retractile claws, and a barking, howling, or whining voice” Oxford English Dictionary Online, s

 Implies a level between words and the world

 Level of mental representation

Mental concept - Sense relation + 2 concepts

mental representation between words and the world.

• Simple concepts

• Complex concepts

Simple Concepts (Mental Concepts)

Concepts related to perceptual stimuli.

e.g. sun, water, ...

Complex Concepts (Mental Concepts)

related to theories or cultural phenomina.

e.g. marriage, retirement, ...

Componential/Feature Analysis

breaks word meanings into binary features (e.g., [+ANIMATE]) to distinguish and compare lexemes within a semantic domain.

Semantic Components(Componential/Feature Analysis)

used to analyze word meanings.

Distinctive Features (Componential/Feature Analysis)

distinguish word meanings.

Binary Features (Componential/Feature Analysis)

Features presented using + or - signs.

e.g. [ + ANIMAL]

Types of components (Componential/Feature Analysis)

• Common component

• Diagnostic component

Common Component (Types of components (Componential/Feature Analysis))

typically listed as a first component shared by a set of lexemes,

e.g. [human] for man, boy, woman, girl, etc.

Diagnostic Component (Types of components (Componential/Feature Analysis))

typically listed after a first common component in order to distinguish a set of lexemes, e.g. [+/-male] for man, boy, woman, girl

formal,features of the form

functional,sth.’s purpose

Requirements for components(Componential/Feature Analysis)

3

• primitive

• general

• linguistically motivated

Challenges to Features Semantics

If the necessary and sufficient features are present, something can be classified as X.
If those features are missing, it cannot be classified as X.

Conclusion:

• If a shape has 3 sides and is closed → ✅ it's a triangle.

• If it doesn't have 3 sides → ❌ it's not a triangle.

Structural Semantics

concepts based on relationships of words within a language system

paradigmatic

the relationship between words or concepts that can substitute for each other in a given context.

Example:

"The cat sat on the mat."

You could replace "cat" with:

• dog

• rabbit

• child

Word meanings are defined in part by

what they have in common with other expressions, what distinguishes it from them→ signé différentiel (Saussure)

Cognitive Semantics

language as deeply connected to human thinking, and meaning as shaped by how we understand the world through experience.

Origins of Prototype Theory

 Developed by psychologist Eleanor Rosch and colleagues at the University of California at Berkeley from the early 1970s onwards

Prototype Theory

we understand categories through typical examples, not fixed rules.
Meaning are flexible, experience-based, and graded, just like real life.

some members are more central than others, and boundaries can be fuzzy.

Prototype Theory

 Some linguistic evidence  A: Which toad do you like best?  B: The yellow one?  A: The one on the far right?  B: The yellow yellow one.  Look at that cat-ish creature over there.  I‘m kinda tired.  Can you think of any other linguistic expressions or constructions that suggest that word meaning is organized prototypically?

Categories without Prototypical Organization

concepts …

 concepts with multiple meanings, e.g. over

 concepts with missing prototypes, compare: e.g. cities

 concepts with too heterogeneous extensions, e.g. new species

 concepts with too complex and intricate meanings, e.g. belief

Traditional Accounts of Metaphor

special feature of language, separate from everyday meaning, needing extra effort to interpret.

Conceptual Metaphors - Lakoff

The metaphor "ARGUMENT IS WAR" shows how we use language from war to talk about arguments. This isn’t just language — it reflects how we think about arguments.

Conceptual Metaphors

fundamental to our understanding of the world and influence both language and thought deeply.

aren’t just decorative

Mapping Metaphors

how we understand abstract concepts by linking them to more concrete ideas, and we see this in the way we talk every day through metaphorical expressions.

source domain

starting point of the mapping process
 concrete concept/domain

target domain

goal of the mapping process
 abstract concept/domain

Features of Conceptual Metaphors

• Systematicity

• Asymmetry/Directionality

• Abstraction

Systematicity (Features of Conceptual Metaphors)

features of the source and target domain are joined so that the metaphor can be extended,

cf. LIFE IS A JOURNEY: person –traveller, purposes –destinations, means for achieving purposes –routes, …

Asymmetry/Directionality(Features of Conceptual Metaphors)

transfer from the source to the target domain,

i.e. mappings do not work into the opposite direction, *A JOURNEY IS LIFE

 Abstraction (Features of Conceptual Metaphors)

use of a more concrete source domain to describe a more concrete target domain, source is often linked to concrete physical/bodily experiences,

e.g. movement through space

Metonymy overlap with metaphor

 Referential strategy in language use→ conceptual processes

Conventionalized to a large extent

 Used to create new lexical resources in language

 Depends on real-world knowledge

Metonymy differences from metaphor

 metaphor= mapping across two conceptual domains

 metonymy= establishes a connection within a single conceptual domain → based on conceptual contiguity

Type of Metonymical Relations 9

PART FOR WHOLE

WHOLE FOR PART

CONTAINER FOR CONTENT

CONTENT FOR CONTAINER

MATERIAL FOR OBJECT

PRODUCER FOR PRODUCT

PLACE FOR INSTITUTION

PLACE FOR EVENT

CAUSE FOR EFFECT

PART FOR WHOLE; WHOLE FOR PART (Type of Metonymical Relations)

all hands on deck; Brazil won the world cup

CONTAINER FOR CONTENT; CONTENT FOR CONTAINER(Type of Metonymical Relations)

I don't drink more than two bottles; Could I have a beer, please?

MATERIAL FOR OBJECT (Type of Metonymical Relations)

She needs a glass

PRODUCER FOR PRODUCT (Type of Metonymical Relations)

I'll buy you that Rembrandt; I've drawn your silhouette

PLACE FOR INSTITUTION (Type of Metonymical Relations)

Downing Street has made no comment; The White House has announced ...;

PLACE FOR EVENT (Type of Metonymical Relations)

Hiroshima changed our view of war

CAUSE FOR EFFECT (Type of Metonymical Relations)

His native tongue is Hausa

Influence on Language Change(metonymy and metaphor)

language change by extending meanings into new areas.
These shifts result in words gaining multiple, related senses — making the language more expressive and flexible.