Semantics

semantics

study of meaning (de-contextualized, potential meaning) at the level of the linguistic system -> abstract general meaning

study of semantics

lexical semantics, sentence / prepositional semantics, text semantics

lexical semantics

meaning of words and of lexical morphemes

sentence / prepositional semantics

meaning of clauses, and of sentences

text semantics

meaning of texts

pragmatics

the appropriate use of language / utterances in different contexts

study of meaning

semantics: abstract / general meaning

pragmatics: contextual meaning

lexicology

focuses on the meaning of words but also regards morphologically forms and the structural-semantic position of aperes in the lexicon / word-inventory

lexicography

focuses o representing meaning in dictionaries

lemma

a lexeme as headword of a dictionary entry

structural and componential / feature semantics

the complex meaning of linguistic unit is thought to consist of single semantic features / components, a feature is present or absent (based on the assumption that features are binary) -> breaking down meaning into single bits

cognitive semantics

focuses on meaning of words, and how language and the mind interact (perception, processing, and storing of words and their meaning)

prototypes

a mental image or best example of a category

semantic categorization

holistic classification of meaning on the basis of prototypes

sense

those features and properties which define the meaning of a lexeme independent of a specific context -> meaning studied in semantics

reference

relation of a lexeme to an actual it imagined entity or state of affairs in the world (in a particular context -> pragmatics)

extension

the sum of class of all potential referents (-> reference)

intension

the sum of the properties which definite it ('mammal', 'feline', 'with four legs', etc.)

detonation

the group of objects or states a word can potentially refer to -> extension

connotation

the subjective, variable and emotional meaning of a lexeme; NOT part of the intension

polysemy

having many possible meanings or interpretations (beam of wood or light)

homonymy

two words sounding the same but having different meanings (mole the mammal, a spot on the skin)

types of sense relations

synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy / hyperonomy, meronymy

synonymy

2+ lexemes have roughly the same sense

Total synonymy

two expressions would be fully interchangeable in all contexts (very rare or non-existent)

antonymy

words with opposite meanings

complementary antonymy

alive : dead

gradable antonymy

small : big

relational antonymy

buy : sell

Hyponyms

subordinate lexemes (Terrier, Collie, etc.)

hyperonyms

superordinate lexemes (dog)

holonyms

the whole (face)

meronyms

a part of it (mouth, nose, eye, etc.)

lexical / word fields

lexemes that are related via synonymy, antonymy, meronymy or hyponymy are stored in clusters in the mental lexicon and belong to the same lexical / word field

phraseology

proverbs, similes / stereotyped comparisons, collocations

proverbs

short sayings of wisdom or truth

similes / stereotyped comparisons

comparison of things that have something in common using "like" or "as"

collocations

fixed combinations of words, i.e. they show arbitrary restrictions in terms of the co-occurrence of words (drive a carb/ ride (*drive) a bike) -> language specific!