Chapter 6: Semantics

Non intersection

there is not a reference to the object denoted by the noun.

Mutual entailment

when two propositions guarantee each other.

Reverses

pairs of words that suggest some kind of movement in which one word suggests the "undoing "of the movement suggested by the other.

Gradable pairs

represents points on a continuum; something can be one or the other of a reference, or somewhere in between.

Complementary pairs

two words in which nothing in the world can be in both of their references.

Antonymy

two words that are related in a way that contrasts with each other.

Entailment

when the truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another sentence.

Proposition the claim

expressed by a sentence.

Reference

an expressions relationship to the world; the entity in the world to which the expression represents.

Pure intersection

when there are two independent sets of entities used to describe a more specific set of entities.

Synonymy

two words that have exactly the same reference.

Sense

the mental representation of an expressions meaning; a concept.

Sister terms

two words in which their references are on the same level and are contained in the same sets.

Hyponymy

a set of words in which the reference of X is always included in the set in the reference of Y.

Truth value

the ability to be true or false.

Semantics

the subfield of linguistics that studies linguistic meaning and how expressions convey meanings.

Compositional semantics

phrasal meanings and how phrasal meanings are assembled.

number of words

The ________ in a given language are limited, but there is an infinite number of sentences and phrasal expressions.

Incompatible

it is impossible for both propositions to be true.

A community of native speakers of a language is the highest authority of word meaning

even higher than dictionaries

Antonymy

two words that are related in a way that contrasts with each other

Gradable pairs

represents points on a continuum; something can be one or the other of a reference, or somewhere in between

Reverses

pairs of words that suggest some kind of movement in which one word suggests the “undoing” of the movement suggested by the other

Converses

pairs of words that are two opposing perspectives or points of view

Truth conditions

the conditions that would have to hold in the world in order for a proposition to be true

Entailment

when the truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another sentence

incompatible

it is impossible for both propositions to be true

Principle of Compositionality

the meaning of a sentence is a function of the meaning of the words it contains and the way in which these words are syntactically combined

Pure intersection

when there are two independent sets of entities used to describe a more specific set of entities

Relative intersection

the reference of an adjective has to be determined relative to the reference of the noun

Subsective adjectives

adjectives that serve as a subset of a larger, more specific set

Non-intersection

there is not a reference to the object denoted by the noun

Anti-intersection adjectives

the reference of the resulting adjective-noun combination cannot overlap with the noun’s reference