Semantics and Pragmatics Overview

Semantics

1. What Is Semantics?

  • Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that studies linguistic meaning and how expressions convey meanings.

  • It deals with:

    • The nature of meaning itself (what exactly are linguistic meanings)

    • The relationship between language users and the external world.

  • Key focus areas of semantics include:

    • Study of word meanings and how they combine to produce larger phrasal meanings.

    • Meaning relationships between expressions.

2. Overview of Semantics

2.1 Components of Linguistic Meaning

  • Two main aspects:

    • Sense: A mental representation or concept connected to an expression.

    • Reference: The relationship of the expression to things in the world.

  • Semantics is divided into two main domains:

    • Lexical semantics: Focuses on the meanings of words.

    • Compositional semantics: Concerns larger phrasal meanings and their assembly.

2.2 Lexical Semantics

  • Examines the meanings of words and the relationships between them.

  • Explores:

    • Representation of word senses in the mind.

    • Types of reference and meaning relationships between words.

2.3 Compositional Semantics

  • Introduces concepts like propositions (meanings expressed by sentences) and their truth values.

  • Discusses how meanings of larger expressions are constructed from smaller units.

  • Principle of Compositionality: The meaning of a whole is determined by the meanings of its parts and how they are combined.

3. Lexical Semantics: The Meanings of Words

3.1 The Source of Word Meanings

  • Importance of dictionaries in defining word meanings.

  • Dictionaries model language usage rather than dictate it.

  • True meanings of words come from how they are used by speakers of the language.

3.2 Word Senses

  • Words are associated with senses—mental representations of meaning.

Two Representational Models:

  1. Dictionary-Style Definitions:

    • Problem: Circularity in definitions leads to infinite regress.

  2. Mental Image Definitions:

    • Problems with variability among individuals’ images.

    • Instances where some words have no clear mental images (e.g., abstract concepts).

3.3 Usage-Based Definitions

  • Knowledge of usage informs understanding of when to apply words.

  • Example: Understanding the word “blanket” involves context but not necessarily the specific description.

3.4 Word Reference

  • Proper names refer to specific entities (e.g., “China” refers to the country).

  • Common nouns refer to sets (e.g., “cat” refers to all cats, not a specific one).

  • Reference of terms can be complex; understand how various components interact.

3.5 Meaning Relationships

  • Various types of word relationships:

    • Hyponymy: Subset relationships (e.g., "poodle" is a hyponym of "dog").

    • Synonymy: Same reference but possibly different senses (e.g., “couch” and “sofa”).

    • Antonymy: Words with opposite meanings, which can take different forms (complementary, gradable, reverses, converses).

4. Compositional Semantics: The Meanings of Sentences

4.1 Propositions and Truth Values

  • Propositions are claims expressed by sentences and can be true or false.

  • Truth values relate propositions to the world, enabling understanding of truth conditions.

4.2 Relationships between Propositions

  • Entailment: When one proposition guarantees the truth of another (e.g., "All dogs bark" entails "Sally's dog barks").

  • Incompatibility: Impossible for both propositions to be true simultaneously (e.g., “No dogs bark” and “All dogs bark”).

5. Compositional Semantics: Putting Meanings Together

5.1 The Principle of Compositionality

  • Meaning derives from both the words and their syntactic arrangement, enabling the creation of numerous sentences.

5.2 Combining Meanings of Verb and Noun Phrases

  • Noun Phrases (NP) refer to specific individuals; Verb Phrases (VP) refer to sets of entities.

  • Example: "Sandy runs" is true if Sandy is among the runners.

5.3 Combining Adjective and Noun Meanings

  • Adjectives can interact in different ways with nouns, leading to possible intersections:

    • Pure intersection (e.g., “green sweater”): Adjectives and nouns identified independently.

    • Relative intersection (e.g., “big whale”): Adjective reference depends on noun context.

6. Practice

  • Exercises cover identification of lexical and compositional semantics, working with definitions, meanings, and relationships.