Meaning and Lexical Semantics

linguistic study of the meaning of individual words * syntax-semantics interface * lexical semantics (word level meaning)
Ferdinand de Saussure * sign: complex understanding of the physical form of a word in relationship to what the word means * signified ➝ concept / meaning component of a word * signifier ➝ phonetic / physical component of a word * clarifies that concepts (cognition) are distinct from labels (words) * relationship between words and meaning is significant but arbitrary
there’s a relationship between a word’s sense and its reference to something in the outside world * semiotic triangle
reference is the language by which language hooks onto the world * the speaker can estimate what the speaker knows and assumes that they share a common world of discourse
sense: one meaning of a sign in a particular context
languages are a series of interrelated signs but every language is different
Lexical Semantics: meaning of words in isolation * languages organize meanings systematically * lexicon / network / semantic map * when a word is activated, similar words are also activated * prototype theory: when speakers of a language acquire vocabulary for the first time, they adopt a mental prototype * prototype is best bird. farthest from prototype is bad bird * accounts for overgeneralization with children’s acquisition. prototypes sharpen with time * prototypes play an important role in default reasoning * assumptions will replace specific actual info in speech
Meaning Relationships * some of the lexical fields are closed sets * days of the week / months ➝ also has associated cyclical order * lexical fields can be small or large * thick and thin * girl and boy, child and adult, adult and man/woman * partial synonyms: meaning components are shared between lexical items, but they’re not the same * have different registers * antonyms: two expressions with opposing meanings * complementary: states of being * married/single, dead/alive, hit/miss * gradable: non-directional continuum of meaning * wet~dry (soaking, wet, damp, dry) * hot~cold * reverse: directional movement along the continuum * ascend ~ descend. either going up or going down. have to stop going up to start going down * converse: opposite meaning relationships based on the pov of the speaker / listener * i’m worker, you're boss (employee ~ employer * X lends Z to Y - Y borrows Z from X * directional opposites: matter of perspective from a single person’s perspective * my right or your right? * taxonomic levels: speakers prefer to categorize reality at a basic level * hyponymy: relationship of an item and its subsets. * dog. hyponyms: weiner, pug, doodle * weiner. hypernym: dog * hypernym is the basic word for the subsets * taxonomic sisterhood: relationship of words at the same level (weiner, pug, doodle, golden = sisters)
Other Relations * meronymic relations: conditioned by experience * ex: birds: feathers, beak, talon, wings * gender: lion ~ lioness, goose ~ gander * age: dog ~ puppy, kid ~ toddler ~ baby * derivation