The meaning systems of English words

x 4 lecturesx 4 lectures

• Morphosyntax

• Interdependence of word meanings and context• Identification of semantic rules & their exceptions• Chinese-speaking learners’ approaches to

understanding English words

Lexis, Morphology & Semantics for English Language Teaching

The meaning systems of English words 1:

Grammatical meaning

The meaning systems of English words 1

• Word meaning– a word’s inflected forms grammatical “?meanings?”( “open” word classes: grammatical “?meaning?” of inflectional suffixes )– “closed” word classes: grammatical “?meanings?” of function words( function words & their grammatical forms: the functions that these “?meant?” )

• Morpho-syntactic markers of word meaning– number: singular, plural; count, mass– (natural) gender: male, female, neuter– person: first, second, third; animate, inanimate– tense: present, past, “?future?”– aspect: perfective, imperfective, prospective, progressive– voice: active, passive, middle

• Other “morpho-syntactic” characteristics of word meaning- adjective: attributive, predicative- the dative shift- selectional restrictions or preferences (semantic rules)

Colourless green ideas

sleep furiously.What does each of these words

above mean to you?

Picture this picture of pictures picturing pictures within a picture.

What does each of these words above mean to you?

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes

function words / grammatical words

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes

function words (also called grammatical words)

vs

( content wordsi.e. words that can be inflected, and

that are related to various word-formation processessuch as derivation & compounding)

Colourless green ideas

sleep furiously.function words OR content words

closed-class OR open-class

Picture this picture of pictures picturing

pictures within a picture.

function words OR content words

closed-class OR open-class

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes

function words / grammatical words

? ? vs ? ? (?clear boundary?)

( content wordsi.e. words related to

inflection andvarious word formation processes)

The meaning systems of English words 1

function words / grammatical words

? ? vs ??

( content wordsi.e. words related to

inflection and variousword formation processes)

express“grammatical” functions(esp. word order in the sentence)

““?”?”

express

word meanings / senses(also categorial &

other types of meaning)

The meaning systems of English words 1

The “meaning” of:

closed vs open classes

=??=

function vs content words

=??=

grammatical vs non-grammatical words

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):– pronoun: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they;

(me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)(mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs)

How many pronouns above?

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):– pronoun: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they;

(me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)(mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs)

II shot themthem.TheyThey were shot by meme.

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):– pronoun: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they;

(me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)(mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs)

( ?me shot they )

II shot themthem.TheyThey were shot by meme.

( ?them were shot by I )

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):– pronoun: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they;

(me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)(mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs)

– determiner:a/an, the;my, your, his/her/its, our, your,

their; this/these, that/those;one/two/three, first/second/third;some, several, few, many, etc;

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):– pronoun: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they;

(me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)(mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs)

– determiner:a / an, the;my, your, his/her/its, our, your,

their; this/these, that/those;one/two/three, first/second/ third;some, several, few, many, etc;

– preposition: to, from, on, in, below, under, etc– conjunction: and, or, but, that, so, if, though, etc

The meaning systems of English words 1

Closed word classes(function words / grammatical words):– pronoun: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they;

(me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)(mine, yours, his/hers, ours, yours, theirs)

– determiner:a/an, the;my, your, his/her, its, our, your,

their; this/these, that/those;one/two/three, first/second/third;some, several, few, many, etc;

– ?preposition: ?preposition: to, from, on, in, below, under, etcto, from, on, in, below, under, etc– conjunction: and, or, but, that, so, if, though, etc

The meaning systems of English words 1

Open word classes(content words):

– noun– verb– adjective– adverb (a kind of adjectives? a not so open class?)

The meaning systems of English words 1

Open word classes(content words):

– noun– verb– adjective– adverb (a kind of adjectives? a not-so-open class?)

adjectives to modify the “thing-ness”of nouns

The meaning systems of English words 1

Open word classes(content words):

– noun– verb– adjective– adverb (a kind of adjectives? a not-so-open class?)

adjectives to modify the “thing-ness”of nouns

adverbs to modify the “descriptive-ness”

of adjectives

The meaning systems of English words 1

Open word classes(content words):

– noun– verb– adjective– adverb (a kind of adjectives? a not-so-open class?)

adjectives to modify the “thing-ness”of nouns

adverbs to modify the “descriptive-ness”

(adjectives for adjectives) of adjectives

adverbs to modify the “action-ness”(adjectives for verbs) of verbs

The meaning systems of English words 1

Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

adjectives to modify the “thing-ness”of nouns

adverbs to modify the “descriptive-ness”

(adjectives for adjectives) of adjectives

adverbs to modify the “action-ness”(adjectives for verbs) of verbs

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (1):• singular = one• plural = more than one

( number marker: the suffix / morpheme -s )

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (1):• singular = one• plural = more than one

( number marker: the suffix / morpheme -s )

(Number system in some languages other than English:–dual = two–trial = three–paucal = a few

In English, the conversation below would sound odd: Customer: How much does this radio cost? Salesman: ?? A few hundred dollars. )

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (1):• singular = one• plural = more than one

(number marker: the suffix -s / morpheme {-s})__ /s/ e.g. flowers, turtles

__ /es/ e.g. bosses, dishes, foxes

( __/f/ ) __/v/ + /es/ e.g. calves, shelves, wolves

( __/y/) __/i/ + /es/ e.g. cities, societies

__ // e.g. deer, fish, sheep

(__/oo/__ ) __/ee/__ // e.g. feet, geese, teeth

(__/ous/__) __/ic/__ // e.g. lice, mice

__ /(r)en/ e.g. oxen, children, brethren

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count noun:–The dog wears glasses.– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count noun:–The dog wears glasses.– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.

• mass noun:–Sugar tastes sweet.–The sugars taste sweet.–a little / much sugar

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count:–The dog wears glasses. (??Dog wears glasses)– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count:–The dog wears glasses. (??Dog wears glasses)– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.– (but:) a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this flat

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count:–The dog wears glasses. (??Dog wears glasses)– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.– (but:) a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this flat

• mass:–Sugar tastes sweet.–The sugars taste sweet.–a little / much sugar

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count:–The dog wears glasses. (??Dog wears glasses)– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.– (but:) a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this flat

• mass:–Sugar tastes sweet.–The sugars taste sweet. (??Sugars taste sweet)–a little / much sugar

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count:–The dog wears glasses. (??Dog wears glasses)– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.– (but:) a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this flat

• mass:–Sugar tastes sweet.–The sugars taste sweet. (??Sugars taste sweet)–a little / much sugar (??a few / many sugars)

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• count:–The dog wears glasses. (??Dog wears glasses)– Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.– (but:) a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this flat

• mass:–Sugar tastes sweet.–The sugars taste sweet. (??Sugars taste sweet)–A little / Much sugar (??A few / Many sugars)– (but:) three and a half sugars for my tea

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• Count nouns:– The dog wears glasses. – Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.

(Newspaper headline)Dog wears glasses

An alsatian is a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this small flat.

For such a small amount of money, you get a lot of car.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• Count nouns:– The dog wears glasses. – Dogs wear glasses.– A few / Many dogs wear glasses.

(Newspaper headline)Dog wears glasses

An alsatian is a lot of / way too much / far too much dog for this small flat.

For such a small amount of money, you get a lot of car.

unmarked

markedmarked

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (2):

• Mass noun:–Sugar tastes sweet.–The sugars taste sweet.–A little / Much sugar

(Science texts)

Sugars taste sweet.

A few / Many sugars …

three and a half sugars for my tea

unmarked

markedmarked

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (3):

Subject-verb concord

The crowd is / are waving their flags.The crowd is / ??are voting with their feet.The crowd ??is / are waving their arms.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (3):

Subject-verb concord

The crowd is / are waving their flags.The crowd is / ??are voting with their feet.The crowd ??is / are waving their arms.

The committee was / ??were formed last week.The committee is / are divided on this issue.The committee is / are going home to study the issue.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (3):

Subject-verb concord

The crowd is / are waving their flags.The crowd is / ??are voting with their feet.The crowd ??is / are waving their arms.

The committee was / ??were formed last week.The committee is / are divided on this issue.The committee is / are going home to study the issue.

A: Should I have a baby after 35?B:

The meaning systems of English words 1

The number system in English (3):

Subject-verb concord

The crowd is / are waving their flags.The crowd is / ??are voting with their feet.The crowd ??is / are waving their arms.

The committee was / ??were formed last week.The committee is / are divided on this issue.The committee is / are going home to study the issue.

A: Should I have a baby after 35?B: 35 babies is / are more than enough for anyone.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The gender system in English:

• (natural / biological) sex:– female / male: she / he, her / him

– neuter: it

• animacy and/or potency:– adult, human, god: she / he

– child, animal, ghost: she / he / it

– non-human, non-animal: it

The meaning systems of English words 1

The gender system in English:

• (natural / biological) sex:– female / male: she / he, her / him– neuter: it

• animacy / potency:– adult, human, god: she / he– child, animal, ghost: she / he / it– non-human, non-animal: it

? We’ll have a holiday in Japan. She has many sights to see. When we visit her, we’ll eat a lot of sushi. Her national flower is sakura.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The tense system in English (1):

• present vs not present• not present: past ( vs future )

past tense marker: suffix -ed (or -d) / morpheme {-d }

__/id/ e.g. dated, stated, traded__/d/ e.g. combed, married, saved__/t/ e.g. kissed, laughed, slept, wept

drink drank sink sank ring rang sing sangcatch caught teach taughtbuy bought fight foughtride rode write wrote

lead led read readeat ate sit satgo went do did

The meaning systems of English words 1

The tense system in English (2):

• present vs not present• not present: past ( vs future )

past distance/remoteness markers( note: a spatial perspective to time )

I used to go for a massage every Sunday.

I went for a massage last Sunday.

I’ve just been for a massage.(i.e. I went for a massage just now.)

The meaning systems of English words 1

The tense system in English (3):

• present vs not present• not present: past vs future

future ?tense? marker:the auxiliary verb “will” / morpheme {will}

I will go for a massage (every Sunday)I will go for a massage (next Sunday)I will go for a massage (after class)

I will go for a massage( compared with: I’m going for a massage )

The meaning systems of English words 1

The tense system in English (3):

• present vs not present• not present: past vs future

future TIMETIME marker:the auxiliary verb “will” / morpheme {will}

I will go for a massage (every Sunday)

I will go for a massage (next Sunday)

I will go for a massage (after class)

I will go for a massage

( compared with: I’m going for a massage )

The meaning systems of English words 1

The tense system in English (3):

• present vs not present• not present: past vs future

future PLANPLAN marker:the auxiliary verb “will” / morpheme {will}

I will go for a massage (every Sunday)

I will go for a massage (next Sunday)

I will go for a massage (after class)

I will go for a massage

( I’m going for a massage )

The meaning systems of English words 1

The tense system in English (3):

• present vs not present• not present: past vs future

( future “tense” marker: the auxiliary verb / morpheme will )

Is there a future tense in English?I will go for a massage (every Sunday)

I will go for a massage (next Sunday)

I will go for a massage (after class)

I will go for a massage

( I’m going for a massage )

In terms of the concepts of “word-forms” & “word formation”,how MIGHT you comment on the items above?

1. The item “Eat” is a morph of the free morpheme {eat}.

2. The item “Drink” is a morph of the free morpheme {drink}.

3. The item “Be” is a morph of the free morpheme {be}.

4. The item “Merry” is a morph of the free morpheme {merry}.

5.5. ?? The 3 items “Eat”, “Drink” and “Be” are inflected for tenseinflected for tense.

6.6. ??The item “Eat” is the future-tensefuture-tense word-form of the word “eat”.

7.7. ??The item “Drink” is the future-tensefuture-tense word-form of the word “drink”.

8.8. ??The item “Be” is the future-tensefuture-tense word-form of the word “be”.

9. The 4 items are content words.

10.The 4 items are open-class words.

11.The 3 items “Eat”, “Drink” & “Merry” are roots, or root words. They can be used as bases for deriving new words.

The meaning systems of English words 1

Tenses in English

? tense time ?present tense the time now

past tense a time in the past

future ?tense? a future time

The meaning systems of English words 1

Tenses in English

? tense time ?present tense the time now

past tense a time in the past

future ?tense? a future time

perfect tenses?

perfect times?

The meaning systems of English words 1

The aspect system in English (1):• perfective vs imperfective ( complete-ness of action)• perfect vs prospective• progressive

perfective marker:

have -ed

I tried the new train service.I have tried the new train service.

He took the test.He has taken the test.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The aspect system in English (2):• perfective vs imperfective ( complete-ness of action)• perfect vs prospective• progressive

imperfective marker:-ing

I heard you sing in the classroom.I heard you singing in the classroom.

I saw her look at the man.I saw her looking at the man.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The aspect system in English (3):

• perfective vs imperfective ( complete-ness of action)• perfect vs prospective ( completeness-to-be of action)• progressive

prospective marker:be going to

I had cornflakes for dinner.

I have had cornflakes for dinner.

I will have cornflakes for dinner

I am going to have cornflakes for dinner

The meaning systems of English words 1

The aspect system in English (4):• perfective vs imperfective ( complete-ness of action)• perfect vs prospective ( completeness-to-be of action)• progressive ( about-to-complete-ness of action)

progressive marker:-ing

He is singing a song.He is screaming.

I know you????I am knowing you

( I am getting to know you )

The meaning systems of English words 1

The aspect system in English (4):• perfective vs imperfective• perfect vs prospective• progressive ( temporariness / tentativeness of action)

progressive marker:-ing

I live in Hong Kong.I am living in Hong Kong.

I see / hear something.I am seeing / hearing something.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The aspect system in English (4):• perfective vs imperfective• perfect vs prospective• progressive ( temporariness / tentativeness of action)

progressive marker:-ing

I hate you.I am hating you now.

I love it.I am loving it.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The voice system in English (1):• active vs passive• middle

passive voice marker:be -ed

She takes the boy to school every day.The boy is taken by her to school every day.

The boy is taken to school every day.

I know you.????You are known by me.

??You are known.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The voice system in English (1):

• active vs passive• middle

passive voice marker:be -ed

She broke the boy’s arm.

The boy’s arm was broken by her.

The boy’s arm was broken.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The voice system in English (2):

• active vs passive• middle

middle voice marker:

She broke the boy’s arm.

The boy’s arm was broken by her.

The boy’s arm was broken.

The boy’s arm broke.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The voice system in English (2):

• active vs passive• middle

( middle voice marker: )

She broke the boy’s arm.

The boy’s arm was broken by her.

The boy’s arm was broken.

The boy’s arm broke.

?The boy’s arm (was) waved.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (1):

– attributive: the green grass– predicative:the grass is green

This is a difficult concept.This concept is difficult.

This is a difficult concept to understand.This is a difficult-to-understand concept.This concept is difficult to understand.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (1):

– attributive: the green grass– predicative:the grass is green

This is a happy man.

This man is happy.

This is a happy man now.

This man is happy now.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (1):

– attributive: the green grass– predicative:the grass is green

??This is an afraid man.

This man is afraid.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (1):

– attributive: the green grass– predicative:the grass is green

??This is an afraid man.

This man is afraid.

This is a frightened / scared man.

This man is frightened / scared.

This man was frightened / scared by XXX.

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (2):

– orders of adjectives (before nouns)

expensive large green tables

large expensive green tables

large green expensive tables

expensive green large tables

green expensive large tables

green large expensive tables

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (2):

– orders of adjectives (before nouns)

Quantity > Value > Physical Property > Age > Colour

expensive large green tables large expensive green tables

large green expensive tables

expensive green large tables

green expensive large tables

green large expensive tables

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (2):

– orders of adjectives (before nouns)– adverbial modifiers

Quantity > Value > Physical Property > Age > Colour

expensively large green tableslargely expensive green tableslargely green expensive tablesexpensively green large tables

green-ish-ly expensive large tables

green-ish-ly large expensive tables

The meaning systems of English words 1

The adjectival system in English (2):

– orders of adjectives (before nouns)– adverbial modifiers

Quantity > Value > Physical Property > Age > Colour

expensively large green tables largely expensive green tables

largely green expensive tables

expensively green large tables

green-ish-ly expensive large tables green-ish-ly large expensive tables

The meaning systems of English words 1

• Word meaning– a word’s inflected forms grammatical “?meanings?”( “open” word classes: grammatical “?meaning?” of inflectional suffixes )– “closed” word classes: grammatical “?meanings?” of function words( function words & their grammatical forms: the functions that these “?meant?” )

• Morpho-syntactic markers of word meaning– number: singular, plural; count, mass– (natural) gender: male, female, neuter– person: first, second, third; animate, inanimate– tense: present, past, “?future?”– aspect: perfective, imperfective, prospective, progressive– voice: active, passive, middle

• Other “morpho-syntactic” characteristics of word meaning- adjective: attributive, predicative- the dative shift- selectional restrictions or preferences (semantic rules)