Dr. Jessie Grace U Rubrico PBET 1101 TESL Program
Faculty of Education University of Malay
Semantics: Meaning of Language
SEMANTICS
lexical semantics – word meaning and relationships words – containers of meaning
phrasal/sentential semantics-
meaning of syntactic units larger than words
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
Conceptual and Associative
conceptual : denotation equate meaning of word to the
thing/entity it refers (referent)
associative : connotation set of associations a word’s use can
evoke
Lexical relations
synonymy- antonymy
homophony
polysemy
metonymy
me t apho r collocation
conceal - hide reply –answer No absolute synonyms Answer the phone. Reply to the phone.
Synonymy
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
antonymy
gradable antonyms
set of words in a continuum-
> tiny-small-medium-large-huge
negative does not imply opposite
> my car is not old ≠ my car is new
non-gradable: complementary pairs
> single – married; true – false
negation of one implies the other
reversives
enter- exit lengthen – shorten
pack – unpack come–go
antonymy
Hyponomy – inclusion
COLOR
BLUE GREEN YELLOW PURPLE
SUPERORDINATE/HYPERNYM
HYPONYMS
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
animals
bird dog human
hawk sparrow fowl
quail turkey chicken
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
homophony
homophones > different form, same pronunciation bear – bare meat- meet to-too-two right – write
homonyms/homographs one form, different meanings light not heavy illumination bank financial institution small cliff at the river edge pen writing instrument cage race contest ethnic group
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
polysemy
one form, multiple related meaning head – part of the body; top man in a company foot – of a person, of a bed, of a mountain date – point in time
arranged meeting/social meeting a person one goes out with
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
metonymy
whole-part relation car/wheels; house/roof
container – content relation bottle/wine; can/juice
representative – symbol relation -the Palace announced -answering the door
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
metaphor
understanding the concept in terms of another extension beyond the primary sense eye of the needle; see the point buying time; budget time; spend time borrowed time peak of health fell into depression
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
collocation
hammer – nail needle –thread butter – bread salt –pepper
Semantic Features
a. The table listens to the radio. b. The hamburger eats the boy. c. The horse reads the newspaper. Syntax: well-formed Semantics - odd
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
Semantic features : ±
table horse boy man girl woman
animate
- +
+ + + +
human
female
adult
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles
roles of NPs in a sentence
a. The boy kicked the ball
doer V entity affected by the action 1 2
Agent theme/patient
thematic roles: Agent, Patient
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
b. The boy hurt himself Agent theme c. Johnny cut the rope Agent theme/patient 1 2 with a knife. instrument 3
Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles
d. The boy feels sad
experiencer : one who sees, knows or
4 enjoys something
e. Mary saw a fly on the wall
experiencer theme location
5
location - the place of action
Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles
f. Mary borrowed a book from George Agent theme source 6
- starting point of movement
g. She returned the book to George. goal
7
- end point of movement
Semantic Roles or Thematic Roles
Linguistics for language teachers/Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
References
O'Grady, William D., Archibald, John, [eds.] (2009). Contemporary Linguistic Analysis: An Introduction, 6th edition. Ontario: Pearson Education Canada.
Yule G. 2006. The study of language.
Cambridge: CUP.
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