SEMANTICS

Sarah Taruliasi Siregar

1810201034
 SEMANTICS
Semantics is one branch of linguistics that
studies the meaning or meaning of words and
sentences. A person's linguistic abilities are seen
based on the language abilities they have. Today,
understanding one's language ability is
distinguished based on language knowledge,
such as how to express words, how to make
sentences and also about the meaning of a word
and the sentence itself.
 ANOMALOUS
• Speaker know, in a general way, whether
something is or not meaningful in their
language. For example, speakers of English can
tell which of the following are meaningful in
English.
• 1a Henry drew a picture
• 1b Henry laughed
• 1c The picture laughed
• 1d Picture a Henry drew
 PARAPHRASE
• Speakers of a language generally agree as to
when two sentences have essentially the
same meaning and when they do not.
• 2a Rebecca got home before Robert.
• 2b Robert got home before Rebecca.
• 2c Robert arrived at home after
Rebecca.
• 2d Rebecca got home later than Robert.
 SYNONYMY
• Speakers generally agree when two words have
essentially the same meaning—in a given context. In
each sentence below one word is underlined.
Following the sentence is a group of words, one of
which can replace the underlined word without
changing the meaning of the sentence.
• 3a Where did you purchase these tools?
• use buy release modify take
• 3b At the end of the street we saw two enormous
statues,
• pink smooth nice huge original
 CONTRADICTORY
• Speakers recognize when the meaning of one
sentence contradicts another sentence. The
sentences below are all about the same
person, but two of them are related in such a
way that if one is true the other must be false.
• 4a Edgar is married.
• 4b Edgar is fairly rich.
• 4c Edgar is no longer young.
• 4d Edgar is a bachelor.
 ANTONYMOUS
• Speakers generally agree when two words have
opposite meanings in a given context. For
example, speakers are able to choose from the
group of words following 5a and 5b the word
which is contrary to the underlined word in each
sentence.
• 5a Betty cut a thick slice of cake, bright new soft
thin wet
• 5b The train departs at 12:25. arrives leaves
waits swerves
 AMBIGOUS
• Some sentences have double meanings; they can
be interpreted in two ways. Speakers are aware
of this fact because they appreciate jokes which
depend on two-way interpretation, like the
following.
• 7a Marjorie doesn’t care for her parakeet.
• (doesn’t like it; doesn’t take care of it)
• 7b Marjorie took the sick parakeet to a small
animal hospital.
• (small hospital for animals; hospital for small
animals)
 ADJENCY PAIR
• Speakers know how language is used when people interact. If one
person asks a question or makes a remark, there are various
possible answers to the question or replies one might make to the
remark. Thus for the question in 8a some answers are suggested, of
which all but one might be appropriate. Similarly the statement in
8b is followed by several possible rejoinders, all but one of which
could be appropriate.
• 8a When did you last see my brother?
• Ten minutes ago. Last Tuesday. Very nice.
• Around noon. I think it was on the first of June.
• 8b There’s a great new comedy at the Oldtown Playhouse.
• So I’ve heard. What’s it called? When did it open?
• So do I. Are you sure it’s a comedy?
 ENTAILMENT
• Speakers are aware that two statements may
be related in such a way that if one is true, the
other must also be true.
• 9a There are tulips in the garden.
• 9b There are flowers in the garden.
• 9c The ladder is too short to reach the roof.
• 9d The ladder isn’t long enough to reach the
roof.
 PRESUPPOSES
• Speakers know that the message conveyed in one
sentence may presuppose other pieces of knowledge.
For instance, if 10a is accepted as true, 10b–10e must
also be accepted as true.
• 9a Andy Murfee usually drives his Datsun to work.
• 9b There is a person named Andy Murfee.
• 9c Andy Murfee works.
• 9d There is a Datsun that belongs to Andy Murfee.
• 9e Andy Murfee knows how to drive an automobile.
 NATURAL AND CONVENTIONAL
SIGNS
• A language is a complex system of symbols, or signs, that are shared
by members of a community. It will be useful to consider other
signs that we know and how we react to them
• A footprint is a natural sign. It is the natural result of a foot treading
on a soft surface, and it can communicate a message—that the
owner of the foot was recently there—to anyone who observes it.
We are all familiar with other natural signs. We see smoke and
know that there is a fire, or a fire has just gone out. A black cloud
informs us of the possibility of rain. Treetops moving tell us that the
wind is blowing. Our own bodies provide such signs as earaches and
hunger pangs. In other people we notice and interpret shivering,
perspiration, or a head nodding with drowsiness. All sorts of sights,
sounds and smells can be natural signs; they communicate to
someone who observes and can interpret but their messages are
unintentional, the by-products of various events.
• conventional signs have human senders as well as
human receivers; each one has an intention and
an interpretation. The message may be personal
as when a friend rings your telephone or quite
impersonal and general, like the warning siren on
a speeding ambulance. We can even use devices
like smoke detectors and burglar alarms to send
messages to ourselves at a later time, in
circumstances that we really do not want to
occur.
 LINGUISTICS SIGNS
• We can discuss individual linguistic signs—
words—but since we are interested in language
use, and words are not ordinarily used alone, we
should direct our attention to whole utterances
and how we perceive, identify and interpret
them.
• “I’ll let you know the answer (pause)
• as soon as I get the information (pause)
• from a friend of mine (pause)
• who lives in Winchester.”
UTTERANCE AND SENTENCE
 CONTEXT MEANING
• The meaning of any language symbol depends to an
extent on the context in which it occurs. Here are two
‘narratives’ that are rather vague because a lot of
details are missing, but in each group the mere
collocation of the words that are here tells a sort of
story.
•
– …pain…clinic…doctor…examine…surgery…
hospital…nurses…preparation…surgeon…successful
operation…quick recovery
• …rocket…preparation…countdown…blastoff…
orbit…splashdown…quick recovery…successful
operation
 PROSODY
• We enclose spoken utterances in double quotation marks to
distinguish them from sentences, which we print in italics. However,
a spoken utterance consists of more than words. In speech
meanings are communicated not merely by what is said but also by
the way it is said. Read these four brief dialogues.
• A: Has the Winston Street bus come yet?
• B: Sorry. I didn’t understand. What did you say?
• C: I’m afraid Fred didn’t like the remark I made.
• D: Oh? What did you say?
• E: Some of my partners said they wouldn’t accept these terms.
• F: And you? What did you say?
• G: You’re misquoting me. I didn’t say anything like that.
• H: Oh? What did you say?
 THE ROLE OF ACCENT
• If the utterance is broken into two or more
sense groups, each group has its own accent.
The last accent is ordinarily the most
prominent of all because the pitch changes on
that syllable.
• My COUsin is an ARchitect.
• My cousin EDWard, who lives in FULton, is an
ARchitect.
 NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
• Consider first the standardized noises we make, which are written
this way (not very accurately):
• ps-st sh-sh huh? unh-huh m-m-m b-r-r tsk-tsk
•
• These count as signs. On the whole they are known to all (or at
least large portions) of a language community and indeed may be
used by speakers of several different languages. In general, the
maker of the sign and those who hear it attach the same meaning
to that sign; communication occurs. These seven audible signs
indicate, respectively, a request for attention; a call for silence; a
request for repetition or clarification; a signal of agreement; an
expression of pleasure or enjoyment; an indication of coldness; and
an expression of shame or shock.
 GESTURES
– The index finger of one hand points at someone and the hand is moved up and down three or
four times with deliberate motion (‘shaking a finger at someone’).
– The fist, with knuckles down, moves up and down in short movements knocking on something
or as if knocking on something (‘knocking on wood’).
– Shoulders are moved upward and down again, possibly repeated (‘shrugging shoulders’).
– Hands are clasped across each other, palm against palm, and forearms move back and forth;
this gesture can be executed in front of oneself or over one’s head (‘shaking hands with
oneself’).
– Hand is held on the stomach, palm inward, and the hand makes a circular movement.
– The tongue moves back and forth over the lips (‘licking one’s lips’).
– The palm of one hand is brought up and slaps smartly against the forehead.
– The hand, slightly cupped, is pulled across the forehead as if wiping something away,
– The index finger is pulled across the throat; the gesture may be accompanied by a noise that is
made with movement of air (and saliva) on one side of the mouth while the lips are slightly
open on that side.
 HOMONY AND POLYSEMY
• Examine the different occurrences of the verb
ask in the following sentences:
• Fred asked Betty where his golf clubs were.
• Fred asked Donna if she had seen his clubs.
• Fred asked Charles to help him find his clubs.
 LEXICAL AMBIGUITY
• Ambiguity occurs also because a longer linguistic
form has a literal sense and a figurative sense.
• 9 There’s a skeleton in our closet.
•
• Skeleton in the closet can mean ‘an unfortunate
event that is kept a family secret.’ With this
meaning skeleton in the closet is a single lexeme;
with its ‘literal’ meaning it is a phrase composed
of several lexemes.