The Term Semantics and Meaning

8/13/2019 The Term Semantics and Meaning

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c. The Terms Semantics and Meaning1. S e m a n t i c ~ philosophy: divination

2. The tenn 'semantics' was recognized in~ n

a paper wasread to an American Philosophical Association entitled "ReflectedM e a n i n g ~ ;

jLP.-Qint in semantics".3. ~ t i ~ s a term w h i c h ~ o e ~ ~ t only refer to meaning, but

also to its d e v e l o p m e n t o . ~ ~ ~ r i c a l s e m a n t i ~ s ) .

4. In 1900 there appeared r e a r s ~ b o o k , . . i n which the tenn semanticswas used to refer to the studies in the science of meaning.

5. In 1923, the term semantics was used in a book "The meJIDing of

-meaning" by C.K. Odgen and I A Richards.6. The term semantics was also used in the book ' T h e Problems

\1 - - - - ~ _ ~ - - - - - - ~ - _ .

Meaning in Primitive I languages. by Branislow Malinowski... -7. Other terms, used to refer the notion of semantics are: ~ ~

a. Signifies in "1)le shape of things to come" by HG Wells. ~ ~ {

b. Wider and narrower senses: ~ s i o l o g x , ~ ~ m o J _ o ~ ys ~ ~ ~ ~ /

sememics, and semics_ -8. The terms 'semantic' and 'semantics' in popular language,

.especially in newspapers.

D. Further conception of semantics

emantics can be defined s the study meaning in a l a n g u a g ~ ~ , ' T h e

subject of semantics is very old, reaching back to the writings ofPlato

and Aristotle. It attracts the special interest of philosophers, logicians,and linguists. The linguistic approach of semantics aims at studying theproperties meaning in a systematic and objective way, with referenceto as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible.


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E. Three conceptions of meaning

There are three different conceptions meaning, namely:V < ~ ~

3 . o r d s ~ThingsA popular view about meaning is that words name or refer tothings. ut there are large numbers o f words where it is not

possible to see what thing the word' r ~ f e r s to, such as ask find;difficult popular; consistency or tradition. The majority o f wordsseem unable to be related to things in any clear way.

b. Words ---- Concepts ---- Thingst should be-realized that words are not directly linked to things.

The relationship between words and things can be made onlythrough the use o f our mind. word has an associatedconcept. The formulation of this position is h e ~ m i o t i c triangR:>of Ogden and Richards: . -

Thought

ymbol Referent

The drawbacks/weaknesses of this conception:a. There is difficulty o f identifying concept.b. The concept underlying a word is not easier to define than the

thing referred to by the word itself, such as in relation to theword tradition.

c. There is a possibility that people might have different concepto f the same thing.


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I \ ~ \ M A r v ~\\t Ir\ \ U \ w M Lo 'lV>{ K \W, '< o U ~ W\ 'n'c. Stimuli ---- Words ---- Responses

Leonard Bloomfield expounded a behaviorist view of meaning in

his book "Language" (1933), in which it is stated that somethingcan be deduced solely from a study o f the situation in whichspeech is used. There is a stimulus (s) that leads someone to speak(r), and there is the response (R) that results from this speech (s).He draws this conception as follows:S r s .. R

F. odern Semanticsa. I t is now widely held that meaning is not some kind o f entity

se'parate from language.b. In modem linguistics, meaning is studied by making detailed

analysis of the way words and sentences are used in specificcontexts. This is to say that the meaning of a word is its use in thelanguage.

In order to have better understanding about the concept o f modemsemantics, the e ~ e ~ eto be differentiated.Sense and Reference

..... ,

Semantics is not directly concerned with the study o f the external'world or its conceptualization. The world o f non-linguistic experienceis the province o f physicists, geographers, psychologists, and others.Semantics is not easily-able to cope with the study of how language

refers to this external world, that is, the notion of reference.The primary focus of the modern semantics is on the way peoplerelate words to each other within the framework o f their language,that is, on their sense ra ther than on their reference.

Examples: ~ o t h r s and fathers have brothers and sisters.

.


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The neat scientific classification of fauna and flora:

Hill - mountain cup - glass, stream - river.

Explaining a word's meaning is a matter of explaining: a) thereference of the word and; b) the sense of the word', usiri'g-a-io{iihdefinition (Acnair is s e a t ~ t h f u r l e g ~ and oneha'ck). - . _d __ __

Semantics is the technical term used to refer to the study of meaning.So, senlantics has something to do with meaning.

Linguistics semantics is the study of the systematic ways, n whichlanguages structure meaning, especially in words and sentences. Theconcept of linguistics semantics can be fully understood by referringto the various meanings of the word 'meaning'.Many everydaynotions of 'semantics ' can be realized through the examination of theuse of the word 'mean' and 'meaning' in many different contexts andfor different purposes.

G.What is meaning?

Linguists give different interpretation to the word 'meaning'. 1tshould be noted that the purpose of linguistics is to explain preciselyhow languages are structured and used. This can be illustrated bydistinguishing different ways of interpreting the word 'meaning'.

The following sentences must be considered in order to develop the

precise way of talking about meaning:

1 I went to the shop this morning.2. All dogs are animals.3. You are too young to drink.-.... :; -

You are not old enough to drink.

...


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4. Jack spent several years in northern Tibet.Jack was once in northern Tibet.

5. The unmarried woman is married to a bachelor.6. My toothbrush is pregnant.7. I saw her slip. V t s i n n g ; r r e J a t i v e ~ ~ [ f u ~ ~ j ~ . f i m s a n c e - . -8. She ate the pie.

The truth of sentence 1 depends on whether the speaker is . g thetnith. In sentence 2, such tn1 0 0 cur. e truth in sentence 2has solely to do with the meanmgs of the words dogs and animals.

From the ways how meanings are expressed in the examples above, itcan be said that. meaning is . a c t u a l l Y I ~ m ~ e t e~ n o h ~ Thefollowing are the concepts of multifaceted notion:

J)A senteEce }s ~ e a n i n g ~ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ ~ ~ . i t ~ ~ ~ _ e . . ~ _ ~ . ~ ~ ~ . ~ ? 2 1 Y . 2 - ~ l d

o o e c s ; n i : ~ ~ ~ ~ s = ~ ~ ~ s - ~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ; because theymeanexactly the same thing or because one implies the other.

Q When we feel that there is something wrong with the meaning o fthe sentence, it may be because the sentence is contradicto!y,

(, . -

anomalous, ambiguous, or merely vague.( ~ ~ _OM.

H. The notion of the noun ~ m e a n i n gand the verb to mean

1. What is the ~ i n ~ o f 'sesquipedalian'? SlOtA f c r , : A ~ . I ~ ~ ~ ) D \ f ~ / ) \ ' \ ~

. 2. I did not mean to hurt you. ~ - v . . J . 3. He never says what

he \ . ~ A J j

4. She rarely means what she says. t v ~ i v i

5. Life without faith has no meaning-: \ l C l ~ ~ \ . l .

6. What do you by the word 'concep! '?7. He J : l e a n ~ well but he s rather l ~ s y~ . Fame and riches mean D t ~ g t D t h e t r u escholars. ' 1 ~ ' > \ ~ ~ ' Y ' ~ , , : > , , \ o , l i \ c }


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9. Dark clouds mean rain. \ V c \ _ t \ c ~ e

10. t was John I ~ e a n t not Harry. J t ~ r i l \ 1 e

Referring to the uses of the word meaning and to mean in the examplesabove, the meaning of words in this case can be realized throughsubstitution. The meanings of words can be of two kinds:\

:;J Literal meaning: Denotative~ i g u r a t i v e meaning: Connotative

Non-literal meanings of words can be identified through such features

as: the use of intonation.The examples below further illustrate the conception of meaning.

1. John e n ~to write. (intends)2. A green light meanl) go. (indicates)3. Health everything. (has importance4. His book was full of e n ~ ~ g(special importance)5. What is the meaning of life. (point/purpose)6. What does 'capitalist' mean to you? (convey)... .....---.7. What does cornea mean? (refer to in the world)-

The last kind ()f use comes closest to the focus of linguistics semantics.This is a special kind of enquiry. The question asks for a definition,which is somewhat unusual fonn o f reply, found more in dictionariesthan in every day speech that involves the translation of the difficultwords into easier ones.

The jmportant part ~ f s e J n a J H l ~ r a. The study of the properties of definitionsb. The study of the way in which words and sentences convey

meaning in the everyday situations of speech and writing.


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1 Descriptive Social and Affective Meanings

There are three types of me ning which are derived from three majorfunctions of language, namely:

a. ~ e s c r i p t i v e meaning_This is the type of meaning derived from the function of languageto jescri e t s ~ n d states of affairs. This meaning isthe same as Denotation and S e n s e : - - - - - - -

r. Social meaningThis is the type of meaning which is derived from the function of

language as a m e . ~ ~ ~ o f c o m m ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 . 9 . f l l 1 . : . - ~ 2 ~ . ~ . - ~ c t Y . i e s . There- ..-...... . . _ _ -....... A ~ . are a number of factors determining the social meaning of alanguage, such as: social class, gender, context, ethnicity, age, and

. . - . _ ~ ... _ . . . . ... -........ u...

regional origin. --_.---- - - . . . . . . . . _ - ~ _ -.--- - ...... _ - ~ . ~ ~

c. Affective meaning~ i s the type of meaning which is used to convey the language

user's feelings, attitudes, and o p t i o n ~ a b o u t a p a r t i c u l a r piece of~ f ~ ~ ; ; - i o p - o ra b o ~ i t l i eo n g o i n g - c ~ ~ t e x t .

. . _ . . . . . 1 y ~ , _ h ' ~ _ ' . ' ... ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~-- - ~

I t should be remembered that social and affective meanings can beclassified as connotation.


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J. TWO MISLEADING APPROACHES TO SEMANTICS

There are two misleading approaches to semantics, that is:

a. Meaning is the same as Reference.b. Meaning is the same as Image.

Both o the approaches focus on the meaning o words. However, theydo not deal adequately with this aspecto meaning.

a. Meaning Reference ~ e { e r ~ t l c ~ E : ~ e t > ~ ~ l"\')e.ct1'\Il\..9J

- The meaning o a word = the word's referent.

- Words are names for things.Nouns re the names o persons, places, or things. Verbs are thenames o states or actions. Adjectives are the names o propertiesor qualities.

- The reference theory is most plausible when applied to simpleconcrete nouns. This theory is not applicable when dealing with:a. Words having no real referents. There are many words having

referents: elf, unicorn, Gordon, Zeusb. Abstract Nouns: truth, beauty, love.c. Words having referents do not always have them:

Jerry shot a tiger - Jerry hunted a tiger.b. Meaning Image Image Theory)

Image theory : The meaning is an image o the thing.

Reference theory: The meaning is the thing the word names.

Problems: Having difficulties in dealing wit abstractions.


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The problems of meaning

There is an approach to semantics by kT "old atz (1972), in which it issaid that certain questions can be given simple answers but others donot. This means that there are two different analogies.

What is an ecdysiast? A strip-teaser.

What is an electron? Various concepts n physics like atom,charge, and proton need to be introduced in order to understand themeaning of electron. Other questions which cmIDot be answered in

simple \'\;ays are: What is meaning?What is a paraphrase?

What is semantic similarity?

K. Word Meaning and Sentence Meaning

. Word meaningThe meaning of a sentence is built from the meanings of its parts. Themeaning of the word tiger , for example, is neither a tiger nor an imageo f a tiger. The meaning of a word is actually a concept, which is atheoretical tertilOr a theoretical entity. The concept here is in the form ofa nlle-f concept related to other concept and actions carried out bypeople having the concepts. So, a concept is a theoretical term, having a

........

rzf .e o f concept and relations o/conceptA concept can be identified as a rule specifying that something is. The

rule of concept here can be in the form of semantic features, by whichthe meaning of lexical items was largely stated. The concepts that sharea large number of features are closely related. Aunt, sister, and actressshare the same semantic feature of all being female.


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This illustration indicates that there are two things that we require inorder to understand a concept, namely:

a. A rule for specifying what counts as an instance of concept.h. The relations between that concept and others.

L Semantic features/properties

Our knowledge of a language includes morphemes nd meaning Thehead of every human being can be considered as being similar to adictionary, contaming words and their meanings. Therefore, the head ofevery human being is frequently referred to as walking dictionary.

Consider the following sentence:

The assassin w s stopped before he got to Thwackle hurst.

The underlined word in the sentence bears the following semanticfeatures/properties: - some person; -not animal; -human; -murderer; - akiller.

The feature of being female is shared by the words: bitch, doe, hen, ewe,mare, and vixen. The property of being human is shared by the words:actress, debutante, girl, maiden, widow, and woman.

n relation to semantic properties, it can be said that:

a. The meaning of a word is then specified in part by a set ofsemantic properties. The meaning of the word 'girl', for example,refers to such features as human being, young, female.

b. e know the meaning of a word without knowing the situation n

which the word is used.c. It should, however, be realized that the context of utterance

determines the meaning of a word.


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M. Sentence meaning

There re two things that determine the meaning of sentences:

a. The meanings of the words used to makeup the sentences.b. 'f!1e' organization of those words (Syntactic structure). This is

related to the universal feature of languages that says language as adual structure of patterning.

SOUNDS -E--< 7 MEANINGPhonological System Semantic System

(External representation) (Internal representation)

SYNTACTIC SYST M

Syntax and Sentence Meaning

t should be realized that the organization among words creates sentence meaning. However, syntax and semantics re not always in perfect agreement. This means that the syntactic aspects of a sentence are not necessarily a reliable indicator of its meaning. The syntactic concepts ofsingul r and plural do not constitute the sem ntic distinction between those concepts.

Example: The words whe t and o ts both refer to collections of objects. So, they are semantically plural. But, they occur in different syntactic structure:

a. The wheat is almost ready to harvest.b. The oats are almost ready to harvest.


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These two examples illustrate that syntactic number does not always reflect semantic number.

The syntactic structure

Red Squares means red and squareLarge Fleas does not absolutely mean large and fleas. Note that a large flea s smaller than a small elephant. A small elephant is bigger than a large flea.

From the examples above, it can be formulated that the syntactic

organization of a sentence is an important deteITIliner of the sentence meaning. However, each syntactic structure does not always contribute to meaning in a uniform way.

Propositions, Entailments, and Truth Conditions

Every sentence has a meaning, which is considered as the internalrepresentation of a sentence, and is detennined by the particular wordsused and their syntactic structure. The internal representation of asentence is identified in terms of propositions. A proposition can bedefined as the basic meaning that asentence expresses. A proposition isconcerned with the relationship of a sentence's concepts (concept relationship).A proposition consists of:

a. Something which is named or talked about (known s argument orentity).

b. n assertion or predication which is made about the argument.I t is quite possible that a sentence may express or imply more than oneproposition:

John 's friend Tony who is a dentist likes apples.The underlying propositions of the sentence above are:

- John has afriend- The friend's name is Tony


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- Tony is a dentist- Tony likes apples.

So sentences are internally represented ps propositions, which are moreabstract than the sentences themselves. There are two furtherobservations about sentence meaning:

a. The meaning o f a sentence is related to its entailments.b The meaning o f a sentence is related to its truth conditions

s previously stated, a proposition expresses the relationship existingamong a sentence's concepts (concepts and their relationship). Therelationships among the concepts in a sentence are usually expressed byverbs. I t is quite likely that the same proposition can be expressed indifferent sentences. The following sentences illustrate this point.

Chuck gave Helen a microwave oven.Helen was given a microwave oven by Chuck.It was a microwave oven that Cuck gave Helen.Chuck gave a microwave oven to Helen.A microwave oven was given to elen y Chuck.

N Connotation and Denotation

Denotation is the type o f meaning which is described in tenus o f a seto f semantic properties serving to identify the particular conceptassociated with the word in question.

Connotation is the meaning that conveys affective or evaluativeassociations. Connotations arise as words become associated with thecharacteristics o f the item to which i t refers. Connotations are related tothe real world experience.

Examples:


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- Woman is given attributes, such as frailty, inconsistency, andirrational.

- Words referring to socially distasteful subject, like: privy, we,lavatory, toilet, powder room, 100, and so on.

- The word 'intercourse' meaning dealings/communication isfrequently associated with sexual intercourse.

- The word 'cheap' meaning inexpensive is often associated with theconnotation of shoddinesslbad quality.

- Consider the different meanings of the following words:

Thrifty = berheInatTight = kikirStingy = kikir/pelit

O Euphemism

E,uphemism is word or a phrase that can be used to replace a taboo

word. In other words, euphemism is a word used in the attempt to avoideiilier fearful or unpleasant subjects.

Examples:

1 Death is something feared. Therefore the use of the word ' d ie isreplaced by pass on/pass away.

2. There are metaphors referring to 'urinations'.- l2rain the dragon

- Syphon the python- Shake hands with the wife's best friend.- Point Percy at the porcelain.3. Expressions used to refer to the sexual intercourse:- Dip the wick.- Hide the ferret.

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- Slip a length.- Go like a rat up a drainpipe.

4. Racist connotation: dago, chink, nip, booing.5. The words morticians/undertakers are replaced with funeral

directors.

P Ambiguity

t should be realized that knowing a word means knowing its sounds andmeanings. Both sounds and meanings are important because the sounds of a word can mean different things. It can be seen from the....terms homonyms/homophones

Homonyms/homophones refer to different words having the samepronunciation, but different meanings.

- To, too, two tuJ

- Will (the last will), will (a person s name), will (futurity).

:f?:omonyms may create ambiguity. word is said tobe ambiguous i f itcan be understood or interpreted in more than one way.

Examples:

The sentence She cannot bear children' can be interpreted In twodifferent ways:

Unable to give birthto children

- Unable to tolerate children There are two kinds of ambiguity: Lexical ambiguity and Grammaticalambiguity.

Lexical ambiguity:

a. The girl found abook on Wynyard Station.


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b. He lectured on semantics.c. He lectured on Wynyard Station.

S. .uctural ambiguity/structurally ambiguous sentences

a. I know a man with a dog who has fleas.b. The hated the shooting of the huntersc. The horse is ready to ride.d. The English history teacher is hav.ing her tea.e. The shooting of the hunters occurred at dawn.f Visiting relatives can be nuisance.g. Flying planes can be dangerous.

Q.Metaphor

t is a fact that sentences c n have two ifferent meanings namely:literal meaning and non-literal meaning. Literal meaning refers to thenormal semantic properties of the words. Non-literal meaning which iscommonly referred to as metaphorical meaning refers to the semanticproperties that are inferred or that provide some kind of resemblance.

Examples:

a. Dr. John is a butcher. t\h dOC1bf ~ t e ftl\\s do 8 W ' l Q ~

b. John is a snake in the grass. o.\- t J S ( \ ~ q - \ ~ \

c. My new car is a lemon. t{ 0 he r \\ \k o r ~ o l ~ eff

R. Paraphrases - = I N . e t l ~ \ 1 t \ 0 \ : 0 I ~ ~ V l t ( \ a \ : V l C I ~ C 1 ~ c t ~ cleheFM G \ \ l ~ } C \ Y 1 ~ ~ e v p e d

In order to have better understanding about the concept of paraphrasethe contrast between homonyms and synonyms need to be considered.


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Homonyms are different words having the same spellings, but differentsounds and meaning.

@ n o n y m i ~ r e words having different spellings and sounds, but the same l l meaning. t should be noted that there are no perfect synonyms - thereare not two words exactly having the same meanings. Sentences havingsimilar meanings are:

- I ll be happy to come!I'll be glad to come. - He s sitting on the lounge/He's sitting on the couch.

The words lounge and couch share most of their semantic properties.

The words boy nd m n have semantic features in common but they arenotsynonymous.

Polysemy

A polysemous word is word expressingseveral meanings.

The words m ture and ripe are synonymous, but they respectively usedfor animals and fruit. The wordsdeep and profound are synonymous, butdeep is used for water, andprofound is used for thought. If there aresynonyms in identical sentences, the sentences constitute paraphrases, n

the sense that they convey the same meanings. t should be kept in mindthat the use of synonyms will create lexical paraphrase, while the use ofhomonyms will create lexical anlbiguity. r ~ ~ S O ~ \ A;hV\ ac> .

J \ f f e < r ~ ~ . . . . , a . j ~ e f f r e ~ ~ t ~ -Ittltte. ~ ~ Sentences are referred to h m ~ c u s eof structural differenceswhich are not essential to t eir meanings. The following examplesi l l ~ s t r a t e this point.

a. I haniled a turtle that was namedMax to Cecil. I handed toCecil a turtle whichwas named Max.


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The Term Semantics and Meaning