semantics & pragmatics

Carlin 1997 From the above examples, Yule 2006:100 gives the following definition ofSemantics: “Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences.. Linguistic semanti

Nha Trang University Faculty of Foreign Languages

SEMANTICS & PRAGMATICS

Compiled by Pham Thi Kim Uyen, MA in TESOL

Nha Trang, Jannuary 2012.

COURSE OUTLINE

Units of credit 2 (30 periods)

Prerequisites Grammar, Phonology, Morphology,

Syntax Suggested self- study 90 periods

Contact detail kim_uyen_pham@yahoo.com.vn

cell phone: 0918 599 505

Textbooks:

1 Yule, G (2006) The Study of Language Cambridge University Press.

3 Fromkin, V.; Rodman, R.;Collins, P and Blair, D (1999) An Introduction to

Language Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.

4 Pham Thi Kim Uyen (compiled) Semantics and Pragmatics Nha TrangUniversity

1 Course introduction and meanings of

2 Semantic features and semantic roles (Textbook 1,2 )

5 Homophones, homonymy and polysemy (Textbook 1)

6 Word play, metonymy and collocation (Textbook 1)

7 Ambiguity, paraphrases and entailment (Textbook 1, 2)

9 Invisible meaning, context, deixis (Textbook 1)

2. Recognize what speakers mean by their utterances.

3. Explore a wide range of questions related to semantics and

pragmatics

Assessment for all students

- Final test : 50%

- Mid-term test: 50%, including:

Class attendance: 5% (> 3 absences: FAIL)

In- class exercises: 15%

Group presentation: 30%

Guidelines for group presentation

1 A group of 5 students formed randomly will be working together and each

student will be given an individual mark by the teacher, the other members andthe other groups

2 Each group will present the contents given, including explaining definitions

and giving illustrated examples All kinds of other activities that help the classhave better understanding of the lessons are encouraged

3 The presentation is limited around 10 minutes Any presentation that exceeds

or falls short of the time allowed will be deducted by 10% of the total mark

4 Copying all information from the textbooks mentioned above is

prohibited A penalty of 5% will be applied to any violence.

5 The presentation slides must be submitted by the due date of presentation

or one day later Overdue ones will be given a penalty of 10% for each late

week NO exceptions will be entertained.

The words Fire Department make it sound like they’re the ones who are starting

fires, doesn’t it? It should be called the “Extinguishing Department” We don’t callthe police the “Crime Department” Also, the “Bomb Squad” sounds like a

terrorist gang The same is true of wrinkle cream Doesn’t it sound like it causes wrinkles? And why would a doctor prescribe pain pills? I already have pain! I

need relief pills!

Carlin (1997)

From the above examples, Yule (2006:100) gives the following definition ofSemantics: “Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases and

sentences Linguistic semantics deals with the conventional meaning conveyed by

the use of words, phrases and sentences of a language.”

* Conceptual and associative meaning

According to Yule (2006:100), “Conceptual meaning covers those basic, essentialcomponents of meaning that are conveyed by the literal use of a word However,different people might have different associations or connotations attached to aword.”

Ex: The basic components of a word like “woman” might include “adult, femalehuman being” However, different people might have different associations to theword like “sweet”, ‘attractive” or “talkative” or “inferior”

Fromkin, Rodman, Collins & Blair (1997: 205) use other terms: denotation andconnotation Denotative meaning “is the type of meaning which may be described

in terms of a set of semantic properties which serve to identify the particularconcept associated with the word in question.” Connotation appears when a word

“may convey certain affective or evaluative associations.”

* Semantic features

Semantic features are "the smallest units of meaning in a word." (Richards et al,1987: 254) Yule (2006) finds out some basic elements like [ +animate], [ +human], [ [+female], [ +adult] which are helpful in differentiating the meaning of each word in alanguage from others

Ex: The noun father may have the following semantic features: [+human],

[+male], [+mature], and [+paternal]

Theme is the entity that is involved in or affected by the action The theme can

also be an entity that is simply being described

Ex: The boy kicked the ball

The room is clean

theme

If the agent uses another entity in order to perform an action, that other entity fills

the role of the instrument.

Ex: He opened the door with the pin

instrumentWhen a noun phrase is used to designate the entity as the person who has the

feeling, perception or state, it fills the semantic role of experiencer.

Ex: She enjoyed the party

experiencer

Where an entity is fills the role of location.

Where the entity moves from is the source and where it moves to is the goal.

Ex: She saw a cow in the yard

Synonyms: Two or more words with very closely related meanings.

Ex: big / large

broad / wide

buy / purchase

We should notice that there are many occasions in which one word cannot be

replaced by another although they are synonymous For example, the word center sounds normal in We live in the city center, but middle doesn’t fit in this sentence.

Antonymy

Antonyms: Two forms with opposite meanings.

Ex: fast / slow

true / false

There are three main types of antonyms: gradable antonyms, non-gradableantonyms and reversives

Gradable (opposites along a scale) antonyms can be used in comparative

constructions (Ex: I’m taller than her) In addition, the negative of one member of

a gradable pair does not necessarily imply the other (Ex: not big doesn’t mean

small).

Non-gradable antonyms (complementary pairs): Comparative constructions are

not normally used here, but the negative test is (Ex: not alive means dead, true means not false)

Reversives: Antonyms of this type is found by ‘doing the reverse’ (Ex: unpack can be understood as the opposite of pack, it doesn’t mean not pack).

Hyponymy: When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another.

animal

In this hierarchical diagram, the meaning of insect is included in the meaning of

ant, so ant is the hyponym of insect Similarly, snake is the hyponym of reptile In

these two examples, insect and reptile are called the superordinate (=higher level)

terms

Two or more words that share the same superordinate terms are co-hyponyms For

example, ant and bee are co-hyponyms and their superordinate term is insect.

Prototypes: The idea of “the characteristic instance” of a category

Ex: robin is the prototype of bird

chair is the prototype of furniture

The categorization process involved in prototypes can be different in different

contexts For instance, most Vietnamese people would recognize the word lotus as the prototype of the category flower but those in the other countries might

disagree

Homophones: When two or more different (written) forms have the same

pronunciation, they are described as homophones

Homonymy: The term homonyms is used when one form (written or spoken) has

two or more unrelated meanings

Ex: bank: (of a river) / (financial institution)

pupil: (at school) / (in the eye)

Polysemy: Two or more words have the same form and related meanings.

Ex: head (the object on the top of one’s body,

on top of a glass of beer,person at the top of a company)

A dictionary can help if we are not sure one word is an example of homonymy orpolysemy Yule (2006) suggests that if the word has a numbered list of differentmeanings within a single entry, it’s polysemous If two words are treated ashomonyms, they will be categorized in two entries

Word play is usually used for humorous effect Homophones, homonymy and

polysemy do contribute to a lot of word play

Ex: Why is 6 afraid of 7?

Because 789 (use of homophones)

Metonymy: Using one word to refer to the other thanks to the close connection

between these words

Ex: She is boiling a kettle (kettle -> water in the kettle)

They need a roof for a month (roof-> house)

Collocation: Words frequently occur together.

Ex: wear make-up

“A sentence which is ambiguous because its words relate to each other in differentways, even though none of the individual words are ambiguous, is structurally (orgrammatically) ambiguous.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1997)

* Paraphrase

Sentences are paraphrases if they have the same meaning (except possibly forminor differences in emphases).” (Fromkin, Rodman, Collins & Blair, 1997:209)

There are some ways to paraphrase a sentence:

- Change individual words

- Change the sentence structure

- Change both individual words and the sentence structure

two-We should keep in mind that:

- Hyponymic relations between words result in a great number of one-wayentailment

- Paraphrases are two-way entailments

- Relational antonyms do contribute to two-way entailments

SEMANTIC EXERCISES1A Characterize conceptual and associative meanings of these words: child,woman, fox, slender

1B How do the following words in each pair differ in connotation?

politician, statesman cautious, timidlawyer, shyster inquisitive, noseybargain, haggle sensitive, touchyviolin, fiddle

1C It might seem that any name would be appropriate as a label for a commercialproduct as long as it is easy to remember

However, companies with products to sell make great expenditures of time, talentand money to select brand names which will project the preferred ‘image’ for cars,

cosmetics, detergents et al., but names are often chosen for their connotation

rather than for what they denote Why is Caterpillar a good name for an moving tractor but not for a sports car? How would you rank the following aspossible names for a sports car?

earth-Butterfly Cheetah Dolphin Owl Rattler XL4

Would you care to suggest others?

Give an example of a possible name for a men’s cologne (which of course is nevercalled perfume) and an example of a name which is very unlikely

2A For each group of words given below, state what semantic features are shared by the (a) words and the (b) words, and what semantic features distinguish

between the classes of (a) words and (b) words

1 (a) widow, mother, sister, aunt, seamstress

(b) widower, father, brother, uncle, tailor

The (a) and (b) words are

The (a) words are

The (b) words are

2 (a) bachelor, man, son, paperboy, pope, chief

(b) bull, rooster, drake, ram

3 (a) table, pencil, cup, house, ship, car

(b) milk, tea, wine, beer, water, soft drink

4 (a) book, temple, mountain, road, tractor

(b) idea, love, charity, sincerity, bravery, fear

5 (a) rose, lily, tulip, daisy, sunflower, violet

(b) ash (tần bì), oak (sồ i), sycamore (sung dâu), willow (liễu), beech (sồi)(c) pine (thông), cedar (tuyết tùng), jew (thuỷ tùng), spruce (vân sam),cypress (bách)

6 (a) ask, tell, say, talk, converse

(b) shout, whisper, mutter, drawl, holler

7 (a) lobster, shrimp, crab, oyster, mussel

(b) trout, sole, herring, salmon, tunny, mackerel

2B Identify the semantic features of each of the following words

2D Explain the contradiction of each of the following sentences

1 Christopher is killing phonemes

2 The tiger remained alive for an hour after the hunter killed it

3 My brother is a spinster

4 The boy swallowed the chocolate and then chewed it

5 Babies can lift one ton

6 Puppies are human

7 My unmarried sister is married to a bachelor

8 The bigger key and John opened the door

9 James sliced the ideas

10 Jack’s courage chewed the bones

3A The following sentences consist of a verb, its noun phrase subject, and various

objects Identify the semantic relation of each noun phrase by writing the letter a,

p, l, i, s or g above the noun, standing for agent, patient, location, instrument, source, or goal.

1 The boy took the books from the cupboard with a handcart

2 Mary found a ball in the house

3 The children ran from the playground to the wading pool

4 One of the men unlocked all the doors with a paper clip

5 John melted the ice with a blowtorch

6 The sun melted the ice

7 The ice melted

8 Broken ice still melts in the sun

9 The farmer’s daughter loaded hay onto the truck

10 The farmer’s daughter loaded the hay with a pitchfork

11 The hay was loaded onto the truck by the farmer

3B It is often the case that the subject of the sentence has the semantic role of

agent, as can be seen in the previous exercise With verbs like receive, however,

the subject is not the agent Think of five other verbs in which the subject isclearly not the agent Can you identify the actual semantic role of the subject in

your examples? For instance, we would surmise that the subject of receive has the

semantic role of goal

3C Identify the semantic role of each noun phrase in the sentences below

1 In October, I gazed from the wooden bridge into the small river behind ourcollege

2 I have forgotten everything that I learned in grade school

3 The Grand Tetons tower majestically over the valley

4 The snow completely buried my car during the last storm

5 Fifty kilos of cocaine were seized by the DEA

6 Lou was awarded one thousand dollars’ worth of travel

7 The hurricane destroyed the island

8 Their ingenuity never ceases to amaze me

4A The following pairs of words are synonymous, but they do not share all theirsenses For each pair, (a) give a sentence in which the two can be usedinterchangeably, (b) give another sentence in which only one of them can be used

effect created where they share a context You may also want to say which is ofOld English origin and which came from French.

ache, pain error, mistake

altitude, height force, strength

center, middle labor, work

cord, string pace, step

dale, valley sight, vision

In the phrase a funny story we can replace funny with the synonymous adjective

humorous In a funny feeling a better synonym for funny is peculiar, but humorous

and peculiar are not synonymous with each other Each predicate below is

illustrated in several contexts Give a synonym for each context and test to seewhether a single term can be synonymous in more than one of the contexts

a clear sky, a clear stream, a clear speech

a wild party, wild geese, wild rice

5A Are the following pairs of words complementary antonyms?

2 same / different Yes / No

5 married / unmarried Yes / No

5B Are the following pairs of words relational antonyms?

3 conceal / reveal Yes / No

4 grandparent/ grandchild Yes / No

5 greater than/ less than Yes / No

5C Identify the continuous scale of values between the two given words

5D There are several kinds of antonymy By writing a c, g or r beside each pair,

indicate whether the pairs in columns A and B are complementary, gradable, orrelational opposites:

hot, colddeep, shallowlegal, illegalrich, poorfast, slowrude, polite

5G Give an antonym for the adjective in each of the following collocations:

a light package

a light color

a tall buildinglow priceslow heels

a sweet apple

sweet tea

a strong bodystrong feelings

What is the antonym of raw in the following?

raw fruit, raw materials, raw weather

6A Identify the difference between a hypernym and a hyponym Then draw achart to show the relationship between

1 animal and foal

2 fowl and rooster

3 animal and child

4 plant and coconut

5 plant and rose

6 vocal organ and tongue tip

7 vehicle and convertible

8 locomote and amble

9 head and eyelash

6B Provide three hyponyms for each of the following terms: insect, clergyman,sport, walk, talk

6C Identify a superordinate (included term) for each of the following sets

1 physics, biology, botany

2 chancellor, dean, chairman

3 aunt, grandmother, cousin, nephew

4 coffee, tea, milk

6D Rearrange the following set of terms from the most general (the highestsuperordinate) to most specific (the lowest hyponym)

1 animal, feline, lynx, mammal, vertebrate

2 rectangle, quadrilateral, polygon, parallelogram, square

7A What parts does a prototype shoe have? Do those parts have parts?

7B The extension of bird includes robins, eagles, hawks, parrots, ducks, geese, ostriches and penguins What is the intension? What do all the referents of bird

have in common and which is not shared by non-birds? Which of these—robins,eagles, etc.— seem to you to be closer to a prototype and which farther away?Will all speakers of English agree about this?

Distinctions that we take for granted often turn out to have fuzzy boundaries when

we try to explain the difference We might say, for example, that the differencebetween a tree and a bush is a matter of size, but a tall bush can be bigger than atree, and in any case a bonsai tree and a sapling are smaller than any bushes

8 Find the homophone for each of these words:

1 altar

9. Dictionaries have a single entry for the common noun needle but list various

‘meanings,’ including the eleven below Is this a single lexeme? If you think itshould be considered as more than one lexeme, how would you divide? (Don’t beinfluenced by the order in which the definitions appear here.)

1 the thin, short, pointed leaf of some trees, such as the pine and spruce

2 a pointed instrument, usually metal, with a sharp point and an eye throughwhich thread is inserted, for sewing

3 one of a pair of pointed instruments, usually metal, each with a hook atone end, used for crocheting

4 one of two or more pointed instruments, made of metal, plastic or othermaterial, around which yarn is wrapped, used for knitting

5 a pointed, hollow instrument connected to a container which is fitted with

a plunger, used for injecting medicine, drugs or other liquid substances intothe body

6 a pointed, hollow instrument through which dyes can be inserted into theskin of an individual, creating tattoo designs

7 a pointed instrument which is heated in some way and used for burningsigns in wood

8 a pointed instrument which is part of a gramophone and which moves inthe continuous groove of a record

9 a pointed piece of metal or other substance, as on a compass,speedometer, thermometer or the like, which moves and indicates somevalue, numerical or other, from a range of values

10 the slender, tapered top of a spire.

11 a rock formation which is very narrow in proportion to its height

10A Classify each of the following words as either polysemous or homonymous

If you think that the word is polysemous, try to say how the two senses are related.After considering your own intuitions, you might consult a dictionary to see if thetwo senses are listed as subparts of one entry or under separate entries

1 nail (fingernail vs carpenter’s nail)

2 fire (conflagration vs shooting a weapon)

3 fire (shoot a weapon vs dismiss an employee)

4 plane (aircraft vs flat or level surface)

5 craze (to make insane vs to make a pattern of cracks in the glaze of aceramic object)

6 book (printed matter vs to charge with a crime)

7 swallow (small bird vs to ingest through the throat)

8 story (tale vs level of building)

9 to waffle (breakfast food vs to waver)

10B Several nouns are listed below Each is followed by two or more illustrations

of how the lexeme is used or by two or more short definitions For each noun try

to decide whether the form represents one lexeme with two or more senses(polysemy) or two or more different lexemes that happen to be pronounced (andspelled) alike (homonymy) Don’t consult a dictionary before finishing thisexercise

bark the bark of a dog; the bark of a tree

bit a tool for drilling into wood; the cutting edge of an axe; the mouthpiece

of a bridle; a small quantity of any substance; a small role in a play or film

compound a substance composed of two or more elements; an enclosure

containing land and several buildings

corn a grain (in North America, maize; in Scotland, rye); a calloused place

in the epidermis, especially on the foot

flight the act of flying; the act of fleeing

foot the foot of a person or animal; the foot of a hill; the foot of a bed: the

foot of a table; the foot of a

ladder; the foot of a page; 12 inches

horn one of two hard, projected growths on the head of certain animals; a

wind instrument

junk any useless material; a type of sailing-vessel

pole a long, comparatively slender piece of wood or metal, more or less

rounded; either of the two

points, north and south, where the earth’s axis of rotation meets the surface;one of the two points on a battery where opposite electrical forces are

concentrated

quarry an animal that is being pursued or hunted; a place from which stone

11 Answer these riddles and explain why they have humorous effect

1 What do you call a kitten drinking lemonade?

2 What do you call a fish without an eye?

3 When does a boat show affection?

4 Why was the baby ant confused?

5 Why did the banana go to the doctor?

6 What is the difference between a jeweler and a jailer?

7 What is in the middle of Paris?

8 If you drop a yellow hat in the Red Sea, what does it become?

9 What grows down when it grows up?

10 What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousandyears?

11 How could a cowboy ride into town on Friday, stay two days, and ride out

12 What can you put in a wood box that will make it lighter?

13 What is the largest ant in the world?

14 Would you rather have a tiger eat you or a lion?

12A Talking of a pair of garden birds in early summer: They’ve got two hungry

beaks to feed What figure of speech is seen in the sentence in italics What is the

vehicle? What presupposition is needed to understand the example?

12B What do the underlined words substitute for?

1 He succeeded to the crown

2 He is too fond of red tape

3 Backstairs did influence

4 He is the best pen of the day

5 Who brought fire and sword into our country?

6 We need a force of a thousand rifles

7 The kettle is boiling

8 The conquerors smote the city

9 Why don’t you recognize the power of the purse?

10 Tom is taller than John by a head

11 She has a good head of business

12 The princess captures the hearts of the nation

13 The marble speaks

14 All our glass is kept in the cupboard