CHAPTER 4: SENSE RELATIONS

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY -o0o - DISCUSSION SEMANTICS CHAPTER 4: SENSE RELATIONS Lecturer Class Group : Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy Chung : H2001ENTH0911 : 06 HANOI – 2020 SEMANTICS DISCUSSION Chapter 2: Word Meaning Lecturer Class Group Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy Chung H2001ENTH0911 Group Name Dang Thi Van Anh Nguyen Thi Lan Anh Nguyen Dieu Anh Nguyen Thi Nhat Anh (Leader) Tran Thi Linh Chi Ngo Thi Diem Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung Ha Anh Dung Nguyen Thi Anh Duong Le Thi My Duyen Tasks PowerPoint Presenting (A-III Synonym & Antonym) Presenting (A-II Homonym & Polysemy) - Word (Introduction; Conclusion; A-I, II) - Presenting (Introduction + A-I, II) - Completing whole word assignment Word (III Synonym & Antonym) Word (II Homonym & Polysemy) Word (Exercises 3,4) - Making game - Presenting (Game + Conclusion) Presenting (B Exercises) Word (Exercise 1,2) GROUP TABLE OF MEMBERS ASSESSMENT No Student Number 18D170151 Name Class Tasks Assessment Dang Thi Van Anh K53N PowerPoint (A+) Complete on time + Excellent work 17D170122 Nguyen Thi Lan Anh K53N 1.Summarize important ideas for PP work 2.Presenting (AIII Synonym & Antonym) 1.Summarize important ideas for PP work 2.Presenting (AII Homonym & Polysemy) (A-) 1.Uncomplete task (1) on time 2.Excellent Presentation 18D170104 Nguyen Dieu Anh K54N 17D170244 Nguyen Thi Nhat Anh K53N 1.Word (Introduction; Conclusion; A-I, II) + Completing (A+) 1.Complete on time + Actively give feedback for Word work 2.Excellent Presentation (A+) 1.Complete on time 2.Excellent Presentation whole word assignment 2.Presenting (Introduction + A-I, II) 18D170055 Tran Thi Linh Chi K54N Word (III Synonym & Antonym) (A) -Complete on time -Word file exists some spelling mistakes Mark 18D170205 Ngo Thi Diem K54N Word (II Homonym & Polysemy) (A+) -Complete on time -Good work 17D170306 Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung K53N Word (Exercises 3,4) (A+) Complete on time + Excellent work 17D170126 Ha Anh Dung K53N 1.Making game (A+) 1.Complete on time 2.Excellent work (Game + Presentation) 2.Presenting (Game + Conclusion) 17D170247 Nguyen Thi Anh Duong K53N Presenting (B Exercises) (A-) 1.Uncomplete task (1) on time 2.Excellent Presentation 10 18D170007 Le Thi My Duyen K54N Word (Exercise 1,2) (A+) Complete on time + Excellent work TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .1 A THEORIES I Words as meaningful units II Forms and expressions III Homonymy and Polysemy .2 Homonymy 2 Polysemy Homonymy & Polysemy .6 IV Synonym and antonym Synonym Antonymy B EXERCISES 11 CONCLUSION 16 INTRODUCTION Semantics is a systematic study of meaning In other word, it is the study of how language organizes and expresses meaning When learning semantics, we will give an account of word meaning, sentence meaning and utterance meaning It is a general belief that the meaning does not exist in the word itself, but it rather spreads over the neighboring words, because the neighboring words identify the semantic field and help pin down the meaning A dictionary may have over 50 different senses of the word "play", each of these having a different meaning based on the context of the word's usage A word which is related to other words is related to them in sense, hence sense relations The subjects that have long held the interest and attention of semanticists are polysemy, homonymy, synonymy, antonymy Each of these items announces its distinctive features These will be discussed in this chapter The discussion will cover the understanding of the workings of the words as well as sense relations A THEORIES I Words as meaningful units It is generally agreed that the words, phrases and sentences of language have meanings and sentences are made up of words (phrases) and that the meaning of a sentence is the function of the meanings of the words (and phrases) of which it is made up “Words are regarded as the smallest indivisible meaningful units of a language which can operate independently.” It is difficult to define the term “word” One reason is that the term ‘word’ is ambiguous, both in everyday usage and also as it is employed technically by linguists Words may be considered purely as forms, whether spoken or written, or, alternatively, as composite expressions, which combine forms and meanings II.Forms and expressions Words are also considered expressions Words and word forms are distinguished from each other in terms of the distinction between lexical and grammatical meanings Forms of one and the same word have the same lexical meaning whereas different words have different lexical meanings III Homonymy and Polysemy Homonymy a Definition:  The word Homonymy (from the Greek - homos: same, onoma: name) is the relation between words with identical writing and/or pronunciation but different meanings - that is, the condition of being homonyms  Examples:  peer ('person belonging to the same group in age and status') and peer ('look searchingly')  peep ('making a feeble shrill sound') and peep ('look cautiously')  for (preposition) and four (number) b Types of homonyms: There are types of homonyms: Absolute homonyms and partial homonyms  Absolute homonyms should satisfy conditions:  They will be unrelated in meanings  All their forms will be identical  The identical forms will be grammatically equivalent Examples:  Spring (n): a stream – Spring (n): the season after winter and before summer  Pole (n): either of the two locations (North Pole or South Pole) – Pole (n): a tent pole  Partial homonyms (Depending on the sameness of forms, including pronunciation and spelling) may be classified into small types:  Full homonyms: Words that have the same spelling, same pronunciation, but different word forms and different meanings Examples:  Address (n): địa - write the name and address of the intended recipient on (an envelope, letter, or package) Address (v): phát biểu - speak to (a person or an assembly), typically in a formal way  Play (n): kịch - a dramatic work for the stage or to be broadcast Play (v): chơi - take part in (a sport)  Fly (n): ruồi – fly (v): bay  Lie (n): bịa chuyện, lời nói dối – lie (v): nằm  Fair (n): hội chợ - fair (a): công  Homophones: words that have the same pronunciation but different spelling Examples:  Not (adv): không – knot (n): nút dây  I: – eye (n): mắt  Heal (v): chữa lành – heel (n): gót chân  Affect (v): ảnh hưởng đến – effect (n): kết quả, tác dụng  Die (v): chết – dye (v,n): nhuộm, thuốc nhuộm  Homographs: Words that have the same spelling but different pronunciation Examples:  Contract (n): hợp đồng – contract (v): lây nhiễm  Subject (n): chủ đề - subject (v): ép buộc, chịu đựng  Refuse (n): vật phế thải – refuse (v): từ chối  Rebel (n): người loạn – rebel (v): loạn  Content (n): nội dung – content (a): hài long c Sources of homonyms: - Phonetic changes: which words undergo in the course of their historical development As a result of such changes, two or more words which were formerly pronounced differently may develop identical sound forms and thus become homonyms A more complicated change of form brought together pair of homonyms: to knead (OE cnēdan) and to need (OE nēodian); - Conversion: which serves the creating of grammatical homonyms (e.g iron →to iron, work→ to work, etc.); - Shortening: is a further type of word-building which increases the number of homonyms (e.g The noun rep, n denoting a kind of fabric has three homonyms made by shortening: repertory → rep, n., representative → rep, n., reputation → rep, n.); - Borrowing is another source of homonyms A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in form either a native word or another borrowing (e.g ritus Lat → rite n – write v – right adj.; paisOFr→ piece, n – pettiaOFr→ peace n.); - Words made by sound-imitation can also form pairs of homonyms with other words (e.g mew, n "the sound a cat makes" – mew, n "a sea gul" – mew, n "a pen in which poultry is fattened" – mews "small terraced houses in Central London") - Disintegration or split of polysemy: different meanings of the same word move so far away from each other that they come to be regarded as two separate units The Latin “buxus” results in box (a kind of small evergreen shrub), box (a receptacle made of wood), box (v) (to put in a box), box (a slap with the hand on the ear) and box (a sport term) Polysemy a Definition - Polysemy is an aspect of semantic ambiguity that concerns the multiplicity of word meanings - In other words, one word has two or more multiple meanings and these meanings are related to each other Examples:  Flurry: sudden commotion, excitement, confusion, or nervous hurry: a flurry of activity before the party Flurry: a sudden gust of wind or snow  Gutter: a shallow trough fixed beneath the edge of a roof for carrying off rainwater Gutter: the blank space between facing pages of a book or between adjacent columns of type or stamps in a sheet Gutter (v): (of a candle or flame) flicker and burn unsteadily: the candles had almost guttered out b Ambiguity and the role of contexts  Definition: Ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings in a single passage The word comes from a Latin term which means, "wandering about" and the adjective form of the word is ambiguous Other terms used for ambiguity are amphibologia, amphibolia, and semantic ambiguity In addition, ambiguity is sometimes regarded as a fallacy (commonly known as equivocation) in which the same term is used in more than one way  In speech and writing, there are two basic types of ambiguity: + Lexical ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single word + Grammatical ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words  Example: They rent some detective novels written by Dan Brown Lexical ambiguity (1) to pay someone for the use of (2) to tear (something) into pieces Grammatical ambiguity (1) present tense of “rent” (2) past tense of “rend”  The role of contexts Context plays a very important role in determining the semantics of a word, a sentence or a whole text Especially in which the context consists of two parts: + Lexical context, the words or phrases that are used with the homonyms or polysemantic words Examples:  The enraged actor sued the newspaper He read the newspaper  His cottage is near a small wood The statue was made out of a block of wood + Grammatical context, the grammatical structure in which a homonym or polysemy is used Examples:  He drank a glass of milk He forgot to milk the cow  To eliminate ambiguity, the reader is required to remove lexical ambiguity and grammatical ambiguity + based on grammatical equivalence: that means the reader must identify words and phrases used correctly in the sentence or the whole text + context-based: the writer can add information in sentences to make the sentence clearer Example: I saw her duck => “I saw her duck walking in my yard” or “I saw her duck to avoid the incoming ball.” Homonymy & Polysemy - Homonym and polysemy are distinguished from each other in: definition, relatedness in meaning, origin, dictionary and guessing the meaning Content Polysemy Homonymy comparison Polysemy is the coexistence of many Homonymy refers to the Definition possible meanings for a word or existence of unrelated phrase words that look or sound Different but related meanings the same Completely different meaning Origin Related origins meanings Different origins Dictionary Polysemous words are listed under Homonyms are listed Guessing the one entry in dictionaries Polysemous words can be separately in dictionaries Meaning of homonyms meaning understood if you know that the cannot be guessed since meaning of one word the words have unrelated -Rum (1) (n): an alcoholic liquor meanings -Stalk (1): The main stem Relatedness in Examples distilled from sugar-cane residues or molasses Example: Get drunk on of a herbaceous plant Stalk (2): Pursue or approach stealthily -Sow (1): adult female pig Rum (2) (a): odd; peculiar Example: Sow (2): to plant seeds in a rum It's a rum business, certainly -Prune (1) (n): a plum preserved by drying, having a black, wrinkled appearance Prune (2) (v): trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth ground IV Synonym and antonym Synonym a Definition - Synonyms are actually words of the same parts of speech which have similar meaning but not identical meanings - They may share a similar denotational or connotational meanings They can differ from each another in terms of denotation or connotation Ex: Father and dad differ in terms of connotation rather than denotation b Classification  Absolute synonyms: satisfy the following three conditions: - All their meanings are identical - They are synonymous in all contexts - They are semantically equivalent (i.e their meaning or meanings are identical) on all dimensions of meanings and descriptive and non-descriptive It can be seen that such synonyms are extremely rare Ex: begin-start  Semantic synonyms: they are those which differ in terms of their denotation Ex: glance (a quick and stolen look) and look (turn one’s eyes in a particular direction in order to see)  Stylistic synonyms: they are those which differ in terms of their connotation Ex: Father-dad  Semantic-stylistic synonyms: make up the majority of all synonyms in Englishwords differing both in denotational and connotational meaning, (i.e in shades of meaning connotation Ex: to reduce- to axe- to cut back  Phraseological synonyms: words which are different in their collocations (combinability: ability to be combined with different words) Ex: do- make (to exercises but to make money)  Territorial synonyms: they are those employed in different regions like Britain, Canada, Australia or the US Ex: football (Br.E)- soccer(Am.E)  Euphemisms: literally means “speak well” In using euphemisms, a less unpleasant or offensive effect is achieved Ex: “redundant” and “be out of a job/ unemployed”: the word “redundant” is not as direct or to the point as “unemployed”, thus, it may sound more “politically correct” c Sources of synonyms - Borrowing: many words were borrowed from Greek, Latin and French and they became synonyms to native words forming the synonymic groups, in which the native words are usually neutral French words are literary, Latin and Greek are bookish or scientific Ex: to ask (native English words)- to question (words borrowed from French)- to interrogate (words borrowed from Latin) - The change of meaning: The word “hand” for example, acquired the meaning “worker” and became synonym to this word, then the meaning “side, direction” (hand-side), signature(hand-signature) - Word-building: + Use/creation of phrasal verbs: to rise- to get up + Conversion may also be a source of synonymy: laughter-laugh + Quite often synonyms (mostly stylistic) are due to shortening: bicycle-bike + Synonyms are created by means of derivation and composition: Police-policeman-policewoman Antonymy a Definition - Words of the same part of speech that are opposite in meanings are called antonyms - Many words, especially those denoting concrete objects have no antonyms - Usually adjective denoting quality, verbs denoting actions or states and abstract nouns have antonyms Ex: ugly- pretty b Characteristics - Antonyms belong to the same semantic field, nearly identical in distribution Ex: big- small (adjectives, about size) - Antonyms not differ either in style emotional coloring Ex: Treat somebody ill or well - In many pairs of antonyms, one is marked and other unmarked Ex: How tall is he? (Not “How short is he?”) c Classification  Gradable antonyms: are easily gradable, based on the operation of gradation They are opposite ends of a continuous scale of values Ex: hot (-warm- cool-)- cold  Complementary antonyms: involve two items and presuppose that the assertion of one is the negation of the other Complementary synonyms come in pairs and between them exhaust all relevant possibilities If one is applicable, then the other can’t be, and vice versa Ex: alive-dead  Conversive: Conversive denote the same situation but from different points of view, with a reversal of the order of participants and their roles Ex: sell-buy  Directional antonyms: Directional antonyms present opposite directions of motion Ex: come-go 10 B EXERCISES Exercise 1: Explain the semantic ambiguity of the following sentences by providing two sentences which paraphrase the two meanings He waited a few minutes Minutes (n): - a period of 60 seconds - a written record of what is said at a meeting => He waited for his girlfriend a few minutes => He waited his management to give a few minutes of the meeting She cannot bear children Bear (v): - to tolerate something or someone - to give a birth => She cannot bear taking care of children because they are very noisy => She cannot bear children because she is such a weak woman My nail was broken Nail (n): - a area that covers the upper side of fingers and toes - a thin pointed piece of metal => My finger nail was broken when I had it cut => My nail on the wall was broken We are in the park Park (n): - a large area of land with grass and trees - a place to leave a car => We are in the national park to go for walk => We are in the car park of the building He gave some points Points (n): - ideas or opinions - marks or units for counting => He gave some individual points of view to prove the truth => He gave some good points to his students for the final exam He was in trouble about his chest Chest (n): - the upper front part of the body - a large strong heavy box used for storing things 11 => He was in trouble about his chest pains => He was in trouble about his jewellery chest someone had stolen Jack has a fan Fan (n): - someone who admires the idol - an electric device => Jack has a big fan who always admires and supports his career => Jack has a ceiling fan Exercise 2: Comment on the types of homonyms Be – Bee => Homophones: same pronunciation but different spelling Letter (n) – Letter (n) => Absolute homonyms: same spelling, same pronunciation, same word forms but different meanings  Letter: a written message from one person to another  Letter: a written symbol that is used to represent a sound used in speech Peace – Piece => Homophones: same pronunciation but different spelling Plain – Plane => Homophones: same pronunciation but different spelling Miss (v) – Miss (v) => Absolute homonyms: same spelling, same pronunciation, same word forms but different meanings  Miss: to arrive too late to get on a bus, train or aircraft  Miss: to feel sad that a person or thing is not present Ring (n) – Ring (v) => Full homonyms: same spelling, same pronunciation, but different word forms and different meanings  Ring (n): a piece of jewellery worn especially on your finger  Ring (v): to make the sound of a bell Watch (v) – Watch (n) 12 => Full homonyms: same spelling, same pronunciation, but different word forms and different meanings  Watch (v): to look at something or someone  Watch (n): a small clock worn around a wrist Desert (n) – Desert (v) => Homographs: same spelling but different pronunciation  Desert (n): /ˈdez.ət/: an area covered with sand or rocks  Desert(v): /dɪˈzɜːt/: to leave the armed forces without permission Live (v) – Live (adj) => Homographs: same spelling but different pronunciation  Live (v): /lɪv/: to be alive or have life  Live (adj): /laɪv/: having life 10 Minute (n) – Minute (n) => Absolute homonyms: same spelling, same pronunciation, same word forms but different meanings  Minute (n): a period of 60 seconds  Minute (n): a written record of what is said at a meeting Exercise 3: There are several kinds of antonyms Indicate which of the following are complementary pairs, which are gradable pairs, and which are conversives Sunny – rainy Advantage – disadvantage Teacher – student Bright – dark Man – woman Performer – audience Hungry – full Big – small Husband – wife 10 Tall – short 13 Answer: Sunny – rainy: gradable Advantage – disadvantage: complementary Teacher – student: conversive Bright – dark: gradable Man – woman: complementary Performer – audience: conversive Hungry – full: gradable Big – small: gradable Husband – wife: conversive 10 Tall – short: gradable Exercise 4: Comment on the types of synonyms Beautiful – pretty – lovely Mother – mom – mama Cinema – movie theatre (To be) pregnant – (to be) in the family way Child – infant – kid Few – little Car park – parking lot Red – crimson – scarlet Keep – hold 10 Die – kick the bucket Answer: Beautiful – pretty – lovely: semantic Beautiful: is very attractive Pretty: is pleasant to look at Lovely: a person who is kind, friendly, and pleasant Mother – mom – mama: stylistic Mother (neutral) – mom (informal) – mama (informal) Cinema – movie theatre: territorial 14 Cinema (British English) – movie theatre (American English) (To be) pregnant – (to be) in the family way: euphemisms Child – infant – kid: stylistic Child (neutral) – infant (elevated) – kid (colloquial) Few – little: phraseological Few books - little money Car park – parking lot: territorial Car park (Br.E) – parking lot (Am.E) Red – crimson – scarlet: semantic Red: the colour of fresh blood Crimson: deep red colour Scarlet: bright red colour Keep – hold: phraseological Keep silence – Hold one’s gab 10 Die – kick the bucket: euphemisms 15 CONCLUSION In this chapter, we sketched out a brief introduction of word as well as its forms and expressions We subscribe to the view that every word combines a lexical meaning and a grammatical meaning We also look at some sense relations Polysemy can cause lexical ambiguity and grammatical ambiguity Homonyms are those lexical items which are formally identical in some ways: phonetically (homophones), orthographically (homographs), or both (full homonyms) Synonyms are those words of the same part of speech sharing a similarity of both connotation and denotation Antonyms can consist of types: gradable, conversive, complementary and directional antonyms 16 ...SEMANTICS DISCUSSION Chapter 2: Word Meaning Lecturer Class Group Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy Chung H2001ENTH0911 Group Name Dang... antonymy Each of these items announces its distinctive features These will be discussed in this chapter The discussion will cover the understanding of the workings of the words as well as sense... phraseological Keep silence – Hold one’s gab 10 Die – kick the bucket: euphemisms 15 CONCLUSION In this chapter, we sketched out a brief introduction of word as well as its forms and expressions We subscribe