第五章、语义学Semantics
1 semantics: Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language. 2 sense : Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and decontextualized. 3 reference : Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.
4 synonymy : Synonymy refers to the samene or close similarity of meaning.Words that are close in meaning are called synonymy.
5 polysemy : Polysemy refers to the fact that the same one word may have more than one meaning.A word having more than one meaning is called a polysemic word. 6 antonymy : Antonymy refers to the oppositene of meaning.Words that are opposite in meaning are called antonyms.
7 homonymy : Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form,i.e.different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.
8 hyponymy : Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.
9 componential analysis : Componential analysis is a way to analyze wprd meaning.It was proposed by structural semanticists.
10 grammatical meaning : The grammatical meaning of a sentence refers to its grammaticality,i.e.its grammatical well-formedne.The grammaticality of asentence is governed by the grammatical rules of the language.
11 semantic meaning : The semantic meaning of a sentence is governed by rules called selectional restrictions.
12 predication : In semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is called predication.The predication is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.
13、语义研究的主要流派有哪些？
1) The naming theory: It was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato.According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for.So words are just names or labels for things. 2) The conceptualist view: It holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to.In the interpretation of meaning, they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.
3) Contextualism: It is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts.Two kinds of context are recognized:the situational context and the linguistic context .For example, the meaning of the word \"seal\" in the sentence \"The seal could not be found\" can only be determined according to the context in which the sentence occurs: The seal could not be found.The zoo keeper became worried.
(seal meaning an aquatic mammal) The seal could not be found.The king became worried.
(seal meaning the king\'s stamp)
4) Behaviorism The contextualist view was further strengthened by Bloomfield .He drew on behaviorist psychology when he tried to define the meaning of linguistic forms.Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as \" the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer\".(Bloomfield, This behaviorist theory is somewhat close to contextualism.It is linked with psychological interest.
14、所指与意义有什么关系？
Sense and reference are two terms in the study of meaning.(1) Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized.It is the aspect of meaning that dictionary compilers are interested in.Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.(2) Obviously, linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations.On the other hand, there are le frequent occasions when linguistic forms with the same reference might differ in sense, e.g.“morning star” and “evening star”.
15、同义词可以分为哪些类别？
Dialectal synonyms : Dialectal synonyms are words which have more or le the same meaning and are used in different regional dialects such as petroleum in British English and gasoline in American English.Dialectal synonyms can also be found within British, or American English itself.For example, \"girl\" is called \"la\" or \"laie\" in Scottish dialect.
Stylistic synonyms: Stylistic synonyms are words which have the same meaning but differ in style, or degree of formality.Some of the stylistic synonyms tend to be more formal , others tend to be casual , and still others are neutral in style.For example:old man, daddy, dad, father, male parent.
Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning :They are words that have the same meaning but expre different emotions of the user.The emotions of the user indicate the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about, such as thrifty and miser. Collocational synonyms : Some synonyms differ in their collocation.That is, they go together with different words, for example: accuse...of, charge...with, rebuke..-for.
Semantically different synonyms: They refer to the synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean.For example, \"amaze\" and \"astound\" are very close in meaning to the word \"surprise,\" but they have very subtle differences in meaning.While amaze suggests confusion and bewilderment, \" astound\" imples difficulty in believing.\"
16、在语义上，反义关系可以分为哪几个类别？各有什么特征？
1) gradable antonys: Some antonyms are gradable because there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair such as old/young, hot/cold. 2) Complementary antonyms: a pair of complementary antonyms is characterized by the feature that the denial of one member of the pair implies the aertion of the other.
3) Relational opposites: pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items.
17、什么是述谓结构？它有那些类型？
The predication is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.This applies to all forms of sentence, including statements, imperative and interrogative forms.A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate.An argument is a logical participant in a predication.It is generally identical with the nominal element (s) in a sentence.A predicate is something that is said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments in a sentence.
According to the number of arguments contained in a predication, the predications may be claified into two-place predication (containing two arguments), one-place argument (containing one argument), and no-place predication ( containing no argument).For example:
His car is next to my car.(Two-place predication)
He is singing.(One-place predication)
It is raining.(No-place predication)
18、句子的意义是构成句子的每个单词意义的总和吗？
The meaning of a sentence is not the sum total of the meanings of all its components.It cannot be worked out by adding up all the meanings of its constituent words.Eg; The dog bit the man.The man bit the dog.
The two sentences consist of exactly the same words, but they arc widely different in their meanings.
19、语义变化的主要类型有哪些？ Semantic change refers to the change of meaning of a word.The major types of semantic change are as follows: (1) Semantic broadening refers to the proce in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier denotation.For example, the word “holiday” was originally used to mean a day of religious significance because it was a “holy day”.Today everyone enjoys a holiday, whether he or she is religious or not.(2) Semantic narrowing is the reverse proce in which the meaning of a word becomes le general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning.For example, the word “liquor” in contemporary English is an alcoholic drink, but it was once synonymous with “liquid”, be it alcoholic or not.(3) Semantic shift refers to the proce in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related meaning, e.g.the word “silly”.Quite surprisingly, a “silly” person was a happy person in Old English, and a naive person in Middle English, but a foolish person in Modern English.
