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What Is Semantics
What Is Semantics
LEXICAL SEMANTICS
Word Relations : Hyponymy Synonymy Antonymy: a- Complementary b-Gradable c- Reverses d- Converses
HYPONYMY
DOGS
Fido Butch POODLES Frodo Princess hyponym
hypernym
COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
TRUTH CONDITIONS Bill Clinton is asleep A unicorn named Charlie bought one dozen of roses Possible Scenarios: we use them in order to describe the semantics of counterfactual sentences If I had an apple I would eat it right now TRUTH VALUES They are always true or false
Adjective meanings
Pure intersection: intersective adjectives Relative intersection: subsective adjectives
MICE
BIG MICE
WHALES
BIG WHALES
Adjective meanings
Non-intersection adjectives: Ex.: possible solutions alleged thief Anti-intersection adjectives: Ex.: a fake Picasso An adjective that does not require reference to objects denoted by the noun
Entailment: if the set of truth conditions for one sentence (X) includes all of the truth conditions for a second sentence (Y), then sentence X entails Y
Y: The bathtub is not empty X: There is a platypus in the bathtub