Semantics

Meaning Gk Sema- Sign / Signal

Gk v. Semaino - Signal / mean
Colourless blue dream sleep ferociously. You know that this is meaningless.
To make meaning
First the ability to paraphrase
' Show me the way to go home'
Secondly the ability to detect ambiguities
Visiting Professors can be experience
Thirdly the ability to resolve ambiguities.
Meaning - double faced
Element in a lge system.
Tree
A physical object in the external world.
Language System
Bush
|
Tree <--- tree --->
|
Wood
Did you read about the boa constrictor which escaped from the zoo?
Lexical meaning
Involves individual lexical items which have 'content' as 'read', 'escape', 'zoo', 'boa constrictor'.
Lexical items do not correspond to orthographical words.
Boa constrictor is a single lexical item but it is middle of two orthographical words.

Grammatical Meaning
- meaning of did, -ed.
- also includes the meaning of sentence types such as question or exclamation.
- may also cover notions such as subject and object.

Lexical Set
- group of lexical items from a similar class which seem to belong together.
SET Baby Cold
| |
Paradigmatic Toddler Cool
| |
Child Warm
| |
Adolescent Hot
|
Adult

Meaning
The Physical world gives us items, actions, responses, qualities.
The Cognitive world conceives them in terms of ideas and also associates them to other items.
The Linguistic world labels the items as conceived by our cognitive world.

Geoffrey Leech
Code
Encoder (sender) -------------> Decoder (receiver)
G.L. breaks down meaning into seven types.
1) CONCEPTUAL MEANING or Denotation
Core meaning
- refers to the relationship between the three worlds of experience
- Rose is a fragrant flower
2) CONNOTATIVE MEANING
Is a part of what is perceived
3) STYLISTIC MEANING
Meaning conveyed by an expression regarding the sociocultural backdrop of the users of
language.
'buck' is the stylistic meaning of the word mary
4) AFFECTIVE MEANING
Personal feeling of the encoder towards decoder and topic of discourse.
5) REFLECTED MEANING
Is the effect of one meaning on another meaning of the same word.
Simple - meaning - natural, naiure
His responses are simple and straight. He is a simpleton.
6) COLLOCATIVE MEANING
- meaning acquired by a word under the influence of word(s) which it concurs with dark
night, strong coffee.
- association of a lexical item with other lexical items.
Apple collocates with eat, rosy, juicy
Red collocates with roses, blood.
7) THEMATIC MEANING
meaning conveyed by the structure of the discourse where concepts like topic of discourse
and focus of discourse are identified.
Topic or theme - what or who we talk about
Focus- new information
The dog (T) died (F)
Associative meaning is a blanket term which includes reflected, collocative, affective, stylistic and
connotative meaning.
 Sources of Meaning

Lexical Grammatical Intonational

(Syntactics). Meaning encoded by intonation
In writing punctuation reflects intonational meaning
1) Lalita slapped Hari?
2) Hari slapped Lalita?
3) Lalita slapped Hari
4) Hari slapped Lalita
(1) & (2) questions - Intonational
(1) - Socio cultural meaning when the intonation expresses shock or disbelief.
(3) & (4) meaning in different word order.
Meaning
Residing in lge/code Residing in coder

Lexical, syntactic & phonological Socio cultural meaning

Sememe: minimum code based meaning Pragmeme - minimal unit of

coder - based meaning

Conception MAN WOMAN GIRL BOY

+ Human Human + Human + Human
Sememe - Female + Female + Female - Female
+ Adult + Adult - Adult - Adult

Chaviniotic Possessive Talented Mischievous

Pragmeme
Perception Practical Emotional Tired Brave

Meaning relations
John Lyon simplifies the seven-way distinction of Geoffrey Leech

Descriptive meaning Expressive/ emotine Social meaning

meaning establish &
Propositional or maintain social
experimental meaning Reflected as speaker's relations
feelings, attitudes, Phatic Communion
Experience may be real beliefs, personality.
or imaginary

It was like drinking ambrosia. Sun rises in the east

SYNONYMY
More than one form having the same meaning.
Ex: Prison & Jail

POLYSEMY
Same form having more than one meaning
Ex: eye, hole of the needle
anatomical part

HOMONYMY - likeness of different words

Bank - side of a river
Bank - financial institution

SYNONYMS
Lexical items can be regarded as synonymous if they can be interchanged without altering the
meaning of an utterance.
He snapped the twig in half Synonymous
He broke the twig in half
Two are synonymous only in certain contexts - cannot apply to every sentence.
He snapped his fingers Not the He broke the record
He broke his fingers same meaning He snapped the record

ANTONYMS
More complex study
The most obvious type of pair in which the negative of one implies the other
He is not married : he is single
He is not single : he is married
2nd type is also not absolute
What a large mouse ( in comparison with the normal)
What a small elephant
3rd type converse of the other
I give ; you take.

HOMOPHONES
Pronounced alike but spelt differently
quay, key = / ki:/
sweet, suite = /swi:t/

HOMOGRAPHS - spelt alike pronounced differently.

lead (v) - /li:d/
Lead (n) - / led/

METAPHOR
A particular meaning feature is extended to refer to the quality of another referent.
 Gold for anything valuable / precious

METONYMY
Use of an item to some other item by association
To the chair ===> to the person in the chair

AMBIGUITY - can have it's source in homonymy or polysemy

Lexical : She saw me near the bank
Shooting in Nehru Park is prohibited
Syntactic : Visiting great aunts can be a nuisance