LIN 1180 Semantics

Lecture7
Albert Gatt

Continuation from last week

Ambiguity and vagueness

Ambiguity vs. Vagueness (I)

In context, a word can seem to have

several distinct senses. Some may appear

more related than others.

In our example:
run1 = physical act of running
run2 = place where fowl are kept
So run is 2-ways ambiguous (2 senses)
But run1 exhibits vagueness between a

general sense of running, and the more

specialised sense used in cricket.

Ambiguity vs. vagueness (II)

Similarly:
dala1 = entrance or inlet
dala2 = introduction to a text

2-ways ambiguous
dala1 is vague between the sense of

entrance and that of inlet

Ambiguity vs. vagueness (IV)

Ambiguity:
In this case, the context will select one of the

meanings/senses
We often dont even notice ambiguity, because
context clarifies the intended meaning.

Vagueness:
Context adds information to the sense.
Therefore the sense of the word itself doesnt

contain all the information.

It is underspecified.

Tests for ambiguity and vagueness

There are some tests to decide whether

meaning distinctions involve ambiguity or

vagueness.
The do-so test of meaning identity
The synonymy or sense-relations test

The do-so test: preliminary

example
I ate a sandwich

did so too
and Mary
did too

The do-so construction is interpreted as identical to

the preceding verb phrase

Similar constructions in Maltese:
Kilt

bia ob u anka Marija

Kilt bia ob u Marija gamlet hekk ukoll.

The do-so test and meaning

identity
Main principle:

if a particular sense is selected for a word

in a verb phrase, it will also be the same
sense in the do-so phrase
Therefore, very useful to test if two

meanings are two distinct senses.

Do-so examples
Lili gobitni d-dala u lil Jimmy wkoll

(I liked the entrance/introduction and so did

Jimmy)
Suppose dala here = introduction
Is it possible that I liked the introduction and

Jimmy liked the entrance?

If not, then these are two distinct senses or dala

I made a run and so did Priscilla

If I made a run = I ran, then Priscilla cannot
have made a run for her chickens...
So, again, these are two distinct senses of run.

The sense relations test

Basic principle:
Words exhibit synonymy or similarity of

meaning to other words.

Therefore, if a word is ambiguous, we can
substitute it for a similar word in the same
context, and see if the meaning stays roughly
the same.

Sense relations examples

Recall:
run1 = physical act of running (similar word: jog)
run2 = a closed space for animals (similar word:

enclosure)

a run
a jog
Pete went for
*an enclosure
.

We cant substitute one set of words for

another and still keep the same meaning.

Lexical relations: basic

concepts
We have established that:
words in the lexicon can have multiple

senses (ambiguity)
they can also be vague, so that the actual
meaning is underspecified and becomes
clearer in context
In addition:
Words are not merely listed
they are often related to one another

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Part 1
Homonymy, polysemy, synonymy

How is the lexicon

structured?
Lexical items belong to semantic fields
words that belong to the same topic ,subject or

usage
lexical relations are often strongest within a semantic
field
different senses of a word often fall into different fields

Examples:
computing: gigabyte, CPU, memory, disk, monitor
administration/diplomacy/politics: green, monitor,

parliament, election

Notice that monitor here has two senses, each falling

in a different field.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Homonymy -- I

Homonyms are unrelated senses of a the

same phonological or orthographic word.

sometimes we use homographs for unrelated

senses of a written word
could be considered different words
lexicographers often treat derivationally
related forms as homonyms

Examples:

bank (river) / bank (financial)

ring / wring
house (N) / house (V)
right / write

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Two subtypes of homonymy

homphony
ring / wring
same phonology
different orthography

homography
articulate (ADJ) / articulate (V)
Maltese: domna (V) (stay-late.3PL) / domna

(N) (religious icon)

different phonology
same orthography

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Polysemy
One phonological word, multiple senses

(ambiguity)
senses are related, though distinguishable
cf. dala (entrance) vs. dala (inlet)
in traditional dictionaries, multiple senses are

listed under the same head word.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Homonymy vs. polysemy

Relatedness:
homonymy: senses are unrelated;
polysemy: senses are related
either historically or
based on speaker intuition

NB: Not always a clear-cut distinction.

Speakers intuitions vary considerably.

Do you consider sole (bottom of foot) and

sole (flat, riverbed fish) related?

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Synonymy
Different phonological words with highly

related meanings:
sofa / couch
boy / lad
gir (small) / kejken (little)
moxt (comb) / petne (comb)

Very very difficult to find examples of

perfect synonyms.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Imperfect synonymy
Synonyms often exhibit slight differences,

espcially in connotations
petne (comb) has Romance origins;

probably used by most speakers today

moxt (comb) has Semitic origins (cf. xuxa
hair)
Usage differs depending on dialect, context

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

The importance of register

With near-synonyms, there are often

register-governed conditions of use.

Register = a style of language specific to a

situation (e.g. formal, colloquial etc)

E.g. naive vs gullible vs ingenuous
gullible / naive seem critical, or even

offensive
ingenuous more likely in a formal context

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Synonymy vs. Similarity

Native speakers often have strong

intuitions about words which are related,

though not necessarily identical, in
meaning.

E.g. boat/ship; car/truck; man/woman

But also near-synonyms such as:

snake/serpent

Similarity is broader than synonymy, since

even words with opposite or

LINantonymous
1180 -- Semantics
meanings can be judged as

When are two words similar?

Contextual view of meaning (Wittgenstein,

1953):
the meaning of linguistic expressions can be

characterised by looking at how they are

used
two words are similar to the extent that
theyre used in similar ways

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Example: master/pupil
These words have very different meanings, but share

a core set of uses.

Both refer to human roles which tend to be practised
in the same real world contexts (school etc).
Is this reflected in the way we use the words?
master of X school, pupil of X school
past master, past pupil

Rather than in contextual terms, we could view

similarity as simply arising from links in a network of

concepts.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Part 2
Opposites and antonymy

Semantic opposition
Traditionally, antonyms are words which are

opposite in meaning.
dead alive

We can find other kinds of opposition:

hot cold
explode implode
writer reader, employer employee
black white, red orange (?)

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Simple vs Gradable
antonyms
Simple antonyms: dead alive, hit miss
truth of one implies falsity of the other
? X is dead but hes alive.
Gradable antonyms: hot cold, big small
both may be false: neither tall nor short
typically, many terms to express gradations:
hot >> warm >> tepid >> cool >> cold
often modifiable with intensifiers:
very hot, somewhat cold
exhibit global dependencies: If we say X is big, we
mean big for an object of type X
big elephant is much bigger than a big mouse
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Reverses and converses

Reverses: explode implode
a kind of opposition where one terms reverses
the other.
often found with terms related to movement
(go/come, etc)
Converses: employer employee, own

belong to

describe a relation between two entities from

different viewpoints
complement eachother
if X is Ys employer, then Y is Xs employee
if X owns Y, then Y belongs to X

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Taxonomies
Colour

red

orange

yellow

green

blue

Taxonomies are classification systems,

often in the form of a tree.
Sisters are elements at the same level.
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Taxonomic sisters
Usually taken to be complementary or

opposed or incompatible or mutually

exclusive
NB: Taxonomies are often our way of

imposing a discrete categorisation on a

continuum (e.g. colour).

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Opposites and similarity

To many native speakers, the most highly

related word to an adjective is its antonym

or opposite.
also typical of taxonomic sisters
does this mean that opposites are

synonymous?
No! It just means that similarity under the
contextual view is much broader than
synonymy.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Part 3
Hyponymy and other relations

Definition of hyponymy
Hyponymy is a
relation of inclusion.

ANIMAL

Arrows can be
interpreted as IS-A
relations.
Unlike taxonomic
sisterhood, which is
horizontal, hyponymy
is vertical.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

BIRD

CANARY

MAMMAL

SPARROW

Elements of hyponymy
If Y IS-A X then:
X is the superordinate or hypernym of Y
Y is a subordinate or hyponym of X
e.g. HUMAN is the hypernym of MAN, TOOL is the
hypernym of CHAINSAW
Inclusion:
if Y is a hyponym of X then Y contains the
meaning of X (plus something extra)
e.g. MAN includes all the features of HUMAN, plus
the specification of ADULT and MALE.
Transitivity:
if X IS-A Y and Y IS-A Z, then X IS-A Z

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Transitivity -- illustration
A CANARY IS-A

BIRD
A BIRD IS-A
ANIMAL
Therefore, a
CANARY IS-A
ANIMAL

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

ANIMAL

BIRD

CANARY

MAMMAL

SPARROW

Special cases of taxonomic

relations
Sometimes, language exhibits special cases of

relations that are:

well-established and lexicalised
seem to depend on an underlying taxonomy or
hierarchy
ADULT-YOUNG
dog puppy, duck duckling, etc
MALE-FEMALE
woman man, dog bitch, drake duck, etc
NB: These pairs are often asymmetric. The unmarked
case in the MALE-FEMALE is the MALE.
We tend to use it for the name of the species.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Meronymy or part-whole
A different kind of

taxonomic
relationship.
Arrows are
interpreted as
HAS-A

ANIMAL

LEG
HAS-A

IS-A
BIRD

WING

HAS-A

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Meronymy vs. Hyponymy

Meronymy tends to be less regular than hyponymy:
NOSE is perceived as a necessary part of a FACE
CELLAR may be part of HOUSE, but not necessarily
Meronymy need not be transitive:
If X HAS-A Y and Y HAS-A Z, it does not follow that Y

HAS-A Z

window HAS-A pane

room HAS-A window
??room HAS-A pane

Common-sense knowledge plays a very important role

in acceptability of these relations.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Member-collection relations
We often lexicalise names of collections of

specific things:

flotta (fleet) : a collection of ships

merla (flock): a collection of sheep

Native speakers know there is a member-

collection relation:

flotta (fleet) vapur (ship)

armata (army) suldat (soldier)
merla (flock) naga (sheep)

Can be viewed as a special, lexicalised case

of meronymy.

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Are collections singular or plural?

In many languages, there is the possibility

of switching from:

a view of a collection as a single entity vs. the

contents of the collection as a group or set

English:
The band played well tonight.
It drove the crowd nuts [SG]
They drove the crowd nuts [PL]
Maltese:
L-armata rtirat (The army retreated.SG)
?L-armata rtiraw. (The army retreated.PL)
Perhaps not as acceptable? Only with some
nouns?

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Portion-mass
Mass nouns:
nouns denoting things which have no units
noun is also true of portions of the substance
liquid, coal, hair
Languages often have lexicalised concepts

denoting portions of specific substances:

qatra (drop) for liquids
strand of hair

LIN 1180 -- Semantics

Summary
This lecture gave an overview of some

standard ways to classify relations between

lexical items.
homonymy vs. polysemy
synonymy (and contextual similarity)
taxonomic relations: part-whole and

hyponymy

LIN 1180 -- Semantics