语言学简明教程Chapter7.pptVIP

The penguin swallowed the fish. Det. Noun Verb. Det. noun NP NP NP sentence John gave Mary the book. noun verb noun det noun NP VP Chapter 7 Meaning Semantics is the study of the linguistic meaning conveyed by words, phrases and sentences. 7.2 Word Meaning Qs: 1)What is the smallest unit that can distinguish meaning? 2)What is the smallest unit that can carry meaning? 3)Are phonemes meaningful in themselves? 4) How can we define a word? (How many rules for that?) 5)How can word meanings be classified? Word meaning connotation(内涵意义): pig? refers to “dirty” “lazy” “fat” denotation(本义，外延意义）: pig? domestic or wild animal with short legs, cloven hooves and a broad blunt snout How are words and meaning related? When we name an object, it is our thought or reference that link the symbol and the actual object, the referent together. For example, if we use ‘desk’ to refer to the object like a table that we sit at and work, there is definitely a process that we use our thought to connect the symbol and the object although we don’t realize it. (by Ogden Richard’s) More explanation: The symbol or form refers to the linguistic elements (words and phrases); The referent refers to the object in the world of experience; The symbol or a word signifies things by virtue of the concept associated with the form of the word in the minds of the speaker; and the concept looked at from this point of view is the meaning of the word. 7.3 How Are Word Meanings Related? Major sense relations : 1) Synonymy (同义关系) 2) Antonymy (反义关系) 3) Polysemy(一词多义关系) 4) Homonymy (同音同形异义关系) 5) Hyponymy(上下义关系) Synonymy Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. 1) Dialectal synonyms synony