新编简明英语语言学教程 第二版 戴炜栋5 Semantics.pptVIP

Chapter 5 Semantics Semantics----the study of language meaning. What is meaning?---- Scholars under different scientific backgrounds have different understandings of language meaning. Some views concerning the study of meaning Naming theory (Plato) （命名论） The conceptualist view （概念观） Contextualism (Bloomfield) （语境论） Behaviorism （行为主义） Naming theory (Plato) Words are names or labels for things. Limitations: 1) Applicable to nouns only. 2) There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world, e.g. ghost, dragon, phoenix… 3) There are nouns that do not refer to physical objects but abstract notions, e.g. joy, impulse, hatred… The conceptualist view The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e. between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation（对概念的综合理解及分析） of concepts in the mind. The contextualism （语境理论） Meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context—elements closely linked with language behavior. Two types of contexts are recognized: Situational context: spatiotemporal（时空的） situation. Linguistic context: the probability of a word’s co-occurrence or collocation. For example, “black” in black hair black sheep（害群之马） differs in meaning; “the president of the United States” can mean either the president or presidency in different situation. Behaviorism Behaviorists attempted to define meaning as “the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth（引出）in the hearer”. The story of Jack and Jill: Jill Jack S_________r---------------s_________R (physical stimulus) (verbal response) (verbal stimulus) (non-verbal response) (wants the apple) (speaks to Jack) (hears) (gives Jill) Lexical meaning Sense and reference are both concerned with the study of word meaning. They are two relate