Semantics

Semantics

• Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences

• In semantic analysis, there is always an attempt to focus on what the words conventionally mean, rather than on what an individual speaker might want them to mean on a particular occasion

• Conventionally meaning = the basic components of meaning conveyed by the literal use of words

• Associative meaning = the type of meaning that people might connect with the use of words (e.g. needle = “painful”) that is not part of conceptual meaning

Semantic features

• For example: (+animate, - animate) (+human, -human) (+female, -female) (+adult, -adult)

• Sematic roles

• the part played by a noun phrase, such as agent, in the event described by the sentence

The boy kicked the ball.

Agent

= the entity that performs the action (the boy)

Are typically humans, but not in every case (the wind, the car, the machine, the dog)

Theme

=the entity that is involved in or affected by the action, sometimes called “patient” (the ball)

Instrument

=the semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the entity that is used to perform the action of the verb (e.g. The boy cut the rope with a razor)

Experiencer

=the semantic role of the noun phrase identifying the entity that has the feeling, perception or state described by the verb (e.g. The boy feels sad)

Location

=the semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity is (e.g. The boy is sitting in the classroom)

Source

=the semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity moves from (e.g. The boy ran from the house)

Goal

=the semantic role of the noun phrase identifying where an entity moves to (e.g. The boy walked to the window)

Lexical relations

=the relationships of meaning, such as synonymy (conceal/hide), antonymy (shallow/deep) and hyponymy (daffodil/flower), between words

Synonyms

=Two or more words with very closely related meanings

big/large, broad/wide, buy/purchase, cab/taxi, car/automobile, couch/sofa, freedom/liberty

• We should keep in mind that the idea of “sameness” of meaning used in discussing synonymy is not necessarily “total sameness.” There are many occasions when one word is appropriate in a sentence, but its synonym would be odd

Antonyms

• =Two forms with opposite meanings

• alive/dead, big/small, fast/slow, happy/sad, hot/cold

• divided into two main types, “gradable” (opposites along a scale, small-big) and “non-gradable” (direct opposites, comparatives are not used, true-false, alive-dead)

• another type: reversives (enter/exit, pack/unpack, lengthen/shorten, raise/lower, tie/untie)

Hyponyms

=the lexical relation in which the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of another (e.g. “Daffodil” is a hyponym of “flower”)

animal/dog, dog/poodle, vegetable/carrot, flower/rose, tree/banyan

• Co-hyponyms = horse and dog

• Superordinate = the higher-level term in hyponymy (e.g. flower–daffodil)

• It is worth emphasizing that it is not only words for “things” that are hyponyms. Words such as punch, shoot and stab, describing “actions,” can all be treated as cohyponyms of the superordinate term injure.

• Prototype= the most characteristic instance of a category (e.g. “Robin” is the prototype of “bird”)

• Homophones = When two or more different (written) forms have the same pronunciation