Chapter 6 Semantics the Study of Meaning NOTES

Chapter 6: Semantics… … the Study of Meaning NOTES: n About exercising: it keeps you healthy: physically & mentally… n I’ve tried to match the slides to the order of the textbook this time…

What is “Truth”? n n n - Pilate- c 33 AD I went to Bi-Lo this morning Bi-Lo is a grocery store You are too young to drink You are not old enough to drink Dave spent 4 years in Tokyo, Japan Dave was once in Tokyo, Japan

Truth & Contradiction n Paraphrase: n n Entailment n n JFK was assassinated _____ Contradictions n n Two sentences: the same truth conditions *The king is a woman Anomalies n Colorless green ideas sleep furiously

What I meant to say was…

Principle of Compositionality The meaning of a sentence comes (mostly) from its constituents and the way they are positioned.

Ambiguity n The man saw the fish with binoculars.

You Try it n n Create an ambiguous sentence… How does ambiguity relate to compositionality, truth, entailment, etc?

Think About It… What are some benefits & dangers of ambiguity in our communication?

Types of Meaning n Linguistic n Reference n n Meaning n n Al Gore nearly became GWB? ? Social n n GWB became the 43 rd president Y’all Affective n How many times have I asked you to…

It all depends… Band practice… My house 6 to 8 Band practice… Thanks for My house the 6 to 8 reminder Thanks for the reminder Band practice… My house 6 to 8 Thanks for the warning

Pragmatics n What’s the message? n My wife in the car while we’re driving… n n “I’m getting cold…” Me sitting making these slides… n “Honey, do we have any fruit…? ”

Why “Fine”? … Why Ask?

Any Questions… … before we move on?

Systematicness of Language Predictable Phonology Syntax Lexis Unpredictable

Word Relationships n Hyponymy n n Converseness n n Color – Red, blue, green, etc. Reciprocal relationship Polysemy & Homonymy n Plain • Bat

Fuzzy Concepts (Lexical Semantics) Nose Ice Rain H 2 O Hana (Japanese) Nos (Russian)

Think About It… How can knowing about word relationships help us study another language or communicate with a non-native speaker of English?

Any Questions… … before we move on?

Meaning Categories n n Tense & Modality Deixis

Semantic Roles n Verb-Centered n n Agent one doing the action Theme (patient) one receiving the action Experiencer one who perceives Identify A, T & E below (two in each…) n n n Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall. Bo Peep pushed Humpty off the wall Miss Muffet heard Humpty shatter

Thematic Roles?

Themes in other lanaguages n Apache n n n *My horse kicked me I allowed myself to be kicked by my horse German n In diesem hotel sind hunde verboten In this hotel are dogs forbidden * This hotel forbids dogs

Think About It… How do thematic roles apply to how we create sentences?

Any Questions…. … before we move on?

Maxims of Conversation Grice, 1975

Maxim of Conversation #1 n Relevance n Be relevant

Maxim of Conversation #2 n Quantity n Be as informative as required…

Maxim of Conversation #3 n Quality n Truthful, Supportable claims

Maxim of Conversation #4 n Manner n n Brief, orderly Not ambiguous nor obscure

Recommended Exercises 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 Enough of each to get the point