SEMANTICS An Introduction to Linguistics What does semantics

SEMANTICS An Introduction to Linguistics

• What does semantics study? • Semantics studies the meaning of language.

• Overview • Semantics • Lexical semantics • The meanings of the words • Word relations • Compositional semantics • The meanings of sentences

• THE MEANINGS OF WORDS

• Two aspects of linguistic meaning Reference • The part of the meaning that associates it with some object (referent) Sense • The part of the meaning that determines its referent

• Reference • An act in which a speaker uses linguistic forms to enable an addressee to identify something in the world. coffee

• What if we cannot refer the referent that we want to refer to in this world?

• WORD RELATIONS

• Types of word relations Type Definition Examples Homonyms Different words, pronounced the same Different meaning Two, too Polysemy Multiple meanings bank Homograph Spelled identically Different meaning Lead the verb; lead the metal synonyms The same or similar meaning Sofa, couch

• Types of word relations • Antonyms type example Complementary pairs Present/absent Gradable pairs Hot/cold; Not happy =// sad Relationship opposites Buy/sell

• Sentential Meaning • Truth condition • paraphrase • entailment • contradiction

• Truth condition • Definition • The circumstances that determine whether a sentence is true • Examples The first U. S. president is George Bush • The first U. S. president is George Washington. •

• Paraphrase • Two sentences with the same truth condition • Example: Two people were killed in a car accident. • Two people died in a car accident. •

• Entailment • Definition • The truth of one sentence necessarily implies the truth of another sentence. • Example JFK was assassinated in Dallas in 1968. JFK is dead.

• Contradiction • Definition • The truth of one sentence necessarily implies the false of another sentence. • Example John is single. • John is married. •

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