Basic semantics

Basic semantics

1. Words

   • A single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing
   • A speech sound or series of speech sounds
   • A Word can be defined as a minimal permutable element

2. Utterances

   • Is any stretch of talk, by one person
   • A Word can be defined as a minimal permutable element
     • Today is tuesday

3. Contextual meaning

   • Sense
     • is an interlexical or intralingual relation; it defines relations within the same language
   • Homonyms
     • Are words that sound the same but have completely different meaning
       • Hole-whole
   • Polysemy
     • Refers to a single word with more than one meaning
       • Verb: get-receive, bring, move/travel

4. Extensions of meaning

   • Methafor
     • “The use of a word or phrase to mean something different from the literal meaning”.
   • Methonymy
     • Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

5. Sentences

   • Abstract grammatical elements obtained from utterances
     • Mary started her lecture late and Mary started her lecture late
   • They are abstracted or generalized from actual language
     • Mary started her lecture late and Mary started her lecture late
   • Differences in accent or pitch do not alter the basic content of the sentence
     • Jim picked up the children and Jim picked the children up

6. Propositions

   • Are descriptions of states of affairs which some writers see as a basic element of sentence meaning.
   • This has to do with the logical structure of sentences, which capture the more abstract components of information transmission

7. Different dimencions of meaning

   • Denotyation
     • Has to do with the human cognitive capacity of making concepts and using words to name such concepts.
     • Lyons (1995) points out that words may be put into correspondence with classes of entities in the external world by means of the relation of denotation
     • In addition, denotation is intrinsically connected with reference
     • Denotation relates expressions to classes of entities in the world
   • Reference
     • Points to the concept which mediates betwwen the word orexpression and the referent

8. Polysemy

   • polysemy is used if the senses are considered to be related and homonymy if the senses invoked are considered to be unrelated
     • sole, kind of fish sole, bottom part of a shoe

9. Synonymy

   • Synonyms are different phonological words that have the same or very similar meanings.
     • couch/ sofa, boy/lad

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