Semantics...

Semantics...

1. The study of meaning in human language.

   • - Meaning is an utterance's content. - Utterances must have content in order for language to fulfill its communicative function.
   • Semantic Relations
     • Among words
       • Synonymy
         • Words or expressions that have the same meaning in some or all contexts.
         • - Youth = adolescent - Automobile = car - Remember = recall - Purchase = buy - Big = large
       • Antonymy
         • Words or phrases that are opposites with respect to some component of their meaning.
         • - Dark - light - Boy - girl - Hot - cold - Up - down - In - out - Come - go 
       • Polysemy
         • When a word has two or more related meanings.
         • - Bright: shining; intelligent - To glare: to shine intensely; to stare angrily - A deposit: minerals in the earth; money in the bank - Mark: visible trace or impression on something; a grade 
         • Polysemy and homophony create lexical ambiguity: a single form has two or more meanings (set).
       • Homophony
         • When a single form has two or more entirely distinct meanings. It entails two separate words with the same pronunciation rather than a single word with different meanings. 
         • - Light: not heavy; illumination - Bank: a financial institution; a small cliff at the edge of the river - Club: a social organization; a blunt weapon - Pen: a writing instrument; an enclosure  - Wright and right - Piece and peace
     • Involving sentences
       • Paraphrase
         • When two sentences have the same meaning. The relation is mutual: it would be impossible for one sentence to be true without the other also being true. They have the same truth conditions (they are true under the same circumstances).
         • The police chased the burglar. The burglar was chased by the police.
         • Passive voice, Position of Od and Oi, It + that clause, Position of agent and patient, Position of adjuncts
       • Entailment
         • When the truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another sentence. Entailment is asymmetrical: the reverse order of sentences does not follow.
         • The park wardens killed the bear. The bear is dead.
       • Contradiction
         • When there is a contradiction between two sentences. If one is true , the other must be false.
         • Charles is a bachelor. Charles is married.