Chapter 1: Basic Ideas

Semantics
Instructor: Shazia Akbar Ghilzai
Department of Linguistics
Quaid-e-Azam University
 What is semantics?
• The study of meaning in language
 Good morning!
• What do you mean?

– Do you wish me a good morning, or

– mean that it is a good morning whether we
want it or not, or
– that YOU feel me good this morning, or
– that is a morning to be good on?
The meaning of ‘meaning’
Alice in Wonderland
• “…that shows that there are three
hundred and sixty four days when you
might get un-birthday presents.”
“certainly,” said Alice.
• “And only one for birthday presents, you
know. There is glory for you!”
• “I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’”
Alice said.
• “Of course you don’t-till I tell you. I
meant ‘there’s nice knockdown argument
for you.’”
• “But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice
knockdown argument,” Alice objected.
 ‘Mean’ meaning…
The writer (Lewis Carroll) had brilliant insights into the
nature of meaning. In the passage above he is playfully
suggesting that the meanings carried by words may be
affected by speaker’s will.
On the whole, we probably feel that Alice is right, that
words mean what they mean independently of the will
of their users.
But on the others hand it would be foolish to dismiss
entirely humpty Dumpty’s final remark.
 ‘Mean’ meaning…
• Sentence meaning (Denotative meaning)
– Literal meaning of the sentence
• Speaker meaning (Connotative meaning)
– The speaker’s intention
Language: the loaded weapon
• My shoes are killing me!

• We should gather together for a drink some

time.
• Will you make the phone call?
Sentences, utterances, and
propositions
 utterances
• An UTTERANCE is any stretch of talk, by one person, before
and after which there is silence on the part of that person.•
An utterance is the USE by a particular speaker, on a
particular occasion, of a piece of language, such as a
sequence of sentences, or a single phrase, or even a single
word.
• Partial or complete set of words, phrases, or sentences.
– Coffee, please.
– A cup of coffee, please.
– I’d like a cup of coffee, please.
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF UTTERANCE:

• It is spoken • Physical event.

Events are ephemeral i.e. short-lived
• May be grammatical or not (REMEMBER, utterances
do not focus on the grammatical aspect)
• A piece of language (a single phrase or even a single
word)
• Meaningful or meaningless e.g. “is”
• Identified by a specific time or on particular occasion
by a specific person (in particular accent).
 Sentences
• A SENTENCE is neither a physical event nor
a physical object. It is, conceived abstractly,
a string of words put together by the
grammatical rules of a language. A sentence
can be thought of as the IDEAL string of
words behind various realizations in
utterances and inscriptions. Virtue is its own
reward. A sentence has no time or place
etc., but it has a definite linguistic form.
• A SENTENCE is a grammatically complete
string of words expressing a complete
thought.This excludes any string of words that
does not have a verb in it, as well as other
strings. A sentence is a complete expression in
a language.
– A grammatical string of words
– *Coffee, please.
– *A cup of coffee, please.
– I’d like a cup of coffee, please.
 Propositions
• A statement or assertion that expresses a judgement or
opinion.
• A PROPOSITION is that part of the meaning of the utterance
of a declarative sentence which describes some state of
affairs. A proposition is a claim about the world. It has just
the form of an idea. A proposition is a (potential) fact about
the world, which can be true or false. e.g. The boy is playing
football. Two plus two makes five
• A central semantic concept
• The state of affairs typically involves persons or
things referred to by expressions in the sentence
and the situation or action they are involved in. In
uttering a declarative sentence a speaker typically
asserts a proposition. E.g. Two plus two makes five.
• The notion of truth can be used to decide whether
two sentences express different propositions. Thus,
if there is any conceivable set of circumstances in
which one sentence is true, while the other is false,
we can be sure that they express different
propositions.
• The truth value of a declarative sentence
– True or false
• Example:
– John gave Mary the flowers.
– Mary was given the flowers by John.
• True propositions correspond to facts, in the
ordinary sense of the word fact. False
propositions do not correspond to facts.
• Can one entertain propositions in the mind regardless of
whether they are true or false ? E.g. What am I doing if I
entertain the thought that the moon is made of green cheese?
• I may believe the proposition that the moon is made of green
cheese 0r I may not believe. Or I may wonder whether the moon
is made of green cheese is true ? ( I believe that I do not know
but desire to know).
• It may simply have struck me that the moon could be made of
green cheese; that is, I may believe that to be possible. Or I may
be wondering what would happen if the moon were made of
green cheese; for instance, I may wonder that the moon would
collapse.
• Entertain = to admit into the mind; consider i.e. by thinking
them, or believing them
But only true propositions can be known.
Not all true beliefs are knowledge,
not all unknown beliefs are false.
Propositions are involved in the meanings of other
types of sentences in addition to the declarative.
Declarative: The speaker commits himself to the
truth of the corresponding proposition: i.e. he asserts
the proposition. Interrogative: Is used to ask
questions. Questions the truth of the proposition.
Doesn’t assert the truth of the proposition.
Imperative: Is used to convey orders. Demands
carrying out the proposition. Doesn’t assert the truth
of the proposition.
Does it make sense to ask what language
(e.g. English, French, Chinese) a proposition
belongs to? Yes / No
Propositions, unlike sentences, cannot be
said to belong to any particular language.
Sentences in different languages can
correspond to the same proposition, if the
two sentences are perfect translations of each
other.
 utterances sentences proposition

Can be loud or + - -
quiet

Can be + + -
grammatical or not

Can be true or + + +
false

In a particular + - -
regional accent

In a particular + + -
language
One may question whether perfect translation
between languages is ever possible? In point of
fact, many linguists disagree about this and it is
likely that absolutely perfect translation of the
same proposition from one language to another
is impossible. However, to simplify matters
here we shall assume that in some, possibly
very few, cases, perfect translation IS possible.
SUMMARIZING THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEENTHE 3 NOTIONS
A proposition is an abstraction that can be grasped
by the mind of an individual person. In this sense, a
proposition is an object of thought. Can we equate
propositions with thoughts??? Thoughts are usually
held to be private, personal, mental processes,
whereas propositions are public in the sense that
the same proposition is accessible to different
persons: different individuals can grasp the same
proposition.
A proposition is not a process, whereas a thought
can be seen as a process going on in an individual’s
mind. Problem ??
The word thought may sometimes be used loosely in a
way which includes the notion of a proposition.
For instance, one may say, ‘The same thought came
into both our heads at the same time.’ In this case, the
word thought is being used in a sense quite like that of
the word proposition.
The relationship between:- mental processes (e.g.
thoughts), - abstract semantic entities (e.g.
propositions), - linguistic entities (e.g. sentences), - and
actions (e.g. utterances) is problematic and
complicated.
Predicates
What is the simple predicate?
The simple predicate is the one main
word that tells what the subject is or
does.

The simple predicate is also called the verb.

Examples:
Abigail runs to her voice class.

She sings.
This is her favorite activity.
The simple predicate may be more than one word.
There may be a main verb and one or more helping
verbs.
Examples:

Abigail has sung in many musicals.

She will be performing again tonight.

My favorite musical was performed last month.

Underline the complete predicate and circle the simple
predicate.
Louis Armstrong sang with many jazz bands.

He has been called a great singer.

He became very famous as a trumpet player.

People have been copying his musical style for years.

Armstrong was hired by many concert halls.

Armstrong played the trumpet brilliantly.

His hit songs will be played for a long time.

Her songs were called “the blues”.
Bessie performed in many places.
She traveled in a special railroad car.
“Queen of the Blues” was written on the car.

Blues lovers remain great fans of hers.

Thousands have purchased her recordings.

Underline each complete predicate and circle each simple
predicate in the paragraph.

Stephen Foster was born in 1826 in Pennsylvania. He showed

musical talent very early. He was playing the clarinet at the age of
six. Foster received very little formal musical training.

Foster has become a popular American songwriter. “My

old Kentucky Home” is one of his melodies. Foster produced the
words and the music for most of his works. This composer would
sell his new songs at low prices. Foster created many memorable
American songs.