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Module 6: Semantics and Syntax of A Language: Presenter: Balansag, Renelyn D

Module 6 discusses semantics and syntax in language. It defines semantic roles like agent, theme, patient, and instrument that nouns and noun phrases can fulfill. It also discusses lexical relations between words including synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, prototypes, homophony, homonymy, polysemy, and collocations. Examples are provided to illustrate each concept.

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Renelyn Balansag
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461 views

Module 6: Semantics and Syntax of A Language: Presenter: Balansag, Renelyn D

Module 6 discusses semantics and syntax in language. It defines semantic roles like agent, theme, patient, and instrument that nouns and noun phrases can fulfill. It also discusses lexical relations between words including synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, prototypes, homophony, homonymy, polysemy, and collocations. Examples are provided to illustrate each concept.

Uploaded by

Renelyn Balansag
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module 6: Semantics and Syntax of a

Language

Presenter: Balansag, Renelyn D.


Module 6: Semantics and Syntax of a Language

Semantic Roles

Words do not only contain


meanings. Specifically, nouns and
noun phrases also perform or fulfill
roles within a given situation or
context of use.
Agent - Person Theme - the entity
Goal – the place who does the that is involved in
or direction to action. or affected by the
which something
action.
goes.

Source – the place


or direction from
Types of Patient – thing
that action
which something
comes.
Role: happens

Experiencer – an
Force – a doer Instrument – thing
animate being that is
that has no involved in action
inwardly affected by
volition. (but not agent)
an event or state.
Location – the place
where the action or
event takes place.

Types of
Role:
Possesor – if someone owns or
has something, that object is in
some sense located with that
person, whether physically or
mentally.
Examples:

The chef prepared a sumptuous meal.

Agent Patient

The meal was prepared by the French chef.

Experiencer Agent
Examples:

The child scooped the ice cream with a spoon.

Agent Theme Instrument

Rafael found the baby in a basket

Experiencer Theme Location


LEXICAL RELATIONS

Words do not only contain


meaning or fulfill roles. They
can also have
“ relationships”.
Synonymy

Synonyms are two or more words whose meanings


are closely related. “ Sameness” may not be “ total
Sameness”; hence, some synonyms cannot be
interchangeably used.
Examples: big – huge cold – freezing
tiny – small presently - currently
Antonymy
Antonyms are two forms that have opposite meanings.
There are two kinds of antonyms: ‘gradable’ or
comparative constructions. (e.g., good-bad, long-short,
hot-cold) and ‘non-gradable’ or complementary pairs
(e.g., male-female, dead-alive, true-false)

‘ reversible’, these pairs may mean “doing the reverse of


the other”, such as: enter-exit, tie-untie, lengthen-shorten
Hyponymy

When the meaning of one form includes the


meaning of another, one word is the hyponym of
the other, for example: bougainvillea – flower,
mango – fruit, molave – tree.
Prototypes
The word bird is a hyponym for chicken, duck, parrot,
eagle, ostrich, or penguin. But these are not the best
examples of prototypes for bird. In the United States, the
closest example for a bird is a robin. In the Philippines, it is
a Maya bird. Cultural variations influence the
interpretation or use of prototypes of words.
Chinese -
Japanese - kimono
Given the word cheongsam
CLOTHING.
Filipino – barong
tagalog
Homophony

Describes two or more words with


different spellings but with similar
pronunciations and meanings.
Examples: bare – bear, meat – meet,
and mane – main are homophones.
Homonymy

Refers to a word of one form having various


meanings. Examples of homonyms are the
uses of the word tie: as a noun referring to a
man’s clothing accessory or equal scores in
a game or competition. It is also used as a
verb (to tie). Another pair is race (running
competition) and race (an ethnic group)
Polysemy

Refers to one form (written or spoken)


having multiple meanings related by
extension. For example the word head
refers to the part of the body above the
shoulders, or the person on top of a
company or department.
Collocations

The words in language tend to occur


with other words. These are called
collocations. For example:
table – chair hammer – nail
bread – butter salt – pepper
husband – wife spoon – fork

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