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Lecture 1 (Autosaved)

Semantics is the systematic study of meaning in language. It examines meaning at various linguistic levels including words, sentences, and utterances. Key aspects of semantics include word meaning, sentence meaning in context-free situations, and utterance meaning which considers context. Major theories of meaning include the referential theory which links meaning to reference or denotation, the mentalist theory which sees meaning as mental concepts, and the meaning-is-use theory which defines meaning based on a word's usage.

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9 views

Lecture 1 (Autosaved)

Semantics is the systematic study of meaning in language. It examines meaning at various linguistic levels including words, sentences, and utterances. Key aspects of semantics include word meaning, sentence meaning in context-free situations, and utterance meaning which considers context. Major theories of meaning include the referential theory which links meaning to reference or denotation, the mentalist theory which sees meaning as mental concepts, and the meaning-is-use theory which defines meaning based on a word's usage.

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Phạm Thị Thanh Hoa
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Hanoi Law University

LECTURE 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO
ENGLISH SEMANTICS
1. What is semantics?
1.1. Branches of linguistics

linguistics

syntax semantics pragmatics

-Phonology Meaning in Meaning in


-Morphology language context(what
-Syntax (what people mean
-Textual grammar language by the
means) language
they use)
Þ Semantics meaning: context-free
Þ Pragmatics meaning: context-dependent
Example:
(1) A: Would you like a piece of cake?
B: I’m on diet.
Þ “I’m on diet” semantics meaning: I want to
lose weight by eating the food
which is not rich in fat, sugar, etc
pragmatics meaning: I don’t want
any piece of cake/I’m afraid I have
to refuse your invitation.
1.2. Definition
Semantics is the systematic study of
meaning in language. In other words, it is
the study of how language organizes and
expresses meaning.
2. Scope of
semantics?
The meaning of what?
(What language units may be said to have meaning)
• The levels of linguistic units:
Morpheme – word – phrase - clause –
sentence/utterance – discourse
• These units do have meaning to a certain extent.
• Our approach: the morpheme and the phrase are
just intermediate levels.
Þ3 main aspects of semantics:
Word meaning
Sentence meaning
Utterance meaning
Scope of semantics
(1). Word meaning
- Literal vs. transferred
- Polysemy vs. homonymy
- Synonymy vs. antonymy
- Hyponymy
- Change and development of meaning
- Transference of meaning
•(2). Sentence meaning (context - independent)
- STIR (structural, textual, interpersonal, and
representational)
- Sentence types and their meaning
- Propositions (formal semantics)

•(3). Utterance meaning (context-dependent)


- Reference
- Implicature
- Presupposition
- Speech acts
Major philosophical theories of
meaning
1. The referential theory
2. The ideational/mentalist theory
3. The behaviorist theory
4. The meaning-is-use theory
5. The verificationist theory
6. The truth-condition theory
The referential theory
Meaning of an expression = what it refers to, denotes
or stand for
Example:
“Joe”

=> Referential (denotational theory)


• The simplest and most dominant theory for a while.
• Focuses primarily on nouns as the object of its
investigation.
general problem:
 many other word classes do not lend themselves
easily to this theories. Not every word refers to an
actual object (articles, conjunctions, prepositions,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs)
 according to referential theory, something must have
a referent to have meaning. Whole sentences,
paragraphs or even books have meanings but do not
have a referent.
Ideational/mentalist theory
The mentalist postulates that meaning in
natural language is an information structure
that is mentally encoded by human beings
The meaning of an expression is the idea or
concept associated with it in the mind of
anyone who knows and understands the
expression
The strength of this theory is binding on its
effort to explain how children acquire their first
language
Meaning – is – use theory
• Speech act theory
(J.Austin and Searl)
Meaning–is– use theory
• Theory of meaning
(Witgenstein)
 the meaning of an expression is determined by its
use in the language.
 Don’t look for the meaning of a word (expression),
look for its use.
 saying is doing. Many acts may be performed as a
speaker speaks.
Speech Act

Locutionary Illocutionary Perlocutionary


Act Act Act
• Locutionary act:
The act of making an utterance according to the rules of
a given language.
Eg: You are stepping on my foot.
• Illocutionary act:
The purpose of the speaker (apologizing, complaining,
congratulating, greeting, …)
Eg: You are stepping on my foot.
Þinforming/complaining/warning.
• Perlocutionary act:
The effect of the saying
Eg: you are stepping on my foot
=> The hearer apologizes/has no reaction.
SUMMARY
LOCUTIONARY ILLOCUTIONARY PERLOCUTIONARY
ACT ACT ACT
Act of making Purpose of the Effects of the
utterance speaker saying

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