8 semantics 语义学

1Chapter5semantics5.1whatisSemanticsabout?Thestudyofmeaning5.2aboutmeaning1Saussure’stheory(signifierandsignified)2Ogden’s&Richard’sTheory(referentialtheory)3leech’sclassification2Saussure’ssigntheoryThedenotationofawordconsistsofasignifier(能指)(thethingthatsignifies)andsignified(所指)(thethingthatissignified)Saussure’slinguisticsignisthecombinationofcertainsoundsequencewithcertainmeaningstructure.Eg/dog/=signifierAnimal==signified/tri:/=signifierPlant=signified3Nominalism（namingtheory）名实论，命名论）（anintrinsicproperty）Plato:Thelinguisticformsorsymbols，ie，thewordsusedinalanguagearetakentobelabelsoftheobjectstheystandfor.Sowordsarejustnamesorlabelsforthings。AristotleChineseConfucius名实论《论语》名不正，则言不隼。言不训，则事不兴。Languageandthinking4Limitations（NA）1.NounsonlyNA）Vadjadveg，thinkhardslowly1.Notrealthings：（NA）eg：Ghostdragonunicorn（独角兽）（notreal）abstractnotions：joysadnessimpulse5Ogden’s&Richard’sTheory(referentialtheory)3concepts:symbol,referent,thought(referent)(whenwenameanobject,itisourthought(reference)thatlinkthesymbolandtheactualobject(referent)together(conceptualism)概念论6thought(reference)7Conceptualism(mentalism)（概念论）Fe.deSaussureSigntheory/Signifier能指施指signified所指受指soundimageandaconceptarelinkedbyapsychological“associative”bond“Semantictriangle”（Ogden—Richards）（Classictheory）8Symbol---linguisticelements(words,phrases)Referent-objectintheworldofexperienceReference(thought)----conceptEg.dogThedogovertherelookedunfriendly.Limitation:controversyNotpreciselinkunclearPsychologicalimage9ClassificationoflexicalmeaningLeech〈1981〉hasbrokendownmeaningintoseventypes．includingthematicmeaning.Butherewewillleaveoutthematicmeaning,whichisessentiallyatypeofsyntacticmeaning,andfocusontheclassificationoflexicalmeanings,basedontheframeworkproposedbyLeech.Inordertoavoidconfusionwedeliberatelychangetheterminologywherenecessary101.Conceptual~(cognitivelogicdenotative（reference）Associativemeaning）[cultureexperiencereligionareaclasseducation11Referentialmeaning&associativemeaningReferentialmeaning(sometimescalleddenotativemeaning)whichiswidelybelievedtobethecentralmeaningofwords.It’scomparativelymorestableanduniversal.Womanreferstofemalehumanadult.Thiskindofmeaningofthewordhasnotchangedandwillnotchange．12Associativemeaningsthathingeonreferentialmeaning.Incontrasttoreferentialmeaning,theyarelessstableandmoreculture－specific．EgAlthoughthereferentialmeaningofthewordkinghasnotchangedinEnglish,Englishpeopletodayhavedifferentconceptionsofthekingthanbefore.TheEnglishwordpigmayhavethesamereferentasitsequivalentinalanguageofIslamicculture.Yet,theassociativemeaningsaretotallydifferent.13Associativemeaning…umbrellaterm．Itisbasedontheassociationisttheoryofpsychology．Itreferstomentalconnectionsthatarisewhenreferentialmeaningcomestomind．ThiscanbeeasilyunderstoodifyouthinkofCaoCao(amaincharacterinTheRomanceoftheThreeKingdoms）tellingastoryofplumtohelphissoldiersgetridoftheterriblethirst.Asthereferentialmeaningmayarousedifferentmentalconnections,associativemeaningcanbefurtherclassified.144affective~：feelingattitude5reflective~：sameexpression6collocative~：anotherword7thematic主题~：order,emphasisperipheral(边缘）Differentwaystoexplainthemeaningofawordeg，desk15SenseandReferenceLeech’sconceptualmeaninghas2sides：Sense——reference1Sense=cannotation(inherentabstractde-contextualized)indictionaryEg.dog“adomesticatedcaninemammal,occurringinmanybreedsthatshowagreatvarietyinsizeandform”(Collinsdictionary)16Reference=denotationrealphysicalworld;concreteRelationship/linguisticelement&non-linguisticworldofexperienceEg“Thedogisbarking.”Certaindog,particularknowntoboththeS&theH2wecansay----everywordhasasensewecan’tsay—everywordhasareference.17Eg.Grammaticalwords:“butifand“don’trefertoanything“ghost,dragonunicorn”----imaginaryThingsnotexist18LinguisticformshavingthesamesensemayhavedifferentreferencesindifferentsituationEg.1Iwasbittenbyadog.2Mindyou,thereisadogoverthere.Surelythe2speakerscannotbetalkingaboutthesamedog.Thelinguisticsymbol“dog”whilebearingthesamesense,have2differentreferencesinthe2utterances.19Exception:linguisticformwiththesamereferencemightdifferinsenseExpressions:1morningstar2eveningstar:208.4SenseRelations(lexical)8.41Synonymy:samenessclosesimilarityofmeaning1Englishrichinsynonyms:Anglo_saxonLatin2rareabsolutesynonymsKinds:1Dialectal~regionaldialects21BrEAmEAutumnfallLiftelevatorLuggagebaggageLorrytruckPetrolgasolineFlatapartmentWindscreenwindshieldTorchflashlight22BrE&AmEitselfeggirl----lass/lassie(Scottishd~)egliquor---whiskey(Irishd~)2Stylistic~(Regiser)Eg1Oldman;daddy;dad;father;male;parent.2Startbegincommence3Kidchildoffspring4Chappalfriendcompanion5Kickthebucket;popoff;die;passaway,decease6Roomchamber23Register:语域Fieldofdiscourse语场whatModeof~语式howTenorof~语旨who243SynonymsthatdifferintheiremotiveorevaluativemeaningEgcollaborator/accomplice;Politician/statesmanBeauty/sirenSynonymousadjectives:1economicalfrugalthriftymeanmiserlystingyEgHehasbeenaverythriftypersonallhislife.25Don’texpectaloanfromsuch