Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学

Chapter5SemanticsContentsWhatisSemantics12MeaningsofMEANING3SenceandReference4Majorsemanticrelationsamongwords5Majorsemanticrelationsamongsentences6AnalysisofMeaning5.1WhatisSemantics?Thedefinitionofsemantics•Semanticscanbesimplydefinedasthestudyofmeaning.•Semanticsisthestudyofthemeaningoflinguisticunits,wordsandsentencesinparticular.Whatisthe“MEANING”?Meanings“ofmeaning”•OnedifficultyinthestudyofMEANINGisthattheword“meaning”itselfhasdifferentmeanings.•SeventypesofmeaningrecognizedbyG.LeechinhisSemantics(1974,p.23)ConceptualmeaningConnotativemeaningSocialmeaningAffectivemeaningReflectedmeaningCollocativemeaningThematicmeaning概念意义内涵意义社会意义感情意义反映意义搭配意义主题意义•Leechsaysthefirsttypeofmeaning–conceptualmeaning–makesupthecentralmeaning,itisconcernedwiththerelationshipbetweenawordandthethingsitdenotes.•Inthissense,conceptualmeaningoverlapstoalargeextentwiththenotionofREFERENCE.•利奇认为，第一种意义是概念意义，它是词义的核心，它表示词和它所指事物之间的关系。•从这种意义上说，概念意义在很大程度上与指称意义相交叉。Senseandreference•Leech’sconceptualmeaninghastwosides:senseandreference.P66•Senseisconcernedwiththeinherentmeaningoflinguisticform,thecollectionofallitsfeatures,itisabstractandde-contextualized.•Itistheaspectofmeaningdictionarycompilersareinterestedin.•意义指的是语言形式的内在意义。它是语言形式所有特征的集合，是抽象的，而且与语境无关，•是词典编纂者所感兴趣的方面•Referencemeansalinguisticformreferstointherealphysicalworld;itdealswiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementandnon-linguisticworldofexperience.•指称意指语言形式在现实的物质世界中的所指的事物，它涉及的是语言成分和非语言的经验世界之间的关系。•Leechalsousessenseasabriefertermforhisconceptualmeaning.Inthissense,“sense”isequivalentto“concept”.•Thedefinitionof“desk”as“apieceoffurniturewithaflattopandfourlegs,atwhichonereadsandwrites”mayalsocalledthesenseofthedesk.Awordhavingreferencemusthavesense.•Explainthedifferencebetweensenseandreferencefromthefollowingfouraspects:•幻灯片9•Tosomeextent,Everywordhasasense,i.e.someconceptualcontent;otherwiseitcannotbeusedorunderstood.•AndthewordslikeGod,ghostanddragonrefertotheimaginarythings,whichdonotexistinreality.Awordhavingsensemightnothavereference.•Butnoteverywordhasareference.Therearelinguisticexpressionswhichcanneverbeusedtorefer,forexample,thewordsso,very,maybe,if,notandall.Thesewordsdoofcoursecontributemeaningtothesentencestheyoccurinandthushelpsentencesdenote,buttheydonotthemselvesidentifyentitiesintheworld.Theyareintrinsicallynon-referringitems.Acertainsensecanberealizedbymorethanonereference.•Someexpressionswillhavethesamereferentacrossarangeofutterances,e.g.TheEiffelTowelorthePacificOcean,suchexpressionsaresometimesdescribedashavingconstantreference.•Othershavetheirreferencetotallydependentoncontext,expressionslikeI,you,she,etc.aresaidtohavevariablereference.Acertainreferencecanbeexpressedbymorethanonesense.•Therearecaseswhenareferencecanbeexpressedbymorethanonesense.Eveningstar(aplanet-usuallyVenus-seenatsunsetinthewesternsky)andmorningstar(aplanet-usuallyVenus-seenjustbeforesunriseintheeasternsky)nearlyalwaysreferstoVenus.•Buteachofthempresentsaparticularemotionaltemperamentandaparticularsenseofvalues,meaning,idealsandappreciations.Conceptualist/MentalismView(概念论)•Conceptualistviewholdsthatthereisnodirectlinkbetweenalinguisticformandwhatitrefersto(i.e.betweenlanguageandtherealworld;rather,intheinterpretationofmeaningtheyarelinkedthroughthemediationofconceptsinourmind.•MentalismorConceptualismfollowsSaussure’s“sign”theory,andconsidersthelinguisticsigntoconsistofasignifierandsignified,i.e.,asoundimageandaconcept,linkedbyapsychological“associative”bondConceptSignifiersignified•Thisisbestillustratedbytheclassicsemantictriangleortriangleofsignificance)•Atheorywhichexplicitlyemploysthenotion“concept”isthesemantictriangleproposedbyOgdenandRichardsinTheMeaningofMeaning.•Accordingtothe“semantictriangle”theory,therelationbetweenawordandathingitreferstoisnotdirect.Itismediatedbyconcept.THOUGHT/REFERENCESYMBOL/FROMREFERENTAcertainconceptinourmindDOGparticulardog•(Thedogovertherelooksunfriendly)Contexualism语境论•Theyholdthatmeaningshouldbestudiedintermsofsituation,use,context-elementscloselylinkedwithlanguagebehavior.•ArepresentativeofthisapproachisJ.R.Firth,theleadingBritishlinguistoftheperiod.•Thecontextualistviewofmeaningisbasedonthepresumptionthatonecanderivemeaningfromorreducemeaningtoobservablecontexts.•Twokindsofcontextarerecognized:thesituationalcontextandthelinguisticcontext.Behaviorism•Behavioristattemptedtodefinethemeaningofalanguagefromas“thesituationinwhichthespeakeruttersitandtheresponseitcallsforthinthehearer.”•Thistheory,somewhatclosetothecontextualism,islinkedwithpsychologicalinterest•ThisviewofmeaningproposedbyBloomfieldisillustratedbyhisstoryaboutJackandJill.Majorsemanticrelationsamongwords-certainrelationsbetweenlexicalitems•Synonymy•Antonymy•Polysemy•Homonymy•HoponymySynonymyreferstothesamenessorclosesimilarityofmeaning.Dialectalsynonyms-synonymsusedindifferentregionaldialects(BrE&AmE)Stylisticsynonyms-synonymsdifferentinstyle,ordegreeofformalitySynonymsthatdifferintheiremotiveorevaluativemeaningCollocationalsynonymsSemanticallydifferentsynonyms•Thesenserelation