语言学导论-第5章节semantics.ppt

Meaning Language:Semantics Definition Semantics: the study of meaning in language. It deals with the meaning of words (lexical semantics). And how meaning of sentences (compositional semantics) is derived from words. Lexical vs. Compositional Semantics LEXICAL “man”: 2-legged mammal, (relatively) hairless, male sex, “dog”: 4-legged mammal, hairy, canine, definitely loyal COMPOSITIONAL Dog bites man. (happens all the time; not too interesting) Man bites dog. (newsworthy) What is Meaning? Scholars under different scientific backgrounds have different understandings of language meaning. Linguistic views: The naming theory 命名论 The conceptualist view 概念论 Contextualism 语境论 Behaviorism 行为主义论 The naming theory 命名论 Plato Words are names or labels for things. “whale” “microorganism” Limitations: Applicable to Ns only Ns: denote things that do not exist in the real world, e.g. ghost, dragon, unicorn, phenix… Ns: do not refer to abstract notions e.g. joy, impulse, hatred… The conceptualist view 概念论 a linguistic form no direct link Rather, they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. The contextualism 语境论 J. R. Firth (1890 - 1960) Meanings should be studied in terms of situation, use, context (elements closely linked with language behavior) Two types of contexts Linguistic context: the probability of a word’s co-occurrence or collocation. Situational contex