语义学初探传统语言学.ppt

语义学初探 ------ 从传统语言学的角度 本次课的主要内容 介绍几种传统的语义观 词汇意义 句子意义 传统语义学有关词汇分析的方法 1. What is semantics? Simply defined as the study of meaning No agreement among linguists Philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists all claim a deep interest philosophers are interested in understanding the relations between linguistic expressions and what they refer to in the real world, and in evaluating the truth value of linguistic expressions; psychologists focus their interest on understanding the workings of the human mind through language. 2. Some views concerning the study of meaning 2.1 the naming theory (命名论) the words (or linguistic forms, symbols) used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for, therefore, words are just names or labels for things. Limitations: a. applicable to nouns only; b. within the category of nouns, there are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world at all such as ghost, dragon, and also nouns that do not refer to physical objects, but abstract notions such as joy, impulse etc. c. explanation of concept DESK. “指称论”(referential theory)对于说明具体事物或事件的意义是有一定道理的，特别对于人类初民来说，语言主要是为了指称外物或有关动作的，但难以解释抽象名词或不存在的事物，也难以说明形容词、介词、连接词等词语的意义。有时一个词可指称多个对象，多个词又可指称同一对象，这就给指称论带来了困惑。 2.2 the conceptualist view (观念论) THOUGHT/REFERENCE (concept) ………………………………………………………………….. SYMBOL / FORM (word) REFERENT (thing) there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i.e., between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. Limitation This theory avoids many of the problems the naming theory has encountered, but it also raises a completely new problem of its own. For what is precisely the link between the symbol and the concept remains unclarified. “观念论”是Frege在批判指称论的基础上