Identify the semantic features for each of the following words

child; aunt; hen; oak; flower; palm; bachelor; actress; plod; ewe;
fly(v.); stallion; beauty; imagine; drive; home; chalk; rose;
chick; tiptoe; pine; computer; honesty; maid; spinster
REFERENT REFERENCE SENSE
in the real world b/w a language & a in a language
real world
either real or abstract abstract
imaginary
bachelor a man who has the relationship unmarried man
never been married b/w the word
‘bachelor’ & a
certain unmarried
man
Snow White the lovely princess the relationship Bạch Tuyết
in a fairy tale b/w the word/name
“Snow White” & a
lovely princess

shirts, end,
Exercise. A. Organize the given words into 3 semantic fields:
forward(s), new, hats, lend, coats, shorts, beginning,
trousers, amble, out, limp, tiptoe, plod, socks, trudge,
borrow, stomp, in, stump, old, backward(s), tramp
B. Organize these given words into 5 semantic fields:
cup – hammer – glass – nails – red – jug – wineglass –
blue – purple – boxing – scissors – football – knife –
plastic cup – yellow – badminton – pink – file –
weightlifting – green – run – motor racing – crawl –
walk – black – swim – vermillion - karate

1
DISTINCTION BETWEEN DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

DENOTATION CONNOTATION
what a lexical item emotions/attitudes
means towards what a lexical
item refers to
core, central peripheral
referential social, affective
bachelor unmarried man - still single after the
usual age for marrying
- decided by himself to
stay single
- enjoying freedom,
friendship, life, etc
- ready for his impending
marriage
spinster unmarried woman - still single after the
usual age for marrying
- not decided by herself to
stay single
- left in an unfavorable
state
- a symbol for some
failure in life
th
December the 12 month of the - bad weather (rainy or
year, next after snowy)
November - dark evening, grey sky,
slippery streets
- holiday seasons,
Christmas, winter break
- loneliness, separation
from the beloved

2
 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOME FIGURES OF SPEECH

DIFFERENCES B/W SIMILE & METAPHOR

SIMILE METAPHOR
- direct comparison, explicit meaning - indirect comparison, implicit meaning
- some function words: like, seem, as - no any function words
Ex: He eats like a horse. Ex: He was a lion in the fight.
DIFFERENCES B/W METAPHOR & METONYMY
METAPHOR METONYMY
- based on the similarities b/w 2 things - based on the contiguity of 2 things
- implicit meaning

Ex: (1) The organization is keeping the brake on pay rises.

(2) No man is an island: entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent

Ex: (1) The princess captures the hearts of the nation.

(2) He has a kind heart.
(3) Spare the rod and spoil the child.
(4) All hands on deck did help.

Euphemisms Taboo words

Handicapped/disabled crippled
Mentally ill insane/mad/crazy
Developing/less developed country poor country
Senior citizens the ages
Odour/fragrant smell
Hard of hearing deaf
Laid to rest buried
Pass away die
Majesty’s guest to be in jail
Developed country rich country
Abdomen belly men
Police official cop

3
DISTINTION BETWEEN HYPONYM & SUPERORDINATE
HYPONYM SUPERORDINATE
- a word whose referent is totally - a word whose referent covers all the
included in the referent of another word referents of its hyponyms
- exist at more than one level, resulting - a hypernym
in multiple layers of hyponymic
relationships

Exercise. Draw a chart to show the relationship between a hypernym & a hyponym
1. Luggage & suitcase 7. Plant & rose
2. Green vegetables & bean 8. Vocal organ & tongue tip
3. Animal & foal 9. Head & eyelash
4. Animal & child 10. Furniture & dressing table
5. Fowl & rooster 11. Vehicle & convertible
6. Plant & coconut 12. Vocalize & croon

DISTINCTION BETWEEN TRUE SYNONYMY & PARTIAL SYNONYMY

TRUE SYNONYMY PARTIAL SYNONYMY
- few true synonyms in the lexicon of a - a relation in which a polysemous word
language shares one of its meanings with another
- the same denotative meaning word
- lead to collocations: a bunch of keys; a
herd of sheep; a school of fish; a flock
of birds; a group of teachers; a gang of
thieves, etc

DISTINCTION BETWEEN HOMONYMY, HOMOPHONY & HOMOGRAPHY

HOMONYMY HOMOPHONY HOMOGRAPHY
- a relation in which - a relation in which - a relation in which
various words have the various words have the various words have the
same form but different same sound but different same orthography but
meanings meanings & orthography different meanings &
ex: bank; bear ex: hour - our sound
ex: lead - lead

4
 WRITTEN FORM SOUND FORM MEANING
Antonymy - - -
Synonymy - - +
Homonymy + + -
Homophony - + -
Homography + - -

DISTINCTION BETWEEN POLYSEMY & HOMONYMY

POLYSEMY HOMONYMY
- two or more closely related meanings - the different meanings of what appears
of the polysemous word to be the same word

BINARY ANTONYMY GRADABLE ANTONYMY

- a relation in which 2 members of a pair - a relation in which 2 members of a pair
of antonyms: of antonyms:
* mutually exclusive: not alive = dead * gradable
* not be used in comparison * used in comparison
* not be used in questions with “how” * used in questions with “how”

DISTINGUISH PRESUPPOSITIONS FROM CONVERSATIONAL

IMPLICATURE
PRESUPPOSITION CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE
- anything the speaker assumes to be - an inference or an additional unstated
true before making the utterance meaning drawn from any conversation
(Peccei, 1999:19)
- more straightforward & more objective - less straightforward & more
subjective/personal
- easily drawn before making an - is derived from observing or violating
utterance one or more maxims & drawn after a
conversation is over
ex: My girlfriend lives in Boston ex: A: “Do you like coffee?”
B: “Is it raining now?”

5
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRESUPPOSITIONS, IMPLICATURES &
ENTAILMENTS
PRESUPPOSITIONS IMPLICATURES ENTAILMENTS
- anything the speaker - inferences that cannot be - inferences that can be
assumes to be true before made in isolated drawn solely from our
making the utterance utterances → dependent knowledge about the
ex: “Mary can’t get over on the context of the semantic relationships in
her mother’s death.” utterance & shared a language.
→ presupposition: Mary’s knowledge b/w the - a relationship that
mother died/Mary’s speaker & the hearer. applies b/w 2 sentences,
mother is dead. ex: where the truth of one
Steve: “What happened to implies the truth of the
your flowers?” other.
Jane: “A dog got into the - hyponymic relations b/w
garden.” words & paraphrases.
→ implicature: The ex: The wolf killed the
flowers got destroyed. bear → The bear is dead.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN LOCUTIONARY, ILLOCUTIONARY &

PERLOCUTIONARY ACT

LOCUTIONARY ACT ILLOCUTIONARY PERLOCUTIONARY

ACT ACT
- proposition meaning - performing a function - the result or effect that is
- literal meaning of words from the listener/hearer
& structures
ex: “Shoot the snake.” ex: “Shoot the snake.” ex: “Shoot the snake.”
→ locutionary act: the → illocutionary act: an → perlocutionary act: the
speaker performs an order or an advice hearer performs the action
action to the kind of
animal

6
THE RELATION BETWEEN THE TYPES OF SPEECH ACTS AND
LINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS

SPEECH ACT LINGUISTIC EXAMPLES

CATEGORY EXPRESSIONS
declarative a declarative struc. “I resign next week.”
with the speaker is the “We name our dog Spot.”
subject of the struc. &
has a performative verb
& it is in simple present
tense.
Some performative verbs:
name; announce; arrest;
bless; ...
representative declarative sentence “Tom’s eating grapes.”
“Bill is a good
accountant.”
expressive declarative sentence with “I beg your pardon.”
the words relating to the “Excuse me, would you
feelings. mind opening the
window?”
directive imperative sentence or “Please, keep quiet.”
Yes-no questions “May I go out?”

commissive declarative sentence with “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

the speaker: the subject “We are going to picnic.”
and the future time
expressed.

Determine the meaning of the underlined word(s) in the following sentences.

1. a. He went out without a raincoat, and was wet to the skin.
b. He poured wine from the skin into his own glass.
c. He was running very fast when he slipped on a banana skin.
2. a. He is painting the door green.
b. Don’t eat green apples or you’ll be sick.
c. He needs some more training. He’s still green in his work.
d. Recollections of his youth were still green in his mind.
3. a. The village was situated along the banks of the river.
b. The boat could not pass here because of the sand banks.
c. He invested money into two different banks.
7
 4. a. Don’t spit in the well, you may need its water.
b. All is well that ends well.
c. He was a well of information.
5. a. She is a good match for you.
b. The match ended in a draw.
c. Her purse and shoes were a good match.
6. a. The voting was done by the show of hands.
b. The hands of the clock showed half past ten.
c. There were 12 hands employed at the farm.
d. They gave the singer a hand.
e. The work shows a master’s hand.
f. She is quite a hand at the piano.

Explain the meanings of the word(s) in each of the following sentences

1. They were waiting at the bank.
2. The long drill is boring.
3. When he got the clear title of the land, it was a good deed.
4. The proprietor of the fish store was the sole owner.
5. We like the ball.
6. They passed the port at night.
7. The captain corrected the list.
8. He was knocked over by the punch.
9. The camel swallowed the chocolate and then ate it.

Paraphrase the following sentences.

1. To stay objective in such a situation is very hard.

2. This exercise is a piece of cake for us.
3. He is blamed for not keeping his words.
4. This task is more demanding than the previous one.
5. I met John at the cinema last night.
6. My pencil no longer has an eraser.
7. I bought my sister a dress on her birthday party.
8. They loaded hay onto the truck.
9. She is so nice that nobody can help loving her.
10. She hurried out the door, already late for the meeting.
11. Some countries have no coastlines.
12. The nearest service station is 50 miles.
13. I gave Eric the summons.
14. Bachelors prefer red-haired girls.
8
15. The house was concealed by the tree.
16. Watching TV is not a waste of time.
17. I’ll look for that book right now.
18. Steve hugged Jane.
19. To make a good impression at a job interview, you should prepare well for
the interview.
20. Although Grants Pass, Oregon, is a fairly small town, it offers much to
amuse summer visitors.