Name : Sherly Tiara Dita

NPM : A1B020033
Class : 3A
Study Program: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
Course : Semantics
Lecturer : Prof. Dr. Safnil, M.A.Ph. D

MEETING 5
Answer the following questions in simple English:
1. Give an example of a word and its denotative and connotative meanings !
2. Why is the meaning of 'broke' in these two sentences different? (A window broke and
Tom broke a window)?
3. What are the lexical and grammatical meanings of 'bark' in 'A dog bark'?
4. Give an example of a homonymy and a polysemy !
5. Give an example of lexical ambiguity and explain why it is ambiguous !

Answer :
1. Example of a word and its denotative and connotative meanings
 Mouse
The Denotative meaning is a member of the rodent family of the order Rodentia.
Example : “we found a dead mouse in the barn”
The Connotative meaning is a pointing device used to enter data and commands into a
computer other than a keyboard.
Example : "Where's my mouse that you keep? I want to use it for my design work."
 Cheap
The Denotative meaning is lower than the price considered prevailing in the market.
Example : “Budi's bookstore is having a big discount, all books are cheap”
The Connotative meaning is someone who is very calculating about money or doesn't like to
give alms.
 Example : "Mrs. Ellis is very cheap woman. She's never give a donation for the poor in my
town"
 Chicken
The Denotative meaning is poultry animals that are often consumed for meat and eggs.
Example : “Dad looks confused because his favorite chicken disappeared since yesterday”
The Connotative meaning is someone who is cowardly or has no guts.
Example : "He's so chicken because he's very scared to do the rock climbing." 

2. The meaning of 'broke' in these two sentences different because different grammatical
association has a different meaning. There is the relation of the lexeme with other lexemes
with which it occurs in the same phrases or sentences, we call it Syntagmatic relations, the
mutual association of two or more words in a sequences So that, the meanings of each is
affected by the other and together their meanings contribute to the meaning of the larger
unit, the phrase or sentences.

3. We can best explain what grammatical meanings are by showing how the sentence A dog
barked differs from other sentences that have the same, or a similar, referring expression and
the same predicate. The grammatical system of English makes possible the expression of
meanings like these:

statement vs question:
A dog barked. Did a dog bark?
affirmative vs negative:
A dog barked. A dog did not bark. No dog barked.
past vs present:
A dog barked. A dog barks.
singular vs plural:
A dog barked. Some dogs barked.
indefinite vs definite:
A dog barked. The dog barked.
Lexical meaning meanings of 'bark' in 'A dog bark' : the meaning of the lexerne it self that
associations outside language.
Example : bark,howl,yap,scold, and woof

4. Example of a homonymy and a polysemy :

Homonymy :
- Adds , ads
- Allowed , Aloud
- Aunt , Ant
- Ate , Ate
- Blew , Blue
Polysemy :
 Head :
- head of person
- head of office
- head of school
 court
- courtyard
- field
- palace
-reception

 bed
- base
- plinth
- garden

5. Example of lexical ambiguity and explain why it is ambiguous :

 There are a cat on the back
The sentence above raises the ambiguity of the person who, because the use of the word
“back” has two meanings, namely There is a cat behind him or There is a cat on his back.
 What is this season?
The sentence above raises the ambiguity of the person who, because the use of the word
“season” has two meanings, namely what season is this? or what seasoning is this?
 Amir go to the bank
The sentence above raises the ambiguity of the person who, because the use of the word
“season” has two meanings :
- the person(Amir) go to the financial institutions.
- the person(Amir) go to the edge of the river