Chapter 6 Semantics

The relationship between individual words and meanings is a complex one because
• Different words can have same /similar meaning
• Same words can have different meanings depending on the context
all of this can lead to AMBIGUITY

1. Homophony
HOMOPHONES: words that have same sound but different spelling and unrelated meanings
i.e to/two/too meat/meet
flour/flower knows/nose
rite/write roote/route

phonological puns: play upon 2 different words which sound the same ex why did Dracula go to the doctor?
Because of the coffin/coughin

2. Homography
HOMOGRAPHS: words which are spelt and written the same but sound different and have different meanings

Quaderno

Homographs stress (different recòrd-record)

3. Homonymy
HOMONYMS: 2 words with share their written and spoken form but have completely different meanings (different etymology= history of their derivation)
ex stick ex seal
-piece of wood -sigillare
-glue -large marmal

l’omonimia può concernere

1)grafia: termini omografi (ex pesca “atto di pescare” e “frutto”)
2)prouncia: termini omofoni (ex pianta “albero” e “mappa”)

4. POLISEMY: one word several closely related senses (close relatedness as opposed to homonymy)
native speakers have clear intuition that different meanings are related to each other
ex MOUTH ex NECK
-body -body
-of a river -bottle

DIFFERENCE HOMONYMOUS-POLYSEMOUS words: i diversi significati del lessema polisemico sono correlate etimologicamente e semanticamente
MENTRE nel caso dell’omonimia i diversi significati di un lessema sono rappresentati da un’unica forma ortografica per puro caso.

Denotation and Connotation

DENOTATION: the objective relationship between a lexeme and the reality to which it refers (=REFERENT) (the dictionary meaning of a lexeme)
the denotation of a word is the central aspect of lexical meaning which everyone would agree about, can’t be questioned
ex spectacle: the object which balances on our nose
CONNOTATION: stylistic/emotional associations that a lexeme brings to mind + cheapness, convenience
• Positive or negative ex bus
• Personal or shared (=culturally significant) according to experience - discomfort, inconvenience

GENERAL RULES CONNOTATIONS

• Highly general words (HYNONYMUS) less likely to carry strong connotations ex fruit, animal
• Hyponymus (=words with more specific meaning) more likely to carry connotations ex lion + courage, strength;
• The language of science/law avoids highly connotative vocabularies ex dermatitis, legislation
• The language of politics/religion is HIGHLY LOADED (carry strong connotation)
Sense relations
Words don’t exist in isolation, their meanings are also identified through a network of sense relations they establish with other words in the language
TYPES
1. SYNONYMY (similarity): words with very closely (not exactly the same) related meaning, can be sostituted for each other in some ctxt ex begin/start
• English has a very large number of partial synonyms which overlap in some core parts of their meaning but differ in detail
ex answer/reply; buy/purchase (multisyllabic words usually formal)
• PERFECT SYNONYMS occur when some lexemes can substitute for each other in any possible ctxt, it is usually possible to find some NUANCES
(=very slightly differences in meaning/sound) which separates synonyms or a ctxt in which one can appear and the other cannot
ex litter, poop, garbage (USA), rubbish (UK), crap, trash, refuse

NUANCES
1) DIALECT
2) REGISTER/STYLE that can be formal/informal (esempi quederno)
3) COLLOCATIONAL RANGE there are many occasions when a word is appropriate in a sentence but its synonyms would not
Ex regal/royal/kingly BUT “mail” collocates only with royal E combination of words (esempi quaderno)
4) CONNOTATION
ex youngster, =child, kid, +little one, small fry, -brat, juvenile, minor same denotative meaning but different connotation
ex2 – politician, - plot VS + statesman, + plan
5) BRITISH/AMERICAN VARIETY ex lift (UK)/elevator (USA) ; autumn (UK)/fall (USA) + esempi quaderno

Why so many synonyms in english? Answer to be found in history (esempi quaderno)

2. ANTONYMY (opposition): lexemes that are opposite in meaning (belong to different categories) ex below/beneath/underneath
TYPES
• GRADABLE ANTONYMY that can be graded so are capable of comparison ex larger, very dry, quite wet + quaderno
• CONTRADICTORY/COMPLEMENTARY: an either/or relation of oppositeness
es asleep/awake the assertion of one implies the denial of the other member of the pair
• CONVERSES: these antonyms represent two different perspectives of a situation ex above/below; buy/sell; give/receive; speak/listen
there’s an interdependence of meaning so that one member of a pair presupposes the other’s E
• DIRECTIONAL (or reversive opposition): describes processes that reverse the effect of each other ex dress/undress; marry/divorce; up/down

Synonyms VS Antonyms
• Synonyms exceed antonyms
• the number of words that allow an opposite is limited

3. HYPONYMY is a relationship of hierarchy where the semantic features of a more general word form part of the description of a more specific word
so there are superordinate terms (HYPERONYMS) and those terms whose meaning is included in (HYPONYMS).
e.g flower is superordinate to daisy

4. MERONYMY: semantic relation that holds between a part and the whole ex arm/body
Collocations: tell me who you go with and I’ll tell you who you are
✓ Fast train NO quick train things that we as not native speakers should  collocation for learners: interference from
✓ Quick shower NO fast shower know otherwise we’d sound unnatural/odd mothertongue because we have another
✓ Quick meal NO fast meal type of combination

COLLOCATION: a regular combination of minimum 2 words frequently occurring together and linked by a syntactic relation
• Called “collocations” because regular combinations
• Based on common language usage: words don’t combine randomly but follow rules/pp and real-life demands
• Why they E? it’s easier to our brain to remember and use language in chunks/blocks rather than as single words
SYNTACTIC RELATION
• V+N take a vacation
• Adj+N light rain
• Adv+N completely forget
• Adv+Adj totally awesome
• Adj+Prep tired of…
BUT NO SYNTACTIC RIGIDITY (not fixed combination) ex deliver a speech deliver a very long speech (can be added modifiers)

COLLOCATES: words that are bound together by collocation

ex make decisions NOT take decisions

ex2 meals will be served outside, weather permitting NOT weather allowing
ex3 thick smoke/forest; dense smoke/forest BUT NEVER TALK ABOUT A PERSON WITH dense hair
ex4 words used for talk about quantity AMOUNT, NUMBER, QUANTITY, the word “large” collocates with all of them while “great” doesn’t collocates with AMOUNT

COLLOCATIONAL RANGE: set of collocates that usually accompany a given word determined to a large extent by the number of senses that a word conveys
tell us about the meaning of a word ex “spend” strongly collocates with money/time

COLLOCATIONS VS SYNONYMS
• Lions roar (NOT lions shout; shout synonym but not collocate of lion)
• Commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)
• Burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)

PREDICTABILITY: lexemes involved in a collocation are always to some degree mutually predictable
• STRONG PREDICTABILITY restricted collocations (words that collocates with very few words) ex rancid butter/bacon
• WEAK PREDICTABILITY ex heavy loss/defeat/burden

What is required of a sequence of words to be described as a collocation is for 1 word to “call up” another in the mind of a native/fluent speaker