Arbitrariness is the absence of any natural or necessary connection between a word’s meaning and its

sound or form.

Language Arbitrariness: Languages have different names to call things.

Give two examples of language arbitrariness

Arbitrariness (Examples)

 Example [k], [ӕ], and [t] are not meaningful in and of themselves
 Meaning emerges when sounds are combined:
 [kӕt] “cat” has one meaning (feline, the one who caught a mouse)
 [tӕk] “tack” has another (small nail)
 [ӕkt] “act” has a third (dog and pony show)
 Even then, this string is language specific (English), not intrinsic

Cat ~ Gato ~ Chat ~ Katze ~ Gatto ~ Kat!

 “Cat” has different pronunciations in different languages
 Similarities are the product of common roots and/or diffusion from one language to another.

A comparison between a word in Japanese and English. We can say "I'm tired" in English and 疲れた
(tsukareta) in Japanese and on the surface, they mean the same. But "tired" rhymes with "fired" and
"mired", and the spelling looks like a "car tire", and has two syllables, and can be alliterated in the
sentence "a tired tiny turtle". Whereas 疲れた （tsukareta） can be rhymed with hanareta(to be distant,
to leave/separate) , the root of the word can be used in the expression otsukare-sama deshita (good job,
thank you, etc.), and you can pun the word by saying otsukaree raisu ( otsu- curry rice). Also, in English
"tired" can also mean "sleepy", but in Japanese there is a separate word (nemui).

1. Absoulute synonyms also known as complete synonyms are words which are identical in
meaning in all its aspects, i.e. both in grammatical meaning and lexical meaning, including
conceptual and associative meaning.
2. Relative synonyms also called near-synonyms are similar or nearly the same in denotation, but
embrace different shades of meaning or different degrees of a given quality.

Innocent means; not guilty of a crime or offense, harmless, clear, ingenuous, not guilty

The police asserts that she is innocent. // The police asserts that she is guiltless/guilt-free/not guilty.
My dear, son, remember, all babies are innocent.

Pretty means; nice to look at or attractive; quite, but not very.

A pretty little garden. // An attractive little garden.

I’m pretty sure they’ll accept the invitation.
 Semantics and pragmatics are both related to the way meaning is derived from language.

Semantics studies the meaning that words and certain combinations of words hold for both the
speaker and listener. Theories of semantics attempt to describe the meaning of words and how they
can change in different situations. There is a denotation for every word that is its direct or literal
meaning, but words can also have connotation, or implied meaning.

Pragmatics deals with how the context in which words are used can dictate their true meaning at
that particular time. Pragmatics is a way of looking at how communication goes beyond what is
literally said. For instance, if someone speaks with a tone of sarcasm, the overall meaning that is
communicated by what they are saying is completely different than what the words alone would
mean.

References
Espinoza, E. (2022, March 18). What Is the Connection between Semantics and Pragmatics?. [En
línea] Recuperado el 24 de marzo de 2022, de https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-the-
connection-between-semantics-and-pragmatics.htm

Dowell, P. (2007, December 28). Language and Culture. [En línea] Recuperado el 24 de marzo de
2022, de https://www.slideshare.net/PaulVMcDowell/language-and-culture

Seminal Tought (2013, May 23rd). The Arbitrariness of Signs?. [En línea] Recuperado el 24 de marzo
de 2022, de https://seminalthought.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-arbitrariness-of-signs.html

Wilcox, O. (2017). English Lexical Semantics. [En línea] Recuperado el 24 de marzo de 2022, de
https://slideplayer.com/slide/11004648/

Grammarhere (2021). Synonyms Of Innocent, Innocent Synonyms Words List, Meaning and Example
Sentences. [En línea] Recuperado el 24 de marzo de 2022, de
https://englishgrammarhere.com/synonyms/synonyms-of-innocent-innocent-synonyms-words-list-
meaning-and-example-sentences/