ELS 106 REVIEWER Language Specific linguistic Language learning and

acquisition aspects are innate and acquisition is part of

constitute Universal general learning
Semantics is … Grammar. mechanisms that imply
Lyons, 1995 interaction.
- the study of meaning. Language Linguistic description is The communicative
Saeed, 1997 description independent of any role function of language
- the study of meaning communicated and language might play. determines, to some
philosophy extent, linguistic
through language. organization.
Lὂbner, 2002 Rationalism Rationalism: Method Empiricism: Method of
- the part of linguistics that is concerned with favors the of analysis based on analysis based on
meaning. concept of the recognition of pure observable data
Griffiths, 2006 innate forms. ideas and on intuition
- the study of the “toolkit” for meaning Empiricism
Hurford & Heasley, 2007 gives more
- the study of meaning in language. importance to
Yule, 2010 the concept of
function.
- the study of the meaning of words, phrases
Methodologic Data: based on Data: based on real
and sentences. al aspects of grammaticality language use
Rowe & Levine, 2012 linguistic
- the study of the meaning of linguistic analysis
expressions
Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams, 2014 2 current approaches in the study of meaning:
- the study of the linguistic meaning of 1. Formal
morphemes, words, phrases and - connects with classical philosophical
sentences. semantics, that is, logic
Frawley, 1992 2. Cognitive
- the study of literal, decontextualized, - psychologically-oriented semantics
grammatical meaning. - does not consider the logical
Kreidler, 1998 structure of language
- the study of how languages organize and - tries to explain semantic phenomena
express meaning. by appealing to biological,
psychological and even cultural
Chomskyan generativism issues.
- most successful linguistic theory
- semantics was not a central part of linguistic Cruse’s 3 distinct areas in the study of
analysis meaning:
- the central concern of language is syntax 1. Lexical semantics
Language Acquisition Device - focuses on ‘content’ words instead
- where information is “pre-wired” of ‘grammatical’ words
2. Grammatical semantics
Rambaud’s 2 approaches in the study of - deals with aspects of meaning which
language: are directly relevant to syntax.
1. Formal 3. Logical semantics
- place emphasis on the idea that - examines the relations between
language is basically a human natural languages and formal logical
faculty or capacity systems.
2. Functional
- focus on the importance of the Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams’ 3 subfields:
function of language 1. Lexical semantics
Idea Formal Approach Functional Approach - is concerned with the meaning of
Link between Independent aspects Deeply interrelated words and the meaning relationships
knowledge (modular) aspects among words.
and language
Definition of Language is a human Language is a system of
2. Phrasal or sentential semantics
language faculty or capacity. communication. - is concerned with the meaning of
Knowledge of Based on linguistic Based on syntactic units larger than the word.
language competence communicative 3. Truth-conditional semantics
competence
 - takes speakers’ knowledge of truth - appropriateness and level of formality
conditions as basic. should be considered
- also called compositional semantics Antonyms
because it calculates the truth value - forms with opposite meanings
of a sentence by composing, or 4 kinds of antonyms:
putting together, the meanings of 1. Gradable antonyms
smaller units. - opposites along a scale
- big/little, fast/slow, high/low.
Lexicon 2. Non-gradable antonyms
- houses the definitions of all the words that a - complementary pairs
person knows - male/female, married/single,
Denotation true/false, asleep/awake,
- the human cognitive capacity of making present/absent.
concepts and using words to name such 3. Relational opposites
concepts - indicate a symmetrical relationship
- often the first meaning of a word or between two words
morpheme listed in a dictionary - teach/learn, give/receive,
- It is a direct specific meaning as distinct parent/child, and doctor/patient.
from an implied or associated idea 4. Reverses
Referent - or reversives
- is the actual concrete item or concept to - one member of the antonymous pair
which the word refers is used to mean “to do the reverse of
- is the thing that a symbol stands for the other”.
Reference - dress/undress, enter/exit,
- the meaning of a word or expression lengthen/shorten, close/open,
Sense raise/lower pack/unpack, tie/untie.
- the extended meaning of a word or phrase Hyponymy
that, in context, clarifies the referent - a lexical relation in which the meaning of
Homonyms one form is included in the meaning of
- are words that are spelled and another
pronounced alike but have different Hyponyms
meanings and separate histories. - specific words that constitute a subclass of
Homophones a more general word.
- are words that are pronounced alike but are - plant/vegetable, vegetable/cabbage,
different in meaning, origin or spelling flower/chrysanthemum, bird/eagle.
Homographs - Cabbage and carrot (co-hyponyms) is a
- are words that are spelled alike but are hyponym of vegetable (superordinate) and
different in pronunciation, meaning or origin. lily is a hyponym of flower (superordinate)
Prototype
- The idea of “the characteristic instance” of a
spelling pronunciation
category
Homonyms ✓ ✓ Metonymy
- the use of one word to refer to another
Homophones ✓ - That close connection can be based on a
container – contents relation (bottle/water;
Homographs ✓ can/juice), a whole – part relation
(car/wheels; house/roof), or a representative
– symbol relationship (king/crown, the
Polysemy President/Malacañang Palace).
- one form (written or spoken) having multiple - used when we answer the phone, give
meanings that are all related by extension someone a hand, relinquish the throne, or
- relatedness of meaning in polysemy is read Shakespeare.
basically due to similarity Speech errors
Synonyms - “slips of the tongue”
- two or more words with very closely related - linguistic evidence in semantic properties
meanings Semantic domain
 - set of words that share semantic properties Agent
Distinctive feature analysis - the entity that performs the action
- the semantic properties of a word are often Theme
analyzed by using a system of + (having)
- or sometimes called the patient
and - (not having)
- the entity that is involved in or affected by
the action”.
Instrument
- If an agent uses another entity in order to
perform an action
Count nouns
- can be enumerated and pluralized. Experiencer
- preceded by the indefinite article a, and by - When an NP is used to designate an entity
the quantifier many, but not by much. as the person who has a feeling, perception
- must also occur with a determiner of some or state
type. Location
- shirts (count) and clothing (mass); coins - where an entity is
(count) and change (mass).
Source
Verbs - where it moves from
- can either describe events (John carried Goal
Mary/John ate mussels) or states (John - where it moves to
knows Mary/John likes mussels). Utterance
- any stretch of talk
Eventive sentences - created by speaking or writing a piece of
- still sound natural when passivized, when language
expressed progressively, and when used as Sentences
imperatives. - are abstract grammatical elements obtained
Stative sentences from utterances
- sentences seem odd, if not ungrammatical - are abstracted or generalized from actual
or anomalous, when constructed in the language use.
same form. Proposition
Negation - part of the meaning of the utterance of a
- expressions such as ever and anymore are declarative sentence which describes some
ungrammatical in some simple affirmative state of affairs
constructions but grammatical in Agentive
corresponding negative ones - as the case of the typically animate
- negative polarity items perceived instigator of the action identified
Transitive verbs by the verb.
- (like find, hit, chase) take a direct object Instrumental
complement - case of the inanimate force or object
- have two (the subject and the DO) casually involved in the state or action
Intransitive verbs defined by the verb.
- (like sleep and arrive) do not take a direct Objective
object complement. - this is the semantically most neutral case
- Have one argument (subject) and the concept should be limited to things
Ditransitive verbs which are affected by the action identified
- such as give or throw take two objects. by the verb.
Moreover, most verbs require a subject. - an unchanged inanimate affected entity is
- have three (the subject, the DO and the IO) theme and a changed entity is patient.
Argument Theme
- refers to the various NPs that occur with a - entity which is moved by an action, or
verb whose location is described. This entity
Thematic roles usually remains unchanged.
- express the kind of relation that holds Patient
between the arguments of the verb and the - entity undergoing the effect of some action,
type of situation that the verb describes . often undergoing some change of state.
Factitive
- the case of the object or being resulting
from the action or state identified by the
verb, or understood as part of the meaning
of the verb is also identified as patient.
Dative
- also called experiencer, is the case of the
animate being affected by the state or
action identified by the verb.
Beneficiary
- the entity for whose benefit the action was
performed:
Locative
- case which identifies the location or special
orientation of the state or action identified by
the verb.
Static location
- the place in which something is situated or
takes place.
Source
- is the entity from which something moves,
either literally or metaphorically.
Path
- is not always recognized separately from a
general locative.
Goal
- is the entity towards which something
moves, either literally or metaphorically
Locutionary acts
- refer to the physical act of speaking, that is,
producing a certain type of noise,
conforming the grammar of some language
and including the speaker’s intentions.
Perlocutionary acts
- are acts performed by means of a language,
using language as a tool; persuading
someone to do something is an example of
perlocutionary acts.
Illocutionary acts
- are acts which are internal to the locutionary
act.
Modality
- can be defined as a device used by
speakers to express their particular attitude
towards a given proposition or situation.
- can be deontic (when it expresses
obligation or permission) and epistemic
(when the speaker expresses degrees of
knowledge).
Evidentiality
- is connected with epistemic modality in the
sense that it is the term used to refer to the
speaker’s attitude to the source of
information.