SEMANTİC 5.

HAFTA

SEMANTİC ANOMALY: Semantic anomaly refers to a deviation from the typical meaning or usage of a
word or phrase within a particular context. It can also refer to an error in the meaning or
interpretation of a sentence or text. They are ambiguous sentences rather hard to explain, or in some
cases are meaningless. When we look at the sentence (cat+ study) we find that there is a mismatch
between the semantic properties of the two words: Study can only be done by adult humans.

e.g., In sentence two: Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

• Something colorless cannot be green.

• Ideas are concepts that cannot take a physical property such as green.

• Concepts do not have the ability to sleep.

• Furiously cannot modify a non-active verb.

• Sentence three: Walls have the ears, bu da anormaldir ancak mecazi olarak düşünürsek kabul
edilebilir: Bir odada iki kişi arasında yapılan gizli bir konuşma aslında başkalarına da
aktarılabilir. Aslında İngiliz kültüründe atasözü olarak kullanılan bir cümledir, yani bir odanın
duvarları arasında gizli kalan şeylerin sır olarak saklanması imkansızdır.

TYPES OF MEANING

 Literal and Non-literal Meaning

 Dialectical and Idiolectical Meaning
 Referential and Connotative Meaning
 Compositional and non-compositional Meaning
 Coolocational Meaning

1. Literal and Non-literal Meaning :

When you look up a word in the dictionary, you will find its literal meaning. Literal language
is language that means exactly what it says. It uses words by their dictionary definitions. “I
am going to the store” is literal language.

The opposite of literal language is nonliteral language. These are words and phrases that do
not mean exactly what they say. You probably hear these words and phrases all the time.
For example, say you are really angry at your friend. He might tell you to “chill.” The
dictionary meaning of chill is “to become cold.” Your friend is not telling you to put yourself
into your freezer. He is telling you to relax. He is using chill as nonliteral language.
 “The Rainbow” by Christina Rossetti
Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier than these.
There are bridges on the rivers, 5
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these. 10

Non-literal Meaning
 Metaphor
 Irony
 Sarcasm
a) metaphor is the use of a word or phrase to refer to something that
it isn’t, invoking a direct similarity between the word or phrase
used and the thing described, but in the case of English without
the words like or as, which would imply a simile
Metaphor examples: Life is a box of chocolates.
Beton duvarlar arasında bir çiçek açtı. (Erdem Beyazıt)
All religions, arts, and sciences are branches of the same tree. (Albert
Einstein)
‘’She was a rock star at our last business presentation.’’
This is probably not referring to a literal rock star falling from space or
the other common metaphor: a musician performing at a rock concert.
Instead, it simply means the person delivered a great performance at the
meeting and stood out like a rock star on the stage.
‘’Son iş sunumumuzda bir rock yıldızıydı.’’
Bu muhtemelen uzaydan düşen gerçek bir rock yıldızına veya diğer yaygın
metafora atıfta bulunmuyor: rock konserinde performans sergileyen bir
müzisyen. Bunun yerine, kişinin toplantıda harika bir performans
sergilediği ve sahnede bir rock yıldızı gibi öne çıktığı anlamına gelir.

Metaphor: All the world’s a stage.

Simile: All the world is like a stage.
b) Irony: irony is a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean
something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of
words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous
context.
e.g., Water, water everywhere, nor any a drop to drink.
This line from Samuel Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” describes the dark irony of a sailor
dying of thirst on his boat while he is surrounded by water.

(Samuel Coleridge'in "Antik Denizcinin Kırağı" adlı eserindeki bu satır, etrafı suyla çevriliyken
teknesinde susuzluktan ölen bir denizcinin karanlık ironisini anlatıyor.)

c) Sarcasm is a kind of verbal irony that has a biting or critical tone.

For example, here’s a famous sarcastic line from The Princess Bride: ‘’Truly, you have
a dizzying intellect.’’

In the scene, Wesley is insulting the intelligence of Vizzini the Sicilian using verbal
irony (the word “truly” makes it even more ironic, since Wesley is reassuring Vizzini
of the truth of an untrue statement).

Sarcasm - Key Takeaways

-Sarcasm is a literary device that uses irony for ridicule or mockery.
-People use sarcasm to express frustration and make fun of others.
-Authors use sarcasm to develop characters and craft engaging dialogue.
-Sarcasm is often denoted with quotation marks.
-Sarcasm is a specific type of verbal irony in which a speaker says one thing but
means another in order to mock others.

• Examples : Fashion is o form of uglinessso intolerable that we have to alter it every six
months. Oscar Wilde.
• "Adamınız, Allah için, gerçekten ustaymış; onun eli değeli bizim makine kararsızlığı bıraktı;
artık hiç çalışmıyor.«
• You've been sooo helpful.
• Really, Sherlock?
• Oh, this is exactly what I need today.
• "I'm so fine right now! Everything is absolutely perfect!«
• Thrift, thrift Horatio! The funeral bak’d meats

“Bu kadar letafet çünkü sende var

Beyaz gerdanında bir de ben gerek” (ben=homonymy, ambiguity)

Söz ettim mavilere içimdeki yaralardan (Mavilere= polysemy, metonomy) (yaralardan= metaphor)

Gökteki yağdı yine yerdekinde yakamoz var

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