EL212

SEMANTICS
Semantics; Is the study of meaning of
a) Morpheme
b) Words (Lexical semantics)
c) Meaning of clauses (clausal semantics)
d) Sentences (sentential semantics)

Or
Semantics, is the study of meaning of language. Language is used to express meaning of a
particular phenomenon which can be understood by people.
Therefore; meaning and language have got unequal relationship – one is independent (language)
and the other is dependent(meaning).
Meaning depends on language, thus language is the tool to express meaning
Or
Semantics is the linguistic study of meaning be it of morphemes, words, clauses and sentences.
Generally; Semantics is the branch of linguistics which deals with meaning

Lexical meaning
Lexical meaning can be understood by using three theories namely; symbol-referent theory,
symbol- concept theory, symbol-concept-referent theory
a) Symbol-referent theory
The theory hypothesizes that the meaning of word is its referent. It assumes that every linguistic
symbol has got its corresponding referent.
Weakness of the theory
It has not addressed the grammatical symbols e.g. articles, prepositions, conjunctions etc.
Other linguistic symbols(words) have no their corresponding referents (objects in the real world)

II.Symbol-concept theory

Hypothesizes that meaning of word is its concept (mental picture about something)
E.g. DOG-------animal
---------------------four legs
---------------------barking
--------------------long tail
The features that can define a particular symbol are called semantic features /semantic
components /basic parts.
Note the theory is useful in addressing abstract concepts; however, it can address concrete
concepts as well.
III Symbol –concept referent theory
The theory hypothesizes that the meaning of words is its concepts and referent.
Generally, lexical meaning can be understood better using a semiotic triangle
 concept

symbol referent
NB. A single referent can be associated with different referents or concepts
E.g.

Mbuzi an animal
an instrument used to
extract coconut
to each other
Also the same word may have the same meaning in different languages
Subtopic3. Sentence meaning VS utterance meaning
Sentence meaning
Is the output of lexical and grammatical meaning. That means
Lexical items in a sentence should be meaningful for the sentence to convey appropriate meaning.
Lexical items in a sentence should be compatible in order for the sentence to convey an appropriate
meaning
Grammatical items also should be meaningful and compatible
E.g. Asha is meowing
The underlined lexical items are incompatible –they cannot co-occur. Thus the sentence is meaningless
because it has violated the principle of compatibility
It states that- ‘lexical items that have to form a sentence should have related semantic features’.
Compatible lexical items should have related semantic features.
Example
Asha is crying
The sentence is meaningful because lexical and grammatical items are concord and have the related
semantic features.
She depends about him
There is incompatibility btn the lexical and grammatical items in this sentence thus makes it meaningless.
Correct sentence; she depends on him
NB. Sentence meaning in other instances is abstract unless it is contextualized. With five examples
substantiate this statement (UE 2023).
Sometimes it is quite difficult to work out the meaning of the sentence if it is not contextualized.
Example
She is heading to the bank
The vocabulary bank is ambiguous and create abstractness of the sentence
1.he is heading to the financial institution
2 he is heading to the side of the river
E.g. 2
He did not do his examination
The pronoun his brings abstractness as whether it is;
1. his own examination
2. someone’s examination
Types of sentence meaning
a. Syntactic meaning
This meaning is obtained by doing the following;
1.Disassembling the entire syntactic construction into its component
parts/constituents/syntactic units.
2. assigning each component part its corresponding semantic role.
Semantic role /function(UE2023)- is the role played by every referent of noun phrase
in a construction.
NP- Is a noun or pronoun or group of words whose head word is a noun
Example. He/ gave /Juma/ a book
S v oi od
Np1 Np2 Np3
We usually assign semantic role to every np available in a sentence.
In the above sentence, the semantic roles are
Agent
Recipient
Theme
AGENT
Is the doer of the sentence action realized by a verb in sentence
RECIPIENT
Is the secondary sufferer of the sentence action realized by a verb.
Or
Is the beneficiary of a sentence action realized by a verb.
Or
Is the end point of the change of possession
THEME
Is an entity which is located, possessed or undergoes the change of location or possession
b) Prosodic meaning
this is obtained when a certain prosodic element is in operation.
Example, It is IN the cave.
The speaker is sure that an entity is exactly in the cave not elsewhere
It is in the cave –the entity may also be somewhere
She will inherit MONEY –exactly money not anything else
She will inherit money- and whichever

c)Social meaning

It is obtained from people’s social relationship or interactions. The meaning we get from people with
different status, same status and the meaning we get from the way some words are used in utterance.

E.g. Don’t look at me like that

-unequal status

Hello, can we meet today

-same status, showing a polite request or intimacy

Please don’t do that again

-different power, it shows warning

NB. what you utter may be perceived positively or negatively by the hearers or may demote or promote
you.

You should therefore choose what to say, to whom, at what time and how so so you might be safe.

d)propositional meaning

proposition is a statement or an assertion which may either be true or false after being tested against the
available facts in
the real world.

Proposition meaning is the meaning obtained after testing a certain proposition against the available facts
in the real world

Example

Asha is a thief – for you to understand that the assertion is true one should set premises e.g. She stole a
book yesterday, stole a skirt last week, today has stolen a pen

Utterance meaning
Also referred to as;
a. Pragmatic meaning
b. Contextual meaning
c. Underlying meaning
d. Implied meaning

Utterance meaning is the meaning we get from the context. Or

Is the meaning we get when utterance is uttered in a context. Or
Is the hidden meaning of an utterance. For understanding utterance meaning one has to move from what
is said to what is implied.
What is said (surface meaning)
Example
Juma is a tick
The underlying meaning; Juma is an exploiter.
NB. Utterance meaning is an output of a sentence and context
Simply; utterance meaning=sentence +context
Variables to consider in order to achieve an utterance meaning

 Locution
The process of producing a meaningful linguistic expression(sentence)

 Illocution
the process of determining or working out the force or intention of the speaker in producing a
particular utterance in a particular context.
Force= intention

 Perlocution
 The process of responding to the intention of the speaker in producing a particular utterance in a
particular context. Means the effects that the speakers utterance has to the hearer.

Subtopic 4; Semantic competence

Refers to the speaker’s linguistic ability of recognizing whether a certain morphological and or
syntactical construction is meaningful or not
Morphological construction means a word, a phrase or clause or sentence
Morphological construction is meaningful when
a) It is properly formed
Example
Fame(N) -⃰Famive (adj)
Famous (adj)
Kind- ⃰⃰ kindity
kindness
Therefore, semantic competence is usually attribute of the native speakers of a particular
language however even a language learner can have this ability
E.g. 2
On Monday he came but.
The sentence is meaningless as it is incomplete.
b) when it is logical. means when someone can sieve out the sense quite easily. Example
If you want to pass your examination you should eat once a week. Meaningless as it is
illogical
c) when it is uttered in a proper context
every context of situation has got its own language.eg the language used in the church differs
significantly from the language used in the lecture hall.
d) When it does not contain difficult words
e.g. cantankerous nincompoop man is here. the difficultness of words in this sentence makes it
meaningless.
e) When words have been used properly. There should be proper selection of words
E.g. the hen is laughing.
This sentence is meaningless due to poor selection of words.
f) If it is not circular or tautological.
The one which the speaker repeats the same issue unnecessary.
E.g. I will come on Monday and the day after Sunday
g) When it is not contradictory.
Example; Juma is a thief but he does not steal people’s properties
Eg2; Juma is impotent but his children were here yesterday
h) When it is not a taboo
i) If it is cultural sensitive
 Welcome back to topic two
SEMANTIC RELATIONS
These are relations among words, phrases, clauses and sentences in terms of meaning.
Subtopic one; Lexical relations
These are relation among words in terms of meaning. Words relate each other hyponynmically,
meronymically antonymically etc.
Words which relate to each other hyponymically are called hyponyms
Words which relate to each other meronymically are called meronyms
words which relate to each other antonymically are called antonyms
categories of Lexical relations
a) Hierarchically/taxonomically structured lexical relation
the relation among words exist in levels. These levels are occupied by words with different degrees of
specificity.

 First level
It is occupied by words we call GENERAL TERMS

 Second level
It is occupied by less general terms generally called SPECIFIC TERMS

 Third level
It is occupied by less less general terms known as MORE SPECIFIC TERMS

 Fourth level
It is occupied by less less less general terms known as MORE MORE SPECIFIC TERMS

 Fifth level is known as MORE MORE MORE SPECIFIC TERMS

Under this category we have
Hyponym and
Meronym

Hyponyms
This is the relation of inclusion. A word includes the meaning of other word. Means a word inherit the
semantic features of another word.
Example

BIRD +feathers
+wings
+Flying
+warm -blooded
DUCK +swimming
+webbed feet
Plus, the unique features of duck, it has inherited feature of another word BIRD.
The taxonomy of hyponym contains a general term which occupies the first level; specific terms which
occupy the second level; more specific terms which occupy the third level, and more more specific terms
which occupy the fourth level
General term+specific terms +more specific terms +more more specific terms =Hyponymic semantic
structure /Hyponymic semantic network /Hyponymic semantic web.
NB. The general term is also known as SUPERORDINATE TERM
NB2. Specific terms , more specific terms and more more specific terms are known as SUBORDINATE
TERMS
NB3.More more specific terms are types of More specific terms, more specific terms are types of specific
terms and specific terms are types of General terms.
NB4. Specific terms; more specific terms and more more specific terms are hyponyms
NB5. Hyponyming usually deals with TYPES OF
Consider the following hyponymic structure

BIRD
CHICKEN DUCK PIGEON OWL

LAYERS BROILERS

X Y M P
THE BOTTOM-UP APPROACH is used to describe the Hyponymic semantic Network. Example
X and Y are hyponyms of Layers; M and P are hyponyms of Broilers; Layers and Broilers are hyponyms
of Chicken; Chicken, duck, pigeon and Owl are hyponyms of Bird
NB. Specificity increases downward the structure and decreases upward the structure
Meronymy
This is the relationship between the part and the whole.
The whole becomes the general terms occupying the topmost level of the taxonomy, whereas the parts
become specific terms, more specific terms, and more more specific terms.
In meronymy we usually deal with PARTS OF

Mathematically; General term(the whole) +specific terms +more specific terms +more more specific
terms (the parts) =Meronymically semantic structure/ meronymically semantic network / meronymically
semantic web.
Generally; The whole + the parts =meronymically semantic structure.
Example

HOUSE(WHOLE)
DOOR WINDOW ROOF

Iron bars Locks Glass

In describing the meronymy structure the bottom up approach is used.
Example
Iron bars, locks and glass are meronyms of window; Door, window and roof are meronym of House.
NB Meronym is usually parts – whole relationships.
b) Non –hierarchically /Taxonomically structured lexical relation.
Relation of words in this category does not exist in the levels.
subcategories
Synonymy
Antonymy
Homonymy
Homography
Polysemy

Synonymy
This is the relation in which words are similar semantically but phonetically and orthographically
dissimilar.
Simply; synonymy is the relation in which words have got the same meaning but they do differ in terms
of pronunciation and spellings. Example
-large/big
-coach/sofa
-reply /answer
-recall/remember
Words which are represented by these structures are called synonyms
Synonyms are in most cases intersubstitutable in the context they occur, but in other instances,
intersubstitutability led to semantic tasteless or unappealing construction/output
Examples
This is a big issue
This is a large issue (Unappealing)
Example 2
Did you remember him?
Did you recall him ?(unappealing)
Categories of synonyms
a) Typical synonyms
these can substitute for each other without causing any semantic anomaly/ unappealing. They do not
cause semantically tasteless constructions.
b) Less typical synonyms
these can hardly substitute or each other; force to substitute may led to semantically tasteless
constructions.
Antonymy
This is the relation of opposite. words which are in this relationship are called antonyms
Examples
Up/down
Clean /dirty
Walk/run
Pass/fail

Subtopic2 Sentence relation

This is the meaning relationship between sentences.
Categories of sentence relation
I Entailment
The relation in which the truth of the first sentence guarantees the truth of the second sentence.
That means if the first sentence is true then the second sentence should be true. the condition for the
second sentence to be true is that the first sentence should be true.
Example
She teaches physics better
Entails that, she is a teacher
He married an ugly woman
Entails that, he is married
He cultivates and keeps animals
Entails that, he is a farmer
They score As in every course
Entails that they are intelligent

II Paraphrase
The relation in which two sentences are semantically similar but syntactically dissimilar. They only differ
in the arrangement of words.
Examples
a. He bought a big goat
b. A big goat was bought by him
a. He saw a snake yesterday
b. Yesterday, he saw a snake
a. It is unfortunate that she did not come
b. Unfortunately, she did not come
a.I gave Asha a book
b.A book was given to Asha by me

III Contradiction
Is the relation in which whenever one sentence is true the other sentence must be false.
Example
a. She passed exam colorfully
b. She is dull
a. he steals people’s properties
b. he is innocent.
a. He is mad
b. He is a president of country x

IV presupposition
The relation in which the first sentence presupposes the second sentence.
Is the relation in which a previously known meaning is implied in the sentence
Entailment requires reasoning while presupposition does not require reasoning-it come automatically
example
his son is sick
presupposes that he has got a son
we discussed many issues in the meeting
presupposes that there was a meeting
we arrived late at the party
presupposes that there was a party

Subtopic3 The semantic field vs lexical field

Semantic field is an area of meaning containing related but mutually exclusive lexemes
means wherever one lexeme occurs the other cannot exist there
or
Is a semantic pool from which lexemes do pick some semantic features.
Within a semantic field can be some sub semantic field, and within the sub semantic field there can be

sub-sub semantic field and within sub sub semantic field there can be sub sub sub semantic field.

For example, colour terms belong to semantic field of colour, that means red, blue, white, yellow, green,
etc.=colour
And within the subsemantic field of red there are sub sub semantic field of scarlet, purple and crimson

Colour(semantic field)
White Red green yellow (sub semantic field)

Crimson scarlet purple (sub sub-semantic field)

Nb. semantic field structure is in most cases similar to hyponymical semantic structure.
Qn. To which semantic field do the following lexemes belong?
a. Mangoes, pawpaw, guava and pineapple= FRUITS
b. Cow, goat, dogs elephant= ANIMALS

On the other hand, semantic field refers to the lexical area containing related lexemes
Example
Mouse, cursor, monitor belong to the lexical field of COMPUTER
Example 2
Subtraction, division, multiplication= MATHEMATICS

Challenges encountered in assigning lexemes to their corresponding semantic field

 Some lexemes some lexemes belong to more than one semantic field

e.g. Orange colour

fruit
 Other lexemes do not have a specified semantic field. E.g. noise
 Other lexemes do fall midway between two semantic fields eg

Bat animal
bird
 subtopic 4. Lexical predictability
Is an automatic process of sequencing lexemes in a speech frame or sentence.
Or is an effortless process of sequencing lexemes in a particular speech frame or sentence.
Or; is a collocationally motivated process of working out the next item in the speech frame or sentence.
Shortly; lexical predictability is a function of collocation- lexical co occurance is determined by
collocation
COLLOCATION
Is the mutual co occurance of lexical items or mutual co occurance between lexical items and articles.
That means wherever a certain lexical item occur you are likely to predict the next lexical item
Types of collocation
a. Lexical collocation
This is the mutual co-occurrence of lexical items (predictability of the next lexical item is quite
easier)
Types of lexical collocation

 Strong lexical collocation

This also called strong lexical predictability
Here a lexeme collocates with a small range of items.
E.g.

Commit suicide
Murder
Offence
Adultery
 Weak lexical predictability/ weak lexical predictability
Here a lexeme collocates with a wide range of items.
(it collocates with as many items as possible)

E.g.
Heavy loss
Machine
Rainfall
Gear
b.Grammatical collocation
this is the mutual co occurance between a lexical items and a particle
example
depend---------------on
look------------------at
conform -------------to
abide-----------------by
NB. There are other lexical co occurance which are not dictated or conditioned by collocation. They do
co-occur freely but the speaker should pay attention to the principle of compatibility.
The situation in which lexical items do co-occur freely is called FREELY LEXICAL COMBINATION
E.g. I went to the ---------------
The lexeme go can co occur with many compatible items

Welcome back to topic three

TOPIC 3.THE CONCEPTUAL SYSTEM
What is concept?
It can be answered by using two theories;
I. CLASSICAL CONCEPT THEORY
It is also called Necessary and sufficient condition theory
It defines concepts in terms of their attributes. That means in order to understand what is so called
concept one should know its attributes/ features/ characteristics. These are generally called defining
features
These features are shown by plus or minus symbols indicating the presence or absence of a certain
feature.
Categories of attributes

 Basic attributes and

 Non basic attributes
Basic attributes
These are usually permanent and universal. They are cross-cultural-het cut across cultures and they are
found in every culture.
Example

Woman -baldness
+soft voice
+breast
-beards etc
Man +deep voice
-breast
-muscles
 +male
+/- baldness
NB. Some basic features in other instances are not basic. Some basic features are not universal to all
concepts

Non- basic attributes

These are not universal and not cross cultural. Every culture has got its own way of defining a particular
concept. They are culturally constructed and usually differ from one continent, country or society to
another
NB. Some of the non –basic features may cut across the content and country

E.g.
DOG (in Africa) +hunting
+Loitering
-shelter
-food budget
DOG (in Europe) +shelter
-hunting
+medical service
+food budget
 -loitering
For some concepts in order to have a complete set of attributes; basic and non-basic attributes must be
combined
II PROTOTYPE THEORY
This theory defines concepts in terms of internal organization. The theory assumes that the concept is
internally organized into layers/levels. And these levels are occupied by members with different degrees
of typicality.
Hence;
We have typical and less typical members
Typical members are usually closer to the centre while less typical members are at the periphery of the
centre.
Near the Centre there are typical members followed by less, less less and less less less typical members.
Example the concept of ‘family’’

- father, mother and children are typical members occupy a position near the centre

-aunts, grand father or mother, uncle, grandsons/ daughters are less typical member occupy a position a
bit distance from the Centre etc.
Types of concepts
I Fuzz concepts
II Non –fuzz concepts
Fuzz concepts- these have got relative definitions (these do not have precise and clear-cut
definitions).
The definitions of these concepts depends on one’s perspectives. That means everyone has got his or her
own way of defining these concepts.
However, in other scenarios there can be universal criteria for defining these concepts. That means the
criteria may cut across group of people societies etc.
Example of fuzz concepts;
- Beauty
- Ugliness
- Tallness
- Shortness
- intelligence
ii non –fuzz concepts
these have got absolute definitions and clear cut boundaries
example; chair, house, table, man etc.

Majority of non-fuzzy concepts are concrete in nature.

NB. Some of non-fuzz concepts have got some elements of fuzziness-they have got relative definitions,
means their definitions depends on one’s perspectives.
Example; ‘house’ can be defined differently by different people depending on one’s criteria.
NB. There is no dichotomy between the fuzz and non-fuzz concepts because in other instances their
features may overlap
E.g. ‘house’ can have both what is called fuzz and non fuzz in other scenarios

Subtopic3; Relations between Concepts/conceptual

relation
We usually say that concepts usually do relate with each other and the relationship is hierarchical.
These hierarchical relationship is illustrated by Conceptual Network Model which was lied by
Quillian & Collins (1969).
Assumptions of the model
I. Concepts are represented by nodes in a network to which attributes are attached and
between which there are semantic links.
NODES
Types of nodes
a. Superordinate nodes and
b. subordinate nodes
The two nodes do constitute what we call Conceptual Semantic Structure/ Conceptual semantic
Network
The other name for Superordinate node is TOPMOST NODE and the subordinate nodes are found
below the superordinate node
Subordinate nodes do inherit some features from the superordinate node
II.The model assumes that features inheritance can be blocked (the model blocks inheritance).
Example
 BIRD
 superordinate
Attributes

SEMANTIC LINK

SEMANTIC LINK


CHICKEN OSTRICH

Semantic links are inherited traits / features

E.g. chicken inherits some features from bird and other features are blocked.
Subtopic 04; Lexicalization of concepts
What is lexicalization?
Is the process of assigning linguistic symbols to the lexical items/concepts. This is always done
differently in different languages.
However; a single concept may be assigned to more than one linguistic symbols in the same language.
E.g. Father-------------Baba
---------------mshua
--------------dingi
Boyfriend------------ATM
-----------Buzi
NB. In most cases there is no one to one relationship between the concept and symbol. That is other
concepts have got more than one symbols
Subtopic 05; Grammatization of Concepts
This is the process of assigning linguistic symbols to grammatical concepts. And this is done differently
in different languages.
The grammatical concepts are; Tense/aspects, conjunctions, Articles, Prepositions etc.
Food of thought
How do we grammatize Tense in English?
Past tense
The use of morpheme -ed which can be realized as /t/, /d/ or /Id/
Present tense
The use of ‘s, es or ies’ particles
Future tense
The use of will/shall
How do we grammatize conjunctions?
-By using subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.
QUESTIONS
1. How is the concept of number (singular and plural grammatised in Kiswahili?
2.How is conjunctions grammatised in your vernacular language?
3. How are possibility and obligations grammatized in English and Kiswahili?

Welcome back to topic four

SYNTAX AND SENTENCE INTERPRETATION
Syntax is the arrangement of words in a sentence plus rules and principles which do determine such
arrangement.
Sentence interpretation the process of examining the meaning of the sentence.
The focus is on the sentence with semantic multiplicity- multiple meaning or multiple interpretation.
Causes of Semantic Multiplicity
1.The presence of lexical word with multiple interpretation
2.The omission of a certain word in a sentence
3. the presence of difficult word which may attract multiple interpretations
4. The presence of possessive pronouns in a sentence
5. culture-the same word may have different interpretation in different cultures.
Subtopic one; Principle of compositionality
It states that; The meaning of the sentence is determined by the meaning of its component parts and the
way they are arranged in such sentence.
Component parts are words which build up a particular sentence and they may either be lexical or
grammatical.
These words which constitute a sentence should be meaningful and should be arranged correctly in a
sentence by considering the principle of compositionality.
Subtopic two; Ambiguity
The situation in which a morphological or syntactical construction has got multiple interpretations.
Types of ambiguity
I lexical ambiguity
The situation in which a lexical item in a sentence has got multiple interpretations.
Example
a.She is on drugs
-she is on medications
-she is using drugs
b. it was a big school
-an education institution
-the group of whales swimming together
II.Pronominal ambiguity
The situation in which a pronoun usually a possessive pronoun makes the construction ambiguous
Example
He did not see his aunt
-he did not see his own aunt
-he did not see someone’s aunt
Example2
He did not do his examination
-His own examination
-someone’s examination
III.Structural ambiguity
The situation in which the construction is ambiguous even if it has not got lexical item /pronoun with
multiple interpretation.
It is usually caused by omission of some elements from the original constructions.
Example
I saw him when coming back
-I saw him when he was coming back or
I saw him when I was coming back.
Example 2
He was walking with a stick
-he was walking holding a stick
-he was walking by using a stick

Subtopic 3. Semantic Functions /Semantic Roles/Theta Roles/Thematic Roles/

Semantic functions; are different roles played by different referents of nouns phrases (NPs) in a sentence.
NP – is a noun or pronoun or group of words whose head word is a noun.
Categories of Semantic Functions
1.Verb-Specific Semantic Function
These are usually obtained by nominalizing a verb in construction
Example
She paid him
PAYER PAYEE

She retained him

RETAINER RETAINEE

She supervised him

SUPERVISOR SUPERVISEE

However; not all verbs can be nominalized. When this occurs the following way is used
-introducing words such as SOMEONE, SOMETHING, or SOMEBODY followed by perfectivised verb.
Example1
She wrote a letter
WRITER SOMETHING WRITTEN
Example 2
She beat him
THE BITTER SOMEONE BITTEN
Example3
She sold maize
SELLER SOMETHING SOLD
Example4
He was reminded
REMANDEE
Example5
She cultivated a big shamba
CULTIVATOR SOMETHING CULTIVATED
Example6
He examined him
EXAMINER EXAMINEE
Example7
She instructed them
INSTRUCTOR INSTRUCTEES
Example8
He attended a meeting
ATTENDEE SOMETHING ATTENDED

2. General Semantic Functions

This emerged as a result of lack of universality in the verb –specific semantic roles.
Types of general Semantic Functions
NB. The abbreviations used are not universal, therefore, you have to indicate KEY at the end
1.AGENT(AG.)
Features of agent
-Is a doer of action realized by a verb in a construction
-it normally occupies a subject position in active constructions
-it is usually a complement of a preposition ‘by’ in passive constructions
-it is usually an animate
Examples
He demolished the house
AG.
She was bitten by him
AG
PATIENT(Pat.)
Is an entity which is in state or condition or which undergoes the change of state or condition
It is usually the primary sufferer of the sentence action realized by a verb
Usually occupies the subject and the direct object position
Example
He cut a tree yesterday
Pat.
He dismantled the house
Pat.
It is dead
Pat.

THEME(Th.)
Features
-it is an entity which is located or possessed or which involve the change of location or
possession
It usually occupies the subject and direct object position
Examples
It is on the table
Th.
He sold a car yesterday
Th.
He put a pen on the table
Th.
He travelled from London to Paris
Th.

RECIPIENT(Rec.)

-Is an end point of the transfer of possession

-It is an entity which receives or benefits from the sentence action realized by a verb.
-it usually occupies a subject and indirect object positions
-It is usually a secondary sufferer of the sentence action realized by a verb
Examples
He received a big dictionary
Rec.
She gave him a heavy box
Rec.
She was rewarded a good prize
Rec.

GOAL(Go.)
-Is the end point of the change of possession or location
-it is usually a complement of the preposition ‘to’ and ‘into’

Examples
It is streaming into the lake
Go.
They travelled to Mwanza
Go.
She disappeared into the bush
Go.

LOCATIVE(Loc.)
Features
-is an entity onto which the theme is located
-it usually co-occurs with a theme
-it is usually a complement of all prepositions except ‘to’ and with’
Examples
It is on the table
Loc.
It is under the tree
Loc.
It is lying on the roadside
Loc.
SOURCE(So.)
Is an entity from which the theme originates
It is usually a complement of the preposition ‘from’
NB. Source can sometimes occupy the subject position but without a preposition ‘from’
NB2.source can sometimes be a complement of preposition ‘by ‘in passive constructions
Examples
It flows from the hill to the valley
So.
It is from him
So.
EXPERIENCER(Exp.)
Is an entity that feels, perceives or experiences something.
It usually co occur with the following verbs;
Like, want, hear, taste, know, frighten, see, hate, feel etc.
It usually co occur with percept
Examples
She heard bad news
Exp.
She hates short women
Exp.
Three people were seen by him yesterday
Exp.
PERCEPT(Perc.)
-Is an entity that is felt, perceived or experienced
-It usually co occur with an experiencer.
-Usually occupies a direct object position in active constructions
-Usually occupy the subject position in passive constructions.
Examples
He smelt the roasted meat
Perc.
An amazing car was seen by him yesterday
Perc.
She heard bad news
Perc.
INSTRUMENT(Instr.)
-is an entity with which the action is performed.
-it is usually a complement of the preposition ‘with’
NB.it can sometimes occupy a subject position but without a preposition ‘with’ for active
constructions.
NB2. It can also be a complement of preposition ‘by’ in passive constructions.
Examples
He cut a tree with a panga
Instr.
An iron bar hit him on the head
Instr.
He was hit by a stone
Instr.
Subtopic4; Mapping of Semantic Functions onto Grammatical Functions
Mapping means associating or linking
-There is no one to one association between semantic and grammatical functions
-There is no possibility of a single grammatical function to be realized by a single semantic
function
-A single grammatical function is associated with multiple semantic functions.
The three grammatical functions will be dealt namely; Subject, Direct Object and Indirect
Object
SUBJECT
Subject is associated with the following semantic roles
1.Agent
Example
He bit him
Ag.
2.Patient
Example
He was bitten by him
Pat.
3.Recipient
Example
He received many presents
Rec.
4Theme
Example
It was removed by him
5 Instrument.
A bomb destroyed many houses
Instr.
6.Experiencer
Example
He dislikes lazy people
Exp.
7.Percept
Example
Lazy people are disliked by him

DIRECT OBJECT
Can be associated with the following semantic roles

1. Theme
Example
He gave Juma some money
Th.
2. Patient
Example
He slapped him
Pat.
3. Percept
Example
He tasted sour milk
Perc.
INDIRECT OBJECT
Can be associated with the following semantic roles
1.Recipient
Example
He gave Juma a novel
Rec.
2.Goal
Example
He gave Juma a novel
Go.
Subtopic 5; The Role Co-Occurrence
The situation in which some semantic functions do co occur in a construction.
-They do collocate each other
Whenever one semantic role occurs the other is in the neighbourhood
Example Goal, Locative, Recipient, and Source do collocate with theme

Subtopic 6. The Role Conflict

The situation in which two or more semantic roles do compete or struggle to realize a single
Noun Phrase(Np)
Examples
He put milk in the jar
-can be locative or Goal
He gave him some money
-can be Agent or Source
He sent a letter to him
-can be source or goal
Mechanisms/strategies of resolving the role conflicts
I. Opting for the most plausible semantic role. That which has got more semantic features
than the other
II. Writing both semantic roles, but they should be separated by a slanting line
Example
He put milk in the jar
Loc/Go.
NB. If not guided to use the most plausible role use the second option -to write both semantic
roles

Welcome back to topic 5

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF SEMANTICS
1.Componential Theory of Meaning
It has four tenets/assumptions
I. The meaning of word is made up of smaller components of meaning which are called
Semantic components/basic parts/Semantic Primitives/Semantic Features
Example
DOG ----------------+barking
----------------+four legs
 -------------------+long tail
II.The process of disassembling or decomposing or breaking up the meaning of word into its
component parts is called Lexical decomposition or Semantic Decomposition
III.Each component of meaning according to binary principle should be differentiated by plus
or minus symbols to indicate the presence or absence of a certain feature
IV.The meaning of a word is best understood by combining the contrastive features
Strength of the theory
A. It is economical. The plus and minus symbols save space on the paper ie they shorten
sentences
B. It has linguistic imports outside semantics –it has imported mathematical symbols into
semantics
Weaknesses of the theory
It does not characterize the abstract lexical items by using the plus or minus symbols.eg tradition,
colonialism
The theory confines itself to concrete lexical items –those which have got their corresponding referents

2.Truth-Conditional Theory of Semantics

Assumptions
I. the truth or falsity of a certain logical proposition depends on the truth or falsity of another logical
proposition
A logical proposition means a sentence /statement
Examples
If the statement Asha is bright is true then, the statement Asha has got the first class is true
If the statement, Juma is an orphan is false, then the statement, Juma’s parents lost in the war is false
II.Truth is conditioned by some factors or context or circumstances called Truth Conditions
III.The truth or falsity of a certain logical proposition is its truth value
4. Transformational-Generative Theory of Semantics
Assumptions
I. Form and meaning may led to a grammatical and meaningful syntactic constructions
II.The deep structures and the meaning of words in those structures may represent total meaning of a
sentence
A deep structure; is a syntactic construction which has not yet been affected by transformational rules
Transformational rules; are syntactic rules that convert deep structures into surface structures
Or
Are syntactic rules which derive the surface structures from the deep structures
Surface structures; are the syntactic constructions which have been affected by transformational rules
Categories of transformational rules

 Interrogative Rule
These usually convert declarative sentences into interrogative sentences
Examples
She is happy (deep structure)
-is she happy? (surface structure)
She looks smart (deep structure)
-does she look smart? (surface structure)
She looked smart (deep structure)
-Did she look smart? (surface structure)

 Negation Rules
These usually convert declarative statements into negative statements
Examples
He loves people (deep structure)
-He does not love people (surface structure)
He loved people (deep structure
-He did not love people (surface structure)

 Interrogative Negative Rules

These usually convert declarative sentences into negative sentences and then change negative sentences
into interrogative negative
Example
He joined the university last year (deep structure)
-He did not join the university last year (surface structure)
-Didn’t he join the university last year? (Surface structure)
She behaves well (deep structure)
-she does not behave well (surface structure)
-doesn’t she behave well? (surface structure)
  Passivization Rules
These usually promote the object into subject position and demote subject NPs into by-phrase
Example
He bought a pen yesterday (deep structure)
The pen was bought by him yesterday (surface structure)
He likes football (deep structure)
Football is liked by him (surface structure)
He is writing an exam (deep structure)
An exam is being written by him (surface structure)
He was singing a song (deep structure)
A song was being sung by him (surface structure)
He sang a song yesterday (deep structure)
A song was sung by him yesterday (surface structure)

 Deletion Rules
These usually erase or omit some elements from the original structures
Examples
He saw him when he was coming from school (deep structure)
He saw him when coming from school (surface structure)
I felt sick while I was writing an exam (deep structure)
I felt sick while writing an exam (surface structure)

III.At the deep structure level lexical items are strung together with the aid of selectional Restrictions
Selectional restrictions; are co-occurrence constraints imposed by verbs on other lexical items they may
co-occur with
Every verb is selective; it selects the type and number of lexical item to co-occur with
A verb chooses a number of object Nps
IV.The semantic information contained in the lexical item determine their roles in sentence
The nature of the NP may show the role they play in a sentence
V.in order to resolve the structural ambiguity one should have recourse to the deep structure
Example
I met him when going to the church
-I met him when I was going to the church
-I met him when he was going to the church
VI.Surface structures are mere manifestations of the more defined deep structures
4.Contextual Theory of Semantics
Assumptions
The meaning of word is determined by the context in which it occurs
Types of context
a. syntactic context
Is the structure of clause, phrase or sentence
To the theory, the meaning of word is obtained according to how it has been used in a clause, phrase or
sentence. (contextual meaning)
b. Non-syntactic context
This is also called SITUATIONAL CONTEXT/ A CONTEXT OF SITUATION
Refers to circumstances, situations, place or environments in which a certain word has been used.
Example school, hospital, home etc.
Every situation context has got its own language
Contextual variables that do control language use
a. Age of audience
b. Marital status of the audience
c. Educational level of the audience
d. Economic status of the audience
e. Religion of the audience
f. Political affiliation of the audience
g. Occupational status of the audience

Welcome back to topic six

DIACHRONIC SEMANTIC CHANGE
Diachronic means across time (from one historical period to another
Diachronic semantic change; refers to the change of the meaning of a word across time.ie from one
historical period to another
Categories of diachronic semantic change
a. Semantic broadening
Is the situation in which the meaning of word becomes more general or inclusive. The direction of change
is from specific to general
SPECIFIC GENERAL

Example in the past the word ‘marriage’ had a narrow sense to mean a union of man and woman but
nowadays the definition has been extended to include
- A man to man marriage
- Woman to woman marriage
- Human to animal marriage

b. Semantic narrowing
This is the opposite of the semantic broadening
It is the situation in which the meaning of a word becomes less general or less inclusive
Example
‘FOWL’ in the Old English meant any bird but in the Modern English means a domesticated bird.
The direction of change is from general to specific
c. Amelioration
The situation in which the meaning of word becomes positive or favourite
The direction of change is from Negative to Positive
Example
‘PRETY’ In Old English meant tricky sly and cunning but in Modern English means attractive or
beautiful
d. Pejoration
Is the opposite of amelioration.
The situation in which the meaning of word becomes negative or unfavourite
The direction of change is from Positive to Negative
Example
SILLY in Old English meant happy or prosperous; but in Modern English means Foolish
c. Semantic Weakening
 The situation in which a word begins to loose some aspects of its original meaning
This is the initial stage of semantic shift.
d.Semantic shift
the situation in which word loses some aspects of its original meaning
semantic shift may either be from general to specific, specific to general, positive to negative or
negative to positive
example
‘homosexuality’

SAMPLES OF QUESTIONS
1 i. the General Term in a meronymic structure is alternatively known as ……………….
ii. THE PARTS in a meronymic semantic structure are alternatively referred to as………….,
……………, or…………….
2i. descriptively, show the semantic interaction of words in different levels in the following hyponymic
semantic network
Level1: ANIMAL
Level 2: PIG, GOAT, LION, COW
Level 3. BOER GOAT, RED KARAHARI GOAT, GALLA GOAT
ii.Diagrammatically, show the way the three levels in(i) can interact so as to bring coherent hyponymic
semantic network
3 i. Words which relate each other hyponymically, meronymically and antonymically are called
………………., ………………………, and…………….
ii.A lexical relation in which a word includes the meaning of another word is called…………………….
iii. Words which are in an opposite relationship are represented by a lexical relation called……………….
iv. The less general words in the hyponymic semantic network are technically referred to as
…………………… and are types of the………………
v. The less, less general words in a hyponymic semantic network are technically called………………and
are types of ……………………
vi. The less, less, less general words in the hyponymic semantic network are technically
called……………… and are usually types of ………………
vii. In describing the hyponymic and meronymic semantic networks, we usually use the approach known
as…………………
viii. Mathematically, show how the hyponymic semantic network can be determined.
ix. Determine the value of Xin the following meronymic equation: Meronymic semantic structure- X=
THE WHOLE
X=…………………………….
4.Under social meaning, in order to be safe, the interlocutors need to take into consideration
FIVE caution phenomena, namely:
i…………………………………………………….
ii………………………………………….
iii…………………………………………………….
iv…………………………………………………….
v………………………………………………………
5 there are many scenarios in which a certain morphological/syntactical construction may be meaningful,
three of them which include:
i…………………………………………………….
ii…………………………………………………….
iii……………………………………………………
6.Sentence meaning is the output of …………………and ……………………….; while utterance
meaning is the output of……………… and …………………………………
7. Define the following semantic phenomena:
i. Less typical synonyms
ii. Circular statements
iii. Meaning
iv. Semantic Competence
8. in each item below, parenthesize all NPs and assign them their corresponding Verb-Specific Semantic
Roles
a. He was nominated by the Speaker of the National Assembly.
b. She lectures many postgraduate students.
c. He has built a two-room house.
d. A very big sack of maize was sold by Hamis.
e. He publishes many articles of this orientation
9. In each item below, square-bracket all NPs and assign them their corresponding most plausible General
Semantic Roles (Never substantiate the identified semantic roles)
a. They were in the tree
b. She has brought many presents.
c. He saw three glittering objects
d.It stabbed him in the ribs.
e. He gave her four bags of wheat
10.How do the following principles state?
a. The principle of compositionality
b. The principle of semantic compatibility
11. How does denotative meaning differ from connotative meaning?
12. Transformational rules are housed by the Transformational Generative Theory of semantics, and their
role is to convert deep structures into surface structures. On the basis of this understanding:
a. Interrogativise the following syntactic constructions
i. she likes parachuting
ii. She ate all food
b. Negativise the following syntactic constructions:
i.They scored nicely in Test One
ii.We love strict lecturers
c.Passivise the following syntactic constructions
i. She gave him a book.
ii. She eats banana everyday
iii. She is googling some points on semantics
iv They were watching the Arsenal match.
d. What could be the deep structures of the following syntactic constructions?
i.It was eaten by him
ii.The ball was being played by him
iii. I saw him when eating an apple
iv. Did you see the bullet escarping hyena last night?
v. Doesn’t she love dull men?

Some UE (2023) Questions

SECTION A
What is Semantic function?
1.With example show how the following semantic functions can co-occur with THEME
I. Locative ii. Goal iii Agent iv patient
2. Words which are semantically similar but orthographically and phonological dissimilar sometimes
cause unappealing constructions when they substitute each other. With five examples show the validity of
this statement.
3a. Give the main tenet of Truth- Conditional Theory of Semantics
b. With two examples prove the assertion below:
“The falsity of a certain statement guarantees the falsity of another statement”
4.show what do the following statements presuppose and entail
i.They stole all the pumpkins in the homestead
Presupposes that………………………….
Entails that………………………………...
ii. His well-figured wife will come next week
Presupposes that………………………
Entails that……………………………… etc.
NB. Questions on paraphrase, negation and passivisation appeared
ESSAY SECTION B
5.There is no one-to-one association between semantic functions and grammatical functions, as one
grammatical function can be associated with more than one semantic functions. With five points giving
two example in each, show the validity of this statement by showing the semantic functions which co-
occur with SUBJECT

6.There is a thin layer between fuzz concepts and Non- fuzz concepts. With five examples, show the
validity of this statement.

7.Sentence meaning sometimes becomes abstract unless contextualized. With five examples, substantiate
the statement.