--

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...
1"1\11
c. TheTermsSemanticsandMeaning
1. philosophy:divination
2. Thetenn'semantics'wasrecognizedin apaperwas
readtoanAmericanPhilosophicalAssociationentitled"Reflected
..jLP.-Qintinsemantics".
3. aterm onlyrefertomeaning,but
alsotoits
4. In,1900,thereappeared whichthetennsemantics
wasusedtorefertothestudiesinthescienceof meaning.
5. In 1923,thetermsemanticswasusedinabook"ThemeJIDingof
-
meaning" byC.K.OdgenandIA Richards.
6. Thetermsemanticswasalsousedinthebook ProblemsQf
\1 ..
MeaninginPrimitiveI languages.byBranislowMalinowski.
-..--
7. Otherterms,usedtoreferthenotionof semanticsare:
a. Signifiesin"1)leshapeof thingstocome"byHGWells.
b. Widerandnarrowersenses:
sememics,andsemics
.._---
8. Theterms'semantic'and'semantics'inpopularlanguage,
.especiallyinnewspapers.
D.Furtherconceptionof semantics
Semantics can bedefinedas the study ofmeaning in a
subject of semantics isvery old, reaching back to the writingsofPlato
andAristotle.Itattractsthespecialinterestof philosophers,logicians,
andlinguists.Thelinguisticapproachof semanticsaimsatstudyingthe
propertiesofmeaninginasystematicandobjectiveway,withreference
toaswidearangeofutterancesandlanguagesaspossible.
E.Threeconceptionsofmeaning
Therearethreedifferentconceptionsof meaning,namely:

3. Things
Apopularviewaboutmeaningisthatwordsnameorreferto
things.Buttherearelargenumbersof wordswhereit isnot
possibletoseewhatthingtheword' to, suchas ask, find;
difficult, popular; consistency or tradition. Themajorityof words
seemunabletoberelatedtothingsinanyclearway.
b.Words---- Concepts---- Things
It shouldbe-realizedthatwordsarenotdirectlylinkedtothings.
Therelationshipbetweenwordsandthingscanbemadeonly
throughtheuseof ourmind. wordhasanassociated
concept.Theformulationof thispositionis triangR:>
of OgdenandRichards: '. - .-
Thought

Symbol Referent
Thedrawbacks/weaknessesof thisconception:
a. Thereisdifficultyofidentifyingconcept.
b. Theconceptunderlyingawordisnoteasiertodefinethanthe
thingreferredtoby theworditself,suchasinrelationtothe
wordtradition.
c. Thereisapossibilitythatpeoplemighthavedifferentconcept
ofthesamething.
--
\\t 'Ir\ \9 U(
I Lo"'lV>{'K \W, '<" \"'n'
c. Stimuli---- Words---- Responses
LeonardBloomfieldexpoundedabehavioristviewof meaningin
hisbook"Language"(1933),inwhichitis statedthatsomething
canbededucedsolelyfrom astudyof thesituationinwhich
speechisused.Thereisastimulus(s)thatleadssomeonetospeak
(r),andthereistheresponse(R) thatresultsfrom thisspeech(s).
Hedrawsthisconceptionas follows:
S r s .. R
F. ModernSemantics
a. It isnowwidelyheldthatmeaningisnotsomekindofentity
se'paratefrom language.
b. In modemlinguistics,meaningisstudiedbymakingdetailed
analysisof thewaywordsandsentencesareusedinspecific
contexts.Thisistosaythatthemeaningof awordisitsuseinthe
language.
Inordertohavebetterunderstandingabouttheconceptofmodem
semantics,the tobedifferentiated.
SenseandReference
..... ,
Semanticsisnotdirectlyconcernedwiththestudyoftheexternal'
worldoritsconceptualization.Theworldofnon-linguisticexperience
istheprovinceofphysicists,geographers,psychologists,andothers.
Semanticsisnoteasily-abletocopewiththestudyofhowlanguage
referstothisexternalworld,thatis,thenotionofreference.
The primary focus ofthe modern semantics is on the way people
relatewordstoeachotherwithintheframeworkoftheirlanguage,
thatis,ontheirsenseratherthanontheirreference.
Examples: andfathershavebrothersandsisters.
. -
Theneatscientificclassificationoffaunaandflora:
Hill- mountain, cup- glass,stream- river.
Explaining a word's meaning is a matter of explaining: a) the
reference ofthe word and; b) the sense ofthe word', usiri'g-a-io{iih
definition(Acnairis andoneha'ck)."-._d..__ __

Semanticsisthetechnicaltermusedtorefertothestudyofmeaning.
So,senlanticshassomethingtodowithmeaning.
Linguistics semantics is the study ofthe systematic ways, in which
languages structuremeaning, especially inwords andsentences. The
conceptoflinguistics semantics canbefully understood by referring
to the various meanings of the word 'meaning' .Many everyday
notionsof'semantics' canberealizedthroughtheexaminationofthe
useoftheword'mean'and 'meaning' inmanydifferentcontextsand
fordifferentpurposes.
G.Whatis"meaning?"
Linguists give different interpretation to the word 'meaning'. 1t
should be notedthatthepurposeoflinguistics is to explainprecisely
how languages are structured and used. This can be illustrated by
distinguishingdifferentwaysof interpretingtheword'meaning'.
The following sentences must be considered in orderto develop the
precisewayoftalkingaboutmeaning:
1. Iwenttotheshopthismorning.
2. Alldogsareanimals.
3. Youaretooyoungtodrink.
-.....:;-
Youarenotoldenoughtodrink.
...
----
4. JackspentseveralyearsinnorthernTibet.
JackwasonceinnorthernTibet.
5. Theunmarriedwomanismarriedtoabachelor.
6. Mytoothbrushispregnant.
7. Isawherslip.
8. Sheatethepie.
Thetruthofsentence 1depends on whetherthe speakeris . gthe
tnith.In sentence2, suchtn1 0 0 cur. etruthinsentence2
hassolelytodowiththemeanmgsof thewordsdogs andanimals.
Fromthewayshowmeaningsareexpressedintheexamples' above, it
can be said that.meaning is The
followingaretheconceptsof multifacetednotion:
(J) AsenteEce}s .. .. ..
o because they mean
exactlythesamethingorbecauseoneimpliestheother.
QWhen we feel that there is something wrong with themeaning of
the sentence, it may be because the sentence is contradicto!y,
I (,'. - - - --- -
anomalous,ambiguous,ormerelyvague.
( '_OM.
H.The notion ofthenoun and the verb 'to mean'
1. Whatisthe of ' sesquipedalian'? SlOtA"f I
. 2. Ididnotmeantohurtyou.
-
3. Heneversayswhathe j
4. Sherarelymeanswhatshesays. ivib
5. Lifewithoutfaithhasnomeaning-:
6. Whatdoyou bytheword'concep!'?
7. He wellbuthe'srather
Fameandrichesmean scholars. \}O
9. Darkcloudsmeanrain.
10. It wasJohnI notHarry.
Referringtothe uses oftheword meaningandto meaninthe examples
above, the meaning of words in this case can be realized through
substitution.Themeaningsof wordscan beof twokinds:
\" --
,(:;J Literal meaning: Denotative
meaning: Connotative
Non-literal meanings ofwords can be identified through such features
as:theuseof intonation.
Theexamplesbelowfurtherillustratetheconceptionof meaning.
1. John towrite. (intends)
2. A greenlightmeanl) go. (indicates)
3. Health everything. (hasimportance)
4. Hisbookwasfull of (specialimportance)
5. Whatisthemeaningof life. (point/purpose)
....
6. Whatdoes 'capitalist'meantoyou?(convey)
...,.....---.
7. Whatdoes 'cornea'mean?(refertoin theworld)
-
Thelastkind()fusecomesclosesttothefocus oflinguisticssemantics.
This is a special kind ofenquiry. The question asks for a definition,
which is somewhat unusual fonn ofreply, found more in dictionaries
than in every day speech that involves the translation ofthe difficult
wordsintoeasierones.
Thejmportantpart --
a. Thestudyofthepropertiesof definitions
b. The study of the way in which words and sentences convey
meaningin theeverydaysituationsof speechandwriting.
1. Descriptive, Social, and Affective Meanings
There are three types of meaning which are derived from three major
functions of language, namely:
a. meaning_
This is the type of meaning derived from the function of language
to jescribe states of affairs. This meaning is
the same as Denotation and Sense:--------
r ____ b. Social meaning
This is the type of meaning which is derived from the function of
language as a .. There
.__- ..-...... . ., __ -......
are a number of factors determining the social meaning of a
language, such as: social class, gender, context, ethnicity, age, and
. . -.-... _.... ...-.........u...
regional origin. --_.---,
..-.---,-......
c. Affective meaning
the type ofmeaning which is used to convey the language
user's feelings, attitudes, and piece of
. .
" _ .....1" ",_h "_'.' ...

-- - -
It should be remembered that social and affective meanings can be
classified as connotation.
J. TWO MISLEADING APPROACHES TO SEMANTICS
Therearetwomisleadingapproachestosemantics,thatis:
a. MeaningisthesameasReference.
b. MeaningisthesameasImage.
Both ofthe approaches focus on themeaningofwords. However, they
donotdealadequatelywiththisaspectof meaning.
a. Meaning = Reference l"\')e.ct1'\Il\..9J
- Themeaningofaword=theword'sreferent.
- Wordsarenamesforthings.
Nouns are the names ofpersons, places, or things. Verbs are the
names ofstates or actions. Adjectives are the names ofproperties
orqualities.
- The reference theory is most plausible when applied to simple
concretenouns.Thistheoryisnotapplicablewhendealingwith:
a. Words having no real referents. There are many words having
referents: elf,unicorn,Gordon,Zeus
b. AbstractNouns:truth,beauty,love.
c. Wordshavingreferentsdonotalwayshavethem:
Jerryshotatiger- Jerryhuntedatiger.
b. Meaning = Image (Image Theory)
Imagetheory :Themeaningis animageofthething.
Referencetheory:Themeaningisthethingthewordnames.
Problems:Havingdifficultiesindealingwith abstractions.
--
The problems of meaning
There is an approach to semantics by kT!"old Katz (1972), in which it is
said that certain questions can be given simple answers but others do
not. This means that there are two different analogies.
What is an ecdysiast? A strip-teaser.
What is an electron? Various concepts in physics like atom,
charge, and proton need to be introduced in order to understand the
meaning of electron. Other questions which cmIDot be answered in
simple \'\;ays are: What is meaning? ....
What is a paraphrase?
What is semantic similarity?
K. Word Meaning and Sentence Meaning
. Word meaning
The meaning of a sentence is built from the meanings of its parts. The
meaning of the word 'tiger', for example, is neither a tiger nor an image
of a tiger. The meaning of a word is actually a concept, which is a
theoretical tertilOra theoretical entity. The concept here is in the form of
a nlle
--
of concept related to other concept and actions carried out by
people having the concepts. So, a concept is a theoretical term, having a
........
rzf!.e ofconcept and relations o/concept.
A concept can be identified as a rule specifying that something is. The
rule of concept here can be in the form of semantic features, by which
the meaning of lexical items was largely stated. The concepts that share
a large number of features are closely related. Aunt, sister, and actress
share the same semantic feature of all being female.
This illustration indicates that there are two things that we require in
ordertounderstandaconcept,namely:
a. Aruleforspecifyingwhatcountsas aninstanceofconcept.
h. Therelationsbetweenthatconceptandothers.
L. Semantic features/properties
Ourknowledge ofa languageincludes morphemes and meaning. The
head ofevery human being can be considered as being similar to a
dictionary, contamingwords andtheirmeanings.Therefore,thehead of
everyhumanbeingisfrequentlyreferredtoaswalking dictionary.
Considerthefollowingsentence:
The assassin was stopped before he got to Thwackle-hurst.
The underlined word in the sentence bears the following semantic
features/properties: - someperson; -not animal; -human; -murderer; - a
killer.
Thefeature of beingfemale issharedbythewords:bitch,doe,hen,ewe,
mare, and vixen. Theproperty ofbeinghuman is sharedby the words:
actress,debutante,girl,maiden,widow,andwoman.
In relationtosemanticproperties,itcanbesaidthat:
a. The meaning of a word is then specified in part by a set of
semanticproperties. Themeaning oftheword 'girl', for example,
referstosuchfeaturesashumanbeing,young,female.
b. Weknowthemeaningofa wordwithoutknowingthesituationin
whichthewordisused.
c. It should, however, be realized that the context of utterance
determinesthemeaningofaword.
M. Sentencemeaning
Thereare twothings thatdeterminethemeaningof sentences:
a. Themeaningsof thewordsusedtomakeupthesentences.
b. 'f!1e' organization of those words (Syntactic structure). This is
relatedtotheuniversalfeature oflanguagesthatsayslanguageasa
dualstructureofpatterning.
SOUNDS -E--<----------7 MEANING
PhonologicalSystem SemanticSystem
(Externalrepresentation) (Internalrepresentation)
SYNTACTICSYSTEM
SyntaxandSentenceMeaning
It shouldberealizedthattheorganizationamongwordscreatessentence
meaning. However, syntax and semantics are not always in perfect
agreement. This meansthatthe syntactic aspects ofa sentence are not
necessarilyareliableindicatorofits meaning. Thesyntacticconceptsof
singular and plural do not constitute the semantic distinction between
thoseconcepts.
Example:
The wordswheat and oats bothreferto collections ofobjects. So, they
aresemanticallyplural.But,theyoccurindifferentsyntacticstructure:
a. Thewheatisalmostreadytoharvest.
b. Theoatsarealmostreadytoharvest.
These two examples illustrate that syntactic number does not always
reflectsemanticnumber.
Thesyntacticstructure
RedSquaresmeansredandsquare
LargeFleasdoesnotabsolutelymeanlargeandfleas.
Note thatalarge fleais smallerthan asmall elephant. A small elephant
isbiggerthanalargeflea.
From the examples above, it can be formulated that the syntactic
organization ofa sentence is an important deteITIliner ofthe sentence
meaning. However, each syntactic structure does not always contribute
tomeaninginauniformway.
Propositions,Entailments,andTruthConditions
Every sentence has a meaning, which is considered as the internal
representation ofa sentence, and is detennined bythe particularwords
used and their syntactic structure. The internal representation of a
sentence is identified in terms ofpropositions. A proposition can be
definedasthebasicmeaningthata sentence expresses. Apropositionis
concerned with the relationship ofa sentence's concepts (concept +
relationship).
A propositionconsistsof:
a. Somethingwhichisnamedortalkedabout(knownas argumentor
entity).
b. An assertionorpredicationwhichismadeabouttheargument.
It is quite possiblethatasentencemay express orimply morethan one
proposition:
John 's friend, Tony, who is a dentist, likes apples.
Theunderlyingpropositionsofthesentenceaboveare:
- Johnhasafriend
- Thefriend'snameisTony
- Tonyisadentist
- Tonylikesapples.
So, sentences are internallyrepresented ps propositions, whicharemore
abstract than the sentences themselves. There are two further
observationsaboutsentencemeaning:
a. Themeaningof asentenceisrelatedtoitsentailments.
b. Themeaning ofa sentenceisrelated toits truthconditions.
As previously stated, a proposition expresses the relationship existing
among a sentence's concepts (concepts and their relationship). The
relationshipsamongtheconceptsina sentence are usuallyexpressedby
verbs. It is quite likely that the same proposition can be expressed in
differentsentences.Thefollowingsentencesillustratethispoint.
ChuckgaveHelenamicrowaveoven.
HelenwasgivenamicrowaveovenbyChuck.
ItwasamicrowaveoventhatCuckgaveHelen.
ChuckgaveamicrowaveoventoHelen.
AmicrowaveovenwasgiventoHelenby Chuck.
N. Connotation and Denotation
Denotation isthetypeofmeaningwhichisdescribedin tenusofa set
of semantic properties serving to identify the particular concept
associatedwiththewordin question.
Connotation is the meaning that conveys affective or evaluative
associations. Connotations arise as words become associated with the
characteristicsof theitemto whichitrefers. Connotationsarerelatedto
therealworldexperience.
Examples:
- Woman is given attributes, such as frailty, inconsistency, and
irrational.
- Words referring to socially distasteful subject, like: privy, we,
lavatory,toilet,powderroom,100,andso on.
- The word 'intercourse' meaning dealings/communication is
frequently associatedwithsexualintercourse.
- Theword'cheap'meaninginexpensiveisoftenassociatedwiththe
connotationofshoddinesslbadquality.
- Considerthedifferentmeaningsof thefollowingwords:
Thrifty=berheInat
Tight=kikir
Stingy= kikir/pelit
O.Euphemism
E,uphemism isa word ora phrase that can be used to replace a taboo
word.Inotherwords, euphemismisawordusedintheattempttoavoid
eiilierfearfulorunpleasantsubjects.
Examples:
1. Death is something feared. Therefore the use oftheword 'die is
replacedbypasson/passaway.
2. Therearemetaphorsreferringto 'urinations'.
- l2rainthedragon
- Syphonthepython
- Shakehandswiththewife'sbestfriend.
- PointPercyattheporcelain.
3. Expressionsusedtorefertothesexualintercourse:
- Dipthewick.
- Hidetheferret.
/
- Slipalength.
- Go likearatupadrainpipe.
4. Racistconnotation:dago,chink,nip,booing.
5. The words morticians/undertakers are replaced with funeral
directors.
P. Ambiguity
It shouldberealizedthatknowingawordmeansknowingitssoundsand
meanings. Both sounds and meanings are important because the
sounds ofa word can mean different things. It can be seen from the
....,
termshomonyms/homophones.
Homonyms/homophones refer to different words having the same
pronunciation,butdifferentmeanings.
- To,too,two/tuJ
- Will(thelastwill),will(aperson'sname),will(futurity).
:f?:omonyms may createambiguity. A word is saidto beambiguous ifit
canbeunderstoodorinterpretedinmorethanoneway.
Examples:
The sentence 'She cannot bear children' can be interpreted In two
differentways:-
Unabletogivebirthtochildren
- Unabletotoleratechildren
There are two kinds ofambiguity: Lexical ambiguity and Grammatical
ambiguity.
Lexical ambiguity:
a. ThegirlfoundabookonWynyardStation.
b. He lectured on semantics.
c. He lectured on Wynyard Station.
S.!!.uctural ambiguity/structurally ambiguous sentences
a. I know a man with a dog who has fleas.
b. The hated the shooting ofthe hunters
c. The horse is ready to ride.
d. The English history teacher is hav.ing her tea.
e. The shooting of the hunters occurred at dawn.
f. Visiting relatives can be nuisance.
g. Flying planes can be dangerous.
Q.Metaphor
It is a fact that sentences can have two different meanings, namely:
literal meaning and non-literal meaning. Literal meaning refers to the
normal semantic properties of the words. Non-literal meaning, which is
commonly referred to as metaphorical meaning, refers to the semantic
properties that are inferred or that provide some kind ofresemblance.
Examples:
a. Dr. John is a butcher. t\hQ dOC1bf' 'ftl\\s do
b. John is a snake in the grass. "o.\-
c. My new car is a lemon. t{ 0 he) r \\'\k' To eff
R. Paraphrases cleheFM
In order to have better understanding about the concept of paraphrase,
the contrast between homonyms and synonyms need to be considered.
Homonymsare differentwords havingthe same spellings, butdifferent
soundsandmeaning.
wordshavingdifferentspellingsandsounds,butthesame
ill meaning.It shouldbenotedthattherearenoperfectsynonyms- there
are nottwo words exactlyhavingthe same meanings. Sentences having
similarmeaningsare:
- I'llbehappytocome!I'llbegladtocome.
- He'ssittingonthelounge/He'ssittingonthecouch.
Thewordslounge andcouch sharemostof theirsemanticproperties.
Thewordsboy and man havesemanticfeatures incommonbuttheyare
not synonymous.
Polysemy
A polysemousword is a wordexpressingseveralmeanings.
Thewordsmature andripe are synonymous, buttheyrespectivelyused
foranimalsandfruit. Thewordsdeep andprofound aresynonymous,but
deep is used for water, andprofound is used for thought. Ifthere are
synonymsinidenticalsentences,thesentencesconstituteparaphrases,in
thesensethatthey conveythesamemeanings.It shouldbekeptinmind
thattheuse ofsynonymswillcreatelexicalparaphrase,whiletheuse of
homonymswillcreatelexicalanlbiguity. r 1;h- fV\.ac>-- .
-Ittltte.
Sentencesarereferredto ofstructuraldifferences
which are not essential to t eir meanings. The following examples
thispoint.
a. IhaniledaturtlethatwasnamedMaxtoCecil.
IhandedtoCecilaturtlewhichwasnamedMax.
b. Callupyourmotherrightnow.
Callyourmotheruprightnow.
Fromthe examples above, itcan be said that differences in word order
do notnecessarily result indifferences in meanings. This indicates that
wordordercanbechangedwithoutalteringthemeaning.
Paraphrase also involves slight structural, morphological, and function
word differences. The following are the examples of paraphrases
illustratingthispoint.
a. It seemsthatSarahisverykindtoanimals.
Sarahseemstobeverykindtoanimals.
b. Theyloadedthetruckwithhay.
Theyloadedhayontothetruck.
c. It is easy toplaySonatas on this violin.
,- .
ThisvioliniseasytoplaySonatason.
Sonatasareeasyto onthisviolin.
Anotherkind of paraphraseis knownas"deletionofidenticalmaterial"
ordeducibleexpressions,whichareexemplifiedbytheuseofreference
devices inwritin like ana and and also the
useof ipticalconstructions. $'\\-ulci-t
v
'dj --l
I.I\:-M.V' (do.usCi , I
uJ./2,""\ 1- VolW
'f'\ t.Iv' M.\ Pen" :r '" J fO 0
S. Antonyms .
Antonymscanbedefinedaswordshavingdifferentsoundsandopposite
meanings. It is related to the fact that the meaning ofa word can
partially beclarifiedbysaying whatitis not.
Examples:Male notfemale
Dead ----7) notalive