SEMANTICS (2)

INTRO TO ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

JINSOK LEE
MAY 2ND, 2017
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS

WHAT IF WE COMBINE THOSE WORDS INTO PHRASES OR SENTENCES?

THE MEANING OF A SENTENCE (OR A PHRASE) IS A FUNCTION OF THE MEANINGS OF THE WORDS
IT CONTAINS, AND HOW THESE WORDS ARE SYNTACTICALLY COMBINED

JINSOK IS KOREAN.

Korean
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF NP
NOUN PHRASES REFER TO PARTICULAR (SET OF) THINGS/PEOPLE (THE REFERENT)
E.G., BARACK OBAMA REFERS TO THE PARTICULAR PERSON BARACK OBAMA

EXAMPLES
PROPER NAMES: ELVIS, BARACK OBAMA, ETC
DEFINITE DESCRIPTION: THE KING OF POP, THAT WEIRD GUY FROM THE BAR LAST NIGHT, ETC
PRONOUNS: I, WE, SHE, ETC
A CAT, DOGS, ANGRY STUDENTS, ETC...
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF SIMPLE SENTENCE
SIMPLE SENTENCES OF THE FORM
SUBJECT + PREDICATE
NP + NP/ADJ/VP/PP

EXAMPLES:
JOHN IS A PREACHER.
THE KING OF FRANCE IS BALD.
ELVIS LEFT THE BUILDING.
THE CAT IS UNDER THE TABLE.
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF SIMPLE SENTENCE
SIMPLE PREDICATES (PP, ADJ, NP, ETC) DESCRIBE A SET OF THINGS IN THE WORLD
E.G., IS ANGRY DESCRIBES A SET OF INDIVIDUALS/ENTITIES X SUCH THAT X HAS THE PROPERTY OF BEING
ANGRY
Angry
EXAMPLES
IS UNDER THE TABLE (IS + PP)
IS GREEN (IS + ADJ)
IS A DOCTOR (IS + NP)
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF SIMPLE SENTENCE
SIMPLE SENTENCES DESCRIBE A SET OF CONDITIONS SUCH THAT THE REFERENT OF THE
SUBJECT HAS THE PROPERTY/CHARACTERISTIC DENOTED BY THE PREDICATE
THESE CONDITIONS ARE KNOWN AS THE TRUTH CONDITIONS OF THE SENTENCE

JOHN IS UNDER A TREE

-> JOHN HAS THE CHARACTERISTIC OF BEING A MEMBER OF THE SET OF ENTITIES UNDER A TREE
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF SIMPLE SENTENCE
MEANING OF PARTS
NP JOHN IS THE PERSON JOHN
NP A PREACHER IS THE SET OF INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE THE PROPERTY
OF BEING A PREACHER

COMBINING THE PARTS Preacher

MEANING OF S = REFERENT OF THE SUBJECT HAS THE PROPERTY
DENOTED BY THE PREDICATE
John
JOHN IS A PREACHER MEANS THAT:
JOHN HAS THE PROPERTY OF BEING A MEMBER OF THE SET OF
INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PREACHERS
 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF SENTENCE WITH VP
RULE 1: IF THE MEANING OF NP (AN INDIVIDUAL) IS A
MEMBER OF THE MEANING OF VP (A SET OF INDIVIDUALS),
THEN THE SENTENCE IS TRUE; OTHERWISE IT IS FALSE.
CONSIDER SENTENCES BELOW:

JAMES WALKED.
LAURA SWIMS.
THE FROG DRINKS.

HOW DO WE EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF SENTENCES ABOVE?

 COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS
MEANING OF SENTENCE WITH VP
RULE 2: THE SET OF INDIVIDUALS X (SUBJECT NP) SUCH THAT X IS
THE FIRST MEMBER OF ANY PAIR IN THE MEANING OF V WHOSE
SECOND MEMBER IS THE MEANING OF NP (OBJECT NP).
CONSIDER SENTENCES BELOW:

ELVIS LEFT THE BUILDING.

MARY WOOED JOHN.
GARY SAW A FLYING BIRD.

HOW DO WE EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF SENTENCES ABOVE?

 WHEN COMPOSITIONALITY GOES AWRY

ANOMALY: WHEN A SENTENCE OR A PHRASE CONTAINS SEMANTIC VIOLATION, IT IS

SEMANTICALLY ANOMALOUS.

COLORLESS IDEAS SLEEP FURIOUSLY.

A TABLE AGO.
OVER THE FAST.

ALSO THE JABBERWOCKY POEM

ABOVE ARE ALL MEANINGLESS OR UNINTERPRETABLE BECAUSE THEY VIOLATE THE SEMANTICITY.
 WHEN COMPOSITIONALITY GOES AWRY

METAPHOR: UNDERSTANDING THINGS IN TERMS OF ANOTHER.

TIME IS MONEY.
WALLS HAVE EARS.
HE DROWNED IN A SEA OF GRIEF.
UNBREAK MY HEART.

METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS CANNOT BE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD WITH COMPOSITIONAL

ANALYSIS. HOWEVER, METAPHORICAL USE OF LANGUAGE IS LANGUAGE CREATIVITY AT ITS
HIGHEST.
 WHEN COMPOSITIONALITY GOES AWRY

IDIOMS: EXPRESSIONS THAT STARTED AS METAPHORIC EXPRESSIONS, AND LATER BECAME

FIXTURES.
TRAIN OF THOUGHT.
KICK THE BUCKET.
PUT HIS/HER FOOT IN HIS/HER MOUTH.
LET ONE DOWN.

IDIOMS ARE SPECIAL IN TERMS OF ITS SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC BEHAVIOR. IT SEEMS TO BE
THE CASE WHERE IDIOMS ARE STORED IN OUR LEXICON AS A CHUNK.
 SEMANTIC FEATURES

SEMANTIC FEATURES: SEMANTIC FEATURES ARE AMONG THE CONCEPTUAL ELEMENTS THAT ARE
PART OF THE MEANINGS OF WORDS AND SENTENCES.

THE ASSASSIN KILLED THWACKLEHURST.

ASSASSIN: PERSON/MURDERER/MURDERS IMPORTANT PEOPLE/ETC.

KILL: ACTION/TO TAKE AWAY ONES LIFE/CAUSE TO DIE/ETC.
THWACKLEHURST: (PROBABLY) AN IMPORTANT PERSON/ETC.
 SEMANTIC FEATURES

SEMANTIC FEATURES: THE BASIC CONCEPTUAL COMPONENTS OF MEANING OF LEXICAL ITEMS.

THE SAME SEMANTIC FEATURE CAN BE SHARED BY MANY EXPRESSIONS.
INTERESTINGLY, ANTONYMS ONLY NEED A FEW (OR JUST ONE) OPPOSITE SEMANTIC FEATURE.

DEPENDING ON THE SEMANTIC FEATURES, WE CAN CLASSIFY LEXICAL ITEMS IN VARIOUS

DIFFERENT WAYS.

TIGRESS HEN AUNT MAIDEN

DOE MARE DEBUTANTE WIDOW
EWE VIXEN GIRL WOMAN
DOCTOR DEAN PROFESSOR TEENAGER
BACHELOR PARENT BABY CHILD
 EXERCISE! LEXICAL SEMANTICS

WHAT IS THE SEMANTIC RELATION FOR EACH SET?

RUN, DASH, SPRINT

CAT, DOG, PET
STARBUCKS, ARTISE COFFEE, CAFFE BENE
LIKE, DISLIKE
FAST, SLOW
BANK (WHERE YOU DEPOSIT YOUR MONEY), BANK (RIVERSIDE)
 EXERCISE! LEXICAL SEMANTICS

WHAT IS THE ANTONYM OF DARK ROASTED COFFEE?

WHAT IS THE SYNONYM OF LITTLE?
LIST 5 HYPONYMS OF CAR.
WHAT IS THE HYPERNYM OF WINDOWS, OSX, LINUX?

IN WHAT WAY IS EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PAIRS OF WORDS RELATED?

SHALLOW DEEP MATURE RIPE
SUITE SWEET TABLE FURNITURE
SINGLE MARRIED MOVE RUN
SOFA COUCH GREEN BLUE
PUNCH TOUCH
 EXERCISE! COMPOSITIONAL SEMANTICS

WHAT DO FOLLOWING SENTENCES MEAN? WHAT ARE ITS TRUTH CONDITIONS?

THOR WANTS DINNER.

THE KING OF POP DIED.
JINSOK LIKES MUSIC.
LINGUISTICS IS SUPER COOL.
 EXERCISE! SCOPE AMBIGUITY

HOW IS THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE AMBIGUOUS?

EVERY STUDENT GOT AN A FROM A PROFESSOR.

 EXERCISE! LOGICAL OPERATOR

GIVEN TRUTH VALUES AS BELOW, DETERMINE THE TRUTH VALUES OF FOLLOWING SENTENCES.

JINSOK IS COOL = T LINGUISTIC IS AWESOME = T

ALL STUDENTS LIKE JINSOK = F GARY LIVES IN A DORM = F
SAMSUNG MAKES IPHONE = F JULIE SWIMS = T

JINSOK IS COOL OR GARY LIVES IN A DORM = ?

LINGUISTICS IS NOT AWESOME AND SAMSUNG DOES NOT MAKE IPHONE = ?
JULIE DOES NOT SWIM = ?
ALL STUDENTS DOES NOT LIKE JINSOK AND LINGUISTICS IS AWESOME = ?