LEXICAL SEMANTICS

fall winter 2010 - 2011

Lecture 1

Approaches to the Study of Word Meaning

The Legacy of Historical Semantics

(1) Semiotics - the general theory of signs Syntax - the study of sign-sign relations (distribution) Semantics - the study of sign-object relations (reference) Pragmatics - the study of sign- user relations (2) concept
object form (word)

(2) Proper names denote / refer to individuals. VPs denote/ refer to eventualities/events Sentences refer to states of affairs and they can be true or false.
(3) He managed to kiss Mary He kissed Mary. He wished to kiss Mary. > He kissed Mary. Since my arms are full, will you open the door for me? My arms are full.

(4) a. (Waiter to his friend) Hurry up, The roast-beef is getting nervous b. The baby ate the bottle and then broke it. c. Our university, which ranks third in the IVY LEAGUE was moved here and rebuilt after the fire d. Dickens enjoyed reading himself in public

(5) a. The plane is flying over the hill. (trajectory, land-mark b. Sam walked over the hill. (Contact of T and LM) c. The bird flew over the yard. (extended LM) d. The bird flew over the wall. (vertical LM) e. Sam lives over the hill.(focus on end point of LM) f. Harry still hasn't gotten over his divorce. g. The painting is over the mantel. (no path, stative, no contact) h. She spread the tablecloth over the table. (contact, covering, optional path for movement of trajectory over the landmark). i. The board is over the hole. (contact, covering). j. The city clouded over. k. The guards were posted all over the hill.
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(6)

(7)

\ tenor vehicle (new, fig. sense) (literal sense) Life is a walking shadow common ground: upper part / \ tenor vehicle top of a hill brow of a hill Sally is a block of ice common ground: cold / \ tenor vehicle frigid block of ice

common ground /

Categories of Metaphors (Ullman 1931)

a. antropomorphic metaphors are based the features of body parts: a.1 they extend the human body to the realm of animals and plants:
(8) brow of a hill, ribs of a vault, mouth of a river, head of a bed / head of a table, the heart of matter, etc. a.2 the opposite tendency is shown in metaphors where the body parts are named after plants, objects, animals: (9) muscle [ Lat. mus, mouse]; apple of the eye, ear-drum
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b. animal metaphors are based features properties of familiar animals. b1. similarities between animals and plants, the latter being named after the former: (10) dogs tails pipetnri cocks foot golomoz, nuduroasa goats beard barba caprei, creua b2. perceived similarities between animals and objects: (11) cock of a gun cocosul armei crane cat-o nine tails cat-head mosor fix, tambuchi
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b3. perceived similarities between animals and humans (zoosemy) (12) a fox ( a sly person); a bear ( a morose person); a book worm; a cat (a spiteful woman), a calf ( a beginner), a chicken (a young woman), a monkey (a naughty child), an oyster ( a silent person). c. synaestehtic metaphors: (13) loud colors, sweet noise,

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Metonymy
a. part used for the whole or whole used for the part (synaechdochy) (14) a hand ( a factory hand) a skirt ( a woman) a pair of pants ( a man) the foot (the infantry) b. an instrument for the agent: (15) to be a good sword the horse (the cavalry) the crown (the King) c. the holder for the thing held, the container for the contained (16) the pulpit ( the pulpit and the clergy) the church ( the church, the clergy) the Court (the) galley galera person made to work like a slave
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(17)

boon (AS) 1. prayer 2. a blessing, something to be grateful for; the second meaning developed under the influence of the homonymous French adjectives boon (bon, good) a daily / weekly/ quarterly (paper, magazine) the main the main sea He bought a Picasso.

(18) (19)

(Is it ellipsis, i.e. contiguity of names, or metonymy, i.e. contiguity of senses?) (20) wan fast botch
(AS dark, now, pale) (AS fixed, firmly) to bind fast, now rapidly, to run fast)
(AS repair, now to damage ( The actor botched his lines)
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(21) You, flaming idiot! bloody/ blooming waste of time/ nonsense. (22) mother fucker common in AE (street argot of blacks, friendly tone) is unheard of in BE cock common in BE is edited out in AE; it does however appear in compounds like, cock-teaser, cock sucker social euphemism industrial action strike recession depression explosive device bomb liquidation murder strategic weapon nuclear missile Politically correct terms (23) educationally subnormal certically challemged Dysphemisms (24) to push up the daisies (die)
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generalization (25) BOX AS a container made of box-wood, normally safekeeping of something precious, such as ointment, jewelry (currently, casket, chest) A box at the opera is a facetious extension of the basic sense. gear box technological extensions BED Flower-bed BIRD AS young bird bird Latin PLANTA meant sprout, cutting plant HYSTERIA a diseases considered to be affecting only women, since hysteria is derived from a Greek term for womb; ever since Freud, the term is equally applicable to men. 14

Specialization (26) ENGINE medieval sense: mechanical contrivance often for war or torture cotton gin mechanical source of power steam engine

FUGOL

OE Mod E
OE Mod E OE Mod E

1. bird 2. fowl
1. die 2. starve, die/suffer from hunger 1. beast 2. a certain beast, the deer
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STEORFAN

DEOR

Amelioration (27) minister

1. 2.
1. 2.

a servant a very high executive

room-mate (Spanish: camarada) friend

comrade

pest

1. plague (the bubonic plague 2. garden pests (insects, animals R daunatori) 3. annoying person 1 2. blasphemy blame
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blame

Deterioration (28) SILLY (OE saellig) 900 OE saelig happy 1200 ME seely happy, blessed 1500 ModE deserving of compassion weak, feeble simple, ignorant feeble-minded CHURL 800 OE ceorl a male human being 1000 a man without rank 1225 ME a serf ModE a base fellow
KNAVE

a boy (Ger. Der Knabe) a servant 17 a person with rude manners

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The Latin Legacy street, mile, butter, cheese, wine, inch, ounce, pound, kitchen, plum, cup, dish, mint (both senses) mass, monk, nun, bishop, abbot, minister, apostle, pope, altar, hymn, angel, devil;

Basic (continental borrowings) Religious (6-7th century) Literary (Renaissance)

democratic, juvenile, sophisticated, aberration, enthusiasm, pernicious, imaginary, allusion, anachronism, dexterity Scientific nucleus, formula, vertebra, corpuscle, atomic, (17-18th centuries) carnivorous, incubate, aqueous, molecule. International allophatic, otorhinolaryngology, zomotherapy (19-20th centuries)
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(31) The Anglo Saxon terms Of the original Anglo-Saxon word-hoard, one third has survived, some of them have shifted their denotation as shown above) or connotation. Notice thus that the updating of forms and meanings of major terms from AS heroic poetry produces some strange results. By such means it might be said that Beowulf took lust (AS lust pleasure, joy) in dreary (A-S drearig, bloodstained) battle, was moody (AS, modig, brave, spirited), rode a mare (AS mare, steed), yelped ( gielpan, to boast or challenge), fazed his enemies (AS fesian, to put to flight), and then cringed (AS cringan, to die, fall in battle). What are the current meanings of these terms?
(32) Examples of AS terms lexical words: man, wife, child, house, bench, meat, grass, leaf, fowl, bird; good, high, strong; eat, drink, sleep, live, fight, functional words: be, have; back; that; ic, thou, he, we, etc. 19

(32) The Norse/Scandinavian legacy Scandinavian borrowings are part of the everyday vocabulary. Whether the AS or the Scandinavian term survived is a matter of chance.

sky, skin, skill, scrape, scrub (Compare shirt (AS) / skirt (Scandinavian)) bloom, gift, bank, birth, crook, dirt, egg, fellow kid, leg, sister, skill, root, reindeer, slaughter, snare; old, sly; take, thrive, thrust

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(33) The Norman Legacy government majesty, govern, government, treaty, and administration administer, state, empire, royal, tyrant ecclesiastical sermon, sacrament, baptism, saint, words communion, confession, prayer, orison, passion, miravle, temptation, damnation law judge, advocate, attorney, prison, pillory, law, jury petition, felon, evidence, fine, verdict, sentence, decree, punishment, army and navy army, navy, peace, enemy, battle, spy, ambush, siege, soldier, retreat, guard, garrison, captain, lieutenant, sergeant fashion, meals, apparel, attire, habit, gown, robe, garment, social life lace, embroidery, button, buckle, mitten, garter, galoshes, boots; blue, vermillion, emerald, pearl, diamond. art, learning, music, beauty, figure image, tone; cathedral, tower, medicine choir, cloister, column; medicine, malady, anatomy, contagion; poet, romance, volume, preface, treatise 21

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AS Norman calf veal to roast, boil, broil, fry cow beef sheep mutton deer, venison boar brawn pig pork, ham, gammon (35) Synonymic patterns AS Norman Latin, Greek ask question interrogate rise mount ascend leech doctor physician AS Latin catty feline piggish porcine horsy equine 22 Doubletsdandelion (dent de lion) pissabed (diuretic properties)

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trek (Boer Dutch), anorak (Eskimo), cork (Spanish), dekko,(Hindustani), manifesto (Italian), molasses (Portuguese), yacht (Dutch), mumps (Icelandic), cravat (Slavonic), gimmick (German), schmaltz (Yddish), bazzar (Persian), pundit (Sanskrit), cherubic (Hebrew), charismatic (Greek), paradise (Avestic), nark (Romany), sherbet (Arabic), kamikaze (Japanese) and juggernaut (Hindi).

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Warm, rich and full of golden-goodness will give your furry friend health, strength and get-up and go;

(38) The patient is experiencing a potentially fatal hemorrhage situation(the patient is bleeding to death)

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(39) ME physiognomy becoming phiz (1688), subsequently fizz; ME lunatic, becoming vulgar loony (1872); fanatic becoming fan (US)(1889);
Renaissance obstreperous becoming stroppy (1951) and so on.

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(39)
literary higher academic technical

archaism

central or neutral word

lower slang colloquialism

neologism

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insane of unsound mind not in full possession of ones faculty possessed neurotic psychotic
maladjusted MAD

demented unhinged bereft of reason non compos mentis mental barmy cuckoo gaga batty

bananas bonkers crackers round thee bend off ones chump

potty loony nuts daft, crazy

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(41) Bottom heavy fields: drunkenness High registers: intoxicated, inebriated Low registers: sloshed, slammed, smashed, slewed, stewed, screwed, etc. (42) Top heavy fields: poverty High registers (elevated euphemisms): indigent, impecunious, destitute, distressed, financially underprivileged, of modest income, Low registers: poor
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The semantic field of economic terms (I)

Original capitalist sense 900 fee, buy 950 yield, rich 1000 fellow, guild 1050 1100 1150 1200 tally, tithe 1250 1300 account, control, thrift usury, debt, exchequer 1350 money, bargain, salary tax, exchange 1400 broker, magnate, redeem, Mercenary, expense, levy 1450 staple, commodity, revenue 1500 farm, excise, duty Date of Earliest Specialized or Dominant Capitalist Sense

pay, wealth (common wealth) sell, price, rent

wage, customs
company, save (up), bill loan, charge bribe, market, cheap
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The semantic field of economic terms

Original capitalist sense 1550 monopoly, trade mark 1600 capitalist, cash, tariff commerce, pre-emption 1650 jobber 1700 cheque stock 1760 capitalist scab 1800 exploitation trade union 1850 entrepreneur 1900 boom devaluation 1950 reschedule Date of Earliest Specialized or Dominant Capitalist Sense bank, chattel, interest (usuary), purchase (n), trade, traffic, credit, finance, goodwill, dues embezzle, fortune, profit, dividend, share income, invest, corporation, industry concession, workhouse, factory consumption, demand economy, fund, note, interest, bull, bear, luxury, security, concern budget, business, currency, draft stock exchange exploit, speculate, firm, strike, crash inflation, blackleg, limited (liability) nationalization cartel, dole, welfare, slump (n) recession depression
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