Semantics and Pragmatics Course 1

ELEMENTS OF SEMANTICS
(for terminologists)
Meaning, language and reality
When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said in a
rather scornful tone, it means just what I
choose it to mean neither more nor less.
The question is, said Alice, whether you can
make words mean so many different things.
The question is, said Humpty Dumpty, which is
to be the master thats all,
Lewis Carroll Through the Looking Glass
Consider the two sentences:
A. Ill be back later.
B. I will return after some time.
1.
Do these two sentences mean the same

thing?
2.Is the answer obvious to a native speaker?
3. In asking What did you mean by that? do
you refer to :
a.
b.
What the sentence meaning is;

What the interlocutor meant in saying it?
Could
one make a list of what speakers mean

in a language?
Mean / meaning :
The ability of the human being to identify,
create and interpret signs
Semiotics investigates the relation
between a sign and the object it
represents / stands for
De Saussures theory of signs:
Signifier + signified
Types of signs (acc. to C.S. Peirce):
Icons
- there is a similarity between the sign and what it

represents.
Signals there is a connection / association between
the sign and what it represents, often of a causal
relationship.
Symbols - there is a conventional link (usually of a
cultural nature) between the signifier and the signified.
Where do WORDS come in this scheme?
Semantics the study of meaning communicated

through language
Problems
language does not always communicate a message ~ a

piece of information, used also for social relationships (ex.
Use of pronouns in establishing hierarchical relation among
the members tu/vous, tu/lei, tu/ usted, tu / Dvs./mata/
dumneata, English you/you
The meaning of a word established / explained

through a definition in a dictionary (= a list of all the
words in a language) meaning cannot be defined
outside language
Language used to describe ;
The world
Language itself
Linguistic knowledge vs. Encyclopaedic
knowledge How can we make sure that the
definition truly expresses the meaning?
Meaning
not stable, depends on?

Ex. Lovely weather you have here in England.
(when: its sunny/its pouring)
A split between conventional / literal
meaning (context free) and context -related
additions
Speakers mix knowledge of context with
linguistic knowledge
Answer the following questions:
1. Can two people hold an ordinary conversation without
knowing the meaning of the words they are using?
2. Is it reasonable to say that if I use in the normal
course of conversation words such as table and chair
that I know the meanings of these words?
3. If one knows the meaning of a word, is one
necessarily able to produce a clear and precise
definition of its meaning?
4. Conversely, if several speakers can agree on the
correct definition of a word, do they know its meaning?
Distinction
Semantics the usual meaning of a word

Pragmatics meaning in certain specific
circumstances
Also
between:
between:
Sentence meaning grammatical and lexical

features
Utterance meaning secondary aspects related to
context (Lyons, 1977)
Meaning
a component of grammar that

parallels the other components. Which are
the levels?
Sound => phonology => morphology => syntax
=>SEMANTICS => thought
Syntax
the formal relation of signs to each
other
Semantics the relation of signs to the
objects to which the signs are applicable
Pragmatics the relation of signs to
speakers
(in Saeed, 1997)
Youre
late again.
some common meaning independent of the
situation or use sentence meaning
some special meaning in each of these
cases depending on the speakers wishes
and the situation speaker meaning
Obvious in the use of deictics (prononouns,
adverbs etc.)
Words are symbols that set a relationship
between non-linguistic entities and linguistic
entities
How is this link established? Ap. de Saussure,
Ogden & Richards etc. through the concept (a
mental image mirror image)
This link is known as REFERENCE the relation
between the linguistic element and the nonlinguistic world of experience (Palmer, 1976)
The
meaning of a word established

through the relationships between the word
and other words in the language
for a large class of words, the meaning is its
use in the language. (Wittgenstein, 1953)
=> can you give some examples?
Sense the system of relationships between
the linguistic elements (Palmer, 1976)
Different types or relations between words /
concepts: linguistic / non-linguistic
ex. horse / mare gender relation
sheep / teg (a two year old sheep)
- Some of the distinctions operating in the
language do not exist in the world; they are
conventionally stated
Follow the instruction and answer the questions:

1. Touch your left ear.
2. Write down the last three words in the above instruction.
3. Is the thing you touched a part of the world or a part of
the language?
4. Is your answer to 1. a part of the language?
5. If you say to your deskmate Theres a fly on your left
ear., does your left ear here refer to the object you
touched in response to question 1?
What
would the reference be for the phrase

the President of Romania
In 1990
In 1996
In 2000
In 2010
What can therefore be said about such references?
Is it the same meaning? the same reference?
Which of the following could be used as referring

expressions?
a. John
b. my uncle
c. and
d. the girl sitting on the bench in the bus stop
e. my parents
f. send
g. under
h. a man
SENTENCE
/ WORD MEANING ~ what

generally counts as an equivalent of the
sentences / word in that language
SPEAKER
MEANING ~ what a speaker intends

to convey when he uses a piece of language
Which one is of
importance to the terminologist?
Literal vs. figurative use of language
Consider the examples.
Im hungry.
Im starving.
I could eat a horse.
My stomach thinks my throats cut.
Non-literal
uses of language figurative

language shifts in the meaning of the word
to accommodate to new conditions
Im in a hurry to catch the shuttle.
Is this an optic mouse?
Which is of importance for the terminologist?
SENTENCE
/ WORD MEANING ~ what

generally counts as an equivalent of the
sentences / word in that language
SPEAKER
MEANING ~ what a speaker intends

to convey when he uses a piece of language
Which one is of
importance to the terminologist?
REFERENCE ~ DENOTATION
OR
DENOTE = linguistic expression
REFER = pick up an entity in the world
DENOTATION a stable relation in a language,
not depending on any USE of a word
REFERENCE a moment by moment
relationship between language and the real world
How
do words refer?
NOUNS are meaningful they denote
entities in the world. => terminologies consist
mainly of nouns
Referring / non referring expressions
They performed a cholecystectomy today.

A cholecystectomy is a serious procedure.
(generic interpretation)
Constant / variable reference (the Eiffel tower, the

Pacific Ocean)
I wrote to you.
She came at our house.
Referent / extension
Referent entity picked out by uttering the
expression in a particular context
Extension the set of things which could possibly
be the referent of that expression
1. In the case of expressions with constant reference

such as the Sun or the Moon, could a speaker be said to
know what they refer to simply by having memorized a
permanent connection between each expression and its
referent?
2. In the case of expressions with variable reference
such as the man or the middle of the road , could a
speaker be said to know what they refer to simply by
having memorized a permanent connection between
each expression and its referent?
3. How many potential referents are there for the
expression the cat?
Description theory
The name a label for the knowledge associated
with the referent
The same entity can be referred to by different
descriptions (William Shakespeare the playwright
born in Stratford, the author of Hamlet)
Understanding the name = depending on associating
the name to the correct set of descriptors
Causal theory
Names are socially inherited; a name may become
used from a period of repeated uses ex. Venus / the
morning star / the evening star
Nouns used to refer to kinds / classes
Special case no referent / non existing referent
Proper
names (unique) individuals

Common names sets of individuals
Verbs actions
Adjectives properties of individuals
Adverbs properties of actions
Two elements:
reference / proper names an object in the real

world
meaning a class of objects
Objects are associated with something in the

speakers / listeners mind
visuals, simple ex. triangle, Paris

non visual, complex ex. love, retirement = concepts
References:
John I. Saeed, Semantics, Blackwell, 1997
Frank R. Palmer, Semantics, CUP, 1976
James Hurford &el., Semantics. A coursebook,
CUP, 2007

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ELEMENTS OF SEMANTICS

Meaning, language and reality

Do these two sentences mean the same

What the sentence meaning is;

one make a list of what speakers mean

- there is a similarity between the sign and what it

Where do WORDS come in this scheme?

Semantics the study of meaning communicated

language does not always communicate a message ~ a

The meaning of a word established / explained

not stable, depends on?

Semantics the usual meaning of a word

Sentence meaning grammatical and lexical

a component of grammar that

the formal relation of signs to each

meaning of a word established

Follow the instruction and answer the questions:

would the reference be for the phrase

Which of the following could be used as referring

/ WORD MEANING ~ what

MEANING ~ what a speaker intends

uses of language figurative

/ WORD MEANING ~ what

MEANING ~ what a speaker intends

They performed a cholecystectomy today.

Constant / variable reference (the Eiffel tower, the

1. In the case of expressions with constant reference

Special case no referent / non existing referent

names (unique) individuals

reference / proper names an object in the real

Objects are associated with something in the

visuals, simple ex. triangle, Paris

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