1. Semantics
Word meaning
Sentence meaning

2. Word Meaning
Dictionaries only give paraphrases, not fundamental characterizations of word meaning.
overcoat: coat worn over indoor clothing
terror: state of intense fear
fear: to be afraid
afraid: fearful

3. Reference: The entity or entities in the world identified by the word
Same referent
G.W. Bush
president of the United States

4. If A and B have the same reference…
…they can substitute for each other in a sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence.
G.W. Bush met with members of Congress.
The president met with members of Congress.

5. But the next sentences don’t have the same meaning.
‘I want to be the president of the U.S.’
vs.
‘I want to be George W. Bush.’

6. Have a difference sense
G.W. Bush
the president of the United States
Sense: The meaning of a word which is independent of its reference, the word’s mental representation

7. The following often have the same reference but always have a different sense.
my father
my mother’s husband

8. The following have sense but no reference.
the king of the United States
werewolf, dragon, unicorn

9. But sense is also not all there is to meaning.
What is sense - a mental image?
Then what is the mental image of:
car
lecture
forget
food
love
bird

10. Prototypical reference
For many common nouns, the set of possible referents are clustered around a prototype.
E.g. ‘bird’
Prototypical exemplars of a category are more readily processed than atypical exemplars.

11. Semantic Relations among Words
Synonym: A and B mean the same thing; A can be paraphrased by B. A and B have the same reference.
automobile car
big large
purchase buy
throw-up vomit

12. Antonym A and B have related but contrastive meanings.
Complementary: alive/dead
Gradable: dark/light, young/old
Reverse: left/right, come/go
Converse: employer/employee

13. Hyponymy and hypernymy
If B is a hyponym of A, then
the meaning of B is a special case of A
If A is a hypernym of B, then
the meaning of A is a more general instance of B B A

14. Hyponyms
Note dual position of ‘animal’: topmost as in ‘animal’ vs. ‘mineral’ vs. ‘vegetable’

15. (Un)productive Hyponym Formation
Hypernym Hyponym
interesting => very interesting
car => German car
=> Adding a modifier

16. Not with Compounds boom box No: box Yes: sound system station wagon
No: wagon Yes: car
soap opera
No: opera Yes: TV show

17. Polysemy: One word has more than one related meaning.
Homophony: One phonetic form has more than one meaning.

18. “bright” = 1. shining 2. intelligent => Polysemy “bat”
1. winged rodent
2. baseball equipment
=> Homophony

19. Polysemy vs. Homophony Polysememous word ‘hard’
meaning meaning2
“difficult” “durable, solid”
=> Single lexical entry

20. Homophony Homophones ‘rodent’ ‘baseball equipment’
‘bat’ ‘bat’2
‘rodent’ ‘baseball equipment’
=> Distinct lexical entries

21. Lexical Ambiguity Due to polysemy: Do you smoke after sex?
She cannot bear children.
Mary licked her disease.

22. Due to homophony:
Clinton wins on budget.
More lies ahead.

23. Lexical or Structural Ambiguity?
The two sisters were reunited after years at the checkout counter.
The woman strolled near the bank.
The judge sentenced the killer to die in the electric chair for the second time.
The girl found a book on Main Street.
The cranes were transported by boat overseas.

24. What makes the Marx Brothers funny?
In the midst of a battle…
Zeppo: General Smith reports a gas attack.
Groucho: Tell him to take a teaspoon of bicarbonate and half a glass of water.
(Duck Soup)

25. Groucho: I’ve got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.
(Duck Soup)
(Marx Brothers examples from P.M. Tiersma “Language-based Humor in the Marx Brothers Films”, Indiana Univ. Linguistics Club)