SEMANTICS

SEMANTICS 1. Study of linguistic meanings 2. Explores the variety of meanings and meaning relationships that hold between words and sentences 3. Has 2 sub-domains: Lexical (words) and sentential (sentences)

denotations VS referents Denotation: literal meaning of word/phrase Referent: the actual entity (ies) that a word signifies. Reference: the relationship that exists between a word and its referent(s).

denotations VS referents a) The President of the United States Man with power over the US The President of the United States Phrase --- Referent \ / Denotation

denotations VS referents b) Capital of Canada Administrative centre & main seat of Canadian government Capital of Canada

denotations VS referents c) The women who walked on the moon Group of women who stepped foot on the moon… and walked a few steps The women who walked on the moon Yep, but it turns out there hasn’t actually been any woman who has walked on the moon before – So this phrase should have no valid referent. (But it still retains its denotation!)

denotations VS referents d) My linguistic professor Teacher that teaches the subject of linguistic My linguistic professor Linguistics :)

Describes non-living entities in terms of physical human features metaphors we live by The eye of a needle The foot of the bed The hands of the clock The arm of a chair Describes non-living entities in terms of physical human features

Describes knowledge in terms of food-related terminology metaphors we live by The lecture is easy to digest He just eats up the lecturer’s words Chew on this thought for a while Listen to this juicy piece of gossip Describes knowledge in terms of food-related terminology

Describes arguments in terms of war terminology metaphors we live by Your claims are indefensible He shot down all my arguments His criticisms were right on target If you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you out I demolished his argument He attacked every weak point in my argument Describes arguments in terms of war terminology

Describes wrath in terms of animalistic features metaphors we live by He unleashed his anger Her anger was aroused Your temper is ferocious She was bristling with rage Describes wrath in terms of animalistic features

logical entailment Sentential semantics – Relations between sentences AKA Logical connections Paraphrase Entailment Contradiction Presupposition Yep – as a side note, we can define paraphrases as follows: A is a paraphrase of B if A and B entail each other.

Definition of entailment: logical entailment Definition of entailment: Proposition A entails Proposition B if the truth of A makes B necessarily true. i.e The truth of sentence A ensures the truth of sentence B. Lecture example A: I boiled an egg. B: I cooked an egg.

logical entailment “The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.” Explanation 1) Hilary and Dana are married to each other. i) Hilary is a woman. Married =/= Woman Hilary could be a man. ii) Dana is Hilary’s spouse. Married = Spouses of one another. iii) Hilary and Dana are husband and wife. Married =/= Husband & wife Since there is gender ambiguity. Ans: Wife & wife. iv) Dana is not single. Married = Dana is not single. v) Hilary and Dana live together. Married =/= living together. Could be married but living separately.

logical entailment “The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.” Explanation 1) Hilary and Dana are married to each other. i) Hilary is a woman. Married =/= Woman Hilary could be a man. ii) Dana is Hilary’s spouse. Married = Spouses of one another. iii) Hilary and Dana are husband and wife. Married =/= Husband & wife Since there is gender ambiguity. Ans: Wife & wife. iv) Dana is not single. Married = Dana is not single. v) Hilary and Dana live together. Married =/= living together. Could be married but living separately.

logical entailment “The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.” Explanation 2) Romeo kissed Juliet passionately. i) Romeo kissed Juliet. Have to kiss before doing it passionately. ii) Juliet kissed Romeo. R kissing J passionately =/= J kissed R. J could have not kissed R back. iii) Romeo kissed Juliet many times. Does not have to be many kisses for it to be done passionately. iv) Juliet was kissed by Romeo. R kissed J = J kissed by R v) Romeo loves Juliet. Kissing passionately =/= in love. Reckless youth.

logical entailment “The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.” Explanation 2) Romeo kissed Juliet passionately. i) Romeo kissed Juliet. Have to kiss before doing it passionately. ii) Juliet kissed Romeo. R kissing J passionately =/= J kissed R. J could have not kissed R back. iii) Romeo kissed Juliet many times. Does not have to be many kisses for it to be done passionately. iv) Juliet was kissed by Romeo. R kissed J = J kissed by R v) Romeo loves Juliet. Kissing passionately =/= in love. Reckless youth.

logical entailment “The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.” Explanation John shot Tom’s brother dead. i) John is a murderer. John could have killed Tom’s bro in self-defense  Not necessarily a murderer. ii) Tom’s brother was a victim of a violent crime. Assumes that Tom’s bro was a victim. It could be an accidental shot/killing. iii) Tom’s brother is dead. John shot Tom’s bro dead = Tom’s bro dead. iv) John knew Tom’s brother. You can shoot someone you do not know. v) John hated Tom. Could have shot by accident, without any feelings of hatred.

logical entailment “The truth of sentence A makes B necessarily true.” Explanation John shot Tom’s brother dead. i) John is a murderer. John could have killed Tom’s bro in self-defense  Not necessarily a murderer. ii) Tom’s brother was a victim of a violent crime. Assumes that Tom’s bro was a victim. It could be an accidental shot/killing. iii) Tom’s brother is dead. John shot Tom’s bro dead = Tom’s bro dead. iv) John knew Tom’s brother. You can shoot someone you do not know. v) John hated Tom. Could have shot by accident, without any feelings of hatred.

Definition of Presupposition: An implicit assumption about the world or background belief relating to a sentence whose truth is taken for granted, so to speak.

presupposition (A) John regrets that Maria went to the graduation ceremony. John believes that Maria went to the graduation ceremony. Ans: John regrets that Maria went to the graduation ceremony. Regrets: Presupposition that Maria has gone to the graduation ceremony already. Believes: Encapsulates a personal opinion.

presupposition (A) The captain thought that the ship was in danger. The captain realized that the ship was in danger. Ans: The captain realized that the ship was in danger. Realized: Presupposition that the ship is already in danger. Thought: Encapsulates a personal opinion.

presupposition (A) It is significant that the criminal was sentenced. It is likely that the criminal was sentenced. Answer: It is significant that the criminal was sentenced. Significant Presupposition that criminal is already sentenced Likely encapsulates a personal opinion and criminal might not be sentenced yet.

presupposition (B) A. Who killed Sylvia? Sylvia is dead Murderer is unknown There must be a Sylvia Yes, there are many such underlying presuppositions in these questions :) We could come up with a general presupposition for wh-questions too: “Who killed Sylvia” -- presupposes --> “Someone killed Sylvia” “Where did you put the cheese” --> “You put the cheese somewhere” “Why is there sadness in the world” --> “There is sadness in the world” In other words, everything except the wh-word is presupposed by the question.

presupposition (B) B. Where did you put the cheese? Cheese has to exist in this world The cheese is not at its original position Someone/something is responsible for misplacing the cheese

presupposition (B) C. Why is there sadness in the world? There is must be an emotion called sadness in the world A world has to be in existence

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