Semantics Word meaning Sentence meaning

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

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

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.

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.’

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Polysemy vs. Homophony Polysememous word ‘hard’ meaning1 meaning2 “difficult” “durable, solid” => Single lexical entry

Homophony Homophones ‘rodent’ ‘baseball equipment’ ‘bat’1 ‘bat’2 ‘rodent’ ‘baseball equipment’ => Distinct lexical entries

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

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

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.

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)

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. 1985. “Language-based Humor in the Marx Brothers Films”, Indiana Univ. Linguistics Club)