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2. WORD MEANING
2.1 Reference theory
(1) Reference theory: The meaning of a word/phrase is whatever it refers to in the world.
(2)
Specific Reference
a. Bill Gates
b. Australia
c. CN Tower
Generic Reference
d. hockey player
e. school
f. computer
(person)
(place)
(object)
Problems:
(i) meaningful words with hardly identifiable referents: justice, infinity
(ii) imaginary words with no real-world referents: unicorn, dragon
(iii) words with same referent are not always substitutable for each other in sentences:
(3) a.
b.
c.
d.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt’s husband
the most eminent citizen from Hyde Park, N.Y.
the most famous victim of polio
(4) a.
b.
c.
d.
When
When
When
When
I
I
I
I
grow
grow
grow
grow
Conclusion:
up,
up,
up,
up,
I
I
I
I
want
want
want
want
to
to
to
to
be
be
be
be
the most eminent citizen from Hyde Park, N.Y.
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s husband.
the most famous victim of polio.
meaning is not the same as reference.
Extension & intension: A word has meaning by having both extension and intension.
(5) extension: the set of entities that a word/phrase picks out in the world (=all referents);
intension: the inherent sense of a word/phrase, the concepts it evokes (.definition of M)
(6)
T
W ord/Phrase
Extension
INTENSION
woman
all women in the world
notions like ‘female’, ‘human’, etc.
Prime Minister of
Canada
Paul Martin
leader of the majority party in Canadian
Parliament
capital of B.C.
Victoria
city containing the provincial
legislature of B.C.
2.2 Mental Image theory
(a variant of reference theory)
(7) Mental Image theory: Meanings are mental images.
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(8) The meaning of a word is more general & abstract than any mental image can possibly be.
2.3 Feature theory
2.3.1 Semantic features/Componential Analysis (CA)
Q: Is sense the smallest unit of meaning?
Phonology: smallest units = distinctive features:
(9) Method of componential analysis:
a. take a minimal pair (e.g. man - woman)
b. find differences (e.g. male vs. female) >
c. generalize differences as features/parameters ( MALE ) written in capital letters >
d. represent oppositions by specifying feature value [+/-male]
e. ensure that each feature grid/set adequately and uniquely represent the meaning of a word >
(10)
a. man, woman, boy, girl, child
b. bull, cow, calf
g Parameters/Features:
HUM AN , MALE , ADULT
(11)
g These features are universal sense-components which are basic atomic concepts of meaning.
(12)
Other sets:
(13)
a.
(14)
(15)
*His sister is married to a bachelor.
*I met a two-year-old bachelor yesterday.
bachelor, uncle, brother, gander, stallion, bull
(16)
More examples of componential analysis:
b. *That ________ is pregnant.
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(17)
a.
c.
e.
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stallion:
sell:
murder:
b.
d.
give:
kill:
2.3.2 Semantic features and sense relations
Semantic features can account for native speakers’ intuition about various sense relations.
(18)
a.
b.
c.
woman, lady
woman, man
woman, ultramarine
(19) hyponymy:
a. bachelor:
b. man:
synonyms: [+human, -male, +adult]
antonym: complementaries: [+/-male]
???
X is a hyponym of Y if all the features of Y are contained in the feature specification of X.
[+human, +male, +adult, -married]
[+human, +male, +adult]
(20) contradiction:
X is incompatible with Y if they share a set of features but differ from each other by
one or more contrasting features.
a. *John is both a bachelor and a spinster.
b. *As a spinster, Mary is a good wife.
2.3.3 Redundancy rules and meaning-postulates
(21)
wife:
[+human, -male, +adult, +married]
Redundancy rule: [+married] => [+adult]
(22)
Non-redundant
a. wife:
b. spinster:
c. bachelor:
feature grids:
[+married, -male]
[-married, -male, +adult]
[-married, +male, +adult]
(23)
Meaning postulate: In analysing word meaning, we do not need to exhaustively decompose the sense
of a word: only an incomplete account of sense will suffice.
(24)
a.
b.
c.
(I saw a) dog
... wife ...
... pregnant ...
=>
=>
=>
(I saw an) animal
=> (I saw something) animate
... female/human ... =>
... animate ...
... female ...
=>
... animate ...
(25) Characteristics and merits of meaning-postulates
a. no exhaustive decomposition of word meaning;
b. entailment relationship: ‘dog’ => ‘animal’;
c. some features identified as more central or defining than others;
d. better handles word meaning, since sense of many lexemes is more or less fuzzy and indeterminate.
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2.3.4 Difficulties with the feature theory
(26)
a.
b.
c.
not all features are binary: e.g. [gen], [wheel];
features are not small in number & well-defined, but can be infinite (cf. phonetic features);
some meanings are hard to reduce: ‘blue’ [+colour, ?]
(27)
a.
b.
Fact 1: Both robin and ostrich are birds.
Fact 2: Most people agree that robin is a ‘better bird’ than ostrich/partridge.
(28) componential analysis: ‘bird’: [+feathers, +winged, +egg-laying, +chirp]
3.4 Prototype theory (Rosch 1973, Rosch & Mervis 1975).
(29) Prototype theory:
The meaning of many words is described by a whole set of features, none of which is individually
either necessary or sufficient.
(cf. feature theory)
(30) ‘bird’: [+feathers, +winged, +egg-laying, +chirp]
Birdyness is largely a matter of the TOTAL number of bird features a given creature exhibits. No one
of these features is necessary nor sufficient.
2.5 Conclusion