Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Lingua Inglese 2
Lecture 13
DOTT.SSA MARIA IVANA LORENZETTI
1
Three Levels of Meaning
„
Word Meaning: the meaning of a simple or
p
taken in isolation
expression
‰
Referential meaning (denotations)
‰
Cognitive Meaning (concepts)
‰
Social Meaning (style, register): it indicates the social
relationship, or the performance of social actions, greetings,
apologies, congratulations)
‰
Affective Meaning (connotations): conventional association
related to word meanings
‰
Linguistic meaning (sense relations)
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
1
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Three Levels of Meaning
„
Sentence Meaning: the meaning an utterance
possesses inherently
inherently, by virtue of the words it
contains and their grammatical arrangements. It
is a stable meaning expected to occur in any
context
„
Utterance Meaning: the meaning which is
either
ith picked
i k d up ffrom th
the context,
t t or which
hi h
arises as a result of the interaction of inherent
meaning and context
3
Meaning
„
Meaning is a complex phenomenon involving
a relationship between:
„
A language and the mind of its speakers
A language and the world
A language and the practical uses to which it
is put
„
„
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Meaning and Sense Relations
„
„
But meaning also involves relationships among words
themselves
Sense relations situate themselves on three axes:
‰ Syntagmatic
‰ Paradigmatic
‰ Derivational
“A language is a system of signs, whose functions and
meaning is determined by their relationships with
other signs, i.e. by their mutual position in the system”
(F. de Saussure, Cours de Linguistique Générale,
1916)
5
Paradigmatic Relations
„
„
„
They reflect the semantic choices available at a
particular point in a sentence,
sentence and are typically
related to words belonging to the same category
They are called relations in absentia, as opposed to
syntagmatic relations, which are in praesentia
Meaning involves on the one hand the relation of
g
reality,
y and on the other,
reference to extralinguistic
relations of sense to other vocabulary items
(lexemes) in the lexicon
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Paradigmatic Relations (2)
„
They reflect the particular semantic choices
available at a particular structure point in a
sentence.
‰
I’ll have a glass of
beer
wine
water
lemonade
*potatoes/rock
7
Paradigmatic Relations (2)
„
Paradigmatic sense relations, or relations in absentia, typically involve
words belonging to the same syntactic category.
‰ I bought some
some_______
knives
forks
spoons
cutlery → this is a mass noun
‰
John_____across the field
ran
walked
crawled
‰
Lucy bought a/an_______dress
red
long
expensive
Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Typologies of Paradigmatic Relations
„
„
Three main categories of paradigmatic sense
relations can be identified:
Identity
‰
„
Inclusion
‰
‰
„
Synonymy
Hyponymy
yp y y
Meronymy
Opposition
9
Relations of Identity: Synonymy
„
It involves sameness in meaning. Two words can be
defined
de
ed as sy
synonym
o y o
or sy
synonymous,
o y ous, when
e they
t ey are
ae
alike in meaning
„
Liberty – Freedom
But
‰
„
*Liberty of speech
R
Range
- Selection
S l ti
‰
What a nice range of/selection of furnishing
‰
They reached the mountain range/*selection
But
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Typologies of Synonymy
„
It can be further subdivided in
„
Absolute Synonymy
„
Propositional Synonymy
„
Near-Synonymy
11
Absolute Synonymy
„
„
„
„
„
It refers to complete identity in meaning
Two lexical items X and Y can be defined as absolute
synonyms, if and only if their contextual relations are
identical, that is if in any context in which X is fully
normal, Y is too
Some possible candidates:
Nearly – Almost
‰ She looks almost Chinese. (+)
‰ She looks nearly Chinese
Chinese. (-)
()
Big – Large
‰ You’re making a big mistake. (+)
‰ You’re making a large mistake. (-)
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Absolute Synonymy (2)
„
„
„
„
Begin – Commence
‰ Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then I’ll begin. (+)
‰ Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then, I’ll commence.
(-)
Calm – Placid
‰ She was quite calm just a few minutes ago. (+)
‰ She was quite placid just a few minutes ago. (-)
Brave – Courageous
‰ Little Billy was so brave at the dentist’s this morning. (+)
‰ Little Billy was so courageous at the dentist’s this morning.
(-)
Die – Kick the bucket
‰ Apparently he died in considerable pain. (+)
‰ Apparently he kicked the bucket in considerable pain. (-)
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Absolute Synonymy (3)
„
„
„
Absolute identity of meaning can occur
between different forms belonging to different
varieties of the same language.
Autumn and Fall in British English and
American English respectively. They are not
different to translational equivalents in
different languages.
g g
((In It. both are translated
as autunno)
Fall would be less normal than autumn in a
sentential context marked as British English
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Absolute Synonymy (4)
„
„
„
Absolute synonyms are extremely rare, and one
could easily generalize that it is impossible to find
plausible
l
ibl candidates
did
ffor absolute
b l
synonymy
There is no obvious motivation for the existence of
two absolute synonyms in a language, but a
difference in semantic function is always expected to
develop.
The fact that the ones in the previous slides can be
marked with + or – reflect the fact that some degree
of difference can be outlined in their acceptability,
and as a consequence, they cannot be viewed as
absolutely synonymous in a strict sense
15
Propositional Synonymy
„
„
It can be defined in logical terms.
Propositional synonyms can be substituted in
any declarative sentence salva veritate, that
is without changing its truth-value
By this criterion begin and commence are
propositional synonyms, because if The
lecture began at nine o’clock, then so The
lecture commenced at nine o’clock
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Propositional Synonymy (2)
„
Differences in meaning in propositional
synonyms involve one or more aspects of
non-propositional meaning, namely
‰
Differences in expressive meaning
‰
Differences of stylistic level (the
colloquial/formal dimension)
‰
Differences of presuppositional contexts
17
Propositional Synonyms: Some
Examples
„
„
„
Resolute – Stubborn – Determined
‰ She's utterly resolute in her refusal to apologise. (FORMAL)
‰
H iis as stubborn
He
t bb
as a mule
l (NEGATIVE CONNOTATION)
‰ She‘s sure to get the job she wants. She is a very determined
person.
Solitude – Loneliness
‰ He began to like those moments in solitude (POSITIVELY
EVALUATED)
‰ They suffer from isolation, poverty and loneliness (NEGATIVELY
EVALUATED)
R i – Quit
Resign
Q it – Throw
Th
in
i th
the T
Towell
‰ She resigned as director.
‰ I’m going to quit psychiatry. I’ve had enough.
‰ After losing the election, he threw in the towel on his political
career. (IT SUGGESTS DEFEAT)
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
9
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Propositional Synonyms: Some
Examples (2)
„
„
„
Release – Discharge – Fire
‰ They had been released from prison.
‰ Patients were discharged from hospital because the beds were
needed by other people. (OFFICIAL)
‰ She was fired after she was caught stealing from her employer.
Meticulous – Fussy – Nit-picking
‰ Many hours of meticulous preparation have gone into writing the
book. (APPROVING)
‰ He's so fussy about the house - everything has to be absolutely
perfect.
f t (DISAPPROVING)
‰ A nitpicking attitude (INFORMAL DISAPPROVING)
Between jobs – Out of Work - Unemployed – On the Dole
‰ He's been unemployed for over a year.
‰ You won't draw your out-of-work dole of 29s. this week.
19
Near Synonymy
„
„
„
It can be assessed on the basis of speakers’ intuitions
Near Synonyms involve minor differences and are
usually interchangeably used in dictionary definitions
Minor differences might include the following:
‰ Adjacent position on a scale of degree: big – huge;
disaster – catastrophe; laugh – chuckle
‰ Certain adverbial specializations of verbs: amblestroll; chuckle – giggle; drink - quaff
‰ Aspectual distinctions: calm – placid (state vs.
disposition)
‰ Differences of prototype centre: brave
(prototypically physical) – courageous (usually
involves intellectual and moral factors)
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
10
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Near Synonymy (2)
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Kill – murder – execute – assassinate
Laugh – chuckle – giggle - snigger
Walk – stroll – stride – amble
Anxious – nervous – worried – apprehensive –
fearful
Brave – courageous – bold – plucky - heroic
Calm – placid – tranquil – peaceful – serene
These words are not necessarily propositionally
identical, so for some of them it is possible to say:
‰
‰
He wasn’t murdered. He was executed
He was plucky, but not heroic.
21
Near Synonymy (3)
„
„
Near-synonyms often occur in the test frame X, or
rather Y which signals that Y conveys information
that is not totally present in X, and that the
difference is relatively minor
So, it is possible to say
‰
He was murdered, or rather he was executed
but not
‰
„
*He was murdered, or rather beaten up.
Near-synonyms are words which share a common
core of meaning, but differ in minor aspects.
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
11
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Near Synonymy (4)
„
Synonyms often come in clusters and are
grouped around a more central instance
instance,
which subsumes all the characteristics of a
given group. While other exemplars of a set
represent elaborations on some aspects.
23
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
12
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
25
Relations of Inclusion: Hyponymy
„
„
Hyponymy represents a specific type of
inclusion namely the inclusion of one class
inclusion,
in another, as in the case of car and vehicle,
where cars constitute a subclass of the larger
class of vehicles
The more specific item is called a hyponym
(dog, apple), and the more general term is
called a superordinate (or hyperonym)
(animal, fruit)
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
13
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Hyponymy (2)
„
„
„
Hyponymy can be thought of as an “X is a Y”
relation which guarantees the truth of
relation,
general statements such as “A dog is an
animal” or “An apple is a fruit”, while the
opposite is obviously not true
*”A fruit is an apple”
*”An animal is a dog”
27
Some Examples of Hyponymy
FRUIT
banana
Golden
Delicious
apple
pear
fig
Granny Smith
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
14
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
Some Examples of Hyponymy (2)
ANIMAL
dog
Collie
Poodle
cat
Siamese
bird
Tabby
Robin
Sea gull
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Hyponymy (3)
„
Two sense relations are necessary in this configuration:
daughter nodes must be hyponyms of their respective
daughter-nodes
mother-nodes (dog → animal; insect → creature), while
sister-nodes (co-hyponyms) are mutually incompatible
(dog ≠ cat; robin ≠ eagle)
„
Apple in the previous example is a hyponym of fruit, but
at the same time a hyperonym of Golden Delicious and
Granny Smith. In addition, it is in a mutual exclusion
relation with pear and banana
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
15
Lingua Inglese 2 CInt AA 2012/13
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti
21/04/2013
TABLEWARE
TABLEWARE
cutlery
knife
fork
crockery
spoon
plate
cup
Table
linen
napkin
Table
cloth
31
Hyponymy (4)
„
The implication of hyponymy is that the
vocabulary of a language has a hierarchical
organization with degrees of generality and
inclusion. So dog is hyponym of animal,
which in turn is a hyponym of mammal and
so on. But not all the words in the language
are so ordered
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Lecture 13 – 22/04/2013
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