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1、语言学第五章要点Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学1. What is semantics ？什么是语义学？Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language. 语义学可定义为对语言意义的研究。2. Some views concerning the study of meaning 语义研究的几种主要理论1) The naming theory 命名论It was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theo
2、ry, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things. 命名论是最原始的语义理论， 是古希腊学者柏拉 图提出的。该理论把词看作是该词所指事物的名 称或标记。2) The conceptualist view 意念论The conceptualist view holds that there
3、 is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.意念论认为，语言形式及其所代表的对象之间 (即语言与现实世界之间)没有直接联系；确切 地说，在理解语义时，是通过大脑中存在意念这 一中介物来联系的。3) Contextualism 语境论Contextualism is based on the presu
4、mption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are recognized: the situational context and the linguistic context. 语境论以这样的假设为基础：人们可以从显而易 见的语境中推知或归纳出语义。语境有两种：情 景语境和语言语境。 语境论认为语言的意义离不开使用语言的语境， 语义不是抽象的，它存在于语境之中，它来自语 境，取决于语境。4) Behaviorism 行为主义论Beh
5、aviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “ situationin which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer. ”This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest. 语义的行为主义论和语义的语境论有相似之处， 它也把语义放到语境中去研究， 但它更注重人的 心理活动，认为语言的意义
6、存在于语言使用者在 交际过程中对听到话语的反应。3. Sense and reference 意义和所指They are two related but different aspects of meaning.它们是词汇意义的既相互联系又有所不同的两 个方面。1) Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextual
7、ized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compliers are interested in.意义关心的是语言形式的内在意义。 它是语言形 式所有特征的总和， 它是抽象且脱离语境的。 它 是词典编写者们所感兴趣的语义方面。简单地说，意义是词汇内在的，抽象的，游离于 语境之外的意义。2) Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguisti
8、c element and non-linguistic world of experience.所指是语言形式在现实世界中所指称的东西； 涉 及语言成分和非语言的经验世界的关系。简单地说，所指是词汇在特定的语境中所指称的 具体事物。4. Major sense relations 主要意义关系1) Synonymy 同义关系Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms. 同义现象指的是语义的相同或相近。 词义
9、相近的 词叫同义词。According to the way they differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups:a) Dialectal synonyms- synonyms used indifferent regional dialects.British English and American English are the two major geographical varieties of the English language.方言同义词 用在不同地域方言中的同义词。 英国英语和美国英语是英语的两大地
10、理变体。 示例：英国英语美国英语AutumnfallLiftelevatorFlat departmentWindscreenTorchwindshield flashlightb) Stylistic synonyms synonyms differing in style.Words having the same meaning may differ in style, or degree of formality. In other words, some words tend to be more formal, others casual, and still others neu
11、tral in style. 文体同义词 在文体上有差异的同义词。 有同样意义的词可能在文体上， 或者在正式程度 上有所不同。也就是说，有些往往比较正式，有 些比较随意，有些在问题上则是中性的。示例：Old man, daddy, dad, father, male parent Start, begin, commenceKid, child, offspringc) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaningThere are words that bear the same meaning but express
12、 different emotions of the user, indicating the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about.情感意义或评价意义有所不同的同义词。 有着相同的意义却表达了使用者的不同情感的 词语，这些词暗示使用者对他所谈论的事情的态 度或倾向。示例：Collaborator 合作者 / Accomplice 同谋者，帮凶 Like, love, admire, adore, worshipEconomical, frugal, thrifty, mean, miserly, stingy
13、d) Collocational synonyms synonyms differing in their collocation.Some synonyms differ in their collocation, i.e., in the words they go together with. This is a matter of usage.搭配同义词 同义词在其搭配上各不相同， 即 能和这些不同的同义词相配的词各不相同。 示例：Accuse of charge with rebuke fore) Semantically different synonyms ynonyms tha
14、t differ slightly in what they mean.语义上不同的同义词 同义词的意义非常接 近，但却有细微差别。示例：Amaze 暗示困惑和迷惑 astound 暗示难以 置信Escape 意味逃离不愉快或者危险的事flee意味匆匆离开2) Polysemy 多义关系The same one word may have more than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called a polysemic word. The fact is the more commonly u
15、sed a word is, the more likely it has acquired more than one meaning. 同一个单词可能有一个以上的意义， 这就是我们 所说的一词多义， 这样的词叫多义词。 一个词越 常用，它就越可能获得一个以上的意义。示例：Table 一词最初只有一个意义， 很可能指一块石 板或木板， 这叫做其原始意义。 后来它逐渐获得 了它现在所指称的其它意义。3) Homonymy 同音 /同形异义关系 Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that word having different meaning have th
16、e same form, i.e., different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both.When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones.When two words are identical in spelling, they are homographs.When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are complete homonyms. 同形异义是指意义不同的词
17、有着相同的语言形 式的现象， 即不同的词发音上或拼写上， 或者两 个方面都相同。两个单词在发音上相同时，叫同音异义词。两个单词在拼写上相同时，叫同形异义词。 两个单词在发音和拼写上都相同时， 叫完全同形 异义词。示例： 同音异义词： rain/ reign; night/ knight; piece/ peace同形异义词： bow v./ bow n.; tear v./ tear n.; lead v./ lead n.完全同形异义词： fast adj./ fast v.; scale n./ scale v.4）Hyponymy 上下义关系Hyponymy refers to the
18、sense relation between a more general more inclusive word and a more specific word. The word which is more general in meaning is called the super-ordinate, and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. Hyponyms of the same super-ordinate are co-hyponyms to each other. 上下义关系是指一个具有一般性、 包容性的词与 一
19、个更为具体的词之间的意义关系。 意义更具有一般性的词叫上义词， 意义更为具体 的词叫下义词。同一个上义词的多个下义词叫并 列下义词。示例： 上义词： flower 下义词：rose （玫瑰花），tulip （郁金香）, earnation （康乃馨），lily （百合花）,morning glory （牵牛花）上义词： animal下义词： dog, eat, tiger, lion, wolf, elephant, fax, bear5）Antonymy 反义关系The term antonymy is used for oppositeness of meaning, words that
20、 are opposite in meaning are antonyms.反义关系用以指意义的相反。 意义上相反的词叫 反义词。a）Gradable antonyms 分级反义词Some antonyms are gradable beeause there are often intermediate forms between the two members of a pair. So it is a matter of degree. 一些反义词是级别上的对立， 因为一对这样的反 义词中间常有其它表示程度的词。 意义相反实际 上只是程度问题。示例：Old 和 young 是反义词，但它
21、们代表两个极 端，中间还存在着代表年老和年轻的不同程度的 其它语言形式， 如 middle-aged, mature, elderly.b) Complementary antonyms 互补反义词 A pair of complementary antonyms is characterized by the feature that the denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other.互补反义词具有这样的特征， 否定其中一个就意 味着肯定另一个。也就是说，是一个非此即彼、 非彼即此的问题。示例：Ma
22、le/ female alive/deadc) Relational opposites 关系反义词Pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items are called relational opposites.在意义上现实出逆向关系的一对词语叫关系反 义词。示例：Wife/ husband father/ son teacher/ pupil doctor/ patient buy/ sell above/ below5. Sense relations between sent
23、ences 句子间的意义关系1) X is synonymous with Y.X 和 Y 是同义关系 示例：X: He is a bachelor all his life.Y: He never married all his life.如果X是真的，丫也是真的，如果X是假的，Y 也是假的。2) X is inconsistent with Y.X 和 Y 是前后矛盾关系 示例：X: John is married.Y: John is a bachelor.如果 X 是真的， Y 就是假的， 如果 X 是假的， Y 就是真的。3) X entails Y (Y is an entailm
24、ent of X)X 蕴涵 Y (Y 是 X 的蕴涵 )示例：X: John married a blond heiress ( 女继承人 ).Y: John married a blond. 蕴涵是一种包含关系。 如果 X 蕴涵 Y， X 的意义 就为 Y 所包含。4) X presupposes Y. (Y is a prerequisite of X)X 预示 Y (Y 是 X 的先决条件 ) 示例：X: John 's bike needs repairing.Y: John has a bike.5) X is a contradiction.X 是个矛盾句示例：X: My
25、unmarried sister is married to bachelor. X 句子本身自相矛盾，它永远是假的。6) X is semantically anomalous. 句子 X 在语义上反常 示例：X: The table has bad intentions.X 在语义上反常，它就是荒唐的。6. Analysis of meaning1)Componential analysis - a way to analyze lexical meaning语义成分分析法 一种词义分析法The approach is based upon the belief that the mean
26、ing of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. Plus and minus signs are used to indicate whether a certain semantic feature is present or absent in the meaning of a word, and these feature symbols are usually written in capitalized letters.一个单词的意义可以分析为被称作语义特征的 意义成分
27、。用加减号来表示某一语义特征在一个 词义中是存在还是省缺， 这些特征符号通常用大 写字母来表示。One advantage of componential analysis is that by specifying the semantic features of certain words, it will be possible to show how these words are related in meaning. 成分分析的一个好处是， 通过列出某些单词的语 义特征，就可能显示这些单词在意义上有什么联 系。示例：Man 和 woman 这两个单词有 HUMAN, + ADULT
28、, + ANIMATE 这些共同的特征，但在 MALE 这一特征上不同。Man 和 boy 这 两 个 单 词 有 HUMAN, +ANIMATE, +MALE 这些共同的特征，但在 ADULT 这一特征上不同。2)Predication analysis - a way to analyze sentence meaning述谓结构分析 一种句义分析法Linguists have proposed different ways to analyze the meaning of sentences. They might differ in their framework of analys
29、is, but they share the aim to abstract the meaning of sentences. What we are going to introduce briefly is the predication analysis proposed by the linguist G Leech.语言学家们提出了不同的分析句子意义的方法。 他们的分析基准体系可能有所不同， 但他们的目标都是使句子意义抽象化。 我们现在要介绍的是 英国语言学家 G 里奇提出的述谓结构分析法。In grammatical analysis, the sentence is taken
30、 to be the basic unit, and it is analyzed into such grammatical components as subject, predicate, and attribute. 对句子进行语法分析时，句子被视为基本单位， 它被分析谓诸如主谓语和定语这样的语法成分。In semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is called predication, which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence. This applies to
31、 all forms of sentence, including statements, imperative and interrogative forms. 对句子进行意义分析时， 基本单位称为述谓， 这 是对句子意义的抽象化。 这一方法适用于所有句 式，包括陈述句、祈使句和疑问句。A predication consists of argument(s) and predicate.An argument is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in
32、 a sentence.A predicate is something said about an argument or it states the logical relation linking the arguments n a sentence. 一个述谓由一个或数个论元和一个谓词组成。 一个论元是一个述谓的一个逻辑参与者， 与一个 句子中的一个或数个名词性成分大体一致。 一个谓词是关于论元的陈述， 或者说明一个句子 的论元间的逻辑关系。句子的语法形式不影响其语义述谓， 下列所有句 子具有同样的述谓：Tom smokes. Tom is smoking.Tom has been s
33、moking.Tom, smoke!Does Tom smoke? 这是同一语义述谓 TOM(SMOKE) 在语法上的 多种体现。According to the number of arguments contained in a predication, we classify the predications into two-place predication (containing two arguments), one-place predication (containing one argument), and no-place predication (containing no argument). 根据一个述谓中所包含的论元的数目， 我们把述 谓结构分为两位述谓结构(包含两个论元) 、单 位述谓结构(包含一个论元) 和零位述谓结构(没 有论元) 示例：The building is next to the library. (Two-place predication)He is snoring. (One-place predication)It is late. (No-place predication)