英語語言學(xué)自編教材第六章

1、 Chapter 6 Semantics1. General Introduction l Relevant Language Use Observations and Questions to Ponder over1) Frequently if we cant understand others, we might say as follows: “I didnt quite get your meaning, could you explain that again?” It is so natural. But have you thought over the meaning of

2、 “meaning”? Can you give the definition of “meaning”?2) If you happen to find a bottle flowing on the river, and in the bottle, there is a piece of paper with the note “I love you! Please meet me there tomorrow!” Does it have meaning? How do you define meanings of such words as I, you, me, there, to

3、morrow in the above example? Can you pin down their references? Why or why not? 3) Decide on the meaning of the following word clever. When the father found that his son had got 99 out of a total mark of 100 in the Maths Examination, the father said to his son: “You are clever!” When the father foun

4、d that his son had got 20 out of a total mark of 100 in the Maths examination, the father said to his son: “You are clever!” and then stalked out of the room.l Summaries to Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to LearnMeaning is essential to the study of language and to understand meaning is crucial in da

5、ily life. But the question is what meaning is. Meaning has been studied for thousands of years by philosophers, logicians, psychologists and linguists, such as Plato and Aristotle. To make matter complicated is they havent reached an agreement on what the meaning is. Logicians and philosophers have

6、tended to concentrate on a restricted range of linguistic expressions. They have been interested in understanding the relations between linguistic expressions and the phenomena in the real world which they refer to, and in evaluating truth conditions of such expressions. The psychologists focus on u

7、nderstanding the human mind through language. The linguists aim at studying the properties of meaning in a systematic and objective way, with reference to as wide a range of utterances and languages as possible. This is no wonder why there are many books with the same title “Semantics” but emphasizi

8、ng different things. Meanings can be roughly divided into two broad categories: the meanings inherent in the linguistic forms and the meanings arising in particular context. In linguistics, semantics is the subfield that is devoted to the study of meaning, as inherent at the levels of words, phrases

9、, sentences, and large units of texts. The semantic meaning is often regarded as something intrinsic and abstract, independent of context.Definitions to ClarifySemantics: Semantics is generally defined as the study of inherent or intrinsic meaning, the meaning in isolation from the context.2. Approa

10、ches to Semantics 2.1 The Naming Theoryl Relevant Language Use Observations and Questions to Ponder over1) If we regard the word dog as the name or label for a dog in our physical life, is it also the case with ghost, unicorn and dragon? Ghost!unicorn!dragon!My name is “dog”. Who are you? “dog”. who

11、 are you? ? ? ?2) What are the functions which words of parts of speech other than nouns play in language use? Are they names for things?3) Which of the following figure or figures do you think can be used to illustrate the relationship between the linguistic form and its referent? Please cite some

12、examples to support your answer. Form Object Figure I Figure II Figure IIIl Summaries to Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to LearnAs is the case that most nouns, like dog and cat, refer to physical entities in the real world, so it seems so plausible to draw the conclusion that words are just names of

13、 their referent in our physical world. Actually, the idea that words are just names or labels for things was one of the oldest notions concerning meaning, and also the most primitive one. This naming theory was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato (about427-347BC). According to this theory, t

14、he linguistic forms such as words in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things. This theory is also called reference theory. However, the naming theory is subject to various challenges. Firstly, the theory seems applicable to nouns

15、only. When it comes to adjectives, adverbs and verbs, the explanation is far more than satisfactory. Words like “slowly” “think” are definitely not labels of objects. Secondly, even within the category of nouns, there are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world at all and those

16、 that do not refer to physical objects, but abstract notions. Finally, some words may have different meanings in different contexts while the same reference may have different names such as “the morning star” vs. “the evening star”.l Definitions to ClarifyThe Naming Theory: It is one of the oldest n

17、otions concerning meaning proposed by Plato, which holds the view that the relationship between linguistic forms and what they stand for is one of naming. 2.2 The Conceptualist Theory l Relevant Language Use Observations and Question to Ponder over1) One day, a child asked his father, “What is a cam

18、el?” His father responded immediately, “Let me show you one.” Then he showed the child a picture of a camel, and thus the child got to know the meaning of the sign “camel”. The next month, the child went to a rural area with his parents and saw a high mountain with three towering peaks. “That mounta

19、in looks like a huge camel!” he exclaimed. How could the child make such a comparison? Discuss the question with your desk-mate. 2) When you use words such as “girl”, “camel” and “radio” to communicate in your daily life, do these words often appear in your mind in the form of a particular mental im

20、age?3) Try to see the mental image of “a beautiful girl” in your minds eye, note down what sort of a girl can be regarded as beautiful in your personal opinion and then compare what you have noted down with that of your desk mate to see whether you agree on what makes a beautiful girl.l Summaries to

21、 Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to LearnThe answer to question 1) above lies in the fact that, in the childs mind, camel is an image, with some prominent features, such as a head always held high, and two humps behind, just like three peaks. So, there isnt a direct link between the sound of a word a

22、nd the object it refers to. There is something behind the concrete thing we can see with our eyes, something that is abstract, has no existence in the material world and can only be sensed in our minds. This abstract thing is usually called concept. The conceptualist theory holds that words and thin

23、gs are related through the mediation of concepts of the mind.Together with his British colleague, C. K. Ogden, Richards created the semantic triangle to show the indirect relationship between symbols and their supposed referents. ConceptSymbol/Form Referent linguistic expressionssuch the object in t

24、he worldas words, sentences of experienceIndirect correspondence In this semantic triangle, the “symbol” or “form” refers to the linguistic forms such as words, phrases, or sentences, and the “referent” refers to the objects which the linguistic forms stand for. The dotted line in the triangle means

25、 there is no direct link between a symbol and what it refers to. It is the concept that links a symbol and its referent. The “concept” thus considered is the meaning of the word. However, one main criticism of Ogden & Richards Semantic Triangle is how to identify concepts. For example, how do we kno

26、w that the concept of pain in your mind is the same as the concept of pain in my mind? An Englishmans concept of wine may be different from that of a Chinese. In other words, can anyone guarantee that a concept coming to his mind when he uses a word is going to be the same as the one brought to his

27、readers mind? Furthermore, if we say that the relationship between a symbol and its referent is established through concept, then how is a symbol linked to its concept? To this question, we still have no satisfactory answer. Some believe that the link is a psychological one. In other words, it is th

28、e mental image caused by a linguistic symbol that connects the symbol and its concept. But this explanation also suffers some defect because people do not actually try to see the image of something in their minds eye when they use linguistics symbols such as words in their communication.l Definition

29、s to ClarifySymbol: It refers to the linguistic elements (word, sentence, etc.) Referent: It refers to the object in the world of experience.2.3 Contextualisml Relevant Language Use Observations and Questions to Ponder over1) Do you think the meaning of a word always remains the same? If not, what d

30、o you think influences the meaning of a word? 2) Look at the following words: fast, down, table, ball, seal, figure, etc. Apparently, each word has more than one meaning. Without any particular context, can you point out the exact meaning of these words?3) Look at the following pairs of examples.Fas

31、t:Ball:In the above examples, can you guess the meaning of “fast” and “ball” with the help of the particular context and different collocations?l Summaries to Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to Learn Contextualism attaches importance to the influence of context on the interpretation of meaning. It ho

32、lds that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, and context. A representative of this approach was the British linguist John FirthAs early as the 1930s, Firth proposed the view that “We shall know a word by the company it keeps.” Firth also divided context into linguistic context, sit

33、uational context and cultural context. Firths theory of meaning was empirically based. Briefly stated, meaning is in use. Appropriate use of language in the relevant situation defined its accurate employment. Meaning was to be studied through a hierarchy of contexts. Words were analyzed in the conte

34、xt of sentences which were then analyzed in situational contexts or settings which were in turn seen in cultural context. Firth had been influenced by the views of Malinowski, a Polish anthropologist who claimed that language should be treated as a mode of action, not an instrument of reflection. He

35、 believed that speaking was not so much about “telling” as about “doing”, and the utterances which people produced were ultimately only understandable within the overall context of the culture and the way of life within which they were produced. Still, Halliday also claimed that meaning is the bridg

36、e between linguistic forms and situation. “Language in action” and “Meaning in use” might be taken as twin slogans for this school of thought. l Definitions to ClarifyContext: It refers to what comes before and after a word, phrase, statement, etc. helping to fix the meaning; or refer to circumstanc

37、es in which an event occurs. Situational context: It refers to the particular spatiotemporal situation in which an utterance occurs, the main components of which include, apart from the place and time of the utterance, the speaker and the hearer, the actions they are performing at the time, the vari

38、ous objects and events existent in the situation.The linguistic context: Sometimes known as context, it includes a words co-occurrence or collocation with another word, which forms part of the meaning of the word, and also the part of text that precedes and follows a particular utterance. For exampl

39、e, the meaning of the word paper differs in the two collocations of “a piece of paper” and “a white paper”. Linguistic context also includes the part of text that precedes and follows a particular utterance.2.4 Behaviorism l Relevant Language Use Observations and Questions to Ponder over1) Imagine y

40、ou are watching the military training of English students and you do not understand English. Each time when the English commander issues the order “Turn left!”, can you guess out the meaning of that order? Why?2) Discuss with your deskmate to see if you could find an example to show that the same ut

41、terance may result in different responses from different people or different utterances may elicit the same response from different people.3) Have you ever had the experience of understanding the speakers meaning without making any response to it?l Summaries to Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to Lear

42、nBehaviourism shows the following features: 1) a distrust of all mentalistic terms like “mind”, “concept”, “idea”, and so on, and the rejection of introspection as a means of obtaining valid data in psychology; 2) the belief that there is no essential difference between human and animal behaviour; 3

43、) its tendency to stress nurture rather than nature; 4) its mechanism or determinism, holding that everything that happens on the universe is causally determined according to the same physical laws. One of the representatives of this school of thought is Bloomfield who then shared at least two of th

44、e general attitudes characteristic of behaviourism: a distrust of mentalism and a belief in determinism. Bloomfield defined the meaning of a language form as the “situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer” (Bloomfield 1933: 139).To illustrate his viewpoin

45、t of meaning, Bloomfield cited an example of a speech-event as follows:Jill is hungry. She sees an apple in a tree. She makes a noise with her larynx, tongue, and lips. Jack vaults the fence, climbs the tree, takes the apple, brings it to Jill and places it in her hand. Jill eats the apple. S r s R

46、Event Speech EventBefore the Speech After the Speech(Jills being hungry and her (Jacks vaulting the fence, seeing an apple in a tree) climbing the treeJills eating apple)(The capitalized letters S and R represent physical stimulus and physical response respectively, while the small letters s and r s

47、tand for verbal stimulus and verbal response respectively.)According to Bloomfield, if we want to know the meaning the “noise made by Jill” (speech), we have to know the events both before and after the speech. We can find that there are problems with behavioristic approach to meaning. Firstly, beha

48、viorism does not account for all kinds of learning, since it disregards the activities of the mind. Secondly, meaning and response are different processes. We understand meaning before we respond. For that reason, meaning and response cannot be the same thing. In Jack and Jills story, if Jack respon

49、ds to Jill by saying “You cant be hungry now! Weve just had some bread!”, then how do we explain the meaning of Jills speech “Im hungry!”? Thirdly, in our daily life, the same utterance may lead to different responses. A teacher may respond to the students utterance “Im hungry!” by dismissing the cl

50、ass; a beggar may get a piece of bread by saying “Im hungry!” at, say, the breakfast time. We may even make no response to “Im hungry!”, though we understand its meaning. Could we say “Im hungry!” has different meanings? In addition, different utterances may result in the same response. Could we con

51、clude that these different utterances have the same meaning?l Definitions to ClarifyBehaviorism: it is a theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities.3. Lexical Meaning 3.1 Sense and Reference l Relevant Language Use Observ

52、ations and Questions to Ponder over1) Observe the following exchange. Is there any difference or similarity in the use of the word “dog” in the exchange? I was once bitten by a dog!There is a dog over there! 2) Can you give an example to show that the same word with the same literal meaning may refe

53、r to different things in different situations? 3) Can you think of an example which shows different words or expressions with different literal meanings refer to the same thing?l Summaries to Make and Linguistic Viewpoints to LearnActually, in illustrating the interesting phenomenon above, we have t

54、o probe into the two terms which are often encountered in the study of meaning, that is, sense and reference. They are just different aspects of meaning. Their differences can be summarized as follows:sensereferenceThe inherent meaning of the linguistic formWhat a linguistic form refers to in the re

55、al, physical worldThe collection of all the features of the linguistic formThe relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experienceabstractconcreteDe-contextualizedContext-dependentSo sense is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are interested in. If you look

56、 up the word “dog” in a dictionary, you may find a definition like “a domesticated canine mammal, occurring in many breeds that show a great variety in size and form”(Collins Dictionary of the English Language). This doesnt refer to any particular dog that exists in the real world. In the exchange above, the two participants have both used the word “dog” to describe animals which possess the features of the definition in dictionaries. But they are actually referring to