Introduction to SEMANTICS - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Introduction to SEMANTICSSlide2

MEANING, THOUGHT and REALITY

2.1 Intro – TERMINOLOGY (referring, denoting)2.2 REFERENCE2.3 REFERENCE as a THEORY OF MEANING2.4 MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS2.5 WORDS, CONCEPTS and THINKING

John I. Saeed – Chapter IISlide3

People have the ability to talk about the world.

REFERRING/ DENOTING = the action of identifying (individuals, locations, etc.) with wordsREFERENT (DENOTATUM) = the entity referred to

Example:

Brno is a beautiful city. BRNO (city) is the referent of the word BRNO the word BRNO refers to (denotes) the actual city

Intro - TERMINOLOGYSlide4

John Lyons (1970s) :

refer ≠ denoteExample:A sparrow flew into the room. the WORDS Sparrow, the room DENOTE certain classes of items.

(context-independent)

X SPEAKER REFERS TO a sparrow, the room (context-dependent)

Intro - TERMINOLOGYSlide5

REFERENTIAL

(denotational) Basic premise: We can give the meaning of words and sentences by showing how they relate to the world (entities in the world) and situations, respectively. (nouns denote entities, sentences denote situations)

Theories of meaning

(referential & representational)Slide6

Problem:

There is a casino in Grafton Street. There isn‘t a casino in Grafton Street. (“Sentences are meaningful because they describe situations.“) X Under which conditions is one of the sentences a false description of the situation?

Referential theories of meaningSlide7

REPRESENTATIONAL

MENTAL MODELS OF THE WORLD in our minds Language = theory about realityA speaker can choose to view the same situation in different ways.Joan is sleeping. X Joan is asleep.

 How does the speaker view the situation in each case?Theories of meaning (referential & representational)Slide8

The same situation viewed differently:

EN: You have a cold.Somali: ‘A cold has you.‘Irish: ‘A cold is on you.‘ i.e. ‘You have a cold.‘possession vs locationAny more examples....?

Different representations of reality in different languagesSlide9

Principal idea:

Our thinking about reality is influenced by the conceptual structures conventionalized in our language.Representational theories of meaningSlide10

REFERENTIAL

Meaning derives from language being attached to (grounded in) realityREPRESENTATIONALMeaning derives from language being a reflection of our conceptual structures.Referential theories X Representational approachesSlide11

HOW can linguistic expression be used to refer?

(focus on nominals, i.e., nouns and noun phrases)TYPES OF REFERENCE:1 referring and non-referring expressions2 constant versus variable reference3 referents and extensions

2.2 REFERENCESlide12

Any examples of the words which can never be used to refer?

Any examples of of potentaially referring expression? (can be used to identify an entity)Referring and non-referring expressionsSlide13

Non-referring:

so, very maybe, if....Referring: That cat looks vicious When is the expression referring and when non-referring?

They performed a cholecystectomy this morning. A cholecystectomy is a serious procedure.

Referring and non-referring expressionsSlide14

...the surgical removal of the gallbladder...Slide15

Ambiguous:

In a bar, detective to the barman:“I am looking for a woman.“What is the difference between the referring and non-referring reading?

Referring and non-referring expressionsSlide16

Any examples of the expressions which will have the same referent across a range of different utterances?

Any examples of the expressions which have the referent totally dependent on context?Constant vs. Variable referenceSlide17

The Eiffel Tower

– the expression has constant referenceShe put it in my office. – variable reference – context needed

Note: DEIXIS (Greek ‘pointing‘)

She, it, my,... Deictical expressions (context needed to identify the referent)Constant vs. Variable referenceSlide18

What kind of contextual information do we need to identify the referent of the nominal

the President of the United States??Slide19

Referent

of an expression = the actual thing referred to at the moment of utteringExtension of an expression = set of things which could possibly be the referent of the expressionWhat is the referent of the phrase the President of the United States

in October 2015

?What is the extension of the phrase the President of the United States?

Referents and extensionsSlide20

In John Lyon‘s view, what is the name for the relationship between the expression and its extension?

i.e., context-indepedent relationshipCf. also “A cholecystectomy is a serious procedure.“D---------

TERMINOLOGY (Lyons):Slide21

NAMES

= nominals which have referenceSpeaker assumes that the audience can identify the referentHe looks like Eddie Murphy. ( the American comedian)How do names work...?

2.2 REFERENCESlide22

Bertrand Russell (1960s), Searle (1950), Frege (1980s) – philosophers

Name = a label for knowledge about the referent = a label for one or more definite descriptionsChristopher Marlowe = The Writer of the Play Dr FaustusDescription theorySlide23

Devitt and Sterelny (1980s); Kripke (1980s), Donnellan (1970s)

Names are socially inherited, or borrowed(At some original point, a name is given to a person. Then the name can be passed on to other people. The users of the name form a kind of chain back to an original naming.)Speakers can use names with very little knowledge of the referent

Causal theorySlide24

NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES

can refer.Indefinite and definite NPs: I spoke to a woman about the noise. I spoke to

the woman

about the noise.Definite NPs forming definite descriptions:She has a crush on the capitan of the hockey team. (= whoever fits the description)

REFERENCESlide25

NP with no referent:

The king of France is bold.NPs referring to groups of individuals - distributively (focus on individuals) - collectively (focus on the whole)

 collective or distributive reference? The people in the lift were too heavy.

The people in the lift

avoided each other‘s eyes.

REFERENCESlide26

NPs can denote substances, actions, and abstract ideas

Who can afford coffee?Sleeping is his hobby.She has a passion for justice.(more in Chapter 10)

REFERENCESlide27

Simplified formulation: reference picks out elements in the real world, i.e.,

proper names denote individualsverbs denote actionsadjectives denote properties of individuals, etc.2.3 REFERENCE as a THEORY OF MEANINGSlide28

Problems:

1 real world referent missing (so, if, but,...)2 non existent referent (unicorn, Father Christmas) there words would have to be meaningless3 lack of one-to-one correspondence between a linguistic expression and the item we want to identify

Obama = father of two = the President of the US

Anwar El Sadat = the President of Egypt4 lack of awareness of all possible references

REFERENCE as a THEORY OF MEANINGSlide29

Ad 4) Venus = evening star = morning star.

Bill knows that evening star and morning star both have the same referent. The morning star is the evening star. – not a tautology for Bill (because he lacks some knowledge...)

Tautology: Venus is Venus.

REFERENCE as a THEORY OF MEANINGSlide30

There is more to meaning than just reference.

Frege adds a dimension of SENSE to the reference:SENSE (Sinn)– primary understanding of an expression, allows referenceREFERENCE (Bedeutung)

It is because I understand the expression

The President of Ireland that I can use it to refer.REFERENCE as a THEORY OF MEANINGSlide31

Extra dimension to denotation: SENSE

SENSE places a new level between the words and the world: a level of mental representationA noun can denote because it is associated with something in the speaker‘s or hearer‘s mind. not everything we talk about must exist in reality

2.4 MENTAL REPRESENTATIONSSlide32

1 images – relationship between the mental representation and the real world entity : resemblance

OK : your mother, Batman X problem : COMMON NOUNS (car, house, even triange) VARIATION of images among speakers!

What are mental representations?Slide33

Modification to the theory:

The sense of some words, while mental, is not visual but a more abstract element: a CONCEPTable to contain non-visual features which make a dog a dog, democracy democracy, etc.Some concepts related to perceptual stimuli (SUN, WATER)Other concepts – more complex (MARRIAGE)

MENTAL REPRESENTATIONSSlide34

CONCEPTS

MEANING is a combination of denotation and conceptual element What form can we assign to concepts? How do children acquire them, along with their linguistic labels?MENTAL REPRESENTATIONSSlide35

The answers as well as the last subchapter will be discussed next week.

...to be continued next time...Slide36

Thank you for your attention!