SEMANTICS

CONCEPTUAL MEANING

basic literal ingredients of a given word: a bat: a winged mammal

ASSOCIATIVE MEANING

a set of mental imagas associated with a given word (highly personalized): a bat: Batman, terror, night

Syntagmatic

How words or elements relate to each other in a sequence

Paradigmatic words

relationships between words or elements that can potentially occur in the same position

Semantic features analysis

describing the meaning of words in terms of +/- semantic features:

The law of identity:

A is A.

The law of non-contradiction

Nothing can be A and non-A. (at the same time in the same way)

The law of excluded Middle

Something is either A or not A.

AGENT

the entity that performs an action: The man sounded the horn.

THEME (PATIENT

the entity which is involved in or affected by an action The lawnmower cut the grass.

INSTRUMENT

the entity by which an action is carried out: He opened the tin with a knife.

EXPERIENCER

the entity which has a feeling, perception or state Are you satifsied?

LOCATION

designates the position of an entity: Your mobile is on the table.

SOURCE

designates where the entity moves from: He came yesterday from London.

GOAL

designates where the entity moves to: They flew from Glasgow to Warsaw.

Synonyms

closeness in meaning:

Antonyms:

forms with opposite meanings:

Gradable antonyms

can be used in comparative contructions: fast/slow (faster slower more beautiful)

Complementary pairs (non-gradable antonyms

cannot be used in comparative contructions, (nagation of one element in the pair necessarily implies the other) day/night

Reversives:

imply the reverse action enter/exit

Hyponyms

more specific members of a category

Hyperonyms:

more general member of a category

Prototypes

characteristic instances of a category: CARPENTER’S TOOL: hammer, saw, screwdriver FURNITURE: wardrobe, chest of drawers, table BIRDS: robin, dove, canary, sparrow (but not: ostrich, duck, penguin)

Homophones

: distinct forms (in writing) which by accident have the same pronunciation: bare/bear

Homonyms:

single forms (in speech and writing) which have two or more unrelated meanings: bat (flying mammal) – bat (used for sports):

Polysems

single forms (in speech and writing) which have two or more related meanings: head (of a person) – head (of a company) – head (of a pin)

Metonyms

forms commonly used for other words based on proximity in everyday experience) CONTAINER FOR CONTENTS: He drank the whole bottle.

Metaphors

forms commonly used for other words based on similarities between unrelated concepts