Bài giảng môn Ngữ nghĩa học (Semantics) - A course book 7 - Trương Văn Ánh

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1. Semantics Trương Văn Ánh Trường Đại học Sài Gòn
2. Summary Speaker meaning Sentence meaning Utterance Sentence Proposition Sense Reference Referent: Variable, constant, co-referent Referring expression Opaque context Equative sentence Predicator Predicate Degree of (Arguments) Generic sentence Universe of discourse
3. Word Sense Referent The Triangle of Signification
4. Chapter three . . . to sense Unit 9: SENSE PROPERTIES AND STEREOTYPES It is sometimes hard to distinguish a factual (or ‘ontological’) question from a semantic one. The SENSE of an expression is its indispensable hard core of meaning. Man: +[male], -[female], +[adult], +[human] Mother: +[female], +[adult], +[human], +[having a child]
5. An ANALYTIC sentence is one that is necessarily TRUE, as a result of the senses of the words in it. An analytic sentence, therefore, reflects a tacit (unspoken) agreement by speakers of the language about the senses of the words in it. Ex: All elephants are animals. Gold is a precious metal. A typhoon can destroy a large building. > When we know exactly a sentence is true, it is an analytic sentence.
6. A SYNTHETIC sentence is one which is NOT analytic, but may be either true or false, depending on the way the world is. Ex: John is from Ireland. John is rich. There is nothing in the senses of John or Ireland or from which makes this necessarily true or false. When we don’t know if a sentence is right or wrong, it is a synthetic sentence.
7. A CONTRADICTION is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE, as a result of the senses of the words in it. Thus a contradiction is in a way the opposite of an analytic sentence. Ex: “This animal is a vegetable” is a contradiction. This must be false because of the senses of “animal “and “vegetable”. “Both of John’s parents are married to aunts of mine” is a contradiction. This must be false because of the senses of “both parents”, “married”, and “aunt”.
8. A NECESSARY CONDITION on the sense of a predicate is a condition (or criterion) which a thing MUST meet in order to qualify as being correctly described by that predicate. A SUFFICIENT SET OF CONDITIONS on the sense of a predicate is a set of conditions (or criteria) which, if they are met by a thing, are enough in themselves to GUARANTEE that the predicate correctly describes that thing.
9. Ex: Take the predicate square, as usually understood in geometry. ‘Four-sided’ is a necessary condition for this predicate, since for anything to be a square, it must be four-sided. ‘Plane figure, four-sided, equal-sided, and containing right angles’ is a sufficient set of conditions for the predicate square, since if anything meets all of these conditions, it is guaranteed to be a square. ‘Four-sided and containing right angles’ is not a sufficient set of conditions for square. Many non- square shapes, such as rectangles and trapezoids, meet these conditions. ‘Three-sided’ is not a necessary condition for square.
10. The STEREOTYPE of a predicate is a list of the TYPICAL characteristics or features of things to which the predicate may be applied. Ex: The stereotype of cat would be something like: Quadruped, domesticated, either black, or white, or grey, or tortoise-shell, or marmalade in colour, or some combination of these colours, adult specimens about 50 cm long from nose to tip of tail, furry, with sharp retractable claws, etc.
11. • The sense of an expression can be thought of as the sum of its sense properties and sense relations. Sense properties of sentences include those of being analytic, synthetic, and a contradiction. • With the exception of a few predicates such as bachelor, father, square, sphere, etc. it is not possible to give complete definitions of the sense of most predicates by sets of necessary and sufficient conditions. Stereotypes defined in terms of typical characteristics account for the fact that people usually agree on the meanings of the words they use.
12. Summary Speaker meaning Sentence meaning Utterance Sentence Proposition Sense Reference Referent: Variable, constant, co-referent Referring expression Opaque context Predicator Predicate Degree of (Arguments) Universe of discourse Five kinds of sentences: Generic Equative Analytic Synthetic Contradiction
13. GOOD LUCK!