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Lecture 1 Sense Relations - Lecture Notes

This document discusses different types of sense relations in linguistics. It defines reference as the relation between a linguistic expression and what it refers to, while sense is the expression's meaning within the semantic system of a language. It also discusses denotation, connotation, extension, and intension. Paradigmatic relations involve substitutable words like synonyms and antonyms. Syntagmatic relations involve words that collocate. Specific paradigmatic relations discussed include synonyms, polysemy, and homonyms.

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Mihaela Codrina Anton
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315 views

Lecture 1 Sense Relations - Lecture Notes

This document discusses different types of sense relations in linguistics. It defines reference as the relation between a linguistic expression and what it refers to, while sense is the expression's meaning within the semantic system of a language. It also discusses denotation, connotation, extension, and intension. Paradigmatic relations involve substitutable words like synonyms and antonyms. Syntagmatic relations involve words that collocate. Specific paradigmatic relations discussed include synonyms, polysemy, and homonyms.

Uploaded by

Mihaela Codrina Anton
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sense Relations

Linguistic meaning is a relation. Word meanings can be defined by relating them to their referent
or to each other.
The REFERENCE of a word/an expression is its direct relation with the extra-linguistic world.
The SENSE of a word/an expression is its place in a system of semantic relations with other
words/expressions in the language.
Reference is the relation between a language expression and whatever the expression pertains to
in a particular situation of language use; reference is the way speakers and hearers use an
expression successfully in a particular situation.
Denotation is the potential of a word to enter into such language expressions; denotation is the
knowledge speakers have that makes the use of such expression successful.
example: morning star, evening star, Venus, planet, star
connotation the variable, subjective, often emotive part of the meaning of an
expression.
example: colours in various cultures
The referring expressions 1. that violin and 2. that fiddle can have the same referent, they can
refer to the same object on a particular occasion – but they do not have the same meaning. Their
connotation is different.
extension “the class of actual or imagined objects or states of affairs an expression may be used
to refer to” (Meyer 2005: 147)
intension “those properties which define an expression, its mental content independent of context.
It may roughly be equated to sense.” (Meyer 2005: 147)
Semantics: interested in classifying types of sense relation to describe the structure of a stable
linguistic system.
lexico-semantic relations – discussed in terms of paradigmatic vs. syntagmatic structures.
A paradigmatic approach to sense relations implies focusing on the semantic properties that
define paradigmatic sets such as synonyms, homonyms, opposites (aka antonyms)
hypernyms/hyponyms, meronyms/holonyms. They are usually relations between substitutable
members of the same grammatical class (part of speech). (an either…or relation)
example She was very sad/unhappy/happy.
A syntagmatic approach is concerned with lexical items surrounding the lexeme in question in
terms of collocation and co-occurrence to describe the meaning of a word in a specific context.
They are relations between expressions of typically (but not necessarily) different grammatical
classes that can be arranged in grammatically well-formed constructions. (an both…and)
Paradigmatic relations: - hierarchical
- non-hierarchical.
PARADIGMATIC RELATIONS
NON-HIERARCHICAL RELATIONS
1. (Quasi)Identity: Synonyms and Paraphrases
Synonymy, i.e. “sameness of meaning” – words that sound different but have the same or nearly
the same meaning.
example: accompany/escort/convoy/conduct/attend/chaperon/see/show
The degree of semantic similarity between words depends to a great extent on the number of
semantic properties they share.
Some synonyms can be distinguished by register (often reflecting origin) – Germanic vs
Romance (Latin)
example buy vs purchase
The resources of English exceed those of Romania in this respect.
example Failure of recollection is common….(?) People often forget.
Syntactic structures may be different yet have the same meaning; they are considered
paraphrases of each other. They express the same proposition.
example The boy bought the book. The book was bought by the boy.
2. Polysemy – a case of lexical units with multiple meanings, where the meaning is partly identical,
so the meanings are partly related. Signifiés (almost) identical, signifiants different.
example school (1) a building (2) an institution (3) a group of people (4) a group of fish or dolphins.
Polysemy and homonymy are not always clearly distinct cases. Sometimes, if in the course of
history the senses of a word become too large and too many, they are no longer predictably related.
Polysemy is never accidental – the “different related meanings” of a lexeme derive from each other,
usually by way of metonymy or metaphor.
3. Homonymy an ambiguous word / phrase whose different senses are far apart from each other
and not obviously related to each other in any way. Cases of homonymy seem to be matters of
accident or coincidence.
example ball1 n. round [?] object that is thrown, kicked or hit in a game or sport
ball2 n. a large or formal occasion at which people dance
Homonyms are different words that are pronounced the same, but may or may not be spelled the
same (homophones) or which are spelled the same but are not pronounced the same
(homographs).
homographs – lead (v.) vs lead (n.)
homophones – flour vs flower
Homonyms are great sources for humour as well as for confusion.
example In God we trust. All others pay cash.

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