SEMANTICS AND PRAGMATICS

“WORD MEANING”

Disusun Oleh:
KELOMPOK 4

MURSIDA 20400118005
RATU FARADILLA FAHARUDDIN 20400118006
NURFADILA MUTMAINNA 20400118007
NUR ANNISA HAKIM 20400118022
NURFADIA 20400118029
NURAINUN APRILIA MENTARI 20400118030

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TARBIYAH

AND TEACHING SCIENCE STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF
ALAUDDIN MAKASSAR 2020
 1. ABOUT DICTIONARIES

a. DICTIONARY

A dictionary is a central part of the description of any language. A good ordinary

household dictionary typically gives (at least) three kinds of information about words,
phonological information about how the word is pronounced, grammatical (syntactical and
morphological) information about its part of speech (e.g. noun, verb) and inflections (e.g. for
plural number or past tense), and semantic information about the word‟s meaning.)

Example:

1) green (gre-n), adj. of the color of growing foliage.

2) must (must), auxiliary verb to be compelled to, as by instinct or natural law.
3) oak (o-k), noun any fagaceous tree or shrub of the genus Quercus, bearing the acorn as
fruit.
4) squirt (skwûrt), intransitive verb to eject liquid in a jet, as from a narrow orifice

Note:

• underline the phonological information,

• bracket [thus] the grammatical information, and
• leave the semantic information unmarked.

From the standpoint of modern linguistics, the dictionary constructed by a semanticist is

supposed to represent important aspects of the mental knowledge about meaning that any typical
native speaker of the language would have.

A dictionary tells you what words mean. The semanticist dictionary-writer and the ordinary
dictionary-writer have quite similar goals, but they differ markedly in their style of approach and
the emphasis which they place on their various goals.

We have illustrated in this unit certain important properties of dictionaries, namely

interconnectedness, the use of certain technical or theoretical terms and devices, and precision,
showing points of similarity and dissimilarity between the approaches of the ordinary dictionary-
writer and the theoretical linguistic semanticist.

b. INTERCONNECTEDNESS

Take a look at the examples below:

animal 1 Organized being endowed (more or less perceptibly) with life, sensation, and voluntary
motion; (esp.) such being other than man
female 1 Of the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs; (of plants or their parts) fruit-
bearing, having pistil and no stamens . . .

Homo 1 (Name of the genus including) man

human 1 Of or belonging to man; that is a man or consists of men

2 Of man as opp. to God

3 Having or showing the qualities distinctive of man as opp. to animals, machines, mere objects,
etc.

husband Married man, esp. in relation to his wife

join 1 Put together, fasten, unite . . .; unite (persons, one with or to another) in marriage,
friendship, alliance, etc.

male 1 Of the sex that can beget offspring by performing the fertilizing function; (of plants)
whose flowers contain only fecundating

organs . . . of men or male animals or plants

man 1 Human being, individual of genus Homo, distinguished from other animals by superior
mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright posture

4 Adult, human male, opp. to woman, boy, or both

marriage 1 Condition of man and woman legally united for purpose of living together and usu.
procreating lawful offspring

marry 1 ... (of person) take as wife or husband in marriage

sex 1 Being male or female or hermaphrodite unite Join together, make or become one,
consolidate, amalgamate

wife Married woman esp. in relation to her husband

woman 1 Adult human female

The narrow point means they have the word in their definition. For instance, take a look at the
definition of sex then you have male in the definition.
The first point to note about all dictionaries is that their definitions are necessarily
interconnected.

This interconnectedness of dictionary definitions is unavoidable, and indeed desirable. In

the kind of dictionary that a semanticist would propose, as part of the semantic description of a
language, there would be the same interconnectedness between the definitions of various
predicates, because the semantic dictionary-writer‟s main interest is in representing ascompletely
as possible the knowledge a native speaker has about all of the sense relations between
predicates. But notice that the ordinary dictionary‟s definitions are not usually phrased in termsof
the specific, precisely defined sense relations, e.g. hyponymy, antonymy, etc., which the
semanticist is interested in.

c. THE USE OF TECHNICAL OR THEORETICAL TERM

The linguistic semanticist, on the other hand is more inclined than the ordinary dictionary-
writer to leave some terms undefined. Such undefined terms are called semantic primes. The
nearest equivalent in the ordinary dictionary to the semanticist‟s idea of undefined semantic
primes is the use of rather technical, even sometimes abstruse, terms in its definitions.

The use of such technical terms can be seen as an attempt to break out of the circularity
which we have noted: an attempt to define the words of ordinary language in another language.

Both ordinary dictionary-writer and semanticist are concerned with describing meaning,
and not with prescribing meaning. Meaning that value judgements about any aspects of meaning
are not allowed. So in connection with the use of technical language in ordinary dictionaries,
despite the possibility of a small bias in favour of educated usage in the use of technical
language, this should not lead to the misunderstanding about the nature of the semanticist' task.
Semanticists aim to describe the sense relations between predicates,

as they understand them, in their own everyday language.

For example, sibling is not a word in the everyday English vocabulary, but is a technical
term used to refer to someone who is either a brother or a sister. Sibling is to brother and sister
what parent is to father and mother. The meaning of sibling contains no concept of sex. Clearly,
the two predicates brother and sister form

a natural class (that is, they share some component of meaning with each other); it is useful
in our description of the relationships between predicates to have a term corresponding to such a
natural class and so semanticists adopt one. In our descriptions, we will mark such „theoretical‟ or
„technical‟ predicates with an asterisk, e.g. *sibling.

d. PRECISION

Good ordinary dictionaries achieve a high standard of precision.

Precision in dictionary are often marked with superscript number, but generally only in cases of
homonymy,

as opposed to polysemy. The distinction between homonymy and polysemy is in many cases
rather arbitrarily drawn and it would increase the precision of the dictionary to use a device for
distinguishing even closely related senses of the same word (i.e. cases of polysemy, as with man1
and man4).

Even such good dictionary as the Concise Oxford Dictionary fails to define the meanings of
words with enough exactness. Another way in which an ordinary dictionary lacks precision is by
its frequent use of vague terms, such as „etc.‟, „more or less‟, „especially‟, and „usually‟.

One difficulty can be avoided by simply using subscript or superscript numbers to indicate
each separate sense of a word. And it can well be argued that the use of such vague terms as
„etc.‟, „more or less‟, „especially‟, and „usually‟ is unavoidable, because meanings simply cannot be
pinned down with absolute precision. It is usually not possible to give complete sets of necessary
and sufficient conditions corresponding to the senses of predicates. But for the present, there are
some areas where it is quite clear that a degree of precision can realistically be achieved which
the Concise Oxford Dictionary happens not to achieve.

Similarity and Dissimilarity Between The Approaches of The Ordinary Dictionary-

writer And The Theoretical Linguistic Semanticist

Traditionally, the linguistic semanticist is interested in the meanings of words and not in non-
linguistic facts about the world. Assumption often made that non-linguistic facts are not
particularly relevant to the study of linguistic meaning (that is, the meanings conveyed by the
sense relations of the words within the language itself as opposed to meaning conveyed by
information from the context or situation in which the language is used).

We see that some quite clear facts about sense relations in English, i.e. the incompatibility of
male and female, the symmetry of join and of marry, and the hyponymy of man to animal, are
either not explicitly stated or left unclear in this ordinary dictionary. It maybe objected that these
facts are too obvious to mention. But the semanticist‟s goal is to be able to account for every
sense relation, whether obvious or not, because he is interested in achieving the linguist‟s goal of
describing and representing as much as possible about what any typical native speaker knows
about meaning.

e. DICTIONARY AND ENCYCLOPAEDIA

A dictionary describes the senses of predicates.

 An encyclopaedia contains factual information of a variety of types, but generally no
information specifically on the meanings of words.

Most ordinary dictionaries occasionally stray into the domain of encyclopaedias, giving
information not strictly relevant to the bare senses(as opposed to stereotypes) of words.

DICTIONARY

Beret: round flat felt or cloth cap

ENCYCLOPAEDIA

Beret: round, flat, visorless cap of soft material, originally worn by Basque peasants

One final goal that both ordinary dictionary-writers and descriptive semanticists may try to
achieve, namely completeness of coverage. In this area the ordinary dictionary easily outstrips the
semanticist‟s. It is not possible at this stage in our text to give exercises to show in detail why this
is so, but it is a relevant fact that ordinary, informal dictionary writing has a centuries-long
tradition to build upon, whereas the devising of dictionaries by semantic theorists working to
exacting standards of logical rigour is an enterprise begun within the last century.

2. MEANING POSTULATES

a. meaning postulate is a way of stipulating a relationship between the meanings of two or

more words.
Example : x MAN1 ≡ x HUMAN BEING

x GIRL → x FEMALE

This example expresses the fact that man (in sense 1) is a synonym of human being.

b. Definition of contradiction is most centrally a logical term. The basic form of a

logical contradiction is p & ~ p. Anything that is clearly an instance of this
basic logical contradiction, e.g. John is here and John is not here, can be called a contradiction.
Example: The teacher teach the student while he is sleeping.

c. Definition of anomaly is ANOMALY is semantic oddness (as opposed to

 grammatical oddness) that can be traced to the meanings of the predicates in the sentence
concerned.
Example : Student teach the teachers
Mom are reading newspaper while dad cooking in the kitchen.

d. Write meaning postulate to account for the hyponymy between the following pairs of two
place predicate:
x FATHER y → x PARENT y. This is paraphrase able as : If X is Y‟s father, then X is Y‟s
parent.
Another example:
• See, read : If X SEE Y, then X READ Y(use verb)
• taste : sweet, salty, spicy.

e. Case of binary antonymy between two place predicate .Meaning postulate, using the
negative to account for the antonymy the following pairs:
Example :
• Good, bad : x GOOD y→ ~x BAD y

f. Converse relationship can also be expressed in term of meaning postulate. Meaning

postulate using ≡ to account for the synonymy of the following pairs:
Example:
• parent, child : x PARENT y ≡ y CHILD x
 g. Selection restriction apply to two place predicate. selection denotes the ability of predicates to
determine the semantic content of their arguments.

Example :

a. The plant is wilting.

b. The building is wilting. - The argument the building violates the selectional restrictions of
the predicate is wilting.
a. Sam drank a coffee.
b. Sam drank a car. - The argument a car contradicts the selectional restrictions of the
predicate drank.

h. . The factor of time involved in a large number of other send relation between
predicate. Any predicate whose meaning involve a change of state will need some
mention of time. This sentence below is a complex sentence containing a before and an
after (or equivalent) that is entailed by the first sentence.
Example:
• Toni left the house at night entails
Toni was not the house before at night and he was the house after night
• Wahadi joined the test while he was in Jakarta
Wahadi couldn‟t join the test before he was in Jakarta and he could join the test aster
he was in Jakarta.

3. PROPERTIES OF PREDICATES

These sense properties as aspects of the meanings of each predicate that would be part of each
predicate‟s dictionary entry in the mind of a native speaker of the language. There are six sense
properties that predicates have.

a. Symmetry

Symmetry is given a two-place predicate P, if, for any pair of referring expressions X and
Y. Symmetry is divided into two groups. They are symmetric and asymmetric.

1) Symmetric

Symmetric is given a two-place predicate P, if, for any pair of referring expressions X and
Y, the sentence XPY ENTAILS the sentence YPX, then P is SYMMETRIC. It means that there
are two referring expression in a sentence and the P here still can give the same sense when we
change the subject become the object or the object become the subject. We have two referring
expression in a sentence. We can tell them as X and Y. in symmetric, the P here still have the
same sense when we put X as the subject and Y as the object or Y as the subject and X as the
object. We can say whether a word symmetric or not based on the meaning postulate.
 Example :
Tanzania is different from Kenya
X P Y
Kenya is different from Tanzania
Y P X

The word “Different” here is Symmetric predicate, because the sentence XPY ENTAILS
the sentence YPX. The sense of the word “Different” in the sentence “Tanzania is different from
Kenya ” and “Kenya is different from Tanzania” is same.

2) Asymmetric

Asymmetric is Given a two-place predicate P, if the sentence XPY is a

CONTRADICTORY of YPX, then P is an ASYMMETRIC predicate . It means that there are
two referring expression in a sentence. They are X and Y. if the sentence XPY is a contradictory
of the sentence YPX, it means that P is Asymmetric predicate. An asymmetric predicate is the
opposite of symmetric predicate.

Example :
John is taller than Bill
Y P X
Bill is taller than John
X P Y

The word “taller than” here is asymmetric predicate, because the sentence YPX is
CONTRADICTORY of the sentence XPY. The sense of the sentence” John is taller than Bill”
and the sentence “Bill is taller than john ” is different or contradictory. If john is taller than Bill ,
it is impossible that Bill is taller than John.

b. Reflexivity

Reflexivity Is given a two-place predicate P, if for any single referring expression X (or
for any pair of referring expressions X and Y which have the same referent). It means that one
sentence has any pair of referring expression X and Y, and Y refers to X. both of them has the
same referent. Reflexivity is divided into two groups. They are reflexive and irreflexive.

1). Reflexive.

Reflexive is given a two-place predicate P, if for any single referring expression X (or for
any pair of referring expressions X and Y which have the same referent, e.g. John and himself),
the sentence XPX (or the sentence XPY) is ANALYTIC, then P is a REFLEXIVE predicate it
means that a predicate can be a reflexive predicate if X and Y has the same referent and the
sentence XPX(or the sentence XPY) is analytic.
 Example:
Widya is as tall as herself
X P Y

In this sentence, the word “as tall as” is reflexive predicate, because “Widya” and
“herself” have the same referent and the sentence “Widya is as tall as herself” is analytic.

2). Irreflexive

Given a two-place predicate P, if for any single referring expression X (or for any pair of
referring expressions X and Y which have the same referent, e.g. John and himself) the sentence
XPX (or the sentence XPY) is a CONTRADICTION, then P is an IRREFLEXIVE predicate.
Irreflexive is the opposite of reflexive. It means that a predicate can be a reflexive predicate if X
and Y has the same referent and the sentence XPX(or the sentence XPY) is a contradiction.

Example :
Widya is different from herself
X P Y

The word “different from” is irreflexive predicate. The word “Widya ” and the word
“herself” have the same referent, but the sentence “Nana is different from herself” is a
contradiction. It is impossible if Widya is different from herself.

c. Transitivity

Transitivity is given a two-place predicate P, if for any trio of referring expressions X, Y

and Z. It must be in compound sentence. it means that there are three reffering expressions in a
sentence and the sentence must be in compound sentence.

1). Transitive

It is given a two-place predicate P, if for any trio of referring expressions X, Y, and Z the
compound sentence XPY and YPZ ENTAILS the sentence XPZ, then P is TRANSITIVE. . It
means that a word can be called as transitive predicate if there are three reffering expression (X,Y
and Z) in a compound sentence and the sentence XPY and YPZ entails the sentence XPZ.

Example :
The bird is in the cage, the cage is in the home entails the bird is in the home.
X Y Z

In this sentence, the predicate in is transitive because that compound sentence consist of
three referring expressions (bird, cage and home) and the sentence “the bird is in the cage” and
“the cage is in the home” entails the sentence “the bird is in the home”.

2). Intransitive
 It is given a two-place predicate P, if for any trio of referring expressions X, Y, and Z, the
compound sentence XPY and YPZ is a CONTRADICTORY of XPZ, then P is INTRANSITIVE.
it means that a word can be called as transitive predicate if there are three reffering expression
(X,Y and Z) in a compound sentence and the sentence XPY and YPZ is contradictory of the
sentence XPZ.

Example :

John is the father of Bill and Bill is the father of Sue so John is the father of Sue.

In this sentence, the word father of is intransitive because the sentence john is the father of sue
and the sentence bill is the father of sue is incompatible with john is the father of sue.

4. DERIVATION

Derivation is a process of word formation through the addition affix, which can be a
prefix or suffix. The resulting new word will have a different meaning of the word essentially.
Particle added called affixes. Affixes is added at the beginning of a word is called a prefix, in the
middle is called infix, and at the end is called a suffix.
Example of derivation:
Noun : Threefold ; Three (root) + fold (suffix)
Verb : enclose ; en (prefix) + close (root)
Adjective : interchangeable ; inter (prefix) + change (root) + able (suffix)
Adverb : retell ; re (prefix) + tell (root)

1). Prefix
The addition of the prefix change the meaning of the word, but it does not change the type
of word.

Example:
(un-) unhappy
(dis-) dismiss
(in-): insufficient, incorrect
(out-): outdoor, outgoing

2). Suffix

Suffix can be used to form nouns, employment, information, and nature. Suffix will change the
type of word origin.

Example:
(-ly) changes adjectives into adverbs (slow = slowly)
(-ness) changes adjective to noun (slow = slowness)
(-ise) changes adjective to verb (modern = modernise)

a. Paraphrase
 So far we have treated the dictionary of a language simply as a static list of predicates.
We have made the tacit assumption that, in order for a predicate to be able to bear meaning, it
must in some sense already be present in the dictionary of the language concerned. But this
neglects the obvious fact that words that we have never heard before, and which have perhaps
never even been used before, can have clear meanings.
Example:
“I find screwdriving with my left hand difficult”. Screwdriving meaning is using a
screwdriver.
b. Morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest unit of a language which still has meaning and cannot be
divided again.
Example:

1. Perfect : 1 morpheme
2. imperfect : im + perfect = 2 morpheme
3. imperfection : im + perfect + ion = 3 morpheme

c. Compound Word
 A derived word formed by combining two pre-existing words in a language is called a
compound word.
Example:
Derived words such as bluebird, spaceship, babysit, and bittersweet (to name just a few) are
compounds, because they consist of two pre-existing root words in the language rather than a root
word together with either a prefix or suffix.
Another example:
➢ Greatness: great-ness
➢ Homework: home-work (compound word)
➢ Father: (only one morpheme)
d. The Process of Derivation
We start to analyze the processes of derivation in more detail by noting that a step in a
derivation is usually actually not one process, but three simultaneous processes, namely:
• a morphological process (e.g. changing the shape of an existing word by adding a
prefix or suffix morpheme to an existing root morpheme);
• a syntactic process (changing the part of speech of a word, e.g. from verb to noun);
and
• a semantic process (producing a new sense).
Morphological Syntactic process Semantic Process
process
laugh:laugh add suffix -er change verb to produce word denoting
ter noun an act or an activity
teach:teach add suffix -er change verb to produce word denoting
er noun an agent
red:redness add suffix -ness change adjective to produce word denoting
noun a property
Note that all the conceivable syntactic changes involving the three major parts of speech
(noun, verb, adjective) actually occur. In English, though not in some other languages, the
morphological process of suffixation is more common than that of prefixation.

e. Zero-Derivation
We give now some examples of derivation involving no morphological process at all, or
„zero-derivation‟, as it is sometimes called. In such cases a root morpheme is converted from one
part of speech to another without the addition of either a prefix or suffix to the root.
Example:
Cook (agent noun) is derived from cook (transitive verb) just as painter (agent noun) is
derived from paint (transitive verb). We just happen not to have a word cooker, meaning a person
who cooks, in English. The lack of such a form which would otherwise be derivable according to
regular word formation patterns is sometimes referred to as a „lexical gap‟. Cook (noun) is an
example of zero-derivation.
f. Inchoative Form
An inchoative form denotes the beginning, or coming into existence, of some state.
Example:
Dark (adjective) denotes a state. Darken (intransitive verb), as in The sky darkened, is the
corresponding inchoative form, because it denotes the beginning of a state of darkness.

g. Causative Form
A causative form denotes an action which causes something to happen.
Example:
Open (transitive verb) is the causative form corresponding to open (intransitive verb). If one
opens a door, for example, one causes it to open (in the intransitive sense of open). In English
zero-derivation is the commonest device for producing causative forms, although causatives are
also frequently formed by adding the suffix -en to the non-causative root.
h. Resultative Form
A resultative form denotes a state resulting from some action.
Example:
Broken (used as an adjective) is the resultative form corresponding to break (transitive verb).
The state of being broken results from the action of breaking.

i. Suppletion
Suppletion is a process whereby, in irregular and idiosyncratic cases, substitution of a
morphologically unrelated form is associated with the specific semantic and/or syntactic
processes normally companying a morphological process.
Example:
➢ Go – went
➢ Lie – lay
➢ Eat – ate

5. PARTICIPANT ROLE
a. Definition of participant role

Participant role indicate relationships between a verb ( and possibly other predicators) and the
referring expressions in a sentence.

For example : john opened the door with the key.

Participant roles :

• Verb (predicators) = open

• Referring expression = john, door, the key
b. Type of participant roles
1. Agent, the agent of sentence is the person deliberate carrying out the action
described.
 For example : John opened the door with the key
2. The affected participant is the thing (not usually a person, although it may be)
upon which the action is carried out, in many cases the thing changed by the
action in the most obvious way.
For example : John opened the door with the key.
The tree was falled by a single blow from paul‟axe.
3. The instrument is the thing (hardly ever a person) by means of which the action is
carried out.
For example : Seymour sliced the salami with a knife.
Hamsih used a screwdriver to open the tin.
4. Location, the role of location is played by any expression referring to the place
where the action described by a sentence takes place.
For example : I‟m meeting inda at school.
Tallahassee is humid in summer.
5. Beneficiary, the beneficiary is the person for whose benefit or to whose detriment
the action described by sentence is carried out. It usually assumed that the
beneficiary, if mentioned, is distinct from both the agent and the affected.
For example : Glann bought a micro-computer for his son
6. Experiencer, the experiencer is typically a person who is mentally aware of,
perceives, or experiences the action or state described by the sentence, but who is
not in control of the situation. Experiencer characteristics can also sometimes be
attributed to animals.
For example : The children heard the loud noise.
Jane saw a movie last night.
7. Theme, the theme participant is a thing or person whose location is described, or a
thing or person that is perceived by an experien cer.
For example : the children heard the loud noise
c. The position of referring expression
There are three different grammatical position of referring expression in sentences
:
a) Subject position: preceding a main verb
b) Object position: immediately following a main verb
c) Complement position: after a verb, but not immediately, often after a preposition.
For example : john open the door with the key
S V O prep complement
Table : The position role and grammatical position
Subject Object complement
Agent John
Affected The door
 Instrument With the key

d. Role frame of a verb

Participant roles can be included in the dictionary. Proponents of the nation of role envisage
that in the dictionary entry for each verb in the language there will be a role frame, indicating
what roles must be and what roles may be, mentioned in connection with the verb.

For example : open : ( Agent, Affected, Instrument )

John opened the door.
The key opened the door.
The door opened.