Allama Iqbal open university

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
(9051)
ASSIGNMENT NO:1
(UNIT 1-5)
SEMESTER 2ND
SPRING,2023
PROGRAM
BS (ENGLISH)
STUDENT ID
0000343526
SUBMITTED BY
AYESHA UMER
Question no:1

Write short notes on the following

History of language
Origin of language
Characteristics of language
Changes/evolution of language

Answer

History of language

Language is a means of communication which is symbolic and arbitrary in nature.

Almost every human being is familiar with at least one language either in spoken or
signed form. Thus, language is considered an inseparable part of human life. Human
civilization has been made possible through language. It is through language that
humanity has come out of the stone age and has developed science, arts and
technology.
There are about 5,000 languages in the world right now (give or take a few
thousand), and linguists have discovered that these languages are more alike than
different from each other. There are universal concepts and properties that are
shared by all languages which form the basis for possible human languages.
Languages that evolve from a common source are genetically related. These
languages were once dialects of the same language. Earlier forms of Germanic
languages, such as German, English, and Swedish were dialects of Proto-
Germanic, while earlier forms of Romance languages, such as Spanish, French,
and Italian were dialects of Latin. Furthermore, earlier forms of Proto-Germanic
and Latin were once dialects of Indo-European. Linguistic change like sound shift is
found in the history of all languages, as evidenced by the regular sound
correspondences that exist between different stages of the same language, different
dialects, and different languages. Words, morphemes, and phonemes may be altered,
added or lost. The meaning of words may broaden, narrow or shift. New words may
be introduced into a language by borrowing, or by coinage, blends and acronyms. The
lexicon may also shrink as older words become obsolete.

Origin of language

The following five theories about the origin of language are considered eminent

• The Bow-Wow Theory:

According to this theory, language began when our ancestors started imitating the
natural sounds around them. The first speech was onomatopoeic — marked by
echoic words such as moo, meow, splash, cuckoo, and bang. However, relatively
few words are onomatopoeic, and these words vary from one language to another.
For instance, a dog's 5 bark is heard as au au in Brazil, ham ham in Albania, and
wang, wang in China. In addition, many onomatopoeic words are of recent origin,
and not all are derived from natural sounds.

• The Ding-Dong Theory:

This theory, favored by Plato and Pythagoras, maintains that speech arose in
response to the essential qualities of objects in the environment. The original sounds
people made were supposedly in harmony with the world around them. Apart from
some rare instances of sound symbolism, there's no persuasive evidence, in any
language, of an innate connection between sound and meaning.

• The La-La Theory:

the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen suggested that language may have developed
from sounds associated with love, play, and (especially) song. But David Crystal
notes in How Language Works (Penguin, 2005) that this theory fails to account for
"the gap between the emotional and the rational aspects of speech expression."

• The Pooh-Pooh:
Theory This theory holds that speech began with interjections—spontaneous cries of
pain ("Ouch!"), surprise ("Oh!"), and other emotions ("Yabba dabba do!"). But
many languages do not contain many interjections, and Crystal points out, "the clicks,
intakes of breath and other noises which are used in this way bear little relationship
to the vowels and consonants found in phonology

Characteristics of language

Language is a complex and sophisticated system of communication that humans use

to convey thoughts, ideas, emotions, and information. It is a defining feature of our
species and sets us apart from other animals. Language possesses several key
characteristics that enable its functionality and versatility:

• Arbitrariness: The relationship between the sounds or symbols in a

language and their meanings is largely arbitrary. There is no inherent
connection between a word's sound and its meaning. For example, the word
"dog" in English doesn't inherently resemble the concept of a four-legged
animal.

• Duality of Patterning: Language has a hierarchical structure where

smaller units (phonemes, morphemes) are combined to create larger units
(words, sentences). This allows for an infinite variety of expressions using a
finite set of elements.

• Productivity: Language is creative and allows speakers to generate novel

sentences and expressions. People can combine words and rules in countless
ways to convey new ideas and thoughts.

• Displacement: Humans can discuss topics that are not present in the
immediate environment or even those that are abstract or hypothetical. This
ability to talk about the past, future, or things that aren't physically present is
known as displacement.

• Cultural Transmission: Language is learned through exposure and

interaction with others in a specific linguistic community. It is passed down
through generations and varies from one culture to another.
• Multifunctionality: Language serves a range of functions beyond
communication, including expressing emotions, sharing knowledge,
coordinating actions, negotiating, storytelling, and more.

• Creativity: Speakers can create new words, expressions, and sentences that
have never been used before. This ability for linguistic innovation is crucial for
adapting language to changing circumstances.

• Interchangeability: In most cases, language users can both produce and

comprehend the same linguistic expressions. This interchangeability allows for
effective communication.

• Structure and Grammar: Language has a systematic structure and

grammar that governs how words are combined to form meaningful
utterances. Grammar includes rules for syntax (sentence structure) and
morphology (word formation).

• Cultural and Social Connection: Language is deeply intertwined with

culture and social identity. It reflects the values, beliefs, norms, and practices
of a particular community.

• Learnability and Acquisition: Humans have a natural ability to acquire

language during their early years, often without formal instruction. This
critical period for language acquisition highlights the innate nature of language
learning.

• Context Sensitivity: The meaning of a word or expression can change

based on the context in which it is used. Context helps clarify ambiguity and
aids in effective communication.

• Sound Symbolism: Although largely arbitrary, some linguistic elements

have sound-symbolic qualities. Certain sounds may be associated with
specific meanings or qualities across languages.

• Metalinguistic Awareness: Language users can reflect on and discuss

language itself, discussing its rules, meanings, and usage. This metalinguistic
awareness supports linguistic analysis and learning.
 • Biological Basis: Language processing is associated with specific brain
regions, and various aspects of language acquisition and production are
influenced by biological factors.

These characteristics collectively make language a dynamic and powerful tool for
human communication, facilitating the exchange of ideas, emotions, and information
across cultures and generations.

Changes/evolution of language

• Phonological Change:

Between 1400 and 1600 CE, the Great Vowel Shift took place. The seven long vowels
of Middle English underwent changes. The high vowels [i] and [u] became the
diphthongs [aj] and [aw]. The long vowels increased tongue height and shifted
upward, and [a] was fronted. Many of the spelling inconsistencies of English are
because of the Great Vowel 8 Shift. Our spelling system still reflects the way words
were pronounced before the shift took place.

• Morphological Change:

Many Indo-European languages had extensive case endings that governed word
order, but these are no longer found in Romance languages or English. Although
pronouns still show a trace of the case system (he vs. him), English uses prepositions
to show the case. Instead of the dative case (indirect objects), English usually the
words to or for. Instead of the genitive case, English uses the word of or 's after a noun
to show possession. Other cases include the nominative (subject pronouns),
accusative (direct objects), and vocative.

• Syntactic Change:

Because of the lack of the case system, word order has become more rigid and strict
in Modern English. Now it is strictly Subject - Verb - Object order.
• Orthographic Change:

Consonant clusters have become simplified, such as hlaf becoming loaf and hnecca
becoming neck. However, some of these clusters are still written, but are no longer
pronounced, such as gnaw, write, and dumb.

• Lexical Change:

Old English borrowed place names from Celtic, army, religious and educational
words from Latin, and everyday words from Scandinavian. Angle and Saxon
(German dialects) form the basis of Old English phonology, morphology, syntax and
lexicon. Middle English borrowed many words from French in the areas of
government, law, religion, literature and education because of the Norman Conquest
in 1066 CE. Modern English borrowed words from Latin and Greek because of the
influence of the classics, with much scientific terminology.

QUESTION NO: 2

Watch a movie of your choice (may be English or

Pakistani) and phonemically transcribe the dialogues
(20) of the movie using your handwriting

Answer

• HERE ARE SOME DIALOGUES OF ENGLISH MOVIE “JUMANJI”:

1."In the jungle you must wait, until the dice read five or eight."

2. "I've seen things you've only seen in your nightmares. Things you can't even
imagine. Things you can't even see. There are things that hunt you in the night.
Then something screams. Then you hear them eating, and you hope to God that
you're not dessert Afraid? You don't even know what afraid is."

3."I'm an excellent driver."

4."You know, you're a lot smaller than my last master. Either that or I'm getting
bigger."

5. "What year is it?"

6."You think that mosquitos, monkeys, and lions are bad? That is just the
beginning. I've seen things that make your hair stand straight up. You'll wish
you never left your little jungle."

7. "I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm scared."

8. "Don't worry. I've done this before. Once."

9. "I'm not going to be the girl who just waits for the guy to save her."

10."You don't get in water with a backpack, everybody knows that."

11."I can't even with this place."

12. "I hate this game."

13."We're not gonna make it."

14."I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss my real life."

15."I can't believe we're in a video game."

16."Why am I wearing half a shirt and short shorts in the jungle?"

17. "I'm allergic to cake."

18. "This is a video game, which means we all have special skills." 19. "I can't
keep track of all these lives we've had."

20."I'm not gonna die in a game."

• TRANSCRIPTION

Here are the phonemic transcriptions for the provided dialogues:

1. "In the jungle you must wait until the dice read five or eight.

" /ɪn ðə ˈdʒʌŋɡəl ju mʌst weɪt, ənˈtɪl ðə daɪs rɛd faɪv ɔːr eɪt/

2. "I've seen things you've only seen in your nightmares. Things you
can't even imagine. Things you can't even see. There are things that
hunt you in the night. Then something screams. Then you hear them
eating, and you hope to God that you're not dessert. Afraid? You don't
even know what afraid is."

/aɪv siːn θɪŋz juːv ˈoʊnli siːn ɪn jɔːr ˈnaɪtmeərz. θɪŋz juː kɑːnt ˈiːvən
ɪˈmædʒɪn. θɪŋz juː kɑːnt ˈiːvən siː. ðɛr ər θɪŋz ðæt hʌnt juː ɪn ðə naɪt. ðɛn
ˈsʌmθɪŋ skriːmz. ðɛn juːr ðɛm ˈiːtɪŋ, ænd juː ˈhoʊp tuː ˈɡɑd ðæt jʊr nɑːt
dɪˈzɜrt. əˈfreɪd? juː doʊnt ˈiːvən noʊ wɑːt əˈfreɪd ɪz/

3."I'm an excellent driver."

/aɪm ən ˈɛksələnt ˈdraɪvər/

4."You know, you're a lot smaller than my last master. Either that or
I'm getting bigger."

/ju noʊ, jʊr ə lɑːt ˈsmɔːlə ðən maɪ lɑːst ˈmæstər. ˈiðər ðæt ɔːr aɪm ˈɡɛtɪŋ
ˈbɪɡər/

5. "What year is it?"

/wɑt jɪr ɪz ɪt/

6."You think that mosquitos, monkeys, and lions are bad? That is just
the beginning. I've seen things that make your hair stand straight up.
You'll wish you never left your little jungle."

/ju θɪŋk ðæt məˈskiːtəʊz, ˈmʌŋkiz, ænd ˈlaɪənz ər bæd? ðæt ɪz ˈdʒʌst.

7."I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm scared."

/aɪm nɒt əˈfreɪd tə ədˈmɪt ɪt. aɪm skɛəd/

8."Don't worry. I've done this before. Once."

/doʊnt ˈwɜri. aɪv dʌn ðɪs bɪˈfɔr. wʌns/

9. "I'm not going to be the girl who just waits for the guy to save her."

/aɪm nɒt ˈɡoʊɪŋ tuː biː ðə ɡɜrl huː dʒəst weɪts fɔr ðə ɡaɪ tuː seɪv hɜːr/

10. "You don't get in water with a backpack, everybody knows that."
/ju doʊnt ˈɡɛt ɪn ˈwɔtər wɪð ə ˈbækpæk, ˈɛvriˌbɒdi noʊz ðæt/

11. "I can't even with this place."

/aɪ kænt ˈiːvən wɪð ðɪs pleɪs/

12."I hate this game."

/aɪ heɪt ðɪs ˈɡeɪm/

13. "We're not gonna make it."

/wiər nɑt ˈɡɑnə meɪk ɪt/

14."I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss my real life."

/aɪ kænt bɪˈliːv aɪm ˈseɪɪŋ ðɪs, bət aɪ mɪs maɪ riːl laɪf/

15. "I can't believe we're in a video game."

/aɪ kænt bɪˈliːv wɪər ɪn ə ˈvɪdioʊ ˈɡeɪm/

16. "Why am I wearing half a shirt and short shorts in the jungle?"

/waɪ æm aɪ ˈwɛrɪŋ hɑːf ə ʃɜrt ænd ʃɔrt ʃɔrts ɪn ðə ˈdʒʌŋɡəl/

17. "I'm allergic to cake."

/aɪm əˈlɜrdʒɪk tuː keɪk/

18."This is a video game, which means we all have special skills."

/ðɪs ɪz ə ˈvɪdioʊ ˈɡeɪm, wɪtʃ minz wiː ɔːl hæv ˈspɛʃəl skɪlz/

19. "I'm not gonna die in a game."

/aɪm nɑt ˈɡɑnə daɪ ɪn ə ˈɡeɪm/

20."I can't keep track of all these lives we've had."

/aɪ kænt kiːp træk ʌv ɔl ðiz laɪvz wiːv hæd/

Question no: 3

Explain the following with examples:

a. Compounds
b. Acronyms
c. Backformation
d. Blending

Answer

a. Compounds:

A compound word is formed by combining two or more separate words to create

a new word with a new meaning. Compound words are formed in different ways,
such as by joining two words together, by hyphenating two words, or by adding a
prefix or suffix to a word.
There are three types of compound words:

• Closed compounds: These are words that are written as a single word without
any space or hyphen between the words.

Examples include 'bedroom', 'sunflower', 'toothpaste', 'notebook'.

• Hyphenated compounds: These are words that are joined together

with a hyphen.

Examples include 'self-esteem', 'mother-in-law', 'ex-boyfriend', 'co-worker'.

• Open compounds: These are words that are written as separate words.

Examples include 'ice cream', 'post office', 'swimming pool', 'high school'.
Examples of compound words:

• BLACKBOARD The compound “blackboard” combines the words “black” and

“board” to refer to a surface typically used for writing or drawing with chalk.

• FIREFLY This compound merges the words “fire” and “fly” to describe a type of
insect that produces light.

• WATERMELON The term “watermelon” combines “water” and “melon” to refer

to a large, juicy fruit with a watery texture. Compounding allows for the creation of
new words and provides a way to express specific concepts or ideas.

b. Acronym:
An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or parts of a longer phrase or
name. Each letter in the acronym stands for a specific word, and the acronym itself is
often pronounced as a single word. Acronyms are commonly used to simplify and
expedite communication, especially when referring to longer terms or names.
For example:
o NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration): The acronym “NASA”
stands for the United States' space agency responsible for space exploration and
research.
o UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization):
“UNESCO” is the acronym for an international organization that promotes education,
science, and culture. o AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome): This
acronym represents a medical condition caused by the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV).
o RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging): The acronym “RADAR” represents a
system that uses radio waves to detect and locate objects, commonly used in
navigation and weather forecasting.
o LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation): “LASER” is the
acronym for a device that emits a focused beam of light, used in various fields like
medicine, telecommunications, and industry.
o AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome): This acronym represents a
medical condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that
weakens the immune system.
Acronyms play a significant role in various fields, including technology, science,
government, and everyday language, making communication more efficient and
concise.

c. Backformation:

Backformation is the process of creating a new word by removing what appears to be

an affix or a suffix from an existing word. This process creates a new word that may
seem like the original word's root. Here are a few examples:

• Edit (from Editor): The noun "editor" has the -or suffix, indicating the
person who performs an action. Backformation results in the verb "edit,"
where the -or suffix is removed, creating a new word for the action performed
by an editor.

• Televise (from Television): The noun "television" has the -ion suffix,
indicating a process or state. Backformation results in the verb "televise,"
where the -ion suffix is removed to create a new verb referring to the action of
broadcasting on television.
 • Donate (from Donation): The noun "donation" has the -tion suffix,
indicating a process or action. Backformation results in the verb "donate,"
where the -tion suffix is removed to create a word representing the action of
giving.

• Resurrect (from Resurrection): The noun "resurrection" has the -ion

suffix, indicating a process or state. Backformation results in the verb
"resurrect," where the -ion suffix is removed to create a word representing the
action of bringing back to life.

• Burgle (from Burglar): The noun "burglar" has the -ar suffix, indicating
a person involved in an activity. Backformation results in the verb "burgle,"
where the -ar suffix is removed, creating a word for the action performed by a
burglar.

• Laze (from Lazy): The adjective "lazy" describes a person's characteristic.

Backformation results in the verb "laze," where the -y suffix is removed,
creating a word describing the action of being lazy.

• Gripe (from Grievance): The noun "grievance" has the -ance suffix,
indicating a state or quality. Backformation results in the verb "gripe," where
the -ance suffix is removed to create a word for expressing a complaint.

d. Blending
Blending involves combining parts of two separate words to form a new word that
combines the meanings of the original words. This often involves merging parts of the
words and truncating or overlapping them. Here are a few examples:

• Brunch: Blend of "breakfast" and "lunch." Refers to a meal eaten between

breakfast and lunchtime.
• Infomercial: Blend of "information" and "commercial." Refers to a
television program that provides information about a product while also
advertising it.
• Smog: Blend of "smoke" and "fog." Refers to a type of air pollution that results
from a mixture of smoke and fog.
 • Mockumentary: Blend of "mock" and "documentary." Refers to a fictional
film or television program that mimics the style and format of a documentary.
• Spork: Blend of "spoon" and "fork." Refers to a utensil that combines features
of both a spoon and a fork.

Blending allows for linguistic creativity and innovation by generating concise and
often catchy words that convey specific meanings. It is a dynamic process that reflects
the adaptability and flexibility of language.

Question no :4
What is syntax? Discuss the difference between syntactic and
morphological aspects of a language.

Answer

Syntax
Syntax is a term from Ancient Greek word ‘syntaxis’ from syn (together) + taxis
(arrangement) meaning roughly to ‘arrangement’ or ‘setting out together’
Syntax is a branch of linguistics that deals with the structure, arrangement, and order
of words within sentences to convey meaning. It focuses on how words are combined
to form phrases and sentences, and how those structures create meaningful
expressions. Syntax involves studying the rules and principles that govern sentence
formation, including word order, sentence structure, grammatical relations, and
the arrangement of phrases.

Word order We are bound to follow a certain order in a sentence. Analyze the
word order of the following sentences:
a. I need this book.
b.*need this I book.
We know that the order of sentence ‘a’ is something acceptable whereas ‘b’ is not.

Agreement: Agreement refers to the grammatical relationship between words in

terms of number, gender, person, and case. In English, verbs often agree with the
subject in terms of number:
• "He (singular subject) plays (singular verb) the guitar."
 • "They (plural subject) play (plural verb) the guitar."

syntactic aspects of a language include:

• Phrase Structure: Phrases are groups of words that function together as a unit
within a sentence. Different types of phrases include noun phrases, verb phrases, and
prepositional phrases. Here's an example of a noun phrase:
Noun Phrase: "The big red apple on the table"
In this phrase, "the big red apple" functions as a single unit, serving as the
subject or object of a sentence.

• Grammatical Relations: Grammatical relations refer to the roles that

different words play within a sentence. These roles include subjects, objects, and
predicates. Consider the following sentence:
"The cat (subject) chased (predicate) the mouse (object)."

• Syntactic Ambiguity: Syntax can lead to ambiguity when the same words are
arranged differently, resulting in multiple interpretations:
"I saw the man with the telescope."
Is the speaker using a telescope to see the man, or is the man holding the
telescope?

• Complex Sentences: Syntax allows us to create complex sentences by

combining independent and dependent clauses:
"Although it was raining, they went for a walk."

• Movement and Transformations: Syntax includes transformations that

change the structure of a sentence while maintaining its meaning. Passive voice
transformation is an example:
"The cat chased the mouse." (Active)
"The mouse was chased by the cat." (Passive)

syntax involves understanding how words are organized within sentences to create
meaning. It encompasses word order, phrase structure, grammatical relations,
agreement, modifiers, sentence types, ambiguity, complex sentences, and
transformations. By adhering to syntactic rules, we construct sentences that
effectively communicate ideas and convey messages in a structured and coherent
manner.

Morphology is another branch of linguistics that focuses on the structure and

formation of words, including how words are modified to indicate grammatical
relationships. Morphology deals with morphemes the smallest meaningful units
of language
Morphological aspects focus on the internal structure and forms of words,
primarily dealing with word formation, inflection, and derivation. Morphology
examines the smallest units of meaning in a language, known as morphemes, and
their combinations to create words

Morphological aspects of language include:

• Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. They can be free
morphemes, which can stand alone as words (e.g., "book," "run"), or bound
morphemes, which only function when attached to other morphemes (e.g., the "-ed"
suffix in "walked").

• Word formation: Morphology studies the rules and processes of word

formation. It includes processes like affixation (adding prefixes or suffixes),
compounding (combining two or more words), conversion (changing the word
class without adding affixes), and more

• Inflection: Morphology studies inflectional morphemes that modify a word's

grammatical properties, such as tense, number, gender, and case. For example,
adding "-ed" to "walk" creates the past tense "walked."

• Derivation: Morphology examines derivational morphemes that create new

words or change a word's grammatical category. For instance, adding "-er" to "teach"
creates the noun "teacher."

• Compounding: Morphology explores how words are created by combining

two or more words to form a single unit with a specific meaning. Examples include
"toothbrush" and "rainbow."
• Affixes: Morphology involves the study of prefixes, suffixes, and infixes, which
are added to words to modify their meanings or grammatical functions.

Difference Between Syntactic and Morphological Aspects:

• Focus: Syntax focuses on the arrangement and structure of words in
sentences, while morphology deals with the internal structure of words and
the formation of morphemes.

• Unit of Study: Syntax studies sentences, phrases, and the relationships

between them, while morphology focuses on individual morphemes and how
they combine to form words.

• Scope: Syntax considers the overall structure and meaning of sentences,

while morphology delves into the grammatical and semantic changes that
morphemes bring to words.

• Function: Syntax ensures that sentences are well-formed and convey

meaningful relationships between words. Morphology contributes to the
grammatical and semantic properties of individual words.

• Role in Communication: Syntax enables coherent communication by

organizing words into meaningful sentences. Morphology contributes to
vocabulary expansion and grammatical accuracy.

• Examples: In the sentence "She sings beautifully," syntax arranges words

in the correct order, while morphology focuses on the form of the verb "sings"
to indicate the third person singular present tense.

In summary, syntax and morphology are distinct but interconnected aspects of

language that collectively contribute to effective communication and the conveyance
of meaning. Syntax deals with sentence structure and organization, while morphology
deals with the structure and formation of words through morphemes.

Question no: 5

Write short notes on the following:

a. Lexical Semantics
b. Phrasal Semantics
Answer

The term “semantics” is derived from Greek word “semantikos” meanings

“significant
Semantics is an essential branch of linguistics. This branch deals with the study of
meanings, changes in meanings, and the principles that govern the relationship
among sentences, words and their meanings. It is actually the study of the
relationships between signs and symbols and what they represent. Therefore, an
understanding of semantics is essential to the study of language acquisition. It focuses
on how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured, illustrated,
simplified, negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased

The Three Basic Areas of Semantics

i) Lexical Semantics
ii) Phrasal or Sentential Semantics
iii) Pragmatics

a. Lexical Semantics
Lexical semantics is a subfield of linguistics that focuses on understanding the
meanings of individual words, also known as lexical items, and how these meanings
are expressed through language. It delves into the intricacies of word meanings,
including the relationships between words and the ways in which words relate to the
world they represent. Lexical semantics seeks to uncover the nuances,
connotations, and associations that words carry and the role they play in
constructing sentences and conveying information.

• Homonyms: different words that are pronounced the same, but may or may not
be spelled the same (to, two, and too) Polysemous: word that has multiple meanings
that are related conceptually or historically (bear can mean to tolerate or to carry or
to support)
• Homograph: different words that are spelled identically and possibly
pronounced the same; if they are pronounced the same, they are also homonyms (pen
can mean writing utensil or cage)
• Heteronym: homographs that are pronounced differently (dove the bird and dove
the past tense of dive) Synonym: words that mean the same but sound different
(couch and sofa)
• Antonym: words that are opposite in meaning, Complementary pairs: alive and
dead Gradable pairs: big and small (no absolute scale)
• Hyponym: set of related words (red, white, yellow, blue are all hyponyms of
"color")
• Metonym: word used in place of another to convey the same meaning (jock used
for athlete, Washington used for American government, crown used for monarchy)
• Retronym: expressions that are no longer redundant (silent movie used to be
redundant because a long time ago, all movies were silent, but this is no longer true
or redundant)
• Thematic Roles Thematic roles are the semantic relationships between the
verbs and noun phrases of sentences. The following chart shows the thematic roles in
relationship to verbs of sentences:

b. PHRASAL SEMANTICS

Phrasal semantics is a subfield of linguistics that focuses on the study of the

meaning of phrases and how they contribute to the overall meaning of sentences. It
examines how the combination of words in phrases affects the interpretation and
semantics of the entire sentence. Key aspects of phrasal semantics include.

The meaning of sentences is built from the meaning of noun phrases and verbs.
Sentences contain truth conditions if the circumstances in the sentence are true.
Paraphrases are two sentences with the same truth conditions, despite subtle
differences in structure and emphasis. The ball was kicked by the boy is a paraphrase
of the sentence the boy kicked the ball, but they have the same truth conditions - that
a boy kicked a ball. Sometimes the truth of one sentence entails or implies the truth
of another sentence. This is called entailment and the opposite of this is called
contradiction, where one sentence implies the falseness of another. He was
assassinated entails that he is dead. He was assassinated contradicts with the
statement he is alive. Tautology is a sentence that is always true, e.g. All queens are
females. Since a queen is a title for female monarch only. Therefore, it can never be
untrue

• Compositional Semantics: Phrasal semantics explores how the meanings of

individual words interact and combine within a phrase to create the meaning of the
whole expression. It investigates the rules and principles governing the composition
of meaning in phrases and sentences.

• Idiomatic Expressions: Phrasal semantics examines idioms which are fixed

expressions with non-compositional meanings that cannot be derived from the
meanings of their individual words. It investigates how idioms are understood and
interpreted in context.

• Semantic Roles: Phrasal semantics explores the semantic roles that different
words or phrases play within a sentence. It investigates how these roles, such as
subject, object, agent, theme, etc., contribute to the overall meaning and
interpretation of the sentence.

• Literal vs. Figurative Language: Phrasal semantics distinguishes between

literal language, where words convey their usual meanings, and figurative language,
where words convey non-literal or metaphorical meanings.

• Ambiguity in Phrases: Like lexical semantics, phrasal semantics deals with

ambiguity. Phrases can be ambiguous due to polysemy, homonymy, and syntactic
structures that lead to multiple interpretations.

• Collocation: Collocations are combinations of words that frequently appear

together due to cultural or linguistic conventions. Phrasal semantics considers how
these collocations contribute to the overall meaning of a phrase.

• Modifier-Noun Relationships: Phrasal semantics explores how adjectives,

adverbs, and other modifiers interact with nouns to modify their meanings. For
example, "fast car" suggests a car that can go quickly.

The End