Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It explores how words, phrases, and sentences convey
meaning.
Semantics can be divided into two related subfields - lexical and compositional semantics. Lexical
semantics deals with the individual meaning of words, while compositional semantics is concerned with
how lexical meanings are combined to form more complex phrasal meanings. In the following sections, the
meaning of individual words (lexical semantics) and the meaning of phrases or sentences (compositional
semantics) are approached together or as a whole.
You might have wondered why it takes two areas in linguistics just to study meaning. This is because
meaning' as an idea or concept is complex, and it is even difficult to be able to define it initially. Examine
the following sentences.
1. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.
2. Is that what you mean?
3. Semantics means 'simasiologia' in Greek.
Do you think the given three sentences use the word 'mean' in the same sense? Apparently, they differ. In
(1), mean is the equivalent of 'intend', in (2) it means to convey a message, and in (3) it is a translation. The
examples just show that even the seemingly very common word like mean can mean different things. Hence,
the following sections discuss the different categories or dimensions of looking at the meanings of words
and sentences.

Reference and Sense

Words relate to or represent ideas or things. The relationship between the word and the object or idea
it represents is called a reference. Hence, there must be something more to meaning than reference alone.
This additional element of meaning is called sense. Therefore, in general, it can be said that not all words
have referents, but all of them have sense

When I was a kid, the appearance of a rainbow puzzled me.

The word rainbow in particular has a physical representation in the physical world. That colorful thing
(rainbow) that we can see arching in the sky is the reference being referred to in our sentence.
The words when, was, the, appearance, of, a, and puzzled do not have real-world referents, but we could still
understand their usage or meaning.

Conceptual or Denotative meaning

What comes to your mind when you hear the word 'Hollywood'? If you think of Hollywood as an area in
Los Angeles considered as the US entertainment capital, then you are thinking of the conceptual meaning of
the word.
Conceptual meaning is also called denotative meaning, conventional or cognitive meaning. It refers to the
literal meaning of the word which is its primary meaning. It is the first meaning that is conveyed to
people when the word is used in isolation. Such meaning, therefore, is neutral and objective as opposed to
the other kinds of meaning.

Associative or Connotative meaning

 Going back to the word 'Hollywood', if what comes to your mind upon hearing the word are the
celebrities, the movies, the glitz and the glamour of the place, those are the associations you have with
'Hollywood'.
This is the associative meaning of the word, or the connections you attached with it aside from its
conceptual or conventional meaning. Connotative meaning is relatively unstable because word meaning is
often influenced by the culture, historical period and the experience of the individual. Hence, it can be
said that conceptual meaning is the opposite of associative meaning. If the former is neutral and objective,
the latter is relative or subjective and open-ended.

Social meaning
Social meaning refers to what language conveys about the social identities of speakers or their
relationships. Examples include:
1. Dialects and Accents: - A person using a Southern American accent might convey that they are from the
southern U.S., which could be associated with certain social or cultural traits.
2. Formal vs. Informal Speech: - Saying "Good morning, Sir" versus "Hey, what's up?" signals a different
level of formality and respect, reflecting the relationship or status between speakers.
3. Slang or Regional Terms: - Using terms like "Yall" (Southern U.S.) or "mate" (Australia/UK) indicates
regional identity and may imply solidarity with others from that area.
4. Gendered Speech: - Certain ways of speaking (e.g., more polite forms or tag questions like "isn't it?") are
stereotypically associated with women in some cultures, conveying a gendered social role.

Stylistics Meaning
Stylistic meaning is the meaning that arises from a speaker's or writer's choice of words, tone, and
language style, based on the context or purpose. It is concerned with how variations in formality, register,
and genre create different impressions or effects. Stylistic meaning helps distinguish between formal,
informal, poetic, technical, or everyday language, adapting communication to different settings or audiences.
1. Literary Style:
-"The sun set, leaving behind streaks of crimson and gold across the horizon." (Poetic and descriptive)
-"It got dark." (Plain and straightforward)
-These both describe the same event but with different stylistic choices.
2.Text Messaging vs. Formal Writing:
"ru coming 2 the party?" (Text message, informal)
-"Are you coming to the party?" (Standard written form, more formal)
3.Different Genres:
-In an academic paper, you might say, "The data suggest a strong correlation between variables."
-In a newspaper article, you might say, "The numbers show a clear link."
-The stylistic variation is based on genre expectations.
4. Varying Levels of Formality:
-"T regret to inform you that your request has been denied." (Very formal)
-"Sorry, we can't approve your request." (Informal)

Affective or emotive meaning

Affective meaning pertains to the personal feelings and emotions related to the social meaning of words
or sentences. It involves the attitudes between the speaker and listener, influenced by factors like intonation,
tone, and voice quality. Here are few eg.
1."I regret to inform you..."
A formal, polite way of delivering bad news, reflecting empathy or sorrow.
2. "Shut up!" vs. "Please be quiet."
Both express a desire for silence, but "shut up!" conveys anger or frustration, while "please be quiet" is more
polite and neutral.
3."Wow, that's amazing!"
Expresses excitement, surprise, or admiration, indicating a positive emotional reaction.
4. "Ugh, I can't believe I have to do this."
Shows frustration or dissatisfaction, conveying a negative attitude toward a task.
5. "Thank you so much!" vs. "Thanks, I guess."
The first expresses genuine gratitude, while the second conveys reluctance or sarcasm, indicating a lack of
sincere appreciation.

Reflected meaning
Reflected meaning refers to the additional or secondary meanings that a word or expression conveys
because of its association with other meanings of the same word. It occurs when one sense of a word
influences the interpretation of another sense, often because both meanings are simultaneously present in the
mind of the listener or reader.
For example: The word "cock" can mean a male bird (rooster), but it also has a vulgar meaning referring to
male genitalia.
Reflected meaning often occurs in cases of polysemy, where a single word has multiple meanings, and one
of the meanings "reflects" on the interpretation of another. It can lead to unintended or humorous
interpretations, especially in sensitive or double-entendre contexts.

Collocative meaning
Collocative meaning refers to the associations a word has because of the typical or habitual words it is
commonly used with, or its collocations. Certain words tend to "co-occur" with others, and these pairings
influence how we interpret the meaning of the word in context.
For example, the word "pretty"
"Pretty" typically collocates with words like "girl," "flower," or "village" (suggesting something delicate or
attractive).
However, "handsome"
"Handsome" collocates more often with "man," "building," or "salary" (suggesting a more robust,
impressive, or substantial quality).

Even though "pretty" and "handsome" can both mean "attractive," their collocative meanings differ based on
the kinds of nouns they commonly appear with, affecting the overall interpretation of their use in different
contexts.

Thematic meaning
Thematic meaning refers to the way in which the arrangement of words in a sentence emphasizes certain
elements, affecting the message's focus and interpretation. It involves how information is organized and
presented influencing what the speaker or writer wants to highlight in a sentence.

1. The Americans established the university in 1902.-

2. The university was established by the Americans in 1902.
In sentence (1), 'who established the university' is given more emphasis than in sentence (2). Examine the
next two sentences.

3. John is the richest man in Cebu.

4. The richest man in Cebu is John.
 Indeed, from sentences (3) and (4), it can be said that the way we order our message also conveys what is
more important and what is not. This is what thematic meaning is all about.

Meaning Extension
Meaning extension refers to the process by which a word's meaning broadens, shifts, or evolves over
time to include new or additional meanings, while still retaining a connection to its original sense. This
can happen through metaphorical use, generalization, or changes in social and cultural contexts.
Examples of Meaning Extension:
"Mouse": Originally referred to the small rodent, but with the advent of computers, its meaning extended to
refer to the computer input device (mouse).
"Broadcast": Once meant scattering seeds (casting them broadly over a field). Now, it also refers to the
transmission of radio or TV signals to a broad audience.
"Cool": Originally meaning a lower temperature, it extended to refer to something fashionable or socially
desirable.
Types of Meaning Extension:
1. Broadening (Generalization): A word's meaning becomes more inclusive, applying to a wider range of
things.
Example: "Holiday" originally referred to a religious festival or "holy day." Over time, its meaning
broadened to refer to any day of relaxation or celebration, regardless of religious significance.
2.Metaphorical Extension: A word's meaning shifts to a new domain through metaphor, often extending its
usage beyond its literal sense.
Example: "Head" (literal meaning: the part of the body with the brain) has extended to refer to the "leader"
or "top" of an organization or a line ("head of a company" or "head of the table").
3. Functional Shift: A word changes its part of speech, gaining a new meaning.
Example: "Google" (originally a noun for the search engine) has extended to a verb meaning
"to search the internet" ("I'll google it").
4.Narrowing: In some cases, meaning extension can also involve specialization or a narrowing of meaning,
where a word that once had a broad use becomes more specific.
Example: "Meat" once referred to any type of food, but its meaning has narrowed to refer specifically to
animal flesh.

Semantic Roles
Semantic roles, also known as thematic relations, pertaining to the 'roles' words, especially nouns and
pronouns, fulfill within the situation described in a particular sentence.
Agent, patient, instrument. Agent is the entity that performs or does the action.
In sentence 1,
1. The chicken ate the worm.
2. The farmer has five hens.
The agent is the chicken. It is the one that performs the action. The entity that is being affected by the
action of the agent is called the patient, which is the worm. If the agent uses another entity in doing the
action, that entity acts as the instrument. In Using a net bag, he caught the chicken, the noun phrase 'a net
bag' is the instrument.

Theme, experiencer. Patient is sometimes used interchangeably with theme. Theme is an entity that is also
involved in the action of the verb in the sentence. However, while both patient and theme undergo the
action, the former changes its state while the latter does not. In sentence (2), 'five hens' is the theme. Also in
(2),'the farmer' does not necessarily perform any action; hence, it is not an agent. It fills the role of
experiencer - that is, the entity that has the state of feeling or perception which receives sensory or emotional
inputs.

Location, source, goal. There are other semantic roles filled by entities often found in the event being
described. An entity can fill the role of location (in the park, at my house). The source or origin is from
where an entity moves from, and the goal or direction is where it moves to. In She walked from her house to
school, 'to school' is the goal or direction and 'from her house' is the source.

Recipient, time, purpose, manner. In To please Mary, John gave her a bouquet yesterday, there is a change
in ownership of the 'bouquet', that is, from John to Mary. In this case, 'Mary' is called a recipient, a special
kind of goal demonstrating a change in possession or ownership.
Describing when the action or event occurred (yesterday) fills in the role time, while the reason why an
action is done (to please Mary) is the purpose role. If John gave it 'while on his knees', it fills the role
manner - that is, it describes how the action was performed

Meanwhile, it is important to mention here that semantic roles are different from grammatical relations
which are much more clearly defined. Grammatical relations are relations between words in sentences.
These are subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.
(1) We have been taking this course for five weeks now. (subject)
(2) We have been taking this course for five weeks now. (object)
Hence, the words in a sentence can be viewed both in terms of their semantic
roles and their grammatical relations.
(3) They immediately left the room after the meeting.

LEXICAL RELATIONS
Semantics explores the relationships between the meanings of words. Here arc some key Lexical relations
SYNONYMY
Words are synonyms when they can be used to mean the same thing (at least in some contexts).
For example, "begin" and "start", "big" and "large", "youth" and "adolescent"
ANTONYMY
Words are antonyms of one another-when they have opposite meanings (again, at least in some contexts).
For example "big" and "small", "come"and "go” , "up" and"down."
POLYSEMY
A word is polysemous when it has two or more related meanings. For example, "bright'" can mean
"shining" or "intelligent" and "mouse" can refer to an animal or a computer hardware component.
HYPONYMY
Is the hierarchical relationship between words where the meaning of one word (hyponym) is included in the
broader meaning of another word (hypernym). For example "dolphin" being the hyponym of "mammal"
PROTOTYPES
A cognitive reference point that best represents the meaning or description of a word or a category.
For example, define a piece of furniture is, you might just answer a chair, a table, etc.
HOMONYMY
A phenomenon where two or more words share the same spelling or pronunciation(or both)
but have different meanings, including homophones (words that sound the same) and homographs (words
that are spelled the same).
For example, "sea" body of water and "see" to watch, "lead" to guide and "lead" a type of metal.
CAPITONYMS
Some words have the same spelling but have different meanings when CAPITALIZED.
These words are called capitonyms. For example, "March" third month of the year and "march" walk in step.
METONYMY
Is a figure of speech where one word is used to represent another closely related concept.
For example, "crown" to represent royalty or "Malacanan Palace" for the president of the Philippines.
IDIOMS
Types of collocations that are made up of words in a fixed order and their meaning cannot be taken from the
sum of the individual words, unlike the regular collocations.
For example, "pass the back" which means to pass the blame or responsibility for something to someone
else.

SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY
In the previous lesson, we started by emphasizing the point that many words can be used in more than one
sense, thereby establishing a certain type of lexical relation. We also realized that there is no such thing as
words with the same meaning. Some words also seem choosy as they only appear together with specific
words. Now, why do you think this happens? This happens because the semantic property of a particular
word determines what other words it can be combined with it.

Now, let's examine the following sentences composed by Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book.

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

Is the sentence syntactically acceptable?

Is it semantically compatible?

The sentence 'Colorless green ideas sleep furiously' is syntactically acceptable. It adheres to the syntactic
rules in English. It has a subject (colorless green ideas) and a predicate (sleep furiously), forming into a
sentence. However, it is really obvious that something is wrong with the sentence, and it has something to do
with its meaning aspect. Though the sentence has other semantic issues, its main problem is with the 'ideas'
that 'sleep'. The noun 'ideas' has the semantic feature of (-human) which means that it is incapable of
performing the action 'sleep'. Another anomaly or ambiguity in this sentence is the use of the adjectives
'colorless' and 'green'. The suffix-less attached to the base word 'color' combines to mean 'without color'. The
adjective 'green', on the other hand, is a kind of secondary color, a hyponym under the hypernym color.
Hence, the anomaly here is how can something be both 'green in color' and 'without color'? So, it is obvious
that semantic violations occur in this sentence. Such a sentence is described as semantically anomalous or
semantically ambiguous

Let's try to examine each of the following sentences taken from (Larsen-Freeman & Celce-Murcia, 1999)
whether it is semantically anomalous or not..
1. The worm sneezed.
2. The winter killed the rocks.
3. The stallion was pregnant.

Now, which of the three sentences is/are anomalous? Which is/are not?

The answer is all of the sentences are anomalous. Each of them exhibits a kind of incompatibility in their
construction. Sentence 1 has something to do with subject-verb restriction - that is, can a worm 'sneeze'?
Sentence 2 illustrates a verb-object restriction - that is, can non-living nouns such as rocks be 'killed"? And
Sentence 3 illustrates an adjective-noun restriction: can a stallion be impregnated? To be more specific, each
of these sentences is semantically anomalous violating a particular form of semantic restrictions: in (L) the
verb 'sneezed' requires a human subject or other animals capable of such, in (2) only living nouns can
literally be killed; in (3) an adjective 'pregnant' should only modify or describe a mature female animal. With
these specific restrictions, you are given hints as to how to correct the sentences to make them semantically
compatible. Your task now is to change or modify the underlined words to make the sentences semantically
compatible.

1. The worm sneezed.

2. The winter killed the rocks.
3. The stallion was pregnant.

For 'worm', we can have a dog or a horse. Rocks can be replaced with plants or flowers. Since stallion is a
male horse, it should be replaced with 'mare', a female horse.
While some semantically incompatible sentences happen as a result of the language user's grammatical
lapses, there are times that anomalous sentences are understandable, while others are even deliberately
composed. Do you have any idea when are these anomalies are being done deliberately? These often happen
in poetry since poets have a license to do such.