Tài liệu ngữ nghĩa part 2

Part 2: Lexical
meaning



Chapter
1: Words
as meaningful units










I. Words



•
Words =
meaningful units of a language



= forms + meanings







•
Forms vs. expressions







If he is right and I am wrong, we
are both in trouble.







Þ 13 forms



Þ 11 word-expressions (is, am, are = forms of 1
and the same word)







•
Lexical vs. grammatical meaning







II - Homonymy



1. Definition:



E.g.: He accepted the order with
benevolent air



A few minutes later, Hyman asked
to go up on deck where he said there might be some more air



She arrived by air on Monday



•
Homonymy:



+ Different meanings are associated
with one form (by accident, coincidence)



+ These meanings are not related



•
Absolute homonymy:



–
unrelated in meanings



–
identical forms



–
grammatically equivalent identical forms



E.g.: Bank letter



Sole bark



•
Partial homonymy:



rose (v) – rose(n) well(adv)-well(n)



2. Homonym
classification:



•
Full
homonyms (absolute homonyms)



Bark
(n)



Trunk
(n)



•
Homophones:
identical in pronunciation only



Wait
- weight read - red



Know
– no sight - site



•
Homographs:
identical in spelling only



Wind
(n) – Wind (v)



Tear
(n) – Tear (v)



* Check: Explain the ambiguity in this
joke:



- Why couldn't Cinderella be a
good soccer player?



- She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her
coach was a pumpkin.






III. Polysemy



•
Polysemy:



+ Different meanings are associated
with one form



+ These meanings are related



E.g.:
I ran home – I ran the family’s
restaurant



The voting
was done by the show of hands – The hands of the clock showed half past ten


Way to London – way to success


Mouth –
mouth of the river


Head – head of the class






IV. Synonymy



•
They live in a big house



•
They live in a large house



But:




•
He made a big mistake



•
He made a large mistake?



1. Synonymy:



•
Synonyms:



- Words of the same parts of speech which
have similar but not identical meaning



- Possibly different in terms of denotation
or connotation



•
Absolute synonyms:



•
All their meaning are identical



•
They are synonymous in all context



•
They are semantically equivalent on all dimensions
of meanings



•
Partial synonyms: fail to
meet one or all of the 3 conditions



•
Near synonyms: differ
in denotation



Lazy/
idle dangerous/ risky love/like



2. Synonym
classification:



•
Absolute
synonyms (rare)



•
Semantic
synonyms



Glance
- glare



•
Stylistic
synonyms



Man
- Guy



•
Semantic-stylistic
synonyms



House
- Slum



•
Phraseological
synonyms



Do
- Make



•
Territorial
synonyms



Film
- Movie



•
Euphemisms



Die/meet one’s maker (formal)/bite
the dust



3. Sources of synonyms



–
Borrowings



–
Change of meaning



–
Word-building



–
Derivation and composition



V. Antonymy



E.g.:




•
Male/ female



•
Dead/ alive



•
Awake/asleep



Þ antonyms:
+ are opposite in meanings



+ share all but one
semantic property







Unmarked Marked more basic,
natural, frequent











•
Heavy



•
Thick



•
Large



•
Long



•
Wide



•
Deep



•
Big



•
Tall



•
Fat



•
Often



•
Light



•
Thin



•
Little



•
Short



•
Narrow



•
Shallow



•
Small



•
Short



•
Thin



•
Other
adverbs of frequency










2. Antonym classification



•
Proper/gradable:



Love/hate
(attachment-liking-indifference-antipathy)



Long/short
(medium)



•
Complementary/
binary:



Right/wrong



Alive/dead



•
Relational/
conversive:



Ancestor/descendent parents/child



Right/left at the back/ in
front of



# Directional: Come/go Bring/take Up/down give/take



VI. Lexical variants and paronyms



-
Lexical variants of again: /¶gein/ /¶gen/



-
Paronyms: kindred in origin, sound form and meaning
but different semantically and usage



Effect
(v): produce, make something happen



Affect
(v): influence



•
Full words and empty words



-
Full words: lexical meanings, parts of speech (N, V,
Adj, etc)



-
Empty words: no lexical meanings, no concepts
(articles, conjunctions, prepositions, etc)



•
Descriptive and non-descriptive



She’s very happy



V: The only/main problem is …



X: The problem is only/main.





I. Homophones:


Example:
ate – eight one – won piece – peace blue – blew


Give
the different spellings of homophones which have these different meanings

• a large area of water and one of the 5 senses
  
• part of the body and me
  
• simple and an aircraft
  
• something to eat and to be introduced to someone for
  the first time
  
• something you haven’t seen before and the past tense
  of a verb beginning with K
  
• something that’s wet and something you use when
  riding a horse
  
• a very bad cold and what most birds did yesterday
  
• a preposition and the past tense of a verb beginning
  with T
  
• what we breathe and someone who will inherit a lot of
  money
  
• a flower and lines of chairs in a classroom
  
• a story and the end part of a mouse
  
• a fruit and a couple
  

II/ Homographs

• Which word means both an unmarried lady and a failure
  to hit?
  
• Which word means both a type of metal and a tool for
  pressing clothes?
  
• Which word means both in good health and suitable?
  
• Which word means both something that doesn’t weigh
  much and something that helps us see?
  

III/ Metaphors

• Something to help you find files in your computer =
  …………………..
  
• to lower the head quickly = to ………………
  
• to repeat another person’s words = to ……………….. what
  someone says
  
• to act in a foolish manner = to ………………….. around