Define it!
Semantics
Meaning/content
Give me one example of a verb that describes an event (in a sentence).
e.g
Harriet licked Moses (active). Moses was licked by Harriet (passive)
Harriet eats biscuits. Harriet is eating biscuits (progressive)
Reference vs Sense
Reference (e.g., meanings of words based on objects in real world), e.g orange juice
Sense (e.g., meaning based on mental image) e.g liquid, orange, edible
Give me 2 synonyms for candy
Choclate, lollies, sweets, confectionary
Can words that have meaning, but don't have a real-word referent (e.g a unicorn, imagination) still have a 'reference'?
True!
Thematic roles
Relation between situation the verb is describing
and the arguments (NP) is called SEMANTIC
(OR THEMATIC) ROLE
• Semantic roles are assigned by the verb and
traced back to its semantic features (and that of
the noun)
Give me three words that have semantic association with 'nail'.
1. Finger
2. Hammer
3. Hand
4. Drill
5. Nailpolish
Ambuiguity vs anomaly:
Ambiguity: when words have more than one meaning/sentences could be interpreted in more than one way
Anomaly: nonsensical - either as they don't have meaning e.g 'blorp' or because they contradict e.g the dead men ate lunch.
Which word contains a velar sound? Think or Mime.
Think! (sorry I know this was very random!!!)
An experiencer is not a type of thematic role.
False - an experience is: the entity who receives emotional or sensory input
Compositionality
Sentence meaning greater than the sum of the words
- Additional layers of meaning due to grammatical
considerations
• E.g., Sarah runs faster than Abigail.
Abigail runs faster than Sarah.
A contradictory sentence (and give an example!)
Two aspects/sentences that cannot be simultaneously true - All bachelors are married.
Homophone vs homonym vs homographs
Homophone: same sound, different spelling and meaning
Homonym: spelt the same, pronounced the same, different meanings
Homograph: spelt same, pronounced differently, different meaning
When is a word... considered a word?
Considered a word if the sound pattern is consistently associated with a particular ‘referent’ (person, object, concept etc)
"All animals walk on four legs" is this statement an example of a core semantic feature?
False! This is a prototypical - as a lot of animals walk on four legs but not ALL. A core feature is a feature that all things within the catagory share (e.g all birds lay eggs)
What is hyponomy?
Different word, more specific term is part of a superordinate term (hierarchica)
e.g a caterpillar is a hyponym of insect
1. Animals
2. Fur
3. Growl
Whats the difference between derivational vs inflectional? (Sorry but I've got to keeo you on your toes!!)
Derivational: changes word meaning/class
Infectional: changes the tense e.g walked vs walk
What is the semantic location for 'swim'?
In water!
A transtive verb has two arguments
John = one argument
The ball = one argument
What is an idiom + give one example.
e.g elephant in the room, break my heart, he has bigger fish to fry, chip on the shoulder etc
Give a definition of a semantic distinctive feature and give three distinctive features between the moon and earth.
1. satelite vs planet
2. -water vs water
3. -humans vs humans etc
Lexical vs Compositional Semantics
Lexical semantics: Knowledge of words including their meaning and relationships among words
Compositional semantics: Meaning of syntactic units larger than a word is called phrasal or sentential semantics
Give me an example of a gradable antonym:
Hot, warm, tepid
big, medium, small
In the sentence: "The ball is kicked by the boy" what is the agent and what is the patient?
The ball = patient (receiving action)
the boy = agent (doing the action)