meaning

篇一：语言学Chapter 5 Meaning 练习

Chapter 5 Meaning

I. Choose the best answer (20%).

1. We shall know a word by the company it keeps.” This statement represents _______.

A. the conceptualist viewB. contextualism

C. the naming theory D. behaviorism

2. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form.

B. Sense is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form.

C. Sense is abstract and decontextualized.

D. Sense is the aspect of meaning dictionary compilers are not interested in.

3. ___________ is a way in which the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components called semantic features.

A. Predication analysisB. Componential analysis

C. Phonemic analysis D. Grammatical analysis

4.Alive” and “dead” are ______________.

A. gradable antonymsB. relational antonyms

C. complementary antonymsD. None of the above

5. _________ deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.

A. Reference B. ConceptC. Semantics D. Sense

6. ___________ refers to the phenomenon that words having different meanings have the same form.

A. PolysemyB. SynonymyC. Homonymy D. Hyponymy

7. Words that are close in meaning are called ______________.

A. homonyms B. polysemies C. hyponyms D. synonyms

8. The grammaticality of a sentence is governed by _______.

A. grammatical rulesB. selectional restrictions

C. semantic rulesD. semantic features 9. The pair of words “lend” and “borrow” are ___（ ）

A. gradable oppositesB. relational opposites

C. co-hyponyms D. synonyms

10.The semantic components of the word “gentleman” can be expressed as __.（ ）

A. +animate， +male， +human， -adult

B. +animate， +male， +human， +adult

C. +animate， -male， +human， -adult

D. +animate， -male， +human， +adult

II. Decide whether the following statements are true or false.(10%)

11.Dialectal synonyms can often be found in different regional dialects such as British English and American English but cannot be found within the variety itself. For example, within British English or American English.

12. Sense is concerned with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience. While reference deals with the inherent meaning

of the linguistic form.

13. Linguistic forms having the same sense may have different references in different situations.

14. In semantics, meaning of language is considered as the intrinsic and inherent relation to the physical world of experience.

15. Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts.

16. Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.

17. The meaning of a sentence is the sum total of the meanings of all its components.

18. Most languages have sets of lexical items similar in meaning but ranked differently according to their degree of formality.

19. “It is hot.” is a no-place predication because it contains no argument.

20. In grammatical analysis, the sentence is taken to be the basic unit, but in semantic analysis of a sentence, the basic unit is predication, which is the abstraction of the meaning of a sentence.

III. Fill in the blanks.(20%)

21.__________ can be defined as the study of meaning.

22. The conceptualist view holds that there is no __________ link between a linguistic form and what it refers to.

23. __________ means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience.

24. Words that are close in meaning are called __________.

25. When two words are identical in sound but different in spelling and meaning, they are called __________.

26.__________ opposites are pairs of words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items.

27.__________ analysis is based upon the belief that the meaning of a word can be divided into meaning components.

28. Whether a sentence is semantically meaningful is governed by rules called __________ restrictions, which are constraints on what lexical items can go with what others.

29. A(n) __________ is a logical participant in a predication, largely identical with the nominal element(s) in a sentence.

30. According to the __________ theory of meaning, the words in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for.

IV. Explain the following terms, using examples.(20%)

31.Entailment

32.Proposition

33.Componential analysis

34.Reference

V. Answer the following questions.(20%)

35.What are the sense relations between the following groups of words?

Dogs. cats. pets. parrots; trunk, branches. tree. roots （青岛海洋大学，1999）

36.What are the three kinds of antonymy? （武汉大学，2004）

VI. Analyze the following situation.(20%)

37.For each group of words given below, state what semantic property or properties are shared by (a) words and (b) words and what semantic property or properties distinguish between the classes of (a) words and (b) words.

(1) a. bachelor. man. son. paperboy. pope. chief

b. bull. rooster. drake. ram

(2) a. table. stone. pencil. cup. house. ship. car

b. milk. alcohol. rice. soup

(3) a. book. temple. mountain. road. tractor

b. idea. love. charity. sincerity. bravery. fear （青岛海洋大学，1999） Key:

I.

1~10 B BBCAADBBB

II. 11~15 FFTFT 16~20 TFTTT

III.

21.Semantics22.direct

23.Reference24.synonyms

25.homophones26.Relational

27.Componential28.selectional

29.argument30.naming

IV.

31.Entailment.It is basically a semantic relation (or logical implication).and it can be clarified with the following sentences:

a.Tom divorced Jane.

b. Jane was Tom’s wife.

In terms of truth value.the following relationships exist between these two sentences.when A is true.B must be also true; when B is false.A must also be false.When B is true.A may be true or false.Therefore we can say A entails B.

32.Proposition.It is the result of the abstraction of sentences.which are descriptions of states of affairs and which some writers see as a basic element of sentence meaning.For example.the two sentences.Caesar invaded Gaul” and.Gaul was invaded by Caesar” hold the same proposition.

33.Compositional analysis.It defines the meaning of a lexical element in terms of semantic components.or semantic features.For example.the meaning of the word boy may be analyzed into three components.HUMAN.YOUNG and MALE.Similarly girl may be analyzed into HUMAN.YOUNG and FEMALE.

34.Reference.It is what a linguistic form refers to in the real world; it is a matter of the relationship between the form and the reality.

V.

35.

Hyponymy.metonymy or part-whole relationship

36.

(Omit.)

VI.

37.

(1)The (a) words and (b) words are male.

The (a) words are human.while the (b) words are non-human.

(2)The (a) words and (b) words are inanimate.

The (a) words are instrumental.while the (b) words are edible.

(3)The (a) words and (b) words are worldly or conceptual. The (a) words are material.while the (b) words are spiritual.

篇二：the meaning of success

As Thomas Edison said that if you wish to succeed, you should use persistence as your good friend, experience as your reference, prudence as your brother and hope as your sentry. From his saying, we can realize the meaning of success greatly. So if we aim to be the person like Thomas Edison who is well-known to the whole world, we must equip ourselves with persistence, experience, prudence and hope just like what he did for himself before.

Firstly, the most crucial key to the success is persistence. Most of the people of triumphant, who made it finally, never quit merely because of repeated failure. These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you. And you have to let them show you what to do differently and better next time. Additionally, if a man intends to make a hit, he needs plenty of experience too. The failure can reshape them and encourage them to reflect. Through realizing the reason of failure after studying it, he can do better and better until he achieves success in the end. Furthermore, prudence is also extremely essential on the way of success. In order to secure what we desire, we must prepare everything well in advance. With prudence, we can foresee the consequences and prepare for them ahead. Last but least, hope is also exceedingly important to achieve success. As the old saying goes that great hope makes a great person. To be the person who is respected like Thomas Edison, we need to hold the hope that we can be him. To succeed, we all need persistence, experience, prudence and hope. With them, we can ultimately gain what we need and be another Thomas Edison.

篇三：Main Types of Word Meaning

Main Types of Word Meaning

1、Grammatical Meaning

Grammatical meaning refers to that part of meaning of the word which indicates grammatical concept or relationships such as the word class, singular and plural forms of nouns, tense meaning of verbs and their inflectional forms (forget, forgets, forgot, forgotten, forgetting).

2、Lexical meaning

Lexical meaning is the meaning of an isolated word in a dictionary. This component of meaning is identical in all the forms of the word. E.g. ‘go, goes, went, gone, going’ possess different grammatical meaning. But they have the same lexical meaning expressing the process of movement.

3、Contextual Meaning

The context generally shows in what sense the word is used, in its primary sense or its figurative sense. The meaning of the word is defined by the context. e.g. 1) Some of this country are much warmer than others.2) What does a farming country mean? 3) The country is opposed to war.

4、Conceptual meaning

Conceptual meaning (also known as denotative meaning) is the meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning. Conceptual meaning forms the basis for communication as the same word has the same conceptual meaning to all the speakers of the same language. e.g. Sun: a heavenly body which gives off light, heat,and energy；Mother: a female parent .

5、Associative meaning

Associate meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning. Comparing with conceptual meaning, it is secondary and open-ended. It varies according to culture, experience, religion, geographical region, class background, education and other contextual factors.

6、Connotative meaning

In contrast to denotative meaning, connotative meaning refers to the overtones or associations which a word suggests or implies. It shows the user’s emotions, attitudes towards what the word refers to. e.g. sob, cry, weep, wail；Mother (a female parent) is often associated with ‘love’, ‘care’, ‘tenderness’, ‘forgiving’, etc；Home (a dwelling place) may suggest ‘family, warmth, safety, love, convenience’, etc. ‘East or west, home is best’.

For people with different cultural backgrounds, a word might evoke different associations.

7、Stylistic meaning

Words may have stylistic features, which make them appropriate for different contexts. This stylistic difference is especially true of synonyms. It is observed that there are few words which have both the same conceptual meaning and stylistic meaning. e.g. male parent, father, daddy

Example:

(1)Common words: brother, mother, hand, arm, grass, moon, bed, home. Eat, hear, big, good

(2)Formal words: purloin (steal) overtones( hint, suggestion)

(3)Informal words: a) Colloquialisms: nippy (nimble) daddy (father) tell of (to scold) b) Slang: bread dough lolly chickenfeed ---money c) Vulgarisms: gent (gentleman)d) Jargon: sucker e) Argot: can-opener dip (pickpocket)

8、Affective meaning

Affective meaning indicates the speaker’s attitude towards the person or thing in question. Words that have emotive values may fall into two categories: Appreciative or commendatory: words of positive overtones used to show appreciation or approval. Pejorative or derogatory: words of negative connotations imply disapproval, contempt or criticism.

This affective difference is especially true of synonyms.

9、Collocative meaning

Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires in its collocation. In other words, it is that part of the word meaning suggested by the words before or after the word in discussion. ‘A bit or a little’ collocates with words of negative connotations: drunk, jealous, gloomy, tired, worried…‘Highly’ collocates with words of positive connotations: important, significant, intelligent, sensitive…

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