Introducing Linguistics

Transcription

1

2 Allie

3 Semantics

4 Introducing Linguistics This outstanding series is an indispensable resource for students and teachers a concise and engaging introduction to the central subjects of contemporary linguistics. Presupposing no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, each volume sets out the fundamental skills and knowledge of the field, and so provides the ideal educational platform for further study in linguistics. 1 Andrew Spencer Phonology 2 John I. Saeed Semantics, Third Edition 3 Barbara Johnstone Discourse Analysis, Second Edition 4 Andrew Carnie Syntax, Second Edition

5 Semantics Third Edition John I. Saeed A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication

6 This third edition first published John I. Saeed Edition history: Blackwell Publishers Ltd (1e, 1997); Blackwell Publishing Ltd (2e, 2003) Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February Blackwell s publishing program has been merged with Wiley s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA , USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at The right of John I. Saeed to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Saeed, John I. Semantics / John I. Saeed. 3rd ed. p. cm. (Introducing linguistics ; 2) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Semantics. I. Title. P325.S dc A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5/12pt by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed in Singapore by Utopia Press Pte Ltd

7 To Joan, Alexander and Isabel

8 Allie

9 Contents List of Figures and Tables Preface xiv xvi Part I Preliminaries 1 1 Semantics in Linguistics Introduction Semantics and Semiotics Three Challenges in Doing Semantics Meeting the Challenges Semantics in a Model of Grammar Introduction Word meaning and sentence meaning Some Important Assumptions Reference and sense Utterances, sentences and propositions Literal and non-literal meaning Semantics and pragmatics Summary 19

10 viii Contents Further reading 19 Exercises 19 2 Meaning, Thought and Reality Introduction Reference Types of reference Names Nouns and noun phrases Reference as a Theory of Meaning Mental Representations Introduction Concepts Necessary and sufficient conditions Prototypes Relations between concepts Acquiring concepts Words, Concepts and Thinking Linguistic relativity The language of thought hypothesis Thought and reality Summary 46 Further reading 47 Exercises 47 Part II Semantic Description 51 3 Word Meaning Introduction Words and Grammatical Categories Words and Lexical Items Problems with Pinning Down Word Meaning Lexical Relations Homonymy Polysemy Synonymy Opposites (antonymy) Hyponymy Meronymy Member collection Portion mass 71

11 Contents ix 3.6 Derivational Relations Causative verbs Agentive nouns Lexical Universals Colour terms Core vocabulary Universal lexemes Summary 79 Further reading 80 Exercises 80 4 Sentence Relations and Truth Introduction Logic and Truth Necessary Truth, A Priori Truth and Analyticity Entailment Presupposition Introduction Two approaches to presupposition Presupposition failure Presupposition triggers Presuppositions and context Pragmatic theories of presupposition Summary 111 Further reading 111 Exercises Sentence Semantics 1: Situations Introduction Classifying Situations Introduction Verbs and situation types A system of situation types Tense Aspect Comparing aspect across languages Combining situation type and aspect Modality and Evidentiality Modality Mood Evidentiality Summary 146

12 x Contents Further reading 146 Exercises Sentence Semantics 2: Participants Introduction: Classifying Participants Thematic Roles Grammatical Relations and Thematic Roles Verbs and Thematic Role Grids Problems with Thematic Roles The Motivation for Identifying Thematic Roles Voice Passive voice Comparing passive constructions across languages Middle voice Classifiers and Noun Classes Classifiers Noun classes Summary 182 Further reading 182 Exercises Context and Inference Introduction Deixis Spatial deixis Grammaticalization of context Extensions of spatial deixis Person deixis Social deixis Reference and Context Knowledge as Context Discourse as context Background knowledge as context Mutual knowledge Giving background knowledge to computers Information Structure The information status of nominals Focus and topic Information structure and comprehension Inference 211

13 Contents xi 7.7 Conversational Implicature Grice s maxims of conversational cooperation Generalizing the Gricean maxims Relevance Theory Summary 220 Further reading 222 Exercises Functions of Language: Speech as Action Introduction Austin s Speech Act Theory Introduction Evaluating performative utterances Explicit and implicit performatives Statements as performatives Three facets of a speech act Categorizing Speech Acts Indirect Speech Acts Introduction Understanding indirect speech acts Indirect acts and politeness Sentence Types Summary 250 Further reading 251 Exercises 251 Part III Theoretical Approaches Meaning Components Introduction Lexical Relations in CA Binary features Redundancy rules Katz s Semantic Theory Introduction The Katzian dictionary Projection rules Grammatical Rules and Semantic Components The methodology Thematic roles and linking rules Components and Conflation Patterns 274

14 xii Contents 9.6 Jackendoff s Conceptual Structure Introduction The semantic components Localist semantic fields Complex events and states THINGS: Semantic classes of nominals Cross-category generalizations Processes of semantic combination Pustejovsky s Generative Lexicon Event structure Qualia structure Problems with Components of Meaning Summary 297 Further reading 297 Exercises Formal Semantics Introduction Model-Theoretical Semantics Translating English into a Logical Metalanguage Introduction Simple statements in predicate logic Quantifiers in predicate logic Some advantages of predicate logic translation The Semantics of the Logical Metalanguage Introduction The semantic interpretation of predicate logic symbols The domain The denotation assignment function Checking the Truth-Value of Sentences Evaluating a simple statement Evaluating a compound sentence with and Evaluating sentences with the quantifiers and Word Meaning: Meaning Postulates Natural Language Quantifiers and Higher Order Logic Restricted quantifiers Generalized quantifiers The strong/weak distinction and existential there sentences Monotonicity and negative polarity items Section summary 333

15 Contents xiii 10.8 Intensionality Introduction Modality Tense and aspect Dynamic Approaches to Discourse Anaphora in and across sentences Donkey sentences DRT and discourse anaphora Summary 347 Further reading 348 Exercises Cognitive Semantics Introduction Metaphor Introduction Metaphor in cognitive semantics Features of metaphor The influence of metaphor Metonymy Image Schemas Containment schema Path schema Force schemas Polysemy Prepositions Modal verbs Mental Spaces Connections between spaces Referential opacity Presupposition Conceptual blending Section summary Langacker s Cognitive Grammar Nouns, verbs and clauses Construal Summary 393 Further reading 394 Exercises 394 Solutions to Selected Exercises 400 Bibliography 418 Index 443