Semantics, Fourth Edition

Revised and updated to reflect recent theoretical developments in the field, Semantics, 4th Edition, presents an engaging and accessible introduction to the study of meaning in language for students new to the field of semantics.* Covers all of the basic concepts and methods of the field of semantics, as well as some of the most important contemporary lines of research* Features a series of new exercises, along with their solutions, that are arranged by level of difficulty* Addresses componential theory, formal semantics, and cognitive semantics, the three main current theoretical approaches to semantics* Includes revisions and updates that reflect the most recent theoretical developments

List of contents

List of Figures and Tables xvPreface xviiAbbreviations and Symbols xixPart I Preliminaries 11 Semantics in Linguistics 31.1 Introduction 31.2 Semantics and Semiotics 51.3 Three Challenges in Doing Semantics 51.4 Meeting the Challenges 71.5 Semantics in a Model of Grammar 81.5.1 Introduction 81.5.2 Word meaning and sentence meaning 91.6 Some Important Assumptions 101.6.1 Reference and sense 111.6.2 Utterances, sentences, and propositions 111.6.3 Literal and non-literal meaning 131.6.4 Semantics and pragmatics 151.7 Summary 17Exercises 17Further Reading 19Notes 19References 202 Meaning, Thought, and Reality 222.1 Introduction 222.2 Reference 242.2.1 Types of reference 242.2.2 Names 262.2.3 Nouns and noun phrases 272.3 Reference as a Theory of Meaning 292.4 Mental Representations 312.4.1 Introduction 312.4.2 Concepts 322.4.3 Necessary and sufficient conditions 332.4.4 Prototypes 342.4.5 Relations between concepts 362.4.6 Acquiring concepts 372.5 Words, Concepts, and Thinking 372.5.1 Linguistic relativity 382.5.2 The language of thought hypothesis 402.5.3 Thought and reality 412.6 Summary 42Exercises 43Further Reading 44Notes 44References 45Part II Semantic Description 493 Word Meaning 513.1 Introduction 513.2 Words and Grammatical Categories 523.3 Words and Lexical Items 533.4 Problems with Pinning Down Word Meaning 563.5 Lexical Relations 593.5.1 Homonymy 603.5.2 Polysemy 603.5.3 Synonymy 613.5.4 Opposites (antonymy) 633.5.5 Hyponymy 653.5.6 Meronymy 663.5.7 Member-collection 673.5.8 Portion-mass 673.6 Derivational Relations 673.6.1 Causative verbs 683.6.2 Agentive nouns 683.7 Lexical Typology 693.7.1 Polysemy 703.7.2 Color terms 713.7.3 Core vocabulary 733.7.4 Universal lexemes 743.8 Summary 75Exercises 76Further Reading 78Notes 79References 804 Sentence Relations and Truth 844.1 Introduction 844.2 Logic and Truth 864.3 Necessary Truth, A Priori Truth, and Analyticity 914.4 Entailment 944.5 Presupposition 974.5.1 Introduction 974.5.2 Two approaches to presupposition 984.5.3 Presupposition failure 1004.5.4 Presupposition triggers 1014.5.5 Presuppositions and context 1034.5.6 Pragmatic theories of presupposition 1044.6 Summary 105Exercises 106Further Reading 108Notes 108References 1105 Sentence Semantics 1: Situations 1125.1 Introduction 1125.2 Classifying Situations 1135.2.1 Introduction 1135.2.2 Verbs and situation types 1155.2.3 A system of situation types 1185.2.4 Tests for situation types 1205.2.5 Tense 1225.2.6 Aspect 1255.2.7 Comparing aspect across languages 1305.2.8 Combining situation type and aspect 1325.3 Modality and Evidentiality 1345.3.1 Modality 1345.3.2 Mood 1385.3.3 Evidentiality 1405.4 Summary 142Exercises 143Further Reading 146Notes 146References 1476 Sentence Semantics 2: Participants 1496.1 Introduction: Classifying Participants 1496.2 Thematic Roles 1506.3 Grammatical Relations and Thematic Roles 1556.4 Verbs and Thematic Role Grids 1566.5 Problems with Thematic Roles 1586.6 The Motivation for Identifying Thematic Roles 1616.7 Causation 1646.8 Voice 1666.8.1 Passive voice 1666.8.2 Comparing passive constructions across languages 1696.8.3 Middle voice 1726.9 Classifiers and Noun Classes 1756.9.1 Classifiers 1756.9.2 Noun classes 1776.10 Summary 178Exercises 179Further Reading 182Notes 182References 1847 Context and Inference 1897.1 Introduction 1897.2 Deixis 1907.2.1 Spatial deixis 1907.2.2 Grammaticalization of context 1937.2.3 Extensions of spatial deixis 1947.2.4 Person deixis 1947.2.5 Social deixis 1957.3 Reference and Context 1967.4 Knowledge as Context 1977.4.1 Discourse as context 1987.4.2 Background knowledge as context 1997.4.3 Mutual knowledge 2007.4.4 Giving background knowledge to computers 2017.5 Information Structure 2037.5.1 The information status of nominals 2037.5.2 Focus and topic 2057.5.3 Information structure and comprehension 2087.6 Inference 2087.7 Conversational Implicature 2107.7.1 Grice's maxims of conversational cooperation 2117.7.2 Generalizing the Gricean maxims 2147.7.3 Relevance Theory 2157.8 Lexical Pragmatics 2177.9 Summary 219Exercises 220Further Reading 224Notes 224References 2258 Functions of Language: Speech as Action 2298.1 Introduction 2298.2 Austin's Speech Act Theory 2328.2.1 Introduction 2328.2.2 Evaluating performative utterances 2348.2.3 Explicit and implicit performatives 2348.2.4 Statements as performatives 2358.2.5 Three facets of a speech act 2378.3 Categorizing Speech Acts 2378.4 Indirect Speech Acts 2398.4.1 Introduction 2398.4.2 Understanding indirect speech acts 2418.4.3 Indirect acts and politeness 2428.5 Sentence Types 2458.6 Summary 247Exercises 248Further Reading 250Notes 250References 252Part III Theoretical Approaches 2579 Meaning Components 2599.1 Introduction 2599.2 Lexical Relations in CA 2609.2.1 Binary features 2619.2.2 Redundancy rules 2619.3 Katz's Semantic Theory 2629.3.1 Introduction 2629.3.2 The Katzian dictionary 2629.3.3 Projection rules 2639.4 Grammatical Rules and Semantic Components 2659.4.1 The methodology 2659.4.2 Thematic roles and linking rules 2699.5 Talmy's Typology of Motion Events 2739.6 Jackendoff's Conceptual Structure 2789.6.1 Introduction 2789.6.2 The semantic components 2799.6.3 Localist semantic fields 2819.6.4 Complex events and states 2829.6.5 THINGS: Semantic classes of nominals 2839.6.6 Cross-category generalizations 2849.6.7 Processes of semantic combination 2849.7 Pustejovsky's Generative Lexicon 2879.7.1 Event structure 2889.7.2 Qualia structure 2919.8 Problems with Components of Meaning 2949.9 Summary 295Exercises 295Further Reading 299Notes 300References 30110 Formal Semantics 30510.1 Introduction 30510.2 Model-Theoretical Semantics 30710.3 Translating English into a Logical Metalanguage 30810.3.1 Introduction 30810.3.2 Simple statements in predicate logic 30910.3.3 Quantifiers in predicate logic 31110.3.4 Some advantages of predicate logic translation 31310.4 The Semantics of the Logical Metalanguage 31510.4.1 Introduction 31510.4.2 The semantic interpretation of predicate logic symbols 31510.4.3 The domain 31610.4.4 The denotation assignment function 31610.5 Checking the Truth-Value of Sentences 31710.5.1 Evaluating a simple statement 31810.5.2 Evaluating a compound sentence with ^ "and" 31810.5.3 Evaluating sentences with the quantifiers for all and there exists 32010.6 Word Meaning: Meaning Postulates 32110.7 Natural Language Quantifiers and Higher-Order Logic 32310.7.1 Restricted quantifiers 32510.7.2 Generalized quantifiers 32610.7.3 The strong/weak distinction and existential there sentences 32710.7.4 Monotonicity and negative polarity items 32910.7.5 Section summary 33010.8 Intensionality 33110.8.1 Introduction 33110.8.2 Modality 33210.8.3 Tense and aspect 33410.9 Dynamic Approaches to Discourse 33610.9.1 Anaphora in and across sentences 33710.9.2 Donkey sentences 33810.9.3 DRT and discourse anaphora 33910.10 Summary 344Exercises 345Further Reading 348Notes 348References 35011 Cognitive Semantics 35311.1 Introduction 35311.2 Categorization 35611.2.1 The rejection of classical categories 35611.2.2 Embodiment and image schemas 35811.2.3 Linguistic and encyclopedic knowledge 36211.3 Polysemy 36311.3.1 Prepositions 36311.3.2 Modal verbs 36811.4 Metaphor 36911.4.1 Introduction 36911.4.2 Conceptual Metaphor Theory 37111.4.3 Features of metaphor 37211.4.4 The influence of metaphor 37511.5 Metonymy 37611.6 Mental Spaces 37711.6.1 Connections between spaces 37811.6.2 Referential opacity 38111.6.3 Presupposition 38411.6.4 Conceptual integration theory 38511.6.5 Section summary 38811.7 Langacker's Cognitive Grammar 38811.7.1 Nouns, verbs, and clauses 38911.7.2 Construal 39011.8 Construction Grammar 39211.9 Summary 394Exercises 395Further Reading 398Notes 398References 400Solutions to Exercises 405Glossary 435Index 458

About the author

John I. Saeed is a Fellow of Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland, where he is a professor of linguistics. He is the author of several books, including Irish Sign Language: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach (with Lorraine Leeson, 2012), and Somali (1999).

Summary

Revised and updated to reflect recent theoretical developments in the field, Semantics, 4th Edition, presents an engaging and accessible introduction to the study of meaning in language for students new to the field of semantics.

* Covers all of the basic concepts and methods of the field of semantics, as well as some of the most important contemporary lines of research
* Features a series of new exercises, along with their solutions, that are arranged by level of difficulty
* Addresses componential theory, formal semantics, and cognitive semantics, the three main current theoretical approaches to semantics
* Includes revisions and updates that reflect the most recent theoretical developments

Product details

• Authors: Ji Saeed, John I Saeed, John I. Saeed
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2015
• EAN: 9781118430163
• ISBN: 978-1-118-43016-3
• No. of pages: 496
• Series: Introducing Linguistics; Introducing Linguistics
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies; Philosophie, Semantik, Sprachphilosophie, Philosophy of Language, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sprachwissenschaften, Semantics