This document discusses how words and sentences derive meaning. It explains that word meanings are constructed through relationships like synonyms, antonyms, and polysemy. Figurative language like metaphor, metonymy and idioms allow words to take on nonliteral meanings. Sentence meaning comes from structure, while utterance meaning depends on context. Pragmatics studies how context shapes the implied meaning of an utterance. Overall, the document examines how semantics and pragmatics work together to help people construct and understand meanings from language.

1. Making Meanings with
Words

2. Words have arbitrary meanings that
we can express in terms of semantic
features.
Word meanings are constructed
through
a
variety
of
relationship, which we refer as the
nyms
Words have many nonliteral, or
figurative, meanings, which are
complex and abstract.

3. SEMANTICS
 A branch of linguistics concerned
with the nature, structure, and the
development and changes of the
meanings of speech forms, or with
contextual meaning.
 A study of how we construct and
understand the meaning of words
and groups of words.

4. Even sentences made up of nonsense
words have some kind of meaning
Consider this sentence:
She yarped that canzos spleeked the
batoids.

5. Semantic Deviance
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
A
sentence
like
this
is
anomalous, which means they deviate
from expected meanings.

6. Poetry is often based on deviations from
expected meanings as well, as this poem by
Shel Silverstein (1981) shows:
What Did?
What did the carrot say to the wheat?
“‟Lettuce‟ rest, I‟m feeling „beet.‟”
What did the paper say to the pen?
“I feel quite all „write,‟ my friend.”
What did the teapot say to the chalk?
Nothing, you silly . . . Teapots can‟t talk!
(Light in the Attic, p. 16)

7. Formal study of
the conventions
of word
meaning.
Lexical Semantics

Is language Natural or
conventional?
• In Plato‟s Cratylus, Socrates, Cratylus, and
Hermogenes argue at length over whether
names of things are chosen by
individuals, communities, or some higher
reality outside human control.

8. Lexical Semantics
The connection between a word and its meaning
is arbitrary.

Onomatopeic words (onomatopoeia is Greek for
name making) which are words that sound like
their meanings. Also called echoic words.
The pronunciation of onomatopeic words can
provide clues to their meanings.
Clues to the meaning of the word can also be
derived from the morphology of a word and
also form it syntactic position.

9. Lexical Semantics
Etymological clues to unlock

meanings.
• We draw on our knowledge of the origins of
words of cognates: words that have
common ancestors such as Hund in German
and Hound in English.
Context: drawn from our
experience.
• „About to be caught in the act, the burglars
defenestrated the jewelry.’

10. Meaning Classifications:
Semantic Features

Some aspects of meaning can be represented
in terms of opposition expressed by binary
features.
Semantic features:
(+/- human)
(+/- animate)
(+/- young)
(+/- married)

11. Meaning Classifications:
Semantic Features

The bachelor is married.
The baby drove to town in a
Ford pickup.
The rock comb its hair.

12. Meaning Relationships:
The Nyms

Nyms – meaning relationships among
words –
antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, etc.
Opposite meanings: Antonymy
Similar meanings: Synonymy
Meaning categories: Hyponymy
Related meanings: Polysemy
Different meanings: Homonymy

13. Opposite meanings: Antonymy
Word that we think of as opposites, though
oppositions may be relational, complementary, or
gradable.

• Gradable: antonyms are two ends on a
scale, and there can be various gradations of
each term.
Some words can have two diametrically opposed
meanings:
• Cleave can mean either to adhere closely or to
divide.

14. Opposite meanings: Antonymy
Antonym types

Gradable
Relational
Complementary
Smart/ stupid
Teacher/ student
Dead/ alive
Often/ rarely
Friend/ enemy
Before/ after
Fat/ thin
Question/ answer
Permit/ prohibit
Most/ least
Doctor/ patient
Precede/ follow
Up/ down
Mother/ father
Send/ receive
Tall/ short
Parent/ child
Beginning/end
Rich/ poor
Lawyer/ client
Day/ night

15. Similar meanings: Synonymy

Words that are different in form but similar in
meaning.
• Synonyms are derived form a variety of sources, and
we make choices among synonyms for a variety of
reasons
Synonymy allows for a variety of ways to
express ideas, it can be a source of euphemisms.
• Euphemisms are used to avoid offending words or
to deliberately obscure actual meanings.

16. 
Euphemism
Physical persuasion - torture
Wet work - assassination
Urinate – got to the bathroom

17. Synonyms of Anglo-Saxon and Latin/ Greek
Origin
Anglo-Saxon origin
Latin/ Greek Origin
Land
Try
Hard
Talk (about)
Crazy
Ghost
Clean
Dirt
Go
See
Holy
Space
heavenly
Alight
Attempt
Difficult
Discuss
Insane
Spirit
Sanitary
Soil
Advance
Visualize
Sacred
Cosmos
Celestial

18. Meaning Categories: hyponymy
Hyponym

A word whose meaning is
included, or entailed, in the
meaning of a more general word.
Example:
Thoroughbred – horse
House - building

19. A hyponym can itself have hyponyms as
shown in the diagram

bovine
Cow
elk
Guernsey Holstein
antelope
Hereford
deer

20. We use hyponymy in language to make
general statements more specific:
What are you doing?
A book/ a Russian novel/ War and Peace

21. Related Meanings: Polysemy

Words that are polysemous have two
or more related meanings (Greek poly
“many‟, semy „meanings‟)
lip = of a cliff or part of the mouth
eye = the eye of the storm
foot = -of the mountain, -of the stairs
arm = arm of a chair

22. Retronym: another meaning
relationship (type of polysemy)

A retronym is a new word,
compound word, r phrase created to
distinguish an original word from a
more recent meaning of a word.
acoustic guitar/ electric guitar
film camera/ digital camera

23. Meaning Change: Semantic Shift
Semantic shifts – how word meanings
changeover time. Semantics shifts
happen in a variety of ways.

Shifts in connotations – changes in
general meanings associated with a
word.
Hund (O.E)
dog
Hound (M.E)
Particular type of dog
This process is called narrowing

24. Narrowing – change in words‟ meanings over
time to more specific meanings.
Broadening – change in words‟ meanings
over time to more general or inclusive
 Dogge (O.E) – referred to a particular
breed of dog and today refers to
domestic canines in general
 Decimate (Romans) – used to mean
„twig, tendril, or branch‟, but now it
means the action of twisting
something‟, and anything that has
been twisted.

25. Amelioration – a shift to a more positive
connotation.
Croon (E) – „to sing softly‟, Kronen
(Dutch) – „to groan or lament‟.
Pejoration – shifting to a more negative
connotation
Churl (present-day English – „a rude
or ill-bred person‟, (M.E –
degenerated in meaning, ceorl (O.E)
– „peasant, freeman, layman)

26. Different Meanings: Homonymy
 Homonyms – words that sound the same but
have different meanings
(Greek Homeos „same‟, onoma „name‟)
Verb bear - „to have children‟ or „to tolerate‟
 Homophones - words with the same
sounds, but not necessarily share the same
spelling
sole/soul, gorilla/guerilla, to/too/two
 Homographs – have different meanings, the
same spelling, but different pronunciations


27. Shifts in denotation – complete change in
word‟s meanings overtime
Blush – used to mean „look‟ or „gaze‟, in
early (Mod.E – „to redden in the face from
shame or modesty)

28. Making New Meanings:
Figurative Language
Figurative language provides a tool to
express a vast range of meaning beyond the
primary meanings of words.
Metaphor
Metaphero (Gk) – „to carry over‟ or „transfer‟
Metaphorical meanings reflect our conceptual
structures, how we view the world.

29. Types of Metaphors
Dead metaphors – those that are conventionalized in
everyday speech that we don‟t even realize they are
metaphors.
I see your point.
I‟ll take a look at your paper for you.
He is blind to new ideas.
Mixed metaphor – those in which parts of different
metaphors are telescoped into one utterance.
- comprises parts of different metaphors
“Hit the nail on the jackpot” – “hit the nail on the
head” and “hit the jackpot”
„to achieve a goal of some kind‟

30. Personification – gives human attributes to
something that is not human
o
o
o
o
The gates opened their arms.
The projects ate up all my time.
The cold knocked me out.
The idea died a natural death.
Synesthesia – a metaphorical language which
one kind sensation is described in terms of
another.
Color is attributed to sounds, odor to color, sound
to odor, etc
(sweet smell, loud colors,

31. Metonymy – refers to something by
describing it in terms of something with
which it is closely associated.
The pen is mightier than the sword.
Synecdoche – it uses a part of something to
refer to the whole thing
Car – as wheels or a ride
More abstract
Give me a hand = help
Lend me an ear = your attention
Two head are better than one = cooperation

32. Comparing meanings: Simile
Simile – differs from metaphor. A
comparison of two unlike things and usually
involve words like or as
She‟s big as a house.
We‟re happy as clams.
My brain is like a sieve.

33. Idioms – they are collocations of language
of words or phrases with nonliteral
meaning.
Kick the bucket – die

34. Semantics and Pragmatics:
Making Meaning with Sentences
Sentences have meaning, derived both from
their structure and from the context in which
they are uttered.
Sentence meaning
The meaning of a sentence on its own regardless of
its context.
The literal meaning of a sentence, regardless of
context.
Have you quit smoking?

35. Utterance Meaning
The unspoken or indirect meaning of sentences.
The meaning of a sentence in context.
How are you doing? (when you meet someone
on the street)
Are you asking information about someone‟s
well-being?
Are you simply saying hello in a nonliteral
way?

36. Pragmatics
The study of meaning of language in context
(utterance meaning).
Pragmatics overlaps semantics to provide
us with a bigger picture of how we
construct a meaning out of language.

37. Pragmatics: How Contexts Shapes Meaning
The meaning of utterance is bound up with
the context in which you hear it.
First scenario: You hear an urgent, adult
voice utter “A train is coming!” while you
were standing on a railroad track not paying
much attention to proximity of trains, you
would, under typical circumstances, quickly
move of the track safety.

38. Second scenario: A child comes up with her
mother and, laughing, says, “ A train is
coming!”
The social context within which a sentence is
uttered can affect its meaning.

39. Speech Acts: Saying what you mean
and meaning what you say
Kinds of Syntactic Structures called sentence types:
Interrogatives (questions)
Imperatives (commands)
Declaratives (statements)
Is it raining?
Get out!
I’d like a sandwich.

40. Each utterance we make carries a communicative
force and can be thought of as performing a
particular speech act.
Direct speech act – when sentence type
corresponds to our intention.
- utterance whose meaning is the sum of
its parts, the literal meaning
Is it raining?

41. Have you cleaned your room?
Indirect speech act –Its meaning depends on
context rather than on sentence type.
This is a simple illustration of the complexity
of speech acts and of how sentence type does
not always correspond to speaker‟s
intention.

42. Speech act theory tries to explain more
precisely how meaning and action are related
to language.
- (introduced by John Austin 1962) is
concerned with communicative intentions of
speakers and how they achieve their
communicative goals.
- communication is a series of
communicative
acts
that
are
used
systematically
to
accomplish
particular
purposes and having a specific force assigned
to them.

43. Austin offers three basic kinds of acts that
are simultaneously performed by an
utterance.
Locutionary act:
An
utterance
with
particular
sense
and
reference (the sum of its
part)
Illocutionary act:
The act (defined by social
convention)
that
is
performed by making the
utterance:
a
statement, offer, promise,

44. Perlocutionary act:
The
(not
necessarily
intentional) effects on the
audience, whether intended
or unintended, brought about
by the utterance
“Jo, would you like to read your poem first?”

45. Conversational Rules
Conversational rules for how to communicate
spoken and unspoken messages.
Paul Grice (1975, 1989) proposed the
following maxims of conversation, which
continue to be an accurate description of the
shared rules that speakers use in
interactions.

46. Grice’s Maxim of Conversation
Maxim of Quantity
Make your contribution to the conversation
as informative as necessary.
Do not make your contribution to the
conversation more informative than
necessary.
Maxim of Quality
Do not say what you believe to be false.
Do not say that for which you lack
adequate evidence.

47. Maxim of Relevance
Say only things that are relevant.
Maxim of Manner
Avoid obscurity of expression.
Avoid ambiguity.
Be brief (avoid unnecessary wordiness).
Be orderly.

48. Grice’s Cooperative Principle
An assumption that in conversation speakers will
make a sincere effort to collaboratively exchange
information
Speaker meaning – meaning beyond the words
alone, which the speaker assumes the hearer can
interpret based on communicative context

49. Manipulating Maxim – speakers can
violate maxims because of maxim
clash, wherein if one maxim is to be
maintained, another must be violated.
Utterances in which maxims are followed,
violated, and then flouted:
1. Speaker A: Have you been to a baseball game
lately?
Speaker B: No, but I‟m going to go to a game
this weekend.
(Maxims are followed)

50. 2. Speaker A: When is your next class?
Speaker B: Sometime this afternoon.
(maxim clash: quality, quantity)
3. Speaker A: So, do you think Maria will make it
to the wedding?
Speaker B: Well, she told me she was taking
off work that day.
(cooperative principle)

51. 4. Speaker A: So, do you think Maria is
having a baby?
Speaker B: I have a train to catch.
[flouting several maxims: (maxim of
relevance, quantity, quality)]
*cooperative principle – there are other
interpretation on Speaker B‟s statement

52. Understanding and using a language involves a
complex interplay of social and linguistic
factors,
including
our
cultural
expectations, attitudes about
power and
solidarity, social conventions, and much more.
Learning to use language may be as complex a
process as acquiring the language itself, and
both are essential components of our linguistic
knowledge.

53. Grice’s Maxim of Conversation
A. Make up a (plausible) conversational exchange in
which Grice‟s maxims are followed. Explain briefly how
each maxim is satisfied.
B. Come up with a (plausible) conversation in which at
least one of Grice‟s maxim is violated. Explain why the
violation might take place and what influences the
speakers and hearers could use to make sense of the
utterances. (Remember that a violation doesn‟t
necessarily mean that the conversation breaks down; it is
often the result of maxim clash, wherein a maxim is
violated but the cooperative principle maintained.
C. Now, come up with an example of a conversational
exchange in which at least one of Grice‟s maxims is
flouted. Does the conversation break down or not?
Explain briefly.