Semantics a coursebook 2nd edition JAMES R. HURFORD Professor of General Linguistics, University of Edinburgh BRENDAN HEASLEY Consultant (Postgraduate Training), Sharjah Women’s College, United Arab Emirates MICHAEL B. SMITH Associate Professor of Linguistics, Oakland University Cambridge University

1. It is sometimes hard to
distinguish a factual (or
ontological) question from a
semantic one
1
Introduction

2. To talk meaningfully about
something, it is necessary to
agree on the meanings of the
words involved. This is a Truism
2

3. If someone wants to hinder or
obstruct a communication, he
can begin to quibble over the
meanings of everyday word
3

4. 4

5. Although there may be
disagreement about fine
details of the meanings
(around edges), all words are
understood by speakers as
having an indispensable hard
core of meaning
5

6. Sense: The meaning associated with
words and sentences by the
language system, not the speakers
meaning especially associated with
utterances made by speakers on
particular occasion
NOTE: The sense of an expression is its
indispensable hard core of meaning
6

7. Sense
Properties Relation Expression
7

8. Properties
Analytic
Necessarily
TRUE
Synthetic
TRUE or FALSE
depend on the
context
Contradictory
Necessarily
FALSE
8
1st

9. 9
*The contradiction is the
opposite of the analytic one
*Analytic sentences can be
formed from contradictions
and vice versa
NOTES

10. 10
*The synthetic sentences are
potentially informative in real-world
situations, whereas analytic sentences
and contradiction ones are not
*Semanticists are interested in
synthetic ones as they are interested
in the foundations of everyday
communication (informative sentences)
NOTES

11. 11
Relation
Hyponymy Antonymy
2nd

12. 12

13. 13
Human
Man
Hyponymy: A kind of
sense inclusion
relationship
between predicates

14. 14

15. 15
Man Woman
Antonymy: Oppositeness

16. 16
The sense structure of a
language is like a network, in
which the sense of all elements
are related to the senses of all
other elements
NOTES