Types of meaning

1. SEMANTICS

2. is the study of meaning in language
the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning.
the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text.
Semantics is the area of linguistics that analyzes the meaning of words,
phrases and sentences in language.
•The study of semantics includes the study of how meaning is
constructed, interpreted, clarified, obscured, illustrated, simplified
Negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased.
Semantics defined

3. 2 types of meaning
1. Conceptual Meaning
2. Associative Meaning
Conceptual meaning defined…
Conceptual meaning covers those basic, essential
components of meaning which are conveyed by the
literal use of a word.
Example : Needle - thin, sharp, steel, instrument
Associative meaning defined…
'associations', or 'connotations', attached to a word
Example: Needle – painful

6. Semantic roles
1. Agent, theme, instrument
Agent - the entity that performs the action
Example : The boy kicked the ball
Agents are typically human, they can also be non-human
forces
Example: The wind blew the ball away
Agents can also be machines.
Example : the car ran over the ball.
It can also be creatures.
Example : The dog caught the ball.

7. Theme - the entity that is involved in or affected by the action
Example: The boy kicked the ball.
(Agent) ( Theme)
The theme can also be an entity that is simply being described.
Example: The ball was red
Instrument - If an agent uses another entity in
Performing an action, that other entity fills the role of
instrument.
Example: Anna is writing with a pen on her hand.
(agent) (instrument)

8. 2. Experiencer, location, source, goal
Experiencer - entity as the person who has a feeling, a
perception or a state.
Example: Mary saw a mosquito on the wall.
(Experiencer)
Location - Where an entity is.
Example: Mary saw a mosquito on the wall.
(Location)
Source - Where an entity moves from.
Example: She borrowed a magazine from George.
(Source)
Goal - where it moves to.
Example : She handed the magazine back to George. (Goal)

10. synonyms
Two or more words with very closely related meanings are called
synonyms
– almost/nearly
– big/large
– broad/wide
Antonyms
Two forms with opposite meanings are called antonyms.
– alive/dead
– big/small
• There are two types of antonyms: Gradable and
Non-gradable
• Gradable antonyms refer to contrary adjectives (Big, small) , while
Nongradable antonyms refer to those words that don’t allow comparison
however, they have a complementary word (alive/dead)

11. Hyponymy
When the meaning of one form is included in
the meaning of another, the relationship is
described as hyponymy.
• animal/dog
• dog/poodle
• vegetable/carrot
We can also say that two
or more words that share
the same
super ordinate term are
co-hyponyms

12. Homophones
When two or more different (written) forms have the
same pronunciation, they are described as homophones.
– bare/bear
– meat/meet
Homonyms
We use the term homonyms when one form (written or
spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings, as
in these examples:
– bank (of a river) – bank (financial institution)
– bat (flying creature) – bat (used in sports)

13. POLYSEMY
Polysemy can be defined as one form (written or
spoken) having multiple meanings that are all related
by extension
• Head: head as a part of body; mind, or mental ability;
a person in charge.
• Foot- Of a person, of Mountain
• Date-Point in time, Arranged meeting
METONYMY
It is a relationship between two words, that is based on
daily life experience.
• That close connection can be based on a
container- contents relation (bottle- coke; can- juice),

14. Metaphors
A metaphor is a phrase that does not carry the literal
meanings of the words but is used to mean something
different.
For example :
My car is a lemon
Collocation
Frequently occurring together is known as collocation.
Words tend to occur with other words.
• Some collocations are joined pairs of words such as salt
and pepper or husband and wife.