The document discusses Lobner's and Saussure's theories on meaning components and structural relationships in language, emphasizing the decomposition of lexical meanings into smaller units. It covers semantic features, paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations, and the application of natural semantic metalanguage for cross-cultural understanding. Additionally, it evaluates the benefits and limitations of decompositional approaches while highlighting their significance in lexical semantics, natural language processing, and cognitive science.

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Meaning
Components
R. Dian Dia-an Muniroh
Session 04

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Meaning Components According
to Lobner (2013)
1 Lobner's Approach
Lobner (2013) argues that
meaning can be decomposed
into smaller units called
meaning components.These
components represent basic
semantic features that
contribute to the overall
meaning of a word.
2 Meaning Components
Examples of meaning
components include 'object,'
'action,''state,''attribute,'
'relation,' and 'quantity.'
3 Combining Components
Lobner suggests that these components can be combined in different ways
to create the meanings of complex words and phrases.

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Decomposition Theory
(M) Meaning. Providing models for word meanings.
What kind of entities are lexical meanings? What is their structure? How are meanings to be
represented?
(B) Basic meanings. Reducing the vast variety of lexical meanings to a smaller set of basic meanings.
Are there lexical items which are semantically basic? How can the meanings of nonbasic items be
built up from more basic ones?
(P) Precision. Providing a means of representation that allows a precise analysis of lexical items.
What exactly are the components of lexical meanings? How can they be determined and how can
they be described in a precise way?

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Decomposition Theory
(R) Meaning relations. Explaining meaning relations within and across lexical fields.
How can meaning relations be accounted for on the basis of decompositional meaning
descriptions?
(C) Composition. Explaining the compositional properties of lexical items.
With which kinds of expression can a given item be combined? How does its meaning interact with
the meanings of the expressions it is combined with?
(L) Language comparison. Determining the semantic relations between
expressions of different languages.
Are there expressions with the same meaning in other languages? If not, how are
the meanings of similar expressions related to each other?

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Language as a System of Signs
To Saussure, a language is an abstract complex system of relations and
rules that underlies all regularities to be observed in actual language use.
The system is formed by signs which are related in multiple ways.
A sign, e.g. a word, consists of two parts. One part is its sound form. The
other part is its meaning.
The association between form and meaning of a sign is fixed by
conventions of language use.
The association is ARBITRARY, i.e. any word could just as easily have a
different meaning, and the meaning could be associated with a different
expression – provided the conventions of the language were different.
Saussure argues that language is to be studied exclusively ‘from within’.

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Structuralist Approach to Meaning
Paradigmatic Relations
This refers to the relationships between words
that can substitute for one another in a given
context. For example,'dog,''cat,' and 'horse' are
all members of the same paradigm because
they can all substitute for the word 'animal' in
certain sentences.
Syntagmatic Relations
This refers to the relationships between words
that occur together in a sentence. For example,
the words 'eat' and 'apple' are syntagmatically
related because they often occur together in
sentences like 'She eats an apple.'

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Applying the Structuralist Approach to Meaning
1
Analyzing Sentence Structure
The structuralist approach can be applied to analyze the
grammatical structure of sentences and how word
meanings combine to create meaning at the sentence
level.
2
Identifying Meaning Components
By breaking down sentences into their constituent parts,
we can identify the meaning components that contribute
to the overall meaning.
3
Understanding Word Relationships
The structuralist approach helps us understand how
words relate to each other in terms of their meanings
and how they function in language.

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Semantic Features
Defining Features
Semantic features are the basic
components of meaning that are
used to define the meaning of
words.
Binary Features
Features are often expressed as
binary oppositions, such as
'animate/inanimate,'
'male/female,' or 'human/non-
human.'
Feature Combinations
The combination of features
defines the specific meaning of a
word.

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Semantic Formulae
Word Semantic Formula
Man [+HUMAN, +MALE, +ADULT]
Woman [+HUMAN,-MALE, +ADULT]
Boy [+HUMAN, +MALE,-ADULT]

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Wierzbicka's Natural Semantic
Metalanguage
Primitive Concepts
Wierzbicka's Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) proposes a set of
universal semantic primitives that are considered to be the building
blocks of meaning.
Cross-Cultural Applicability
The NSM aims to be cross-culturally applicable, meaning that it should
be able to account for the meanings of words and concepts across
different languages and cultures.
Universal Semantics
NSM aims to capture the core elements of meaning
that are shared by all human languages.

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Evaluation of the Approaches to
Decomposition
Advantages
Decompositional approaches provide a systematic way of
analyzing meaning.
Limitations
These approaches can be overly simplistic, as meaning is
often more complex than can be captured by a set of
features or primitives.
Future Directions
Further research is needed to refine and develop
these approaches.

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Research Using Wierzbicka's Framework
Cross-Cultural Studies
The NSM has been used in cross-cultural studies to
investigate the universality of certain concepts and
emotions.
Linguistic Analysis
NSM has been used to analyze the meanings of words
and expressions in different languages.

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Application of Meaning
Components
1 Lexical Semantics
Meaning components can
be used to analyze the
relationships between
words and to create
dictionaries and thesauri.
2 Natural Language
Processing
Understanding meaning
components is crucial for
developing effective
natural language
processing systems, such
as machine translation
and chatbots.
3 Cognitive Science
Research on meaning components provides insights into how
humans understand and process language.