英语语言学概论第五章笔记

英语语言学概论第五章笔记

Chapter 5 Semantics

语义学

1.

What is semantics

？什么是语义学？

Semantics can be simply defined as the study of

meaning in language.

语义学可定义为对语言意义的研究。

2.

Some views concerning the study of meaning

语义研究的几种主要理论

1)

T

he naming theory

命名论

It

was

proposed

by

the

ancient

Greek

scholar

Plato.

According

to

this

theory,

the

linguistic

forms

or

symbols,

in

other

words,

the

words

used in a language are taken to be labels of the

objects they stand for. So words are just names

or labels for things.

命名论是最原始的语义理论，

是古希腊学者柏拉

图提 出的。

该理论把词看作是该词所指事物的名

称或标记。

2)

T

he conceptualist view

意念论

The

conceptualist

view

holds

that

there

is

no

direct link between a linguistic form and what it

refers

to;

rather,

in

the

interpretation

of

meaning they are linked through the mediation

of concepts in the mind.

意念论认为，语言形式及其所代表的对象之间

（即语言与现实世界之间）

没有直接联系；

确切

地说，

是通过大脑中存在意念这

一中介物 来联系的。

3)

C

ontextualism

语境论

Contextualism is based on the presumption that

one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning

to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are

recognized:

the

situational

context

and

the

linguistic context.

语境论以这样的假 设为基础：

人们可以从显而易

见的语境中推知或归纳出语义。< /p>

语境有两种：

情

景语境和语言语境。

语境论认为语言的意义离不开使用语言的语境，

< br>语义不是抽象的，

它存在于语境之中，

它来自语

境，取决于语境。

4)

B

ehaviorism

行为主义论

Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of

a

language

form

as

the

“situation

i

n

which

the

speaker utters

it

and

the

response

it

calls

forth

in

the

hearer.”

This

theory,

somewhat

close

to

contextualism,

is

linked

with

psychological

interest.

语义的行为主义论和语义的语境论有相似之处，

它也把语义放到语境中去 研究，

但它更注重人的

心理活动，

认为 语言的意义存在于语言使用者在

交际过程中对听到话语的反应。

3.

Sense and reference

意义和所指

They

are

two

related

but

different

aspects

of

meaning.

它们是词汇意义的既相互联系又有所不同的两

个方面。

< br>

1)

S

ense is concerned with the inherent meaning

of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all

the

features

of

the

linguistic

form;

it

is

abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect

of

meaning

dictionary

compliers

are

interested in.

意义关心的是语言形式的内在意义。

它是语言形

式所有特征 的总和，

它是抽象且脱离语境的。

它

是 词典编写者们所感兴趣的语义方面。

简单地说，意义是词汇内 在的，抽象的，游离于

语境之外的意义。

2)

R

eference means what a linguistic form refers

to in the real, physical world; it deals with the

relationship

between

the

linguistic

element

and non-linguistic world of experience.

所指是语言形式在现实世界中所指称的东 西；

涉

及语言成分和非语言的经验世界的关系。

简单地说，

所指是词汇在特定的语境中所指称的

具体事物。

4.

Major sense relations

主要意义关系

1

）

Synonymy

同义关系

Synonymy

refers

to

the

sameness

or

close

similarity

of

meaning.

Words

that

are

close

in

meaning are called synonyms.

同义现象指的是语义的相同或相近。

词义 相近的

词叫同义词。

According to the way they differ, synonyms can

be divided into the following groups:

a)

D

ialectal

synonyms

–

synonyms

used

in

different regional dialects.

British

English

and

American

English

are

the

two major geographical varieties of the English

language.

方言同义词

－

用在不同地域方言中的同义词。

英国英语和美国英语是英语的两大地理变体。

示例：

英国英语

美国英语

Autumn

fall

Lift

elevator

Flat

department

Windscreen

windshield

Torch

flashlight

b)

S

tylistic

synonyms

–

synonyms

differing

in

style.

Words

having

the

same

meaning

may

differ

in

style,

or

degree

of

formality.

In

other

words,

some

words

tend

to

be

more

formal,

others

casual, and still others neutral in style.

文体同义词

－

在文体上有差异的同义词。

有同样意 义的词可能在文体上，

或者在正式程度

上有所不同。也就是说， 有些往往比较正式，有

些比较随意，有些在问题上则是中性的。

示例：

Old man, daddy, dad, father, male parent

Start, begin, commence

Kid, child, offspring

c)

Synonyms

that

differ

in

their

emotive

or

evaluative meaning

There

are

words

that

bear

the

same

meaning

but

express

different

emotions

of

the

user,

indicating the attitude or bias of the user toward

what he is talking about.

情感意义或评价意义有所不同的同义词。

有着相同的意义却表达了使用者的不同情感的

词语，

这些词 暗示使用者对他所谈论的事情的态

度或倾向。

示例：

Collaborator

合作者

/ Accomplice

同谋者，

帮凶

Like, love, admire, adore, worship

Economical,

frugal,

thrifty,

mean,

miserly,

stingy

d)

C

ollocational

synonyms

–

synonyms

differing

in their collocation.

Some synonyms differ in their collocation, i.e., in

the words they go together with. This is a matter

of usage.

搭配同义词

－

同义词在其搭配上各不相同，

即

能和这些不同的同义词相配的词各不相同。

示例：

Accuse…of

charge…with

rebuke…for

e)

Semantically

different

synonyms

–

synonyms

that differ slightly in what they mean.

语义上不同的同义词

－

同义词的意义非常接

近，但却有细微差别。

示例：

Amaze

暗示困惑和迷惑

astound

暗示难以

置信

Escape

意味逃离不愉快或者危险的事

flee

意味匆匆离开

2

）

Polysemy

多义关系

The

same

one

word

may

have

more

than

one

meaning.

This

is

what

we

call

polysemy,

and

such a word is called a polysemic word. The fact

is the more commonly used a word is, the more

likely it has acquired more than one meaning.

同一个单词可能有一个以上的意义，

这就是 我们

所说的一词多义，

这样的词叫多义词。

一个词越

常用，它就越可能获得一个以上的意义。

示例：

Table

一词最初只有一个意义，

很可能指一块石

板或木板，< /p>

这叫做其原始意义。

后来它逐渐获得

了它 现在所指称的其它意义。

3

）

Homonymy

同音

/