06 Semantics Free Online FlashCards

How do semantics and pragmatics differ?

Semantics studies conventional meaning in language; pragmatics studies how context and speaker intentions shape what an utterance communicates.

What is a word’s extension?

A word’s extension is the set of things it applies to. The extension of “dog” is the set of dogs.

What is a word’s intension?

A word’s intension is the concept or criteria associated with it—roughly, what makes something count as an instance of that word.

What is synonymy, and why are exact synonyms uncommon?

Synonymy is similarity or equivalence of meaning in a particular use. Exact synonyms are uncommon because words can differ in register, associations, or context.

What are three kinds of antonym relations?

Antonymy is opposition in meaning. “Hot/cold” are gradable opposites, “alive/dead” are often complementary, and “buy/sell” express converse relations.

What is hyponymy?

Hyponymy is a relation in which a more specific category is included in a more general one. A sparrow is a hyponym of bird.

What is meronymy?

Meronymy is a part–whole relation: a wheel is a part of a bicycle.

How do polysemy and homonymy differ?

Polysemy is one word with related senses, as in “head” of a person and “head” of a department. Homonyms share a form but have unrelated meanings, as with “bank” for a financial institution or river edge.

What is the principle of compositionality?

The principle of compositionality says that a complex expression’s meaning is determined by the meanings of its parts and how they are arranged.

How does noun phrase order affect “The dog chased the cat”?

Grammatical arrangement assigns roles: in “The dog chased the cat,” the subject is the chaser and the object is the one chased. Reversing the noun phrases changes the meaning.

What are a sentence’s truth conditions?

Truth conditions specify what would have to be the case for a sentence to be true. “The dog chased the cat” is true if the relevant dog chased the relevant cat.

What is reference, and how does context affect it?

Reference is the relation between an expression and what it picks out in a particular use. Context helps identify referents, especially for “I,” “here,” and “today.”