Lexical Semantics 3

8/8/2019 Lexical Semantics 3

1/23

Componential Analysis(I)

Classical structuralism

Lecture 3


2/23

2

LF has got nothing to say about the specific interpretationoflexical phrases. Thus from the point of view of LF the

following pairs of sentences are alike even if theyexpress vastly different things:

(1) a. Every arrow had hit a target.

b. Every student had read a novel by Dickens

Lexical semantics precisely contributes an interpretation ofphrases like: arrow, student, novel, etc.

Structuralist semantics worked under the at the time novelhypothesis that meanings are decomposable, and

proposed two complementary methods of semanticanalysis: componential analysis (a paradigmatic method)and distributional analysis (a syntagmatic method). In thecoming lectures, stress is laid on the development ofcomponential analysis, starting with the classicalstructuralist period


3/23

3

Main assumption:

(2) The sense of every lexeme can be analyzedin terms of more general sense components,some, or all, of which will be common toseveral lexemes in the vocabulary.

Aims of the method:a. to discover the elementary units ofmeaning, the invariants of the semantic level,or perhaps the minimal units, the primes ofthe level.

b. to show the systematicity of thevocabulary, by revealing the various relations(similarity, incompatibility) holding betweenthe lexical items.


4/23

4

(3) a. The lexeme, just like the phoneme may differ only with respectto some distinctive feature from some other lexeme:

(i) stallion : mare

SEX MALE : FEMALE

(4) b. The same opposition is found in many pairs of lexical items;

these pairs establish a correlation in the lexicon, just as there arecorrelations in the phonological system:

(i) SEX MALE : FEMALE

stallion : mare

boy : girl

he : shehe-goat : she-goat

jack-ass : jenny-ass

actor : actress

usher : usher


5/23

5

(5) c. Like phonological oppositions, semanticoppositions may be neutralized, with the unmarked,

extended term covering the semantic space namedby the opposition. Here are a few examples wherethe opposition is neutralized, respectively functional

man old

MAN (human) OLD (age)woman young

(i) a. All men are born equal.

b. All men dislike womens tears.

(ii) a. How old is the baby? Two days old.

b. He didnt consider himself old, even if he was pasthis prime.


6/23

6

(6) d. Lexical semantics adopts the commutation testto investigatelexical paradigms (subsystems of the vocabulary) uncovering therelevant semantic component features in terms of which the units

of the system are opposed.

(7) [- CO-LINEAL] [+ CO-LIN EAL]

my uncle my father

my aunt my mother

(8) [- APPROXIMATION ] [+ APPRO XIMATION ]

blue bluish

red reddish

young youngish

Pairs like the ones below are variants. Substitution of one form byanother does not lead to a change of content, in terms of anyopposition. They are variants contracting a relation ofsubstitution.

(9) he-goat : billy-goat

she-goat : nanny-goat


7/23

7

Units of the analysis

a. The seme (distinctive feature, semantic marker, semanticfeature) is a sense component or constituent of a lexicalmeaning; it is a theoretical construct used to characterizethe vocabulary of a language. e.g. [approximation], [age].

b. The sememe is a reunion (product, conjunction) of semescovering one lexical meaning of a word.

c. The lexeme is the association of a sememe and aphonological matrix; one word may represent severallexemes.Most linguists, however, use the term lexeme

in the same acceptation as the term word.

The terms seme and sememe are part of the meta-language; in contrast lexemes are part of the objectlanguage.


8/23

8

The distinctive and minimal character of the seme

On the analogy with phonology, where the features are the ultimate products of

the analysis, the attempt was made to arrive at a possibly universalalphabet of conceptual primitives, whose combination yielded all thesememes in a language.

Wordnet.

English nouns, verbs and adjectives are organized into synonymic sets, eachrepresenting one underlying concept.

Word meanings: definitions.

The definitions may be

a) constructive (sufficient information to support an accurate construction ofthe concept and to generate new meanings).

b) differential (a synonym) Each meaning M1 of a word may be representedby a list of synonyms{ F1, F2,....Fn}:

(10) BOARD {board, plank} (wash/paint the boards)

{board, committee} (be on the board)

{( a person's meal, provided regularly for money)} (boarding school)

(11) copac tree arbre


9/23

9

(12)What Wordnet has shown regarding semantic features.

a. Semantic features are simpler or more complexconcepts of a language.

b. Semantic features differ in terms of their complexity.Some features are extremely abstract and general,

figuring in a large number of lexemes concepts: cause,become, person, entity, substance, artifact, kind, etc.

c. Semantic features are distinctive, in the sense that twolexemes are often differentiated in terms of one feature.

(13) BOARD {board, plank}

(14) [s cause ] kill/die; raise/rise, fell/fall, bring/come, etc.


10/23

10

d. Semantic features cannotbe considered axiomatic or atomic. Theidea ofaxiomatic word/conceptis always relative to a certainconceptual domain. Thus cause, become, state are axiomatic with

respect to the system ofEnglish verbs:

(15) a. The egg is red. (S)

b. Her cheeks reddened. BECOME (S)

c. He reddened the eggs. CAUSE (BECOME (S))

On the other hand, the concept of causality is the subject of a theory ofphysics. Concepts like object, entity substance are explained inphysics, philosophy, etc.

Moreover the task of characterizing semes as minimal, or asconceptual primitives collapses when confronted with semes likethe following:

(16) where one sleeps hotel

where one eats or drinks restaurant

In conclusion semantic features are concepts of a language. Theyhave a distinctive function. They cannot be considered primitive.


11/23

11

(17) Definition:

The semantic dimension is the property or relation

according to which an opposition is constituted.


12/23

12

(18) Definition. An opposition is privative when one term of theopposition is marked for a feature that the other term lacks.

(19)

[consonant]

[+plosive]

b : p

[+voice] [-voice]

(20) bluish : blue[+approximation] [- approximation]

kitchenette : kitchen

[+small, size] [- small size]

The model of privative oppositions is also successful for triplets likethose in (21), where one term is positively marked [+F], while theunmarked term is underspecified, functioning as [s F], therefore,the [sF] contrast is neutralized. In the examples below, woman,mare, etc is [+ female], while man, dogare [s female]. Aredundancy rule of the vocabulary stipulates that [+male] m [-female]


13/23

13

[s

FEMALE] [+ FEMALE] [- FEMALE](21) man woman man

horse mare horse

dog bitch dog

Redundancy rule: [+male]m [- female]

(22) [MARRIAG

E]

[+MARRIAGE] [-MARRIAGE]

married unmarried

husband bachelor, single

wife spinster, single


14/23

14

Equipollent oppositions

Definition The two terms of an equipollent opposition share the baseand the relevant dimension, but differ in terms of specificdifferential features. The form of the opposition is thus aRb, ratherthan a R ba (the privative opposition):

(23)

SEX

[+MALE] [- FEMALE]

boy girlstallion mare


15/23

15

Attempts to reduce three-term oppositions to binary oppositions. In thiscase a hierarchy of the dimensions is introduced to accommodatethe third term.

a) oppositions between [ (either a or b) or (neither a nor b) ]

(24) AGE

|

[NEITHER YOUNG NOR OLD] --------[EITHER YOUNG OR OLD]

|

middle aged [-MIDDLE-AGED]past his prime young old

b) oppositions between [ (both a and b) or (neither a nor b)]

(25)

STATE|

[NEITHER LIQUID NOR GAS] [BOTH LIQUID AND GAS]

| |

solid fluid

|

liquid---------------gas


16/23

16

(26) [ENTITY]

they[-PERSON] [+PERSON]

| |

it/ what/something/nothing who/somebody/no one

|

[MALE] [FEMALE]

he she

Two things appear to have been achieved: Apparently ternaryoppositions are reduced to two binary oppositions. Secondly, ahierarchy of structure of content, resulting from a geometry offeatures is also achieved. Such a hierarchy, i.e., a cluster oflexical items hierarchically ordered by the opposing featuresrepresents a semantic/lexical system.


17/23

17

The semantic system

A cluster of lexical items hierarchically ordered by the opposingfeatures represents a semantic/lexical system.

(27) Nouns [ scountable] ( table : water)

[+Countable] [s Plural] (tables: table)

(28) [FIGURE]

[TYPE OF BORDER LINE]

CURVED STRAIGHT-SIDED

THREE-SIDED FOUR-SIDED FIVE-SIDED

circle triangle square pentagonellipsis quadrangle

(29) COLOR

red orange yellow green blue violet black


18/23

18

a) All members of the paradigm/taxonomy have at least

one common semantic feature, the root of the paradigmor taxonomy.

b) The meaning of every form differs from that of everyother form in terms of one or several additional

features.

c) In the perfect paradigm features are unordered, alldimensions are relevant for all terms, that is, thefeatures of any dimension combine with all those of anyother dimension. The dimensions behave like thegrammatical categories of inflectional paradigms (seethe paradigm of kinship terms below). In the perfecttaxonomy, features are hierarchically ordered. A givenfeature combines with only one feature from any otherdimension.


19/23

19

(31) Paradigm considered

grandfather, father, mother, grandmother, uncle, aunt, son, grandson,grand-daughter, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, son-in-law

Root of the paradigm: K = kinsman

(32) Dimensions of the paradigm,

a. consanguinity [s consanguine] (son-in-law: son)

b. sex [female]: [male] (aunt, father)

c. generation

(33) G+3 G+2 G+1 G0 G-1 G-2 G-3great-grandfather grandfather father ego son grandson great-grandson

d. line

(34)+L : grandfather, father, mother, son, daughter, grandson

-L : brother, sister, niece, uncle, cousin

e. rank opposes the features direct/indirect relationship.

(35) [+D] mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter

[-D] grandfather, grandson, uncle, aunt


20/23

20

(36) THE KINSHIP PARADIGMTerm Root Consang Line Rank Sex Generation

K M|F G+2 G+1 G0 G-1 G-2

father + + + + m +

mother + + + + f +

uncle + + - - m +

aunt + + - - f +

brother + + - + m +

sister + + - + f +

cousin + + - - X +

son + + + + m +

niece + + - - f +

nephew + + - - m +

son-in-law + - + - m +


21/23

21

Some results:

1. The analysis allows us to state componential definitions (viewed as

eliminative in the classical variant of CA, in the sense that notonly the word used predicatively implies its definition, but also itsdefinition implies the word):

(37) X is my father | X is my blood relative, in a direct line,of primary rank, male,

and in the first ascending generation

Word meaning is represented as a conjunction of conceptual semes

(39) woman +FEMALE, +HUMAN, +ADULTspinster +FEMALE, +HUMAN, +NEVER MARRIED

bachelor +MALE, +HUMAN, +NEVER MARRIED


22/23

22

2. Componential definitions serve as a basis for delimiting the classof analytical statements and contradictory statements:

(40) Husbands are married and male.+HUMAN

+ADULT

+MALE

+ MARRIED

(41) That bachelor is married

+HUMAN

+ADULT

+MALE

- MARRIED

3. Componential definitions may be viewed as warranting certainentailments by definition. These are called meaning postulates(Carnap, 1947).

(42) He is my brother He is male

He is the same generation with me

x [[ x is my brother] [x is male]]


23/23

23

Taxonomies

As already illustrated, in the perfect paradigm features are unordered,all dimensions are relevant for all the terms. In the perfect

taxonomy, features are ordered in a hierarchy and combine withonly one feature of any other dimension.

(44) PLANT

FLOWER TREE

GARDEN FLOWER WILD FLOWER FRUIT TREE WILD TREE

tulip peony rose daisy violet apple pear cherry oak fir

tree tree tree tree tree

Documents

Lexical Semantics 3