(2) semantics and linguistics
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Semantics and
linguistics
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Let us now try to place semantics
within linguistics and see what that implies.
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semantics is a component or level of linguistics of the same kind as phonetics or
grammar..
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•How do linguists view
semantics within
linguistics?
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Nearly all linguists have, explicitly or implicitly, accepted a linguistic model in
which semantics is at one 'end' and phonetics at the other, with grammar
somewhere in the middle
(though not necessarily that there are just these three
levels).
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•Why is this view “model”
plausible?
Semantics Grammar Phonetics
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Channel
Communication Cycle
receiverSender
Message
Feedback
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For Communication, we needA Communication
System
Something to communicate
Something to communicate
with
Language
Message
Signs or symbols
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The Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure
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De Saussure used the term SIGN to refer to the association of the
signifier and the signified
A problem with terminology
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His more recent followers
used SING for the signifier
alone.
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•There are so many communication
systems.•They are much simpler
then language.
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Examples are
Traffic lights
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animals communicate
Gibbons
have a set of calls to indicate • the discovery of food, •danger, • friendly interest, •desire for company, •establishing position
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have a set of calls to indicate • the discovery of food, •danger, • friendly interest, •desire for company, •establish position
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Language as a system of communication differs from other communication
systems.
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First, language does not always have a 'message’
• language is not simply a matter of providing factual information.
(Inter-personal relations)(Social relashionships)
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Secondly•Complexity of “signifiers;
and the “signified” in language.
•Complexity of the relation between them.
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Thirdly• difficulty
(impossibility), of specifying precisely what the message is.
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Example•In the communication system of traffic
wait
“in English”
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The message can be independently
identified in terms of language
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For languageMeaning (the 'message')
cannot be identified independently of
language.
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What is the meaning of
Could you please pass the salt?
Language can only be described in
terms of language.
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Language can only be described in
terms of language.
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Is semantics “scientific”?
(1)A scientific study should be “empirical”.
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(2) Linguistics is defended as:
the 'scientific' study of language.
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one essential requirement of a scientific study is that statements made within it must, in principle at least,
be verifiable by observation.
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This can easily be applied to “phonetics”
we can observe what is
happening.
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•We can listen to a person speaking.
Auditory phonetics
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English vowels : 1. / i: /
/ i/:
1 / .i: / e.g. see
spelling:
ee ------see
e ------eve
ei ------receive
ay ------quay
ea ------sea
ie ------field
Close, front ,spread narrow lips and long
•We can describe the operations of the vocal organs
Articulatory phonetics
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We can measure precisely the physical characteristics of the
sounds that are emitted.
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Accoustic phonetics
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there is, unfortunately, no
similar, simple, way of dealing with
semantics.
BUT
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Furthermore,
if linguistics is scientific, it must be concerned
not with specific instances, but with
generalisations.
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This point was made by two linguists:
Ferdinand de Saussure Avram Noam Chomsky
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•Made the distinction betweenFerdinand de Saussure
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•Made the distinction between:
Noam Chomsky
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PerformanceCompetence
Unconscious knowledge of
possible grammatical
structures in an idealized speaker
Actual production and comprehension of language in
specific instances of
language use
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What are they all concerned about?
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They are all concerned essentially to exclude what is
purely individual and accidental (speaking or performance),
and to insist that the proper study of linguistics is
language or competence.
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How does Palmer differ from de Saussure and Chomsky?
For de Saussure and Chomsky: language or competence is some
kind of idealised system without any clear empirical basis
Palmer prefers to think in terms of generalisations
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What does this mean?
Let’s take the example of
“phonetics” again.
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The phonetician is not primarily concerned with• the particular sounds • that are made at a particular
time• by a particular person.
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What does a phonetician do?S/He studies the pronunciation of
words.To do so, s/he (1) will listen to a number of
individual utterances of the word, and
(2) will make a generalised statement on the basis of these.
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What happens at each time a person speaks is not
usually of interest in itself; it is rather part of the
evidence for the generalisations.
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How does this relate to
“semantics”The same must be true of semantics.
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Recall Lewis Carroll once again
(Through the Looking-Glass):
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Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone,
'When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean - neither more nor
less'.
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Semantics is not normally concerned with the
meaning any individual wishes to place on his
words.
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An individual's meaning is not part of the general
study of semantics.
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However, it is interesting or important for some
purposes to see how and why an individual diverges from the normal pattern.
For example: (1) Literature (2) Psychiatric stdies. (3) Etc
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An important noteWhat is the difference
between:
(1) a sentence and(2) an utterance?
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This is my bag.
Is this a sentence or an utterance?
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The distinction is as follows
An utterance is an event in time:
Produced by someone.At some particular time.
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A sentence is (1) An abstract entity that
has no existence in time, but
(2) It is part of the linguistic system of a language.
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The distinction is related to
Competence
Performance
and
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Competence
Sentences belong to
Utterance belong to
Performance
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So; what is semantics concerned with?
Semantics is not concerned with the
meaning of utterances.It is concerned with the
meaning of sentences
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What does this imply?• Semantics cannot be
studied without assuming a great deal about
grammar and other aspects of the structure of
language.