MEANING IN LANGUAGE

Meaning in Language



Meaning in Language

Section 1

Choose one noun whose meaning lends itself to representation in terms of semantic features. Provide a complete (as possible) semantic feature analysis for the word.

Semantics is the area of linguistics dealing with the meaning of words or the meaning attached to words or symbols. This view places semantics at the core of communication in language. Indeed, there is no communication without the sharing of meaning. Linguistic semantics emphasizes the properties of natural languages while pure or logical semantics is the study of the meaning of expressions using logical systems or calculi. Examining semantics in this dimension makes it more mathematically related than linguistic in nature. It is important to note that the discussion of semantics as a branch of linguistics began recently and this shall be our next focus.

The noun taken for semantic analysis is “love”. For instance, the word “love” would be viewed differently by different people as a result of their circumstance or present reality. One person who probably is in a loving relationship will view it positively while another in an unfulfilled relationship will view it negatively. Hence, their reactions will be different and will therefore evoke different emotions from them.

Discuss in no more than 200 words any remaining aspects of meaning which you were unable to capture using this approach and what other types of representation could be used to fully capture the meaning.

The world is dynamic; the study of semantics has not been left out. One of such areas that have remained dynamic among others is the concept of change in meaning. Semantics has been at the fore in the study of change in meaning. As early as 1933, Bloomfield observed a system of change in the meaning of words. Instances of change in meaning of words overtime:

Meat used to represent all types of food

Bitter derives from the metaphor of biting

The meaning of astound derives from the weakened meaning of thunder

The meaning of knight has been an elevation of the concept of boy

The word money relates to the Latin moneo [warn] or admonish because money was made in Rome at the temple of the goddess, Junto Moneta

Tanks in modern warfare derived their names from the 1914 - 1918 war in which the Germans were deceived into believing that the structures being moved around were just water tanks

The modern word car originated from the word chariot Etymology, which focuses on the discovery of the origin and earlier meanings of words, also played an important role in earlier studies in semantics. However, it should be noted that there is a challenge with etymological studies. The major one being that no one can state with certainty the origin of the meaning of any word.

Section 2

Choose one verb and write 5 meaning postulates which can define the verb as clearly as possible.

The verb that is chosen for this analysis is “take”. Following are sentences which defined the verb as clearly as ...