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Section 2 - Revision

The document discusses word meaning and semantics. It covers topics such as semantic features, denotation vs connotation, reference, metaphor, metonymy, and figures of speech. There are exercises to test understanding of these concepts through filling in blanks, true/false questions, and short answer questions. The exercises assess knowledge of what semantic features are, how denotation and connotation can differ, examples of metaphor and metonymy, and common figures of speech. Mastering these semantics concepts is important for understanding word meaning at a deeper level.

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54 views3 pages

Section 2 - Revision

The document discusses word meaning and semantics. It covers topics such as semantic features, denotation vs connotation, reference, metaphor, metonymy, and figures of speech. There are exercises to test understanding of these concepts through filling in blanks, true/false questions, and short answer questions. The exercises assess knowledge of what semantic features are, how denotation and connotation can differ, examples of metaphor and metonymy, and common figures of speech. Mastering these semantics concepts is important for understanding word meaning at a deeper level.

Uploaded by

Sơn Lê Thái
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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You are on page 1/ 3

Course: Semantics

Section 2: Word Meaning


FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES Revision

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with appropriate words/ phrases:


1. ………………………………………………….are the smallest units of meaning in a word.
2. “If a word is [+human], it is ‘automatically’ [+animate]. This is a ……………………………..
3. The order of identifying the meaning of a word is ………………………..……………..first and
……………………………………later.
4. Different words may share the same ……………………………
5. The same semantic feature can occur in words of different ………………………
6. A …………………… of an expression is often a thing or a person in the world.
7. The ……………….. of a word shows the internal relationship between that word and others in the
vocabulary of a language.
8. The ………………of a word or a linguistic expression is the relationship between that word or
expression and the thing/ the action/ the event/ the quality it refers to.
9. There are ……………types of reference: ………………………………………………….
10. When one linguistic expression refers to one and the same referent, it has ……………..
11. When the same linguistic expression refers to different referents, it has …………………..
12. When two or more expressions share the same referent, they have ……………………….
13. The ……………….of a word is the additional meaning showing people’s emotions and/ or attitudes
towards what the word refers to.
14. The …………………of a word is the core, central or referential meaning of the word found in a
dictionary.
15. The denotation of a word may be described in terms of a set of ………………………… that serve to
identify the particular concept associated with the word.
16. The connotations are …………………, ………………………, and …………………..
17. A ……………………….is a word or phrase which is used for special effect and which does not have
its usual or literal meaning.
18. A …………..is an explicit or direct comparison in which something is compared to something else
by the use of a function word such as like or as.

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Course: Semantics

19. A …………….is an implicit or indirect comparison in which no function word is used.


20. There are ……….kinds of metaphor: …………………………… and ……………………………
21. The leg of the table or the mouth of the river are examples of …………………………
22. ……………….is the substitution of the name of one thing for that of anther to which it is related.
23. ………………………is the use of exaggerated statement that is made for special effect.
24. …………………….is a special kind of metaphor in which some human characteristics is attributed
to an inanimate object or abstract notion.
25. ……………………….is the use of deliberately gentler, milder or weaker statements to express
something in a controlled way.
26. …………………..is the use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate
or direct ones.
27. …………………is a special kind of metonymy in which a part or aspect of a person, object, etc is
meant to refer to the whole person, object, etc.
28. An expression of litotes using a negative to emphasize the contrary is called ………………………
29. …………………is the expression of one’s meaning by saying the direct opposite of one’s thoughts
in order to emphatic, amusing, sarcastic, etc.
30. ……………………….is the word or linguistic expression that refers to a taboo act of behavior in a
society, a culture or a speech community.
Exercise 2: T/F questions:
1. We identify the meaning of a word by its semantic features.
2. The meaning of the word ‘hen’ can be described as a set of the following semantic features:
[+animate] [+bird] [+fowl] [+fully grown] and [+male].
3. The meaning of the word ‘mother’ is identified by its semantic features as [+parental], [+maternal],
[+human], [+female], and [+mature].
4. Like the referent, the reference is abstract.
5. To identify the meaning of a word, all semantic features must be specifically mentioned.
6. The same semantic feature can be found in many different words.
7. Function words have obvious referents.
8. The referent of Peter’s house is the relationship between this English noun phrase and the house that
belongs to Peter.
9. When two phrases “the morning star” and “the evening star” share the same referent, they have co-
referent.
10. The connotation(s) of a word can be easily be found in a dictionary while its denotation may probably
depend on personal and cultural factors.
11. The denotation of a word is peripheral.
12. The synonyms always have the same denotation and connotation.
13. The words ‘stingy’ and ‘frugal’ both have the same denotation “careful with money”; however,
‘stringy’ has negative connotation while ‘frugal’ has positive connotation.
14. Native speakers of a language use dead metaphors intentionally and creatively in order to make their
speech more vivid, figurative and concise.
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Course: Semantics

15. A taboo word and its euphemism share the same denotative and connotative meaning.

Exercise 3: What are factors which the connotation(s) of a word may depend on?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Exercise 4: Give 7 ways of metonymy
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Exercise 5: What are 9 figures of speech?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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