Linguistics: study of language

 Phonetic & Phonology: study of sounds

 Morphology: study of morphemes (how words are made)  words
 Syntax: study of phrases, clauses, sentences
 Semantics: study of meaning
3 kinds of meaning:

- Word meaning (can be looked up in dictionary/internet)

- Sentence meaning (can be guessed in context)
- Utterance meaning

- What makes meaning?

SESSION 1 - Types of meaning?
- Sentences, utterances & proposition
- Ways of talking about meaning
SESSION 2 - Reference & senses
- Types of references
- Sense
SESSION 3 - Sense relation between predicates
- Sense relation between sentences
SESSION 4 - Practices
- Midterm test
SESSION 5
- Figure of speech
- Figure of speech
SESSION 6
- More practice
- Utterance meaning
SESSION 7 - Speech acts, implicative
- Presuppositions
SESSION 8 - Wrap up
SESSION 1
- Meaning:
o Meaning of a word/ a sentence
o Speaker’s will = speaker’s attitude

- What makes meaning?  semantic features, components, properties

Meaning of the word “man”

+ human (- animal)
+ male (- female) Basic semantic features (SF)
+ mature/adult
+ strong
+ gentleman
+ lazy Additional SF  Speaker’s attitude
+ etc.
DENOTATION & CONNOTATION
 Denotation is the core, central or referential meaning of the word found in a dictionary.
 It is the meaning that may be described in terms of a set of basic semantic features that identify
the particular concept associated with the word.

 Connotation of a word is additional meaning that the word has beyond its denotative meaning. It
shows people’s attitude toward what the word refers to.
SENTENCES, UTTERANCES, PROPOSITIONS
1/ Utterances

- A stretch of talk: used in speaking, continuous (without stop)

- By one person = 1 speaker: different speakers make different utterances
- An utterance is the USE by a particular speaker, on a particular occasion (depending on time and
place), of a piece of language (belonging to a particular language), such as a sequence of
sentences, or a single phrase, or even a single word
2/ Sentences

- Used in writing
- A string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language
o Take off your shoes.
Different sentences
o Take your shoes off.

3/ Propositions

- A part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some state of
affairs.  proposition
 - Do not belong to any particular language. Sentences in 2 languages can correspond to the same
proposition, if the two sentence are perfect translations of each other
o Take off your shoes.
Same propositions
o Take your shoes off.

SESSION 2+3
2 ways of talking about meaning: reference and sense
Reference: the relationship between language (words, phrases, sentences) and the world (objects / people
around us)  a house =
Sense: the relationship between language and language  a house = a building that people can live in

- When Albert talks about his former friend, he means me.  reference
- Daddy, what does logic mean?  sense
- Purchase has the same meaning of buy.  sense
- Look up the meaning of apoplexy in your dictionary.  sense
- If you look out of the window now, you’ll see who I mean.  reference
- Pavement in British English means sidewalk in American English.  sense

TYPES OF REFERENCE
1 linguistic expression has more than one referent (“my left hand” has many different referent [based on
the speaker])  variable reference
2 linguistic expressions have 1 referent  co reference
1 linguistic expression has 1 referent  constant reference

REFERRING EXPRESSION
A referring expression is any expression used in an utterance to refer to something or someone, i.e. used
with a particular referent in mind.
Words with no referent (“auxiliary”) and words without specific referents (“a man”) cannot be referring
expression

SENSE

- Sense properties of sentences

- Sense relation between words and between sentences

1/ Sense properties

- Analytic: always true

- Synthetic: either true or false
- Contradictory: always false

2/ Sense relation between words/predicates

- Hyponym: a word whose referent is totally included in the referent of another term 
Hyponymy (sense relation between hyponym and its superordinate)
o A belongs to B  A = hyponym; B = hypernym (superordinate)
o Red, blue, white, pink, etc. belongs to color  red= hyponym; color = hypernym
- Synonyms: words which have the same or nearly the same meaning but different form 
Synonymy
- Polysemous: a single word with many different but related meanings  Polysemy
o Earth = soil; planet
- Homonym: 2 words with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning 
Homonymy
o Bank = financial institution; riverside
- Homophone: 2 words with the same pronunciation but different spelling and meaning 
Homophony
o Read (past simple) = red; sun = son; here = hear
- Homograph: 2 words with the same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning 
Homography
o Record; tear; present
- Antonym: words with the opposite meaning  Antonymy
o Binary antonymy: not A = B; there are no possibilities between them, can’t be used in
comparative  not pass = fail; not dead = alive
o Gradable antonymy: not A =/= B; there are some possibilities between them, can be
used in comparative  not hot = warm, cold, cool
o Relational antonymy/converses: have a relation with each other; if X is A of Y, then Y
is B of X  A & B = converse  X is father of Y; then Y is child of X  father & child
= converse
Ambiguity:
o Structural ambiguity: like in syntax ex: Gerund vs present participle (they are cooking
fish  they are cooking a fish OR they are fish for cooking)
 o Lexical ambiguity: meaning of the word ex: she cannot bear children  she can’t give
birth to children OR she can’t handle children)

3/ Sense relation between sentences

- Paraphrase: 2 sentences have the same meaning

- Entailment: 2 sentences where the truth of one implies the truth of the other
o If A is true then B must be true  one way entailment ex: “I saw an elephant” entails “I
saw an animal”
o Two way entailment = paraphrase

Deny - Admit: Binary Antonymy Red – Scarlet: Hyponymy

Gloom - Darkness: Synonymy Present – Absent: Binary Antonymy
Pupil (school) – Pupil (eye): Homonymy Dark (room) – Dark (side): Polysemy
Bat (baseball) – Bat (animal): Homonymy Horse – Hoarse: Homophony
Head – Eyelash: Hyponymy Male – Female: Binary Antonymy
Fiancé – Fiancée: Relational Antonymy Give – Receive: Relational Antonymy
Over – Under: Relational Antonymy Might (possibility) – Might (strength): Homonymy
Flour – Flower: Homophony Pale – Pail: Homophony
Grate – Great: Homophony Fowl – Rooster: Hyponymy
Hungry – Starve: Synonymy Approve – Disapprove: Binary Antonymy
Teacher – Student: Relational Antonymy

SESSION 4
FIGURE OF SPEECH
 - Simile: compare A with B with function words like & as. Ex: She is as white as snow  this
sentence uses simile to compare the paleness of her skin to that of snow with the function word
“as”

- Metaphor: compare A with B indirectly (without function words). Ex: John is a snake in the
grass  the sentence uses metaphor to compare John’s untrustworthiness to that of a snake

- Metonymy: substitute the name of one thing for another, related thing. Includes
o a sign substitutes for the thing it signifies (crown=queen)
o an instrument substitutes an agent (the pen (=writer) is mightier than the sword
(=soldier))
o a container substitutes for what it stores/containee (the kettle (=water) is boiling)
o an organ substitutes for something abstract (heart = love)
o the material substitutes for the object it makes up (glass = cup)
o a producer substitutes for their work (have you read Shakespeare?)

- Synecdoche: use the part to refer to the whole or vice versa.

o The actor captured the fans’ heart.  The sentence uses metonymy to substitute a heart
(a part of body) for love (something abstract)
o He has a kind heart.  The sentence uses synecdoche to substitute a heart (a part of
body) for a man (a whole)
- Hyperbole (overstatement): use exaggerated statements that are made for special effect and are
not meant to take literally. Ex: I haven’t seen you for ages  “for ages” is the use of hyperbole to
refer to “for a long time”

- Understatement: Use deliberately gentler, milder or weaker statement to express something in a

very controlled way. Ex: Jim was rather upset when he failed again

- Euphemism: Use pleasant, mild, indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate of direct
ones. Ex: pass away = die

- Personification: Give the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an idea. Ex: Little faint
winds were playing chase  this sentence uses personification to give qualities of human
(playing chase) to the winds

1. My dorm is like a cave  this sentence uses simile to compare the darkness of the dorm to that of a
cave with the function word “like”
2. Come to my dorm and see what a cave I live in  this sentence uses metaphor to compare the
darkness of the dorm to that of a cave without a function word
3. The ambassador came in when the White House called  this sentence uses metonymy to substitute
the White House (container) for the US president (containee)
4. Can you protect your children from the cradle to the grave?  This sentence uses metonymy to
substitute cradle for birth and grave for death (sign for object)
5. She has a head of business  this sentence uses metonymy to substitute head (part of body) to
thinking (abstract)
6. Gray hairs should be respected  this sentence uses synecdoche to substitute gray hairs (part of
body) for old people (a whole)
7. You can depend on Mary, she is a rock when trouble comes  this sentence uses metaphor to
compare Mary’s strength with a rock without a function word
8. Man doesn’t live by bread only  this sentence uses metonymy
9. Alice came in gently, like a May breeze  Alice came in as gently as a May breeze  this sentence
uses simile to compare the gentleness of Alice’s appearance to that of a May breeze with the function
word “like”
10. Little Susie is a picture of loveliness in her new dress  This sentence uses metaphor to compare
Susie’s beauty to a picture of loveliness
11. He is as mute as a fish  This sentence uses simile to directly compare his silence to that of a fish.
12. Why don’t you recognize the power of her purse?  this sentence uses metonymy to substitute a
purse (container) for money (containee)
13. He drank 2 glasses  This sentence uses metonymy to substitute a glass, which is a container, for
alcohol, its content.
14. This is a village of a hundred souls  This sentence uses synecdoche to substitutes souls (human
part) for the villagers (a whole)
15. Who brought fire and sword into our country?  this sentence uses metonymy to substitute fire and
sword (sign) for war (something it signifies)
16. The man is a demon for work  this sentence uses metaphor to compare the man’s energy to that of
a demon
17. When he gets going, Jack is a streak of lighting  this sentence uses metaphor to compare Jack’s
speed with that of a streak of lighting
18. Words are the weapons with which we wound  this sentence uses metaphor to compare the
destruction of words to that of weapons
19. You’re my sunshine  this sentence uses metaphor to compare the person’s importance to that of
the sunshine
20. You are a mist that appears a little and vanishes.  metaphor to compare the person’s quick
disappearance to that of a mist
21. I’ve invited millions of people to my party  “millions of people” is the use of hyperbole to refer to
“a lot of people”

22. Their next strategy is to expand their business to less developed countries
They organized a fleet of fifty sails  “sails” (part) synecdoche “boat” (whole)
23. I’m innocent of his blood  “his blood”
24. Her hands are as cold as ice  “the coldness of her hand” simile “that of the ice”
25. We live under the same roof  “roof” (part) synecdoche “house” (whole)
26. When the speaker finished, we knew that we had been listening to a person with a great mind 
“mind” (organ) metonymy thinking (abstract)
27. When you take that course, plan to study 30 hours a day  “30 hours a day” hyperbole for “a lot of
time”

SESSION 5
SPEECH ACT
 A speech act is an utterance as a functional unit in communication. It has both propositional
meaning (locutionary meaning or locution) and illocutionary force or illocution.
1. Propositional/Locutionary meaning: the basic literal meaning of a speech act, which is conveyed
by its particular words and structures.
- Ex: Can you open the door?  Do you have the ability to open the door?
2. Illocutionary force: The illocutionary force of the speech act is its intended effects such as ordering,
inviting, etc.
- Ex: Can you open the door?  Request for someone to open the door
 Illocutions are acts such as accosting, accusing, admitting, apologizing, complaining, condoling,
congratulating, giving permission, giving way, greeting, leave-taking, mocking, naming, offering,
promising, protesting, thanking, proposing marriage, recommending, etc.
3. Perlocutionary act: the listener’s reaction
1. “Why don’t you go to Portugal this summer?”
 Locution: asking why the listener don’t go to Portugal this summer
 Illocution: making this utterance, the speaker wants to suggest the listener go to Portugal this
summer.

2. “Don’t you think you ought to phone your mother?”

- Locution: Asking if/whether you should phone your mother.

 - Illocution: Making the utterance, the speaker wants to suggest the listener phone his/her mother.

3. “I must ask you to leave.”

- Locution: A statement indicating the speaker’s obligation to tell the listener to go away.
- Illocution: The speaker makes a formal request for the listener to leave.

4. “Can you remind everybody that we meet here again at 6?”

- Making the utterance, the speaker wants to request the listener to remind everybody of the
meeting.

5. “Can you pass the salt?”

- Making the utterance, the speaker wants to request the listener to pass the salt.

6. To a car salesman who just mentioned a price of $950 for a car: “OK, I’ll take it at that price.”

- Making the utterance, the speaker accepts the price.

7. Shop girl handing over a packet of razor blades and two bars of soap: “That will be 88p, please.”

- Making the utterance, the speaker informs the customer the price of the items.

8. Museum attendant to visitors: “I’m afraid we are closing now.”

- In this utterance, the speaker wants to inform the closing hours.

CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH ACTS

 Representative (stating): describing a state of affairs in a world (asserting, stating, affirming,
describing, predicting, reporting, answering questions, etc.)
 Commissive (speaker does the action): commit the speaker to a course of action (promising, vowing,
threatening, offering, etc.) >< Directive (listener does something) (warning, asking, requesting,
suggesting, etc.)
 Declarative (a change in state): bring about or change the state of affairs (naming, sentencing,
announcing marriage, etc.)
 Expressive (express feeling): indicate the speaker’s psychological state, feeling or attitude about
something (thanking, apologizing, complaining, greeting, refusing, admitting, etc.)

A: Let’s go to a real restaurant for a change.

B: It costs too much.
 - B rejects/refuses to go to the restaurant. This is expressive.

A: Take this paper to the lady over there.

B: I beg your pardon! – I didn’t hear what you said.

- Making this utterance, the speaker wants the listener to repeat what he/she just said. This is
directive.

A: You’ve taken my seat.

B: Oh, I beg your pardon!

- Making this utterance, the speaker wants to apologize. This is expressive.

SESSION 6
UTTERANCE MEANING
 Co-operative principle: basic principle governing conversation. It consists of 4 basic conversational
maxims, the unwritten rules about conversation which people know and which influence the form of
conversational exchanges

- The maxim of relevance: what we say should be relevant

- The maxim of quality: what we say should be true
 - The maxim of quantity: what we say should be brief
- The maxim of clarity: what we say should be clear

 Conversational implicature: inferences that cannot be made from isolated utterances. They depend
on the context of the utterances and shared knowledge between the speaker and the hearer. An
inference or an additional unstated meaning.
The relationship between co-operative principle and conversational implicature (intentionally violates the
maxim)
 Presupposition: what the speaker or writer assumes that the receiver of the message already knows.
It remain the same under its negation and interrogation. (pay attention to the verb tense!!)

Ex: “Don’t sit on Anna’s sofa” presupposes that Anna has a sofa.
A: Do you love me?
B: I’m quite fond of you

- B’s utterance implicates that B doesn’t love A.

A: Is Mary in?
B: Her light is on.

- B’s utterance implicates that Mary is in.

A: My car is broken.
B: There is a garage near here.

- B’s utterance implicates that A should have his/ her car serviced at the garage near here.

A: Let’s try the new Arab restaurant round the corner.

B: I’m vegetarian.
Implicature: Arab restaurants are likely not to serve vegetarian food.
Where did you buy that bike? This utterance presupposes that you bought that bike.
 REVIEW
I. Fill in the blanks
1. A semantic field is an organization of related words and expressions into a system which shows
their relationship to one another.
2. When the same linguistic expression refers to different references, it has variable reference.
3. Connotation shows people’s attitude towards what the word refers to.
4. Antonymy is sense relation in which two words are opposite in meaning.
5. Figure of speech is a word or an expression that doesn’t have literal meaning but is used for
special effect.
6. A conversational implicature is an inference or an additional unstated meaning drawn from any
conversation.
7. A presupposition is what the writer or the speaker assumes that the receiver of the message
already knows.
8. A speech act has two kinds of meaning: locution meaning and illocution meaning
9. A(n) speech act is using the sentence to perform a function.
10. A(n) perlocution act is the results or effects that are produced by means of saying something.
II. Indicate the relationship between the words in the following pairs:
1. Deny – admit: binary antonymy
2. Gloom – darkness: synonymy
3. Pupil (at school) – pupil (of an eye): homonymy
4. Bat (baseball) – bat (animal): homonymy
5. Head – eyelash: hyponymy
6. Fiancé – fiancée: relational antonymy
7. Over – under: relational antonymy
8. Flour – flower: homophony
9. Grate – great: homophony

III. Consider the following dialogues and try to draw their conversational implicature
1. A: Are you going to Steve’s party?
B: Well, Steven has a big dog now.
 B’s utterance implicates that B is not going to Steve’s party.

2. A: This cheese looks funny. The label said not to keep the cheese in the freezer.
B: Yeah, I did see the label.
 B’s utterance implicates that B didn’t keep the cheese in the freezer.

3. A: Am I in time for supper?

B: I’ve cleaned the table.
 B’s utterance implicates that A is late for supper.

4. A: How was the exam?

B: It was really difficult this time.
  B’s utterance implicates that B didn’t do well on the exam.

5. A: Do you have a Mercedes?

B: I don’t have any expensive car.
 B’s utterance implicates that B doesn’t have a Mercedes.

IV. Identify the presupposition in the following sentences

1. It is strange that John loves Mary.  This utterance presupposes that John loves Mary.

2. Ed should stop eating raw oyster.  This utterance presupposes that Ed has been eating raw
oyster.

3. David wants more ice cream.  This utterance presupposes that David already has ice cream.

4. Sue blamed Mary for her being late.  This utterance presupposes that Sue was late.

5. Stop being lazy.  This utterance presupposes that you are lazy.

6. John thought that it was raining.  This utterance presupposes that it wasn’t raining.

7. Did John hide Ann’s chocolate cake?  This utterance presupposes that Ann had a chocolate
cake.

8. He gave up smoking.  This utterance presupposes that he used to smoke.

9. I wonder if Mike smashed the TV.  This utterance presupposes that the TV was smashed.

10. No one knows that Peter is gay.  This utterance presupposes that Peter is gay.

11. I’m going to visit my sister in Canada.  This utterance presupposes that I have a sister who
lives in Canada.
12. Where has Fed looked for keys?  This utterance presupposes that Fed is looking for keys.

V. Interpret the following sentences and identify the figure(s) of speech employed
1. Can you protect your children from the cradle to the grave?
Meaning: Can you protect your children from childhood to death?
  This sentence uses metonymy to substitute the cradle for childhood and the grave for death.
2. Not a soul was found in the street.
Meaning: Not a person was found in the street.
 This sentence uses synecdoche to substitute a soul for a person.
3. The class are attentive to the teacher’s lecture.
Meaning: The students are attentive to the teacher’s lecture.
 This sentence uses metonymy to substitute the class (container) for students (containee)
4. America is a salad bowl.
Meaning: America is as diverse as a salad bowl.
 This sentence uses metaphor to compare the diversity of America to that of a salad bowl
5. This city never sleeps.
Meaning: The people of this city never sleeps.
 This sentence uses personification to give qualities of a human (sleeping) to this city.

VI. Explain the ambiguity in each of the following sentences by providing two sentences that
paraphrase its two meanings
1. She is standing near the bank.
She is standing near the financial institution
She is standing near the bank of a river
2. We were late but the coach was late too.
We were late but the instructor was late too
We were late but the tour bus was late too
3. An old friend of mine teaches at the school.
A friend I have known for a long time teaches at the school
A friend of mine who is of old age teaches at the school
4. Children may feed animals.
Children are allowed to feed animals
Children may possibly feed animals

VII. Identify the speech acts performed in the light of the situations provided
1. A: Let’s go to our place for a beer.
B: All right.
Making this utterance, A wants to invite B to have a drink with them. This is directive.
2. A: Mind your head!
B: Thanks for warning!
Making this utterance, A warns B to mind his or her head. This is directive.
3. A: To make a long story short, Ed’s girlfriend falls in love with Ed’s younger brother.
B: Who will believe in your story?
Making this utterance, B expresses disbelief in A’s story. This is expressive.
4. Students (taking an exam): I’ve just asked him for a correction pen!
Teacher: Is it right to cheat in the exam?
Making this utterance, the teacher warns the student not to cheat in the exam. This is
directive.
 5. Wife: Dinner’s ready. Can you set the table?
Husband: I’m dead tired now.
Making this utterance, the husband refuses to set the table. This is expressive.
6. A drunken man: just bring me another beer.
Host: If you keep on misbehaving, we are going to turn you into the police.
Making this utterance, the host threatens the drunken man. This is commissive.
7. A: Did you go to the theater last night?
B: I didn’t.
A: Tell me the truth. Did you go to the theater last night?
B: I said I didn’t
Making this utterance, B denies that B went to the theater last night. This is expressive
8. A: He asked me if I wanted to go out with him.
B: And what did you say?
A: I said I didn’t
Making this utterance, A reports what A said in the story. This is representative.

VIII. Identify the presupposition(s) in each of the following sentences

1. They want more vegetable.
This utterance presupposes that they has had some vegetable.
2. Did you regret telling him the truth?
This utterance presupposes that you told him the truth.
3. I know that you have tried hard.
This utterance presupposes that you have tried hard.
4. Let’s imagine that today is New Year.
This utterance presupposes that today is not New Year.
5. If you hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t complete my task now.
This utterance presupposes that you helped me.
6. I can’t remember where I put my bag.
This utterance presupposes that I have a bag.
7. It’s going to be hot in some more weeks.
This utterance presupposes that it is hot.
IX. Consider the following dialogues and try to draw the possible implicature of the utterances
1. A: Are you hungry?
B: I haven’t eaten anything in 3 days.
This utterance implicates that B is hungry.
2. A: Is he a good student?
B: He is very good looking.
This utterance implicates that he is not a good student.
3. A: Did you all enjoy the movie?
B: Some of us did.
This utterance implicates that not everyone enjoyed the movie
4. A: Are you enjoying the coffee?
B: It tastes extremely bitter this morning!
This utterance implicates that B does not enjoy the coffee
5. A: Did you finish the report?
B: I just started.
This utterance implicates that B hasn’t finished the report