Semantics - interpreting signs
1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References
1. Introduction
The lecture was about signs and how to interpret them.
2. Learner's Diary
The conceptual and actual world
Language signs can be discussed in terms of two domains:
- the conceptual / cognitive / mental domain
- the actual domain of behaviour and interaction by particular people at a given time
and place.
Knowledge of a language
Distinguish between:
- knowledge of a language (implicit knowledge, competence, which everybody has)
- knowledge about a language (explicit, metalinguistic knowledge, which linguists
have)
Sense and reference
The term meaning is ambiguous, it has a
general aspect: sense (German: Sinn)
- the combination of lexical and sentence meanings of an expression, dependent on semantic relations within the language
specific, concrete aspect: reference (German: Bedeutung)
- the actual objects, entities, events, etc., in the world, which an expression refers to
Example 1
- the senses of the expressions “morning star”, “evening star”, “second planet from the sun”, “the planet Venus” are different
- the reference of the expressions is the same
Example 2
- the senses of the expressions “President of Bavaria” and “Dr. Edmund Stoiber” are different
- the reference of the expressions is the same (at the moment)
Meanings
Verbal signs
- phonemes
- morphemes, words
- sentences
- texts
- dialogues
Semantic sign types (C.S. Pierce)
Index is a sign with a relationship of physical proximity with its meaning
- place
- cause
- example: smoke as an index for fire
Icon is a sign with a relationship of similarity with its meaning
- visual similarity
- acoustic similarity
- maybe similarity in the other senses
- example: sound of an animal
Symbol is a sign with an arbitrary relationship with its meaning
- example: the cross as a Christian symbol
3. Tasks and Quizzes
Compositional meaning
What do the following units add to the meanings of their parts?
derived word: unattainable
compound word: roundabout
sentence: these cats chased twenty mice
colourless green ideas sleep furiously
Find examples in English and German of
- indices – smoke point out fire
- icons - wau-wau, cock-a-doodle-do, Eiffel Tower
- symbols - traffic signs, cross (Christian sign)
Find examples of at least 3 appraisive expressions in English and German
- mangelhaft, well done, excellent, hervorragend, ausgeziechnet, that's funny
Find examples of at least 3 taboo expressions in English and German
- dickhead, bitch, nigger, Hurensohn, Fotze, Wichser
What would be a prototypical
- car: Audi
- dog: German Shepherd
- snake: Cottonmouth
- games console: Nintendo
Make your own definition for “casting show”
In a casting show some judges are looking for a talent, e.g. a singer. The attendees show their abilities to the jury and they decide who is the winner.
Describe the meaning of
- The Scissor Sisters sing - The Scissor Sisters are a band.
- Today the Scissor Sisters sing - They give a concert today.
Quantifications
Find paraphrases for
- many urged passionately... - the majority
- ... heeded not a word - nothing
- All of it was foretold - everything
What can you deduce from “not everybody came”?
- nobody came
- somebody came
- not many came
- somebody did not come
- many did not come
Conjunctions
If John is tired, then he drinks coffee
What can you deduce from this?
- If John does not drink coffee, then he is not tired. (only possible answer)
John drinks coffee and Mary drinks red wine.
What can you deduce from this?
- It is not true that John doesn’t drink coffee or Mary doesn’t drink red wine.
(only possible answer)
Figure out some more logical equivalences using
- conjunctions He is not at home and neither at work.
- not If you do not take the bus you will be late.
Analyse these signs
Keep right - the words have a symbolic meaning, the arrow is an index
lot - iconic meaning
T - symbol
No parking - symbol
Stop - index sign, colour points out danger
arrow - indexical sign
deer pass - iconic sign
no turning - symbol
right turn - index sign
right - indexical meaning
yield - index sign
bike route - iconic, symbol and index sign
4. Evaluation
Interesting was the analysing of the signs. This is a good possibility to practice.
5. References
http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html
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