Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学1. What is semantics？什么是语义学？Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language.语义学可定义为对语言意义的研究。2. Some views concerning the study of meaning语义研究的几种主要理论1) The naming theory 命名论It was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things.命名论是最原始的语义理论，是古希腊学者柏拉图提出的。该理论把词看作是该词所指事物的名称或标记。2) The conceptualist view 意念论The conceptualist view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind.意念论认为，语言形式及其所代表的对象之间（即语言与现实世界之间）没有直接联系；确切地说，在理解语义时，是通过大脑中存在意念这一中介物来联系的。3) Contextualism 语境论Contextualism is based on the presumption that one can derive meaning from or reduce meaning to observable contexts. Two kinds of context are recognized: the situational context and the linguistic context.语境论以这样的假设为基础：人们可以从显而易见的语境中推知或归纳出语义。语境有两种：情景语境和语言语境。语境论认为语言的意义离不开使用语言的语境，语义不是抽象的，它存在于语境之中，它来自语境，取决于语境。4) Behaviorism 行为主义论Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as the “situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.” This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest.语义的行为主义论和语义的语境论有相似之处，它也把语义放到语境中去研究，但它更注重人的心理活动，认为语言的意义存在于语言使用者在交际过程中对听到话语的反应。3. Sense and reference 意义和所指They are two related but different aspects of meaning. 它们是词汇意义的既相互联系又有所不同的两个方面。1) Sense is concerned with the inherent meaning of the linguistic form. It is the collection of all the features of the linguistic form; it is abstract and de-contextualized. It is the aspect of meaning dictionary compliers are interested in.意义关心的是语言形式的内在意义。它是语言形式所有特征的总和，它是抽象且脱离语境的。它是词典编写者们所感兴趣的语义方面。简单地说，意义是词汇内在的，抽象的，游离于语境之外的意义。2) Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world; it deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and non-linguistic world of experience.所指是语言形式在现实世界中所指称的东西；涉及语言成分和非语言的经验世界的关系。简单地说，所指是词汇在特定的语境中所指称的具体事物。4. Major sense relations 主要意义关系1） Synonymy 同义关系Synonymy refers to the sameness or close similarity of meaning. Words that are close in meaning are called synonyms.同义现象指的是语义的相同或相近。词义相近的词叫同义词。According to the way they differ, synonyms can be divided into the following groups:a) Dialectal synonyms synonyms used in different regional dialects. British English and American English are the two major geographical varieties of the English language.方言同义词 用在不同地域方言中的同义词。英国英语和美国英语是英语的两大地理变体。示例：英国英语 美国英语Autumn fallLift elevatorFlat departmentWindscreen windshieldTorch flashlightb) Stylistic synonyms synonyms differing in style.Words having the same meaning may differ in style, or degree of formality. In other words, some words tend to be more formal, others casual, and still others neutral in style.文体同义词 在文体上有差异的同义词。有同样意义的词可能在文体上，或者在正式程度上有所不同。也就是说，有些往往比较正式，有些比较随意，有些在问题上则是中性的。示例：Old man, daddy, dad, father, male parentStart, begin, commenceKid, child, offspringc) Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaningThere are words that bear the same meaning but express different emotions of the user, indicating the attitude or bias of the user toward what he is talking about.情感意义或评价意义有所不同的同义词。有着相同的意义却表达了使用者的不同情感的词语，这些词暗示使用者对他所谈论的事情的态度或倾向。示例：Collaborator 合作者/ Accomplice 同谋者，帮凶Like, love, admire, adore, worshipEconomical, frugal, thrifty, mean, miserly, stingyd) Collocational synonyms synonyms differing in their collocation.Some synonyms differ in their collocation, i.e., in the words they go together with. This is a matter of usage.搭配同义词 同义词在其搭配上各不相同，即能和这些不同的同义词相配的词各不相同。示例：Accuseof chargewith rebukefore) Semantically different synonyms synonyms that differ slightly in what they mean.语义上不同的同义词 同义词的意义非常接近，但却有细微差别。示例：Amaze 暗示困惑和迷惑 astound 暗示难以置信Escape 意味逃离不愉快或者危险的事 flee 意味匆匆离开2） Polysemy 多义关系The same one word may have more than one meaning. This is what we call polysemy, and such a word is called a polysemic word. The fact is the more commonly used a word is, the more likely it has acquired more than one meaning.同一个单词可能有一个以上的意义，这就是我们所说的一词多义，这样的词叫多义词。一个词越常用，它就越可能获得一个以上的意义。示例：Table 一词最初只有一个意义，很可能指一块石板或木板，这叫做其原始意义。后来它逐渐获得了它现在所指称的其它意义。3） Homonymy 同音/同形异义关系Homonymy refers to the phenomenon that word having different meaning have the same form, i.e., different words are identical in sound or spelling, or in both. When two words are identical in sound, they are homophones.When two words are identical in spe