Chapter-5-Semantics-语义学-语言学教程-胡壮麟

Chapter5:MeaningDefinitionsofSemanticsSemanticscanbesimplydefinedasthestudyofmeaning.(Dai&He,2002,p.67)TermcoinedbyBréal(1897)forthesubdisciplineoflinguisticsconcernedwiththeanalysisanddescriptionoftheso-called‘literal’meaningoflinguisticexpressions.(Bussmann,1996,p.423)Semanticsisthestudyoflinguisticmeaning:themeaningofwords,phrases,andsentences.(Wen,P.210)Semanticsisthestudyofmeaning,ormorespecifically,thestudyofthemeaningoflinguisticunits,wordsandsentencesinparticular.Semanticsanswersthequestion“whatdoesthissentencemean”.Inotherwords,itistheanalysisofconventionalmeaningsinwordsandsentencesoutofcontext.Thenwhatismeaning?Manyphilosophers,psychologists,andsociologistsallclaimadeepinterestinthestudyofmeaning.Thephilosophersareinterestedinunderstandingtherelationsbetweenlinguisticexpressionsandwhattheyrefertointherealworld,andevaluatingthetruthvalueoflinguisticexpressions.Thepsychologistsfocustheirinterestonunderstandingtheworkingsofthehumanmindthroughlanguage.Nowwewillstudythemeaningsofmeaningfromalinguisticpointofview.5.1Meaningsof‘Meaning’ScholarslikeFerdinanddeSaussurehavestressedthatthestudyoflinguisticmeaningispartofthegeneralstudyoftheuseofsignsystems,andthisgeneralstudyiscalledsemiotics.Semioticiansinvestigatethetypesofrelationshipthatmayholdbetweenasignandtheobjectitrepresents,orindeSaussure’sterminology,betweenasignifier(theformwhichthesigntakes)anditssignified(theconceptitrepresent).Onebasicdistinction,duetoC.S.Peirce,isbetweenicon图标,index标记andsymbol符号.Icon-Aniconiswherethereisasimilaritybetweenasignandwhatitrepresents,i.e.betweenaportraitanditsreal-lifeobjectoradiagramofanengineandtherealengine.Anindexiswherethesigniscloselyassociatedwithitssignified,ofteninacausalrelationship;thussmokeisanindexoffire.ThemajorityoftrafficsignsareIndexsignsastheyrepresentinformationwhichrelatestoalocation(eg,a'slipperyroadsurface'signplacedonaroadwhichispronetoflooding)Asymbolhasnologicalmeaningbetweenitandtheobject.Thereisonlyaconventionallinkbetweenthesignanditssignified,asintheuseofinsignia(徽章)todenotemilitaryranks,orperhapsthewaythatmourningissymbolizedbythewearingofblackclothesinsomecultures,andwhiteclothesinothers.Flagsarealsogoodexamplesofsymbolswhichrepresentcountriesororganisations.Question:Whichkindarewords?1.ThenamingtheoryGreekscholarPlatoThelinguisticformorsymbols,inotherwords,thewordsusedinalanguagearesimplylabelsoftheobjectstheystandfor.Sowordsarejustnamesorlabelsforthings.Reference(referentialtheory):Thetheoryofmeaningwhichrelatesthemeaningofawordtothethingitrefersto,orstandfor,isknownasthereferentialtheory.Referenceistherelationbywhichawordpicksoutoridentifiesanentityintheworld.Wordsarebutsymbols,manyofwhichhavemeaningonlywhentheyhaveacquiredreference.Referenceistherelationshipbetweenlanguageandtheworld.“Bymeansofreference,aspeakerindicateswhichthingsintheworld(includingpersons)arebeingtalkedabout.”(HurfordandHeasley1983:25)Onlywhenaconnectionhasbeenestablishedbetweenthelinguisticsignandareferent,i.e.anobject,aphenomenon,aperson,etc.doesthesignbecomemeaningful.Problems:1)Somewordsaremeaningful,buttheyidentifynoentitiesintherealworld,suchasthewordsdragon,phoenix,unicorn,mermaid,ghost,and,or,hard,slowly,think,etc.2)Itisnotpossibleforsomewordstofindreferentsintheworld,suchasthewordsbut,and,of,however,the,etc.3)SpeakersofEnglishunderstandthemeaningofaroundtrianglealthoughthereisnosuchgraph.2.TheconceptualistviewThisviewrelateswordsandthingsthroughthemediationofconceptsofthemind.Whenweexplainthemeaningofdeskbypointingtothethingitrefersto,wedonotmeanadeskmustbeoftheparticularsize,colorandmaterialasthedeskwearepointingto.Thereissomethingbehindtheconcretethingwecansee.Thisisabstract,whichhasnoexistenceinthematerialworldandcanonlybesensedinourminds.Itholdsthatthereisnodirectlinkbetweenalinguisticformandwhatitrefersto;rather,intheinterpretationofmeaningtheyarelinkedthroughthemediationofconceptsinthemind.ThisisbestillustratedbythesemantictriangleortriangleofsignificancesuggestedbyOgdenandRichardsinTheMeaningofMeaning(1923).Theyarguethattherelationbetweenawordandathingitreferstoisnotdirect.Itismediatedbyconcept.Inadiagramform,therelationisrepresentedasfollows:Semantictriangleconcept(meaning)symbol/wordreferent/thing(soundandspelling)Concept,whichisbeyondlanguage,istheresultofhumancognition,reflectingtheobjectiveworldinthehumanmind.Itisuniversaltoallmenalikeregardlessofculture,race,languageandsoonwhereasmeaningbelongstolanguage,soisrestrictedtolanguageuse.Aconceptcanhaveasmanyreferringexpressionsastherearelanguagesintheworld.Eveninthesamelanguage,thesameconceptcanbeexpressedindifferentwords.Eg.Much,many–thesameconceptCollocation:differentMuchtime,muchmoney,muchwaterManypeople,manybooks,manybuildingsSynonymouspairsaregoodexamples.Sense(concept):Sensereferstothepropertiesanentityhas.Inthissense,itisequivalentto“concept”.Senseistherelationbywhichwordsstandinhumanmind.Itismentalrepresentation,theassociationwithsomethinginthespeaker’sorhearer’smind.Thedifferencebetwee