LING 15 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pragmatics, Lexical Semantics, Phoneme
Meaning and language
Language: a symbolic system of representing information
Conceptual space & Form (linguistic expressions : words and phrases)
➔Linked by meaning: the interface between symbols and information
◆use of categories
➔Conceptual space is divided up into categories of meaning in which symbols are able to
represent
Arbitrariness in language
➔The form of a symbol is independent of what it represents
◆Example: vs duck
● Has a written and spoken form
● Means the same thing for everyone
● Nothing about the form of the word that directly represents the context
that we associate with the term = relationship is arbitrary
➔The opposite of arbitrary is iconic
Symbols
Language allows us to share/request info from conceptual space using symbols
Symbol: some physical object that represents a concept other than itself
➔Written and spoken words are both symbols
➔# of symbols is finite and countable
Two layers of symbolic representation
➔Phonemes: sounds used to assemble words
◆Sounds are the building blocks of words
◆duck is made from 3 phonemes
● -d sound, -u sound, -k sound
➔Words: linguistic forms that have contentful/semantic meaning
◆Free standing: can be rearranged in a sentence because they have meaning
associated with them
● A phoneme is not free standing
●-d cannot be said on its own because it needs a vowel in order to
make a sound
◆Minimal in structure: cannot identify a smaller part of the word as having some
meaningful contribution
●duck pronounced deeper cannot mean webbed feet
➔Glyph: written characters that represent phonemes, syllables, or whole words
◆& = and = [and]
◆3 = three = [th r ee]
Semantics
Semantics: the basic meaning retrievable from expressions (words, phrases, and sentences)
➔Must first be aware of the arbitrariness of the word to be aware of the semantics
Lexical semantics: meanings of words
➔Duck = Bird with webbed feet that is adept at water and quacks
Propositional semantics: meanings of complex elements
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Document Summary
Conceptual space & form (linguistic expressions : words and phrases) Linked by meaning: the interface between symbols and information. Conceptual space is divided up into categories of meaning in which symbols are able to represent. The form of a symbol is independent of what it represents. Nothing about the form of the word that directly represents the context that we associate with the term = relationship is arbitrary. Language allows us to share/request info from conceptual space using symbols. Symbol: some physical object that represents a concept other than itself. Written and spoken words are both symbols. # of symbols is finite and countable. Sounds are the building blocks of words. Words: linguistic forms that have contentful/semantic meaning. Free standing: can be rearranged in a sentence because they have meaning associated with them. D cannot be said on its own because it needs a vowel in order to make a sound.
