REFERENCE AND SENSE
- Referent, Reference, Sense
- Semantic features
- Componential analysis
- Semantic fields
- Denotation, Connotation
REFERENT, REFERENCE, SENSE
Distinction between referent,
reference and sense
1. Referent: an object, an entity in the real
world/ in the world of our imagination
2. Reference: linguistic expression in the
relationship b/w that word/ expression and
the thing/action/event … it refers to
3. Sense: internal relationship b/w that word
and others in the vocabulary of a language
Sense & Reference
- Dealing with - Dealing with
relationships inside a relationships between
language the world and a
- EX: My son is home language
now - EX: This place is wide.
- Son: person
- Home: thing
Kinds of Reference
1- VARIABLE REFERENCE: The same expression
can be used to refer to different things
EX: The president of the U.S is Barack Obama but
in 2005 is Bush, in 2000 is Bill Clinton.
2- CONSTANT REFERENCE: One expression can
refers to the only referent
EX: the sun, the moon, the U.N
3- CO-REFERENCE: Two or more linguistic
expressions share the same referent
EX: ‘the Morning Star’ and ‘the Evening Star’ to
refer to the planet Venus
• Every expression that has meaning has
sense, but not every expression has
reference!
Semantic features
• Definition:
“The smallest units of meaning in a word”
• Characteristics:
- Not specifically mentioned
- Different words share the same semantic
feature
- The same feature can occur in words of
different part of speech
Componential analysis
• An approach to the study of meaning which
analyzes a word into a set of meaning
components or semantic features
EX: actress: [+human], [+ female],
[professionally artistic], [ perform a role]
Semantic fields
• Definition:
“A set of words with identifiable semantic
affinities”
• Characteristics:
- Related to the topics
- Similar in meaning
- Opposite in meaning
Practice
• Find the semantic fields of the following
groups of words:
1- waiter, tiger, actor, waitor, host, landlord, sir
-> male
2. pears, apples, oranges, grapes, mangos
-> fruit
3. boil, fry, steam, roast, grill, stew, smoke
-> cook
4. thin, bony, skinny, scrawny, slender, slim
-> people whose weight is below normal.
5. mug, cup, wine glass, beer glass, tumbler
-> drinking vessels
6. father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt…
-> kin terms
7. angry, sad, happy, depressed, afraid, worried,
-> emotional states
8. blue, red, pink, green, yellow, gray, black
-> color
9. go, run, drip, step, leak, seep, ooze…
-> movement
Denotation & Connotation
• Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a
word, the "dictionary definition."¨ For
example, if you look up the word snake in a
dictionary, you will discover that one of
its denotative meanings is "any of numerous
scaly, legless, sometimes venomous
reptiles¡Khaving a long, tapering, cylindrical
body and found in most tropical and
temperate regions."
• Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the
associations that are connected to a certain
word or the emotional suggestions related to
that word. The connotative meanings of a
word exist together with the denotative
meanings. The connotations for the
word snake could include evil or danger.
• Denotation. The dictionary meaning of a
word. The literal meaning of a word.
• Connotation. The emotional or cultural
meaning attached to a word.
• Examples: The words home, house, residence
and dwelling all have the same denotation,
but the connotation of each word is very
different.
• Denotation: Where a person lives at any
given time.
• Connotation:
Home: cozy, loving, comfortable
House: the actual building or structure
Residence: cold, no feeling
Dwelling: primitive or basic surroundings
• Eg: stingy/ frugal: way of using money
slender/ skinny: less than normal weight
Multiple senses of lexical items
- Primary meaning/ Secondary meaning
- First meaning in dictionary/ meaning besides
the first meaning
- EX: wing -> (1): part of bird to make it fly
- (2): side part of the playing area/
part of building/ part of car/ part of party
Literal & Figurative meaning
Literal means straightforward or factual; the
dictionary meaning of a word. When
someone says “I mean that literally,” they
mean “exactly” -- just the facts!
A figurative meaning is far more interesting –
it’s imaginative; it conveys not just the facts
but an idea. It encourages us to use our
imaginations.
EX: “Mervin runs like a duck.”
-> (1)“Mervin is awkward and he waddles when
he runs.”
-> (2)“Mervin runs like a duck” is far more
colorful and interesting
How do we know if someone is using
figurative language?
->When the literal meaning doesn’t
quite make sense and another one (the
figurative one) does.
• It's raining cats and dogs!
-> It's raining very heavily!
• The ground is thirsty.
-> The ground is dry
• When I first saw her, my soul began to quiver
-> When I first saw her, I felt panic.