9.2 How Meaning Works in Language
How Meaning Works in Language
2.1 Compositionality
Principle of Compositionality: The meaning of a phrase/sentence is derived from:
The meanings of individual words.
The syntactic structure combining them.
Example:
"The cat chased the dog" ≠ "The dog chased the cat" (same words, different structure → different meaning).
2.2 Semantic Relations Between Words
| Relation | Definition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Synonymy | Words with similar meanings (context-dependent). | Begin/start, big/large |
| Antonymy | Words with opposite meanings. | Hot/cold, alive/dead |
| Polysemy | A single word with multiple related meanings. | Bright (light) / bright (intelligent) |
| Homophony | Words that sound alike but have unrelated meanings. | Bat (animal) / bat (sports equipment) |
| Hyponymy | A hierarchical relationship (specific → general). | Rose is a hyponym of flower. |
2.3 Semantic Relations Between Sentences
| Relation | Definition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Paraphrase | Same truth conditions. | "John loves Mary" ↔ "Mary is loved by John" |
| Entailment | If A is true, B must be true. | "Socrates is a man" entails "Socrates is mortal" |
| Contradiction | If A is true, B must be false. | "The cat is alive" vs. "The cat is dead" |
Last modified: Thursday, 15 May 2025, 1:51 PM