Semantics - Chapter 3 Terms

Front 1

morphemes

Back 1

1 of 3 linguistic units of meaning. Less than a word.

Front 2

lexemes

Back 2

1 of 3 linguistic units of meaning. Words or idioms.

"Skeleton in my closet" figuratively = 1 lexeme;

literally = a series of lexemes.

Front 3

sentences

Back 3

1 of 3 linguistic units of meaning.

Front 4

homonyms

Back 4

Two lexemes that have the same form (pronunciation and spelling).

Front 5

polysemous

Back 5

A single lexeme with multiple meanings.

Front 6

mentalistic theory

Back 6

The idea that language is innate and words have a direct correlation with specific objects or ideas.

Front 7

reference

Back 7

The relation between a language form and some physical or mental entity, which is the referent of that sign. Referents may be concrete or abstract, unique or non-unique, countable or non-countable and definite or indefinite.

Front 8

denotation

Back 8

The objective relationship between a linguistic form and its referent.
The central aspect of meaning that most people agree upon.

Front 9

connotation

Back 9

The personal associations produced by words. Cf. (compare) denotation.

Front 10

sense relations

Back 10

The relations of meaning between words, as expressed in synonymy, hyponymy, antonymy, etc.

Front 11

syntagmatic relations

Back 11

The relation of words to one another when they form a construction.
Where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning

Front 12

paradigmatic

Back 12

The relation of items that can substitute for one another at the same place in a sentence. Cf. syntagmatic.

Front 13

referring expression

Back 13

A.k.a 'argument'. A noun phrase that is linked to a thing or idea (the referent) outside language.

Front 14

grammatical meaning

Back 14

The meaning produced by the way words are arranged in statements. statements vs questions, affirmative vs. negative. past vs present. singular vs. plural. indefinite vs definite.

Front 15

lexicon

Back 15

The vocabulary of a language, together with information about the pronunciation, use and meaning of each item in it.

Front 16

homographs

Back 16

One of two or more words that share the same spelling but differ in pronunciation, origin and/or meaning. "bow of a shop" "bow and arrow"

Front 17

prospective aspect

Back 17

Expressing some action or attitude oriented toward a later time: We expect to go.

Front 18

lexical ambiquity

Back 18

The condition whereby an individual word or phrase can be used to express two or more different meanings: club = a heavy stick; a social group