semantics课件.ppt

Semantics and pragmatics:the study of meaning;1. What is meaning?;Alfred Tarski (Polish logician);;;What does the word mean mean?;2. Different kinds of meanings;3. Truth-conditional meanings;Truth-conditional semantics deals with the mapping of language to the world. What in the world does a linguistic sign map to? Words Phrases sentences; ; ;Sets（集合）;Handsome= {Beckham, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, 刘德华,… } Like= { Beckham, Posh Spice, Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis , Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, 刘德华,朱丽倩 … } ;likes Mary= {John, Tom, Bill, Bob, …} Singleton set John likes Mary= 1 0 Truth value Truth conditions;;Denotation (指谓) The denotation of John is an entity. The denotation of handsome is a set of entities (property). The denotation of like is a set of entities (property). The denotation of likes Mary is a set of entities (property). The denotation of John likes Mary is a truth value (true or false); ; ; ; ;Week 11: Extension(外延) and intension(内涵);;;;;More examples;More examples;;More examples;;;Intension is very interesting;;;Conclusion;Truth-conditional meaning;Week 11: Entailment and Presupposition(蕴涵与预设);1. Two kinds of logical relations of meanings;2. Background knowledge;The denotation of common nouns? A student, the teacher, etc Student={a,b,c,d,e} Teacher={m,n} So, semantically, common nouns are like adjective or intransitive verbs. *Student is sleeping in the classroom. *John is student.;Suppose in a possible world with only five students, two of them are handsome. Student={a,b,c,d,e} Handsome={a,b,m,n,o} Handsome student={a,b};If someone x is a student, does it follow that x is a handsome student? NO If someone x is a handsome student, does it follow that x is a student? YES ;The set for handsome student entails the set for student, but not vice verse. Entailment, thus, is a logical relation inferred from our reasoning. Entailment is a phenomenon that only occurs in linguistic expressions. It is totally linguistic in nature.;Some examples;Beckham plays f