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Semantics

Semantics. Ambiguity The proposition and truth conditions Entailment Denotation Intension Extension Linguistic relativity Semantic primes. Linguistic relativity. A.K.A. “Whorfian hypothesis” After Benjamin Lee Whorf, author of Language, thought, and reality. Linguistic relativity.

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Semantics

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  1. Semantics • Ambiguity • The proposition and truth conditions • Entailment • Denotation • Intension • Extension • Linguistic relativity • Semantic primes English 306A; Harris

  2. Linguistic relativity • A.K.A. “Whorfian hypothesis” • After Benjamin Lee Whorf, author of • Language, thought, and reality English 306A; Harris

  3. Linguistic relativity • A.K.A. “Whorfian hypothesis” • That different languages shape different perceptions of the world. English 306A; Harris

  4. Linguistic relativity • “ the principle of linguistic relativity holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated” • (Language, thought, and reality, 214) English 306A; Harris

  5. Whorf on Hopi (as a metonym) • I find it gratuitous to assume that a Hopi who knows only the Hopi language and the cultural ideas of his own society has the same notions, often supposed to be intuitions, of time and space that we have, and that are generally assumed to be universal. In particular, he has no general notion or intuition of time as a smooth flowing continuum in which everything in the universe proceeds at an equal rate, out of a future, through a present, into a past … • In [the] Hopi view, time disappears and space is altered, so that it is no longer the homogeneous and instantaneous timeless space of our supposed intuition or of classical Newtonian mechanics. • Language, thought, and reality (56, 58). English 306A; Harris

  6. Linguistic relativity hypothesis • Strong form Language determines thought; speakers of different languages inhabit different, mutually inaccessible realities • Weak form Language influ-ences thought English 306A; Harris

  7. Navajo and “obligation” • English • I must go there. • Navajo • It is only good that I go there. English 306A; Harris

  8. Navajo and “control” • English • I am riding the horse. • Navajo • The horse runs for me. English 306A; Harris

  9. Lexical Elaboration Quiz • Shoulder • Breast English 306A; Harris

  10. Navajo kinship lexicalization (partial) grandmother or maternal great aunt grandfather or paternal great uncle mother or maternal aunt father or paternal uncle maternal uncle paternal aunt • ?akso˘t • hakso˘t • no≥yeh • ha≥nih • hakhno≥she • akeÚ˘hak English 306A; Harris

  11. Navajo and motion one moves into clothing one moves about here and there a fabric-like object moves about one moves about newly to move words out of an enclosed space • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h English 306A; Harris

  12. Navajo and motion one dresses one moves about here and there a fabric-like object moves about one moves about newly to move words out of an enclosed space • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h English 306A; Harris

  13. Navajo and motion one dresses one lives a fabric-like object moves about one moves about newly to move words out of an enclosed space • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h English 306A; Harris

  14. Navajo and motion one dresses one lives a letter one moves about newly to move words out of an enclosed space • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h English 306A; Harris

  15. Navajo and motion one dresses one lives a letter to be young to move words out of an enclosed space • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h English 306A; Harris

  16. Navajo and motion one dresses one lives a letter to be young to sing • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h English 306A; Harris

  17. to-strike-with-foot in Navajo and English • English [kHIk] • The horse kicked the mule. • The mule kicked the horse. • The man kicked the horse. • The horse kicked the man. • Navajo [yizta¬] • The horse kicked the mule. • The mule kicked the horse. • The man kicked the horse. • The horse kicked the man. English 306A; Harris

  18. English and striking-with-foot • English “kick” • The horse kicked the mule. • The horse controlled the action. • The horse struck the mule with its foot/feet. • The mule did not help bring this action about. Full mismatch with [yizta¬], complete irrelevance Full overlap in meaning with [yizta¬], high relevance Partial overlap in meaning with [yizta¬], but low relevance English 306A; Harris

  19. Navajo and striking-with-foot • Navajo “kicking” [yizta¬] • The horse “kicked” the man. • The horse controlled the action. • The horse struck the mule with its foot/feet. • The man did not help bring this action about. Semantically anomalous--horses can’t control actions that impact humans--and grammatically screwy English 306A; Harris

  20. Semantic Roles English 306A; Harris

  21. Semantic Roles English 306A; Harris

  22. Navajo Agency • yizta¬ mules and horses, reciprocal agencynon-human-animate  non-human-animate humans and horses (and mules), unilateral agency human  non-human-animate • kick mules, horses, humans, reciprocal agencyanimate  animate Agenthuman, Patientnon-human Agentnon-human, Patient-human Agent, Patient English 306A; Harris

  23. Semantic primes • ABOVE, AFTER, ALL, BAD, BECAUSE, BEFORE, BELOW, BIG, BODY, CAN, DIE, DO, FAR, FEEL, FOR SOME TIME, GOOD, HAPPEN, HAVE, HEAR, HERE, I, IF, INSIDE, KIND OF, KNOW, LIKE, LIVE, MANY(/MUCH), MAYBE, MOMENT, MORE, MOVE, LONG, NEAR, NOT, NOW, ONE, OTHER, PART-OF, PERSON, THE SAME, SAY, SEE, SIDE, SMALL, SOME, SOMEONE, SOMETHING, THERE-IS, THINK, THIS, TOUCH, TRUE, TWO, VERY, WANT, WHEN, WHERE, WORD, YOU, … English 306A; Harris

  24. Semantic primes • FRED CAUSE-PAST (BARNEY BECOME NOT-ALIVE) • Barney is dead • BARNEY BE NOT-ALIVE • Barney died. • BARNEY BECOME-PAST NOT-ALIVE • Fred killed Barney • Fred murdered Barney • FRED CAUSE-PAST (BARNEY BECOME NOT-ALIVE) WITH BAD-INTENT WITH PLAN English 306A; Harris

  25. Semantic Primes / Event Schemata English 306A; Harris

  26. Navajo and motion • ≥e˘h÷ha˘h • na÷ha˘h • na$˘lco$˘s • ≥ani˘÷na÷ha • ha÷di÷≥a˘h SOMEONE GO INTO CLOTHING SOMEONE GO HERE AND THERE SOMETHING LIKE FABRIC GO HERE AND THERE SOMEONE NEW GO TO CAUSE (WORDS GO OUT FROM CONTAINER) English 306A; Harris

  27. Navajo and “control” • English • I am riding the horse. • Navajo • The horse runs for me. Agent Patient Agent Beneficiary English 306A; Harris

  28. Navajo and control/causation • English • I am riding the horse. • I CAUSE (HORSE GO-FOR-ME) • Navajo • The horse runs for me. • HORSE CAUSE (HORSE GO-FOR-ME) English 306A; Harris

  29. Navajo and control/causation • English • I am riding the horse. • Doing, V2 • Navajo • The horse runs for me. • Doing, V1 (≈ VCOMP) English 306A; Harris

  30. Navajo and control/causation • English • I am riding the horse. • Doing, V2 • Navajo • The horse runs for me. • Doing, V1 (≈ VCOMP) • Navajo and English use the same basic resources (Universality) to different effects. • They can be mapped into one another via these resources (Parity). English 306A; Harris

  31. MOVE, KIN, PART-OF Navajo worldview (Weltsicht) • What is it? • Who knows? • Is it the same as the SAE worldview? • No. • Is it compatible with the SAE worldview? • Sometimes, sometimes not. • Is it accessible to the SAE worldview (and vice versa)? • Absolutely (with diligence respect). WHEN, THING, OWN English 306A; Harris

  32. Colour terms • 2-color system: black, white • 3-color system: black, white, red • 4-color system: black, white, red, yellow or GRUE • 5-color system: black, white, red, yellow, GRUE • 6-color system: black, white, red, yellow, green, blue • … then purple, pink, orange, gray English 306A; Harris

  33. Colour terms purple pink orange gray GRUE yellow white black green blue red yellow GRUE There is something about the world, our brains, or our eyes (or any combination thereof) that constrains lexicalization. English 306A; Harris

  34. Linguistic relativity • “ the principle of linguistic relativity holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated” • (Language, thought, and reality, 214) English 306A; Harris

  35. Linguistic relativity • “ the principle of linguistic relativity holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated” • (Language, thought, and reality, 214) English 306A; Harris

  36. Cross-linguistic calibrators • Semantic primes. • Semantic roles. • Event schemata. • Verb-argument structure • Perception. • (goodwill, common-interests, …) English 306A; Harris

  37. Linguistic relativity hypothesis • Strong form Language determines thought; speakers of different languages inhabit different, mutually inaccessible realities • Weak form Language influences thought False Translation is impossible. True Trivial There are cultural Misunderstandings. English 306A; Harris

  38. Linguistic relativity hypothesis • Strong form Language determines thought; speakers of different languages inhabit different, mutually inaccessible realities • Weak form Language influ-ences thought English 306A; Harris

  39. Semantics • The proposition and truth conditions. • Entailment • Denotation • Intension • Extension • Event schemata and semantic roles redux • Semantic primes • Ambiguity • Linguistic relativity • Universality • Semantic roles • Semantic primes • Cognitive and experiential universals • Colour systems • Parity (calibration) English 306A; Harris

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