• A furry animal with four legs that goes “miaow”

• A cat• The actual cat• Your idea of a cat

• An animal with a foot but no legs• A snail

Your idea of a snail

• ?????????????????????????????

It has a foot but no legs

This is a picture of a snail

Your idea of “snail” is not this picture

And this picture is NOT the actual snail

SNAIL

• The word “snail”• Your idea of “snail”• A picture of the snail• The actual snail

Signs

• A word is a sign (Form: letters or sound)• Meaning: your idea• A picture is a sign (Form: lines, color etc)• An actual, real thing in the world

How about this question?

What is at the end of a rainbow?

• ??????????????????

What is at the end of a rainbow?

A pot of gold

In children’s stories

There’s a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow

“A rainbow”

• What is at the end of a rainbow?• The letter w

Rainbow is a word

• When you read the word or hear the word …• … you get an idea.• That’s YOUR idea of rainbow• Think about that

A picture of a rainbow

The picture is different from the real rainbow

Are rainbows real?

Isn’t a rainbow an optical illusion?

Rainbow (?????)

• ??????????

Rainbow (the band)

• ??????????

Rainbow (the band)

• No idea?

Rainbow

Terrible British band from the 1970s

This is a picture of the band

But they were real

Unfortunately

The picture and the actual band is not the same thing

Carrot

• ?????

Carrot

• The word carrot• Your idea of carrot• A picture of a carrot• An actual carrot

Water

• The word water• Your idea of water• A picture of water• Actual water

A sign

•WATER

Another sign

Another sign

Another sign

Another sign

Emotions

Emoticons

Emoji

Emoji

A sign

A sign has FORM (the picture)

And MEANING

The meaning is …?

The meaning is …?

Feeling puzzled

Feeling confused

Feeling unsure

Thinking carefully

The picture (the form)

Your idea of its meaning

The actual feeling

I think you’re so great

I think you’re so great

I think you’re so great

I think you’re so great

I think you’re so great

Strange animal

• ?????????????

Strange animal

Strange animal

Strange animal

Strange animal

Strange animal

• Funny beast• Weird biological organisms

Unicorn

• The word unicorn (Form: writing or sound)• Your idea of unicorn (meaning)• A picture of a unicorn (Form: a picture)• An actual unicorn (a real thing in the world)

An actual unicorn?

There are no actual unicorns

And unicorns don’t have wings

Who cares? There are no actual unicorns

That’s just YOUR IDEA of a unicorn

Maybe MY idea has wings

What is the difference between a unicorn and a carrot?

A unicorn is a funny beast

A carrot is a bunny feast

Bunny

Bunny eating a carrot

Bunny enjoying a feast

A carrot is a bunny feast

Other fields influenced by Semantics

Semantics is important in other fields

Computer science

Model of a word: dog

Sound: dog

Grammar: Noun; needs a determiner

Meaning: “an animal with four legs that goes bow wow”

Model of a word

Grammar bit: a noun

Grammar: the word needs another word

Meaning bit

Sound bit

Model of word she

Sound bit

PHON = phonology

Meaning-grammar bit

Grammar bit

Meaning bit

Form-meaning pair

Sound: dog

Grammar: Noun; needs a determiner

Meaning: “an animal with four legs that goes bow wow”

Phonological form-meaning pair

Sound: dog

Grammar: Noun; needs a determiner

Meaning: “an animal with four legs that goes bow wow”

Ferdinand de Saussure

de Saussure (Linguist from Switzerland)

1857 - 1913

Theory of signs

Language: sign system expressing ideas

A sign expressing an idea

Sound: dog

Grammar: Noun; needs a determiner

Meaning: “an animal with four legs that goes bow wow”

Philosophy

Psychology

Cognitive science

Artificial intelligence

Semiotics

We communicate meaning to machines via code

Does Pepper really think and feel?

How is meaning in Pepper’s brain different from meaning in your brain?

Remember, we don’t know what meaning is like in our own brains!

Is our brain like a computer?

Can we create consciousness?

Even though we don’t know what consciousness is?

Linguists don’t worry about what meaning is or where it came from.

Linguists just make MODELS of meaning.

For example, like this

A female individual

NOT a very good model

But philosophers DO ask these questions

• How is it possible…• …for anything…• …to mean anything?

• If X means Y …• …what is the connection …• … between X and Y

Deep philosophical stuff

• Can we really talk about a Language of Thought …

• …if we never think about the nature of meaning?

How do we know thought is in a Language?

• Maybe our brains are not like computers.

Psychology/psycholinguistics

Strongly connected with language-learning

• What is meaning in the mind?• What happens when we communicate?• What happens in our brains when we say a

sentence?• What happens in our brains when we

understand a sentence?• How do children acquire meaning?

Semiotics

Semiotics: the study of signs

Language is just one kind of sign

• What is the relationship between …• … a sign …• … and the thing itself?

Cognitive Science

Knowledge in the human mind

Mind as computer

What are our goals?

• Describe words and sentences in isolation and in context.

• Explain why these meanings are different in different situations.

• Give a clear explanation of complex meanings.

Frames

• Words connect with ideas

Frames

• Take an example:• How about the word “hospital”• 病院• What ideas do you get when you hear or read

that word?

Just a picture?

If you are from Fujiyoshida, maybe this image

Hospital frame

• Other ideas come with the word• You go to hospital when you’re sick• Or you have an accident• You have to be admitted• You probably have to give the hospital workers your

insurance card• The doctor examines you and gives you information• You probably have to pay money when you finish

Breaking the frame

• The doctor gives YOU his medical insurance card!

• You examine a nurse!

Restaurant frame (for a customer)

• Wait to get seated• Waiter shows you to your seat• You look at the menu• You order food and drink• You wait for it to arrive• You eat it• You pay for it

Meaning of Restaurant

Restaurant-frame

Thing x

Breaking the frame

• You go into kitchen and make the food!• The waiter pays you!

Textbook

• Bookshop• Use in school• Related to classes• Usually not interesting

Unicorn frame

• Single horn on head• Looks like a white horse• Not real• Appears in stories

Breaking the frame

• A unicorn comes into class!• A unicorn eats your textbook!

Banana

• Breakfast food• Convenient• Snack food• Thick skin• Can’t eat the skin• Yellow• If it’s black, it’s not good

Personal computer

• On your desk• Or maybe you carry it around• Expensive purchase• Use it for the internet• Communication• Old people usually can’t use it well

Pokemon Go

• People walking around looking at their mobile phones

• Mentioned on the news• Some kind of game, or something

Volcano

• Can be dangerous• Eruptions• Be careful• Maybe tourist attractions

Cinema

• Seeing a movie• In a building• Pay money to enter• Dark• Big screen• Popcorn

Lick

• Action involving tongue• Ice cream• Candy• Dogs do it a lot• Stamps?

Do people still do this?

Do we still send letters?

Thermometer

• Measuring temperature• Of your body• Or a room• In mouth?• Under your arm?

Word Semantics

Words, Objects, Concepts

Referential Semantics

Symbol – thought -- thing

Lexical Semantics

Referential Semantics: Relates words and objects

Lexical SemanticsRelates words and words

How does the word “elephant” relate to real-world elephants?

Plato: words are names for objects

Direct relationship between words and objects?

Onomatopoeia

Applying Theories of Word Meaning

How do words get meaning?

How about the Yamura Mushi?

Semantic Fields

What is in the Semantic Field for insect?

• Fly• Bee• Wasp• Mosquito• Gnat• etc

What is in the Semantic Field for motor vehicle?

• Car• Automobile• Truck• Van• Bus• etc

What is in the Semantic Field for food?

• Bread• Rice• Cheese• Sausage• etc

Roget’s Thesaurus

Componential Analysis

Like this

• Man [+noun] [+concrete] [+animate] [+human] [+male] [+old]

• Woman [+noun] [+concrete] [+animate] [+human] [-male] [+old]

Chemical elements

Meaning elements?

• Man [+concrete] [+animate] [+human] [+male] [+old]

• Woman [+concrete] [+animate] [+human] [-male] [+old]

Meaning elements

• Semantic primitives• Semantic features

What kind of things can be Semantic Primitives?

• Must be binary• What does that mean?• It means on or off• It means yes or no• It means + or -

What is a bad Semantic Feature?

• Number of fingers• Yes or no• What?

What kind of things can be Semantic Primitives?

• Must apply to ALL the world’s cultures

What is a bad Semantic Feature?

• Tatami• Why is it bad?• Because it does not apply to ALL the world’s

cultures

What about a definition for tatami?

Tatami

• [+floor covering]• [+made of straw]• [+native to Japan]• [+rectangular]