Questions tagged [semantics]
Semantics is the study of meaning, used to understand expressions through language.
683 questions
0
votes
0
answers
45
views
What do the terms "semantic content" and "semantic value" mean?
I hear philosophers of language throw around these terms (like this term lacks semantic value, or this one is a semantic failure) but I have no idea what they mean. I know there is some overlap with ...
- 101
1
vote
0
answers
93
views
Studies about double meaning as a language in itself
In French, I don't know if it is the same in the other cultures, sentences nearly never mean what they mean. People are talking with double senses. They say a sentence, but what is important is never ...
- 21
-2
votes
1
answer
54
views
Present / subjunctive and adjective / subjunctive - how these two can logically (/mathematically) mean the same thing? [closed]
In mathematics these two sentences have the same meaning:
The probability that the person is positive to the test, given that that person is sick, [...]
and
The probability that the sick person is ...
- 99
-1
votes
2
answers
81
views
Is there a linguistic terminology or word for term / definiendum explicitly paired with context? Example: bark(noise) and bark(noun) vs bark
I believe I've identified a concept that warrants having a dedicated terminology to describe, and I wonder if linguistics being the study of language has a linquistic terminology for it.
I think this ...
- 101
0
votes
1
answer
138
views
Does Merge respect speaker intention?
I’m new to generative syntax, so this may be a naive question, and I apologize in advance. Under the Minimalist Program, if I want to say
This cute boy is my naughty son,
why don’t I instead say
...
user54502
1
vote
0
answers
109
views
What are Technical Terms for Medium- and Meaning-Related Partitioning in Written Texts?
A written text is divided into pages and lines; and into chapters, paragraphs and sentences. The former are related to the medium, while the latter are related to the meaning of the text. What are ...
3
votes
2
answers
534
views
Languages that don't differentiate between "want" and "must"/"have to"
Is there a natural language that doesn't differentiate between (i. e. doesn't have different words/concepts for) wanting to do something and having to do something? If so, how can the differences be ...
2
votes
2
answers
68
views
Where do I find alternative categorizations/groupings of English words
Not a linguist, so using Categories/Groupings might not be the correct term here. What I mean is groupings of words like all English verbs indicating movement (run, walk, stroll, fly, etc.) for ...
- 263
0
votes
2
answers
179
views
Saussure says meaning is defined negatively, but is it equivalent to including context?
In this course lecture We discuss signs and meaning:
"Saussure says: Language is a system of interdependent terms in which the value of each term results
solely from the simultaneous presence of ...
- 9
13
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Is there any language which distinguishes between “un” as in “not” and “un” as in “inverse”?
I think in English there are examples of “un” meaning “doing an opposite resultative action to restore the original state of a thing” versus “un” simply meaning “not”.
You can “undo” something, or “...
- 845
0
votes
0
answers
114
views
How do I tell when a sentence is totally meaningless?
Consider the sentence:
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.
It is meaningful, but to a person like me who does not know what the words "ontogeny", "recapitulation" and "...
- 109
3
votes
1
answer
92
views
Do any languages assign gender to inanimate objects based on material properties like flexibility instead of shape?
In the Palikur language of Brazil, inanimate objects that are solid and strong all have feminine gender, while objects that are soft, fragile or flexible have neuter gender. (There are no inanimate ...
- 131
5
votes
1
answer
299
views
A predicate as argument of a predicate
In Dependency Grammar we consider the meaning of a wordform either as a semantic predicate (:=predicate) or as a semantic name. Let us suppose we have a predicate, which has a predicate as argument (e....
- 181
-1
votes
1
answer
87
views
Is there a shortlist of ideal languages for a legal contract, or could such a thing be made?
I've been studying English, Spanish, Japanese and Ancient Greek for several years now. English and Japanese are my two strongest languages. I noticed that when comparing these two, there seems to be a ...
0
votes
1
answer
79
views
Meaning of "se(m)" in Hungarian
I don't know if this is the correct part of Stack Exchange to be asking questions like this, but since I couldn't find a Stack Exchange site devoted specifically to learners of the Hungarian language, ...
0
votes
0
answers
202
views
Semantic loans; words borrowing a meaning already there?
What exactly is a semantic loan, how can a word borrow a meaning it already has?
I am trying to figure out whether there are any limitations (can we choose any morphemes) on the recipient word and the ...
- 107
0
votes
1
answer
99
views
Are there semantically well-defined purely ternary+ relations?
By purely ternary+, I mean a relation that cannot be expressed using binary ones. For example, "B is closer to A than to C" is ternary, but can be expressed using only a binary relation.
B ...
0
votes
2
answers
517
views
What effect does the wrong T-V pronoun have on truth-value?
Suppose someone uses the wrong T-V pronoun in a sentence, e.g. a French person uses "tu" instead of "vous". Is that considered to render the sentence (a) false or (b) without truth-...
- 119
1
vote
0
answers
44
views
Formal syntax and semantics for Turkish
as a student of linguistics and admirer of Turkish, I wondered whether there are good introductory books for formal syntax and (Montague) semantics for Turkish. Thanks in advance!
- 131
2
votes
1
answer
161
views
Is there a reason why certain verbs use certain cases?
For examples, in German there are certain verbs that always use the dative cases and others that always use the accusative case. Is there a logical or semantical reason for this?
Does the use of a ...
- 121
2
votes
1
answer
94
views
Why "Location" but not "Theme"?
When I was reading "Semantics: A Coursebook" (2nd ed), I came across this semantic roles identifying exercise "Detroit is a big city. The answer key is that "Detroit" is ...
- 69
0
votes
0
answers
16
views
Metastasizing attributes of a member of a class to a class, in cognitive grammar
I would like to know if there is a theoretical analysis regarding how people cognitively process information about, and form judgments about, a class of things, based on knowledge of specific members ...
- 845
-2
votes
3
answers
153
views
To say of something, must it exist at least as a concept?
To refer to x, must x exist at least as a concept? Is there any sense in which a nonsense term can refer to anything?
For example,
If "Round square" doesn't refer to anything, is "I ...
user43077
1
vote
0
answers
58
views
Semantics and Coordination
Is coordination only governed by syntax?
What about sentences like "I am afraid of and independent of him"?
Is there nothing odd about it?
The coordinated element is a PP, so it conforms to ...
- 581
1
vote
0
answers
81
views
On an argument concerning whether weather *it* is truly an expletive
Morgan (1968) claims that many instances of unstressed it are meaningless. He offers the following argument: the pronoun he in (1a) can refer to either John or Bill but the gap in (1b) can only refer ...
- 127