Semantics: a coursebook, second edition
particular facts about the meanings of individual words, sentences, and
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particular facts about the meanings of individual words, sentences, and utterances, it is obviously necessary to try to move from particular facts, such as those mentioned above, to generalizations, i.e. statements about whole classes of items. Practice Think carefully about each of the following general statements, and try to say whether it is true (T) or false (F). (1) Proper names (like English John or German Hans or French Jean) have a di fferent kind of meaning from common nouns (like English man, or German Mann or French homme). T / F (2) Prepositions (like English under, or German unter, or French sous) have a di fferent kind of meaning from both proper names and common nouns. T / F (3) Conjunctions (like English and or German und, or French et) have yet a further kind of meaning from both proper names and common nouns, and prepositions. T / F (4) Articles (e.g. English the, German der, or French le) have a di fferent kind of meaning from proper names, common nouns, prepositions, and conjunctions. T / F Feedback (1)T (2)T (3)T (4)T U N I T 1 About semantics 9 PA RT O N E Basic ideas in semantics 10 Comment The statements just considered are general in several ways. Firstly, they deal with whole classes of words, e.g. the whole class of prepositions, and not just with the individual examples actually mentioned. Secondly, they apply not just to English, but to human languages in general – to Arabic and Russian no less than to German and French. We take up this point about semantic theory being applicable to all languages below. Notice that many of the particular basic facts about meaning in English mentioned in the last practice but one have clear counterparts in other languages, e.g. German and French. Practice This practice assumes a knowledge of French and German: do as much as you can. Mark each of the following statements true (T) or false (F). (1) In German, lebendig means the opposite of tot. T / F (2) In French, acheter has an opposite meaning from vendre. T / F (3) César est et is not a meaningful French sentence. T / F (4) In German, Caesar ist Primzahl is nonsensical. T / F (5) In French, Et la mère et le père de Jean sont mariés à mes tantes is in a sense contradictory, describing an impossible situation. T / F (6) In German, if the sentence Hans hat Willi getötet is true of any situation, then so is the sentence Willi ist tot. T / F (7) If a German speaker says, ‘Können Sie mir das Salz reichen?’, he is normally not asking about his hearer’s ability to pass the salt, but requesting the hearer to pass the salt. T / F (8) If a French speaker says, ‘J’ai essayé d’acheter du riz’, his hearer would normally infer that he had failed to buy rice. T / F Feedback (1)–(8) T Comment Many basic facts about English have exact parallels in other languages. The examples above illustrate some such parallels between English and German and French. Very pervasive similarities, such as these, between languages encourage semanticists to believe that it is possible to make some very general statements about all languages, especially about the most fundamental and central areas of meaning. The fact that it is possible to translate any sentence of one language (at least roughly) into any other language (however clumsily) also reinforces the conclusion that the basic facts about meaning in all languages are, by and large, parallel. This is not to deny, of course, that there are interesting di fferences between languages. Practice (1) Is there an exact equivalent in French for the English word parent? tải về 1.74 Mb. Chia sẻ với bạn bè của bạn:
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