新编简明英语语言学 Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学

Chapter 5 Semantics 语义学

一、定义

1. semantics语义学: Semantics can be simply defined as the study of meaning in language. 语义学可以简单地定义为对意义的将研究。

二、知识点

5.2 Different views of meaning意义研究的不同观点

5.2.1 The naming theory命名论(by希腊Scholar Plato)

The naming theory命名论: Words are just names or labels for things.

词语只不过是其代表的事物的名字或标记。

Eg. desk—a piece of furniture with a flat top and four legs.

The limitations of this theory局限性:

1. This theory seems applicable to nouns only.这一理论看起来仅适用于名词

(Some words are definitelynot lables of object: eg. jump, quickly, pretty, and, in, hearted, think, hard, slowly…)

2. There are nouns which denote things that do not exist in the real world: ghost, gragon, unicorn麒麟. 有些名词是指世界中根本就不存在的事物。

3. Nouns that do not refer to physical object, but abstract notions such as joy and impulse. 有些名词并不是指实物性的物体，而是指：joy, impulse刺激，这样的抽象概念。

5.2.2 The conceptualist [k?n'septj??l?st] view概念论（Ogden和Richards提出classic semantic triangle 经典语意三角）

The conceptualist view: The conceptualist view: There is no direct link between language and the real world; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind..(语言和真实世界之间并没