Ngữ nghĩa - ngữ dụng học (bản tóm tắt nội dung) đại học mở TPHCM

ĐẠI HỌC MỞ TPHCM
NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH
NGỮ NGHĨA – NGỮ DỤNG HỌC
COURSE OUTLINE
PART 1: SEMANTICS
SENTENCES,

I.

UTTERANCES & PROPOSITIONS
II.

SEMANTIC FEATURES / PROPERTIES

III.

SEMANTIC / LEXICAL FIELD

IV.

REFERENCE & SENSE

V.

TYPES OF MEANING
1. Word meaning
2. Sentence meaning
MEANING PROPERTIES / CHARACTERISTICS
1. Anomaly
2. Ambiguity
MEANING RELATION

1. Word relation
2. Sentence relation
TYPES OF SENTENCE BASING ON TRUTH VALUE
1. Analytic sentence
2. Synthetic sentence
3. Contradictory sentence

VI.

VII.

VIII.

PART 2: PRAGMATICS
I.

II.

SPEECH ACT
1. Definition
2. Components
3. Speech event / situation
4. Direct & indirect speech act
5. Types of speech act
THE COOPERATIVE MAXIMS

III.

IMPLICATURE

IV.

PRESUPPOSITION

1


REFERENCES
Hurford, J.R. and B. Heasley. 1983. Semantics, A Course Book. Cambridge University Press.
Hudson, G. 2000. Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Pecci, J.S. 1999. Pragmatics. Routledge.
Richards, J., Platt, J. and Weber, H. 1987. Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics. Longman Group
Limited.
Stageberg, N.C. 1983. An Introductory English Grammar. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
To Minh Thanh. 2007. Ngu Nghia Hoc Tieng Anh. NXB DAI HOC QUOC GIA TP Ho Chi Minh.
Yule, G. 1996. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.

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NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 1
UNIT OUT LINE
I.

II.
III.

SENTENCES, UTTERANCES & PROPOSITIONS
1. Semantics
2. Pragmatics

3. Proposition
SEMANTIC FEATURES / PROPERTIES
SEMANTIC / LEXICAL FIELD

Semantics + study of language meaning (relation between language & object)
+ means to convey the meaning: sentence
+ sentence: A group of words linked by grammar & conveying a complete
meaning.
Out of context / context free.
Ex: Money doesn’t make happiness
+ type of meaning studied: literal / linguistic / semantic meaning
2.
Pragmatics
+ study of language use (relation between language & user)
+ means to convey the meaning: utterance
+ utterance: A sentence said by a speaker in a particular context.
Context bound / context dependent.
+ In written language, an utterance is put between quotation marks.
Ex: “I love you so much”
+ type of meaning studied: speaker / figurative / pragmatic meaning
Note: Semantically = Literally; Pragmatically = Figuratively
1.

3.

Proposition: A proposition is that part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative
sentence which describes some state of affairs. (Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 19)
Some features of a proposition
• A proposition must be meaningful
• It must be an affirmative or negative sentence (declarative)

• It must be true or false
• Criterion to identify proposition: truth value (T /F). If the 1st utterance is true and the
2nd is also true, they are one proposition. If the 1st utterance is true and the 2nd is false,
they are different propositions.
Ex: (1) John gave Mary a book.
Mary was given a book by John. (2 sentences; same proposition)
(2) Isobel loves Tony.
Tony loves Isobel. (2 sentences; 2 different propositions)
(3) “Dr. Findlay caused Janet to die.”
“Dr. Findlay killed Janet.” (2 utterances; 2 different propositions) (In
the case Dr. Findlay caused Janet to die, but not intentionally)
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(4) “Dr. Findlay killed Janet”
“Dr. Findlay caused Janet to die.” (2 utterances; same proposition)
III. SEMANTIC PROPERTIES/ FEATURES
1. DEFINITION
Semantic features or properties are ‘the smallest units of meaning in a word.’ (Richards, Platt &
Weber, 1987: 254)
Example: (+: plus; - : minus) Father
+ human
+ male
+ mature
+ married
+ having children …..
The literal meaning of the word ‘father’ is made up by different elements / units / components.
Each unit is a semantic feature / property / component. The process of analyzing the meaning of a word
into components is called componential analysis.
2. CHARACTERISTICS

a. Primitive elements: Semantic feature are basic primitive concepts in linguistics. They are lef
undefined.
Ex: human, male, animal, color etc.
b. The same semantic feature may be found in the meaning of different words
Ex: Father, mother, son, daughter, teacher baby … all share the same semantic feature
[+ human].
Mother, daughter, hen, bitch, swine … all share the same semantic feature
[+female].
c. The same semantic feature may be found in words of different parts of speech.
Ex: [+female] is the common feature of mother (N), pregnant (Adj), breast-feed (V).
[+educational] is a semantic feature of the noun teacher, the adjective educated, the verb
teach.
IV. LEXICAL / SEMANTIC FIELD
A semantic field or a lexical field is the organization of related words and expressions into a system which
show their relationship to one another. (Richards. Platt & Weber. 1987:53) In other words, it is a group of
words sharing the same Semantic property / Semantically related
Ex 1:
Human
(B) Hypernym / Super-ordinate
Bachelor

Father

Mother

Baby

Uncle

Sister

Hyponymy

(A) Hyponyms

Hyponym is a word ‘whose referent is totally included in the referent of another term. (hypo = below)
Hypernym is a word whose referent covers all the referents of its hyponyms. (hyper = above).
Hyponymy is a one-way relation from hyponyms to hypernym.
Test: A (hyponym) is a kind of B (hypernym). We can say:
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A bachelor is a kind of human.
A cat is an animal.

Not: A human is a kind of bachelor.
Not: An animal is a cat.

Students are required to do the exercises in the text book

NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 2
UNIT OUT LINE
REFERENCE & SENSE
1. Definition
a. Reference
b. Referent
c. Types of reference
d. Sense
e. Referring expression
1. Definition

a. Reference is the relationship between language and the world. In other words, that is the

relationship between words and the things, actions, events, and qualities they stand for. (Hurford
& Heasley, 1983: 25)
Ex: My son refers to a person; a dog refers to an animal. (the speaker
establishes a relationship between an expression and an object).
b. Referent is the thing the speaker is talking about, the object referred to.
Ex: This page (the page the speaker is reading; Ex: page 15)
The cassette player (the object on the table)
c. Types of reference
• Variable Reference: the same expression may be used to refer to different objects. In other
words, the referent of an expression varies with the speaker. For example:
“My mother” (referring to the mother of the speaker) may refer to different ladies depending
on different speakers.
• Same Reference / Co-reference: different expressions refer to the same object. In other
words, the same object has different names
 HCM City and Saigòn: both refer to the same city.
 My father is a teacher: both underlined groups of words refer to the same person.
 We chose John leader: John and leader refer to the same person.
• Constant Reference: one expression always refers to the same object, (regardless the
speaker).
 Proper names, especially geographical names: John Smith, David, Vietnam, Cambodia …
 Unique things: the sun, the moon, the earth, the east, the west, Halley’s Comet…
• No reference: an expression which is meaningful but does not refer to anything.
 Function words: and, but, if …
 Imaginary characters: Batman, Dragon, Superman, Snow White, Tấm Cám …
 The objects that do not exist now.
Ex: The king of France is bald (France does not have any king nowadays)
The Queen of Vietnam nowadays is a Cambodian. (no VN queen now)
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d. Sense is the relationship between semantically related expressions in the language to express the

meaning. (synonyms, definition)
Ex: bachelor means unmarried man (the same sense)
“to buy” and “to purchase” have the same sense.
e. Referring expression
• Definition: A referring expression ‘is any expression used in an utterance to refer to someone or

something particular. (Hurford & Heasley, 1983: 35) (On the part of the speaker)
Ex: + ‘My father” refers to a particular person =>my father => a referring expression.
+ “Fred hit me”; ‘Fred’ refers to a particular person =>my father => a referring expression.
+ “There is no Fred at this address”; “Fred” is not a referring expression because
in this case the speaker would not have any particular person in mind.
• Some clues of referring expression
 Possessive: my friend, Paul’s hat …
 Demonstrative: this book, that machine …
 Proper name: Smith, David, Vietnam …
 Personal pronouns (only when being uttered): I, You, He …
 Constant reference (unique thing): the sun, the moon, the earth, the east, the west.
 Past tense: helps to recognize Referring Expression
Ex: I saw a boy yesterday
Yesterday, I met a singer
Not a referring expression
• Something general: family, society, people …
•
Representative of social classes or species: the poor, the rich, the elephant, dogs, cats …
•
Profession/ Job: a singer, a teacher, a lawyer …

Ex: A singer in “SilBlack is a famous singer” is a RE because it
refers to a particular person.
A singer in “My sister is a singer” is not a RE because it is a job in general.
Note: Whether an expression is a referring expression or not depends mainly on linguistic context and on
circumstances of the utterance.
Requirement: Students are required to do the exercises in the material (text book)

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NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 3
UNIT OUT LINE
I.

TYPES OF MEANING

A. WORD MEANING
1. Denotative meaning
2. Connotative meaning
B. SENTENCE MEANING
1. Literal meaning
2. Figurative meaning / Figures of speech
A. WORD MEANING

1. Denotative / Literal / Descriptive / Referential meaning
The denotative
dictionary meaning
can be described by a set of semantic features
describes something => called descriptive meaning
refers us to something in the world => called referential meaning

Ex: A pig: a domestic animal, having 4 legs & a tail, hairy, usually raised for meat
A father: a male human, adult, married, having children …
2. Connotative / Figurative / Social / Affective meaning
The connotative + implied, additional meaning
+ shows people’s emotions and / or attitudes => affective meaning
+ may vary with individual or community => social meaning
+ may be used positively or negatively by speaker
Ex: + The word pig in “He is a pig” may means connotatively:
He is a pig => - Lazy
- Greedy
- Stupid
- Dirty
+ As connotative meaning, the word woman may means positively devotion,
patience, generosity …, and negatively frailty, inconstancy, irrationality …

B. SENTENCE MEANING
1. Linguistic / literal meaning
The linguistic meaning of a sentence depends on:
- The meanings of the constituent words
- The syntactic functions of the units in the sentence (subject, object,...)
- The semantic / participant roles of the noun phrases in the sentence.
Compare the following sentences:
(1) The lion bit the hunter.
(2) The hunter bit the lion.
(3) The hunter was bitten by the lion
First, to understand the meaning of the sentences, we must know the meanings of the words
‘lion, bite, hunter’. However, we can use exactly the same words to form different sentences with
the same or different meanings.
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(1) The lion bit the hunter # (2) The hunter bit the lion

S
O
S
O
The two sentences (1) & (2) have different meanings because the words have different syntactic
functions.
(2) The hunter bit the lion # (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S
O
S
O
The sentences (2) & (3) have different meanings although the words have the same syntactic
functions.
(1) The lion bit the hunter = (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S
O
S
O
The sentences (1) & (3) have the same meaning although the words have different syntactic
functions. What makes the meaning of the two sentences similar or different? It is what is called
semantic / participant roles which is the most important factor.
SEMANTIC or PARTICIPANT ROLES: the role performed by a noun phrase in relation to the verb

Types
•
•

•

•

•
•

•

•

Agent (A): the one that initiates an action (person/ animal + action verb)
Ex: Paul opened the door
Patient (P): the one that suffers from or is affected by the action (action verb)
Ex: Paul opens the door ;
The door opened at the first blow of wind
Paul is boiling water ;
Water boils at 100OC
Experiencer (E): the one that experiences a feeling/ sensation/ perception …
(a person / an animal + a non-action verb)
Ex: Paul loves Mary
I recognize that I’m wrong
The boy wants a candy
The teacher remembers meeting me somewhere
Stimulus (S): the one that causes a feeling / sensation (emotion verb)
Ex: Paul loves Mary
I’m afraid of ghost
The book of the teacher makes me very happy
The film interests me a lot
Recipient (R) (the receiver): the one that receives a physical object

Ex: He gave me a book last night
Benefactive (B) : the one that benefits from an action
Ex: I do all this for you
I sent him a gif for his son
Instrument (I): the one that is used to perform an action (implying a user)
Ex: I open the door with a hammer
Paul used a key to open the door
Cause (C): the one that causes an action to happen (not implying a user)
Ex: The door opened suddenly at the blow of the wind
Paul was hurt with a knife (implying someone using a knife to hurt him)
I
Paul was hurt by a knife (not implying the user of the knife)
C
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•

•

Locative (L): the place where an action happens
Ex: I was born in Đà lạt
HCM city is a good place to live
Temporal (T): the time when an action happens
Ex: Yesterday, I saw you at the supermarket

Back to the 3 previous examples, we see:
(1) The lion bit the hunter # (2) The hunter bit the lion
S/A
O/P

S/A
O/P
(2) The hunter bit the lion # (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S/A
O/P
S/P
O/A
The above sentences have different meanings because they have different semantic roles although
they may have the same syntactic functions (2) & (3).
(1) The lion bit the hunter = (3) The hunter was bitten by the lion.
S/A
O/P
S/P
O/A
The two sentences have the same meaning because they have the same semantic roles although the
syntactic functions are different.

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NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 4: TYPES OF MEANING (continued)
UNIT OUT LINE
II.

TYPES OF MEANING

C. WORD MEANING
3. Denotative meaning
4. Connotative meaning
D. SENTENCE MEANING (continued)

3. Literal meaning
4. Figurative meaning / Figures of speech

SENTENCE MEANING
FIGURES OF SPEECH
1. Irony
2. Sarcasm
3. Simile
4. Metaphor
5. Synecdoche
6. Metonymy
7. Personification
8. Hyperbole
9. Euphemism

1. Irony: Saying the opposite of one’s thought for emphasis, for fun or mocking.

Ex: + He is so kind that he let all the housework for me to do. (He is not kind at all)
+ He is so intelligent that no examiner has agreed to pass him so far.(He is rather stupid.)

2.

Sarcasm /’sa:kæzǝm/ : bitter irony; sneeringly ironical remarks to hurt somebody’s feelings.
Ex: + “The more I know about human beings, the more I want to be an animal”
(Jungle Boy) (Human beings are worse than animals!)
+ “Oh yes, we know how clever you are!” “Well, Mr. Know-it-all, What’s
the answer this time?”

3. Simile /’sımılı/: direct / explicit comparison using comparison words ‘like, as’ or comparison form.

Ex:

4.

He eats like a tiger (he eats as much as a tiger does.)
He is as poor as a church mouse (he is very poor)

Metaphor /’metǝfǝ/: indirect / implied comparison (no comparison words ‘like, as’.
A = B (2 different objects are put on the same rank to compare usually
with ‘to be’) Ex: He is a pig ; he is a tail
A’s feature for B
a noun as a verb. Ex: He apes my betters
A noun as an adjective. Ex: wavy hair; silky hand
A verb for one type used for another.
Ex: Have you digested the lesson yet?
The committee shot my ideas down one by one

a. Form of metaphor

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b. Types of metaphor
•
Dead metaphor: A metaphor used as a fixed expression or idiom.

Its meaning is fixed
Usually the speaker uses it naturally and unconsciously
Ex: the eye of a needle; the head quarter
• Live metaphor

Used consciously, intentionally by a speaker
With various figurative meanings.
Its meaning depends on the situation
Ex: ‘He is a pig’ (may mean fat; lazy; stupid; dirty; greedy etc.)
5. Synecdoche /sı´nekdǝki/ : substitution of the whole for the part & vice versa
Ex:+ Vietnam won the football match (VN is used to refer to VN football team;
whole for part)
+ I don’t want you to come under my roof (= my house) (part for whole)
6.

Metonymy /mǝ´tɒnǝmi/: substitution of related words (not whole – part)
Ways to identify a metonymy
• Container – Contained
Ex: - Very thirsty, he gulped down the whole bottle (= liquid in the bottle)
- As the teacher came in, the whole class stood up to greet him. (all the students)
• Author – Works
Ex: - Have you read Khái Hưng yet? (= the novels of Khái Hưng)
- This is not a Picasso (= a painting by Picasso)
- His words can be trusted (= the speaker)
• Profession – Means
Ex: - I live on my pen (a writer)
- My Tyson lives on his gloves (a boxer)
• Symbol - Reality / Concrete - Abstract
Ex: - He tries his best to win her heart (= her love)
- He succeeded to the crown. (= the royal office)
- He has the tongue of king. (= the talent of tasting food)
- She has an ear for music. (= the talent for appreciating, enjoying … music)
• Material – Object made of it
- All our glass is kept in the cupboard. (= vessels and objects made of glass)
- You can get our gold in the upper drawer. (= jewelry made of gold)

7.

Personification: Endowing an inanimate object with human qualities.
Ex: - The leaves are dancing in the morning wind. (= moving)
- The waves tore the ship into pieces. (= destroyed completely)

8.

Hyperbole /haı´pɜ:bǝli/ (cường điệu): overstatement or exaggeration
Ex:
- I’m so hungry that I can swallow a cow (= extremely hungry)
- I’ve invited millions of people to my party (= a lot of)
- I haven’t seen you for ages. (= a long time)

9.

Euphemism /’ju:fǝmızǝm/ (uyển ngữ, nói tránh)
• avoid using some expressions because of taboo
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Death. Ex: my grandpa passed away (died)
Toilet. Ex: Where’s the restroom please?
Sexual relation. Ex: This is not a place for you to make love
• avoid using some expressions which may hurt the speaker (also called Litotes) (negative,
offensive or too direct or rude)
Ex: - She is not very beautiful. (= ugly)
- The U.S. decided to help the developing countries. (= poor, underdeveloped countries)
- I don’t think you’re right (= you’re wrong)





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NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 5
UNIT OUT LINE

MEANING PROPERTIES / CHARACTERISTICS
1. Anomaly / Nonsense
2. Ambiguity
a. Lexical ambiguity
b. Structural ambiguity

1. Anomaly / non-sense
Anomaly: a sentence

Syntactically correct
Semantically meaningless
Violates the semantic rules
Contains words with contradictory semantic features
May be figuratively meaningful
Anomaly is ‘a violation of semantic rules to create nonsense.’ (Finegan, 1993: 148)
Ex: + The toothbrush [- animate] is pregnant [+ animate].
+ Colorless [- color] green [+ color] ideas [-animate] are sleeping furiously [+animate].
The two sentences above are meaningless semantically and figuratively
+ The sorrow [-animate] is chewing [+animate] my bones.
This sentence is semantically meaningless, but figuratively meaningful (personification)

2. Ambiguity
a. Definition. A word, a phrase, or a sentence is ambiguous when it has more than one
meaning.
Ex: A ring (may mean a phone call or an object offered as a gif to a lover: a gold ring…)
The bank (may mean the shore of a river or a financial institution)
He greeted the girl with a smile. (the boy was smiling or the girl was smiling)
b. Types of ambiguity
• Lexical Ambiguity:
Caused by an ambiguous word.
Of the same part of speech
The same sentence structure
Ex: She gave me a ring last night
a wedding ring
a phone call
• Structural Ambiguity:
- different sentence structures.
- different meanings.
 Grouping Ambiguity: the words in the sentence can be put into different groups.
Ex: Old men and women lef
[old men] & [women] lef
[old] [men & women] lef

Functional Ambiguity: a sentence containing 1 word with different functions.
Ex: I love Laura more than you
S: … more than you love Laura
O: … more than I love you
Ex: Visiting relatives can be boring
S: the relatives who are visiting…
O: to visit relatives …

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3. Some common forms of structural ambiguity

a. Grouping Ambiguity
• Adj N & N Ex: Old men and women.
=> Repeat the Adj (AN & AN): Old men & old women
=> Change their positions (N & A N): Women & old men.
• Adj N N
Ex: A small arms factory.
=> A N PP : A small factory of arms.
=> N PP ( Prep + A + N) : A factory of small arms.
• Adj N’s N Ex: A large woman’s garment.
=> A N PP : A large garment for women.
=> N PP (Prep + A + N) : A garment for large women.
• V N PP
Ex: I saw the boy with a telescope.
=> PP as nominal modifier : Replace PP by Adj. C. = I saw a boy who had a
telescope.
=> PP as verbal modifier : Move PP to the beginning = With a telescope, I saw the
boy.
• V N -ing P Ex: I met John going to the cinema.
=> -ing P as nominal modifier : Replace –ing P by AC = I met John who was
going to the cinema.
=> -ing P as verbal modifier : Move –ing P to the beginning = Going to the
cinema, I met John.
• V N N A C Ex: There’s a café in TB district which I like.
(the AC may modify café or district => change the position of AC)
 In TB district, there’s a café which I like (‘which I like’ modifies café)

 In TB district, which I like, there’s a café ( AC modifies district)
• V Adv V
Ex: Those who sold quickly made a profit.
(quickly may modify sold or made => change the position of the Adverb)
 Those who quickly sold made a profit. (quickly modifies sold)
 Those who sold made a profit quickly. (quickly modifies made)
• N Adv
V
Ex: My brother especially likes going fishing.
(especially may modifies brother or likes going fishing => change the position of Adv)
 Especially my brother likes going fishing. (= many people like it, especially my brother)
 My brother likes going fishing particularly. (= my brother likes different things
especially going fishing)
b. Functional Ambiguity
• -ing Phrase. Ex: Visiting relatives can be boring
+ Visiting: gerund => relatives: DO and visiting relatives is a GP / S
 Replace Gerund by an infinitive: To visit relatives can be boring.
+ Visiting: present participle modifying relatives => visiting relatives is a NP/S
 Replace Present participle by an AC: The relatives who are visiting can be boring.
•

Comparative form (than, as) + N Ex: I love Mary more than Paul

Subject
Object
 Subject: add auxiliary verb => I love Mary more than Paul does.
 Object: repeat verb => I love Mary more than I love Paul.
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•

Adj. Pattern: Be – Adj – to Inf.(transitive verb). Ex: The chicken is ready to eat.

Subject
Object

 S: The chicken is ready to eat food. (the chicken eats food)
 O: The chicken is ready for us to eat. (we eat the chicken)
•

(The chicken is ready to be eaten.)
One word with different parts of speech
Ex: He gave her dog meat
Det. modifies dog => He gave meat to her dog
Pronoun IO => He gave dog meat to her
Ex: The detective looked hard
Adj (P4): hard / SC: … looked severe / strict.
Adv (P6) hard / M / Aval: …. looked carefully.

15


NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT6
UNIT OUT LINE
IX.

X.

MEANING RELATION

1. Word relation
2. Sentence relation
TYPES OF SENTENCE BASING ON TRUTH VALUE
1. Analytic sentence
2. Synthetic sentence
3. Contradictory sentence

MEANING RELATION
A. WORD RELATION
1. Synonymy: Two words of the same or almost the same denotative meaning. Test: A= B
Ex: broad = wide; movie = film; deep = profound; buy = purchase
Partial Synonym: a word that share one of the meanings with another.
Ex: Way How to do something = method
Where to walk on # method
2. Antonymy: Two words of opposite meanings.
Types of Antonym
a. Gradable Antonym: There are intermediate grades / levels between the two extremes. For
example:
Cold → cool → lukewarm → warm → Hot
Hate → dislike → be indifferent → like → be fond of → love
Test: very/ how? + Adj/ Adv
much / very much / how much? + Verb
Ex: Old # Young => He is very old / very young
Love # Hate => I love you very much!
b. Complementary / Non-gradable / Contradictory / Binary Antonym
Two words are complementary antonyms when they exclude each other. In other words,
‘if one word is applicable, then the other cannot be.’ (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:114)
Test: A = not B (and vice versa)
Ex: alive # dead => alive = not dead ; dead = not alive
open # close => close = not open ; open = not close

fail # pass => fail = not pass ; pass = not fail
c. Relational Antonym / Converses
Two words are relational antonyms when ‘they describe the same relationship but they
are mentioned in the opposite order.’ (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:116)
Test: if A is … of B; then B is … of A
Ex:
husband # wife => If A is husband of B; then B is wife of A.
teacher # student => If A is the teacher of B; then B is a student of A.
buy # sell => If A sells a car to B; then B buys the car from A.
d. Incompatibility
Words which are mutually opposite or incompatible but belong to the same lexical field
(semantically related / sharing the same hypernym); in other words they are hyponyms in
the same lexical field and form a system of multiple incompatibility or oppositions.
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3.

4.

5.

6.

Ex: - Season system: Spring – Summer – Autumn – Winter. (the relation between spring &
summer is incompatibility; spring ↔ autumn; summer ↔ winter etc.)
Homophony
Words of the same sound, but different spellings, and different meanings
Ex: you – ewe;
meat – meet;

flour – flower
our – hour; too – two;
meat – meet
Homography
Words of the same spelling, but different sounds, and different meanings
Ex: a present /’preznt/ – to present /prı´zent/
the lead /led/ – to lead /li:d/
the wind /wınd/ – to wind /waınd/
Homonymy
Words of the same sound, same spelling, but different meanings
Ex: bank (n): ngân hàng – bank (n): bờ sông
bear (n): con gấu – bear (v): mang, chịu đựng
fine (adj): tốt đẹp – fine (n) tiền phạt
Note: There is no relation between the meanings of homonyms.
Polysemy
One word with different but related meanings (There is some semantic relation among the
meanings)
Ex:
fork
for eating
for gardening
of a road
all share the same form of a fork
of a river
7. Hyponymy: The one way relationship from hyponyms to hypernym (see lexical field).

For example:

Human
Bachelor Father

Mother

(B) Hypernym

Baby

Test: A (hypo) is a kind of B (hyper)
Ex: A bachelor is a kind of human
A baby is a kind of human

Uncle

Hyponymy

Sister

(A)Hyponyms

B. SENTENCE RELATION
1. Entailment: A sentence A entails a sentence B if the truth of B follows necessarily from the

truth of A. (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:107)
Test: A is true ⇒ B is true
one-way relation
A
entails B
Ex: I bought some roses ⇒
I bought some flowers
Not: I bought some flowers ⇒ I bought some roses

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However,
He eats all my roses ⇐ He eats all my flowers
He did not eat my roses ⇐ He did not eat my flowers
I saw a mouse ⇒ I saw an animal
I saw a big mouse ⇒ I saw an animal
But, I saw a big mouse # I saw a big animal (no entailment of any direction ⇒no relation)
2. Contradiction: 2 sentences in isolation, they are normal syntactically & semantically
in combination, they contradict each other
Ex: I am a bachelor &
I am a father
This ant is alive &
This ant is dead
John killed Bill
&
Bill is still alive
Mary is my sister & I am the only child in the family
3. Paraphrase
A paraphrase of a sentence is a sentence which expresses the same proposition as another
sentence. (Hurford & Heasley. 1983:114)
A paraphrase of a sentence is another sentence that has virtually the same meaning. (Peccei,
1999:3).
Types of paraphrase
1. Lexical: Paraphrases that contain synonyms (same structure, same meaning, different words )
Ex: I’m very happy to see you
I’m very glad to see you
The house was concealed by the trees

The house was hidden by the trees
2. Structural: Two sentences of different structures but same meaning. The difference in
structure is not enough to change the meaning.
Ex: The lion bit the hunter
The hunter was bitten by the lion
Paul opened the door with a key
Paul used a key to open the door
C. TYPES OF SENTENCES BASING ON TRUTH VALUE (True/False)
• Analytic: “An analytic sentence is one that is necessarily true, as a result of the senses of the
words in it.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 91-92)
Ex: A cat is an animal (hyponymy)
A rose is a kind of flower (hyponymy)
A bachelor is an unmarried man (synonymy)
• Synthetic: “A synthetic sentence is one that may be either true or false, depending on the
way the world is.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1984:92)
Ex: Cats can live till 20 years.
David is from England.
• Contradictory: A contradictory sentence “is a sentence that is necessarily false, as a result of
the senses of the words in it.” (Hurford & Heasley, 1984: 93) In other words, the sentence
contains words that contradict each other.
Ex:
My father [+ married] is a bachelor [- married]
My aunt [- male] is a man [+ male]

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NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 7
UNIT OUTLINE
I.

II.

SPEECH ACT
1. Definition
2. Components
3. Speech event / situation
4. Types
COOPERATIVE MAXIMES
1. Quantity
2. Quality
3. Relevance / Relation
4. Manner

SPEECH ACT

1. Definition: an action perform by an utterance
2. Components
• Locution / locutionary act: action to make a meaningful utterance.
• Illocution: the speaker’s intent / what the speaker implies.
• Perlocution: the reaction of the hearer: positive or negative
3. Speech event / situation: situation in which an utterance is made

Components of a speech event / speech situation
• Setting: time + place
• Participants: people involved in a speech event (speaker, hearer)
• Role relationships: the relationship between speaker & hearer.
• The message: what is conveyed.
• The key: tone, manner, spirit (irony, humor, seriousness …)
The illocution / speaker’s intent depends on the situation

Ex: “There’s a piece of fish on the table.”
Situation 1:
Girl: “ - Mom, I am very hungry?”
Mother: - There’s a piece of fish on the table.”
⇒ The mother wants her daughter to have fish for lunch.
Situation 2:
At 10:00, the mother comes home from the market.
Mother: “Mary, there’s a piece of fish on the table.”
Daughter: “Yes, Mom.”
⇒ The mother wants her daughter to prepare the lunch with the fish.
Situation 3:
A couple enters a restaurant.
Customers: “Waiter, there’s a piece of fish on the table!”
Waiter: “Ok, I’ll clean it up right away, Sir.”
⇒ They want the waiter to clean the table.
4. Types of speech act
a. Declarative: cause a change in the worldthe authority of speaker
In proper situation

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b.

c.

d.

e.

(blessing, announcing, arresting, naming, marrying, firing, dismissing…)
Ex: Priest: “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” (Announcement)
Referee: “You’re out!” (Announcement)
Jury Foreman: “We find the defendant guilty.” (Announcement)
Representative: tell how things
(statement, assertion, conclusion, description, claim, report, hypothesis…)
Ex:
The earth is flat. (Statement, fact)
Chomsky didn’t write about peanuts. (Statement)
I think you are right. (opinion)
We will have a 3- day holiday. (report)
Expressive: express feelings and attitudes
(statements of pleasure, pain, likes, dislikes, joy, sorrow, greetings, apologies, congratulations,
condolences, thanks, wish, complaint, compliment, leave taking, saying goodbye, admiration,
irony, mocking, …)
Ex:
I’m really sorry. (Apology)
Congratulations! (Congratulations)
Oh, yes, great, hmmm! (Joyful approval)
Directive: tell someone to do something
(orders, commands, requests, suggestions, asking, advice, giving permission, giving way,
warning, offer, complaint, threat, urge, challenge, invitation…)
Ex: Give me a cup of coffee. Make it black. (Request)
Would you like a cup of coffee? (Offer)
I can’t stand the fans! (complain / request)
Commissive: commit the speaker to do or not to do something
(promises, vow, threats, refusals, acceptation, offers, …)
Ex: I’ll be back. (Promise)
I won’t do it again. (Promise)
I want to, but I have to finish this report right now. (Refusal)

What can I do for you? (offer)

COOPERATIVE MAXIMES
Conversation to be effective needs the cooperation of the speaker and the hearer. In other words,
successful conversation proceeds according to principles called Cooperative / Conversational Maxims.
1. Quantity: enough information
2. Quality: true information
3. Relation / Relevance: same topic
4. Manner: Be clear and precise

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NGỮ NGHĨA HỌC. UNIT 8
UNIT OUTLINE
I.
Implicature
1. Definition
2. Types
II.
Presupposition
1. Definition
2. Types
IMPLICATURE

1. Definition
Implicature is used by Grice (1975) to account for what a speaker can imply, suggest, or mean, as
from what the speaker literally says. Implicature is an additional conveyed meaning.
Ex: - Students: “Sir, how are our final exams?”
- Teacher: “Few of you passed.”

Implicature: Not many of you passed. (Most of you failed)
2. Types of Implicature
a. Conversational implicature
An implicature based on the assumption that the participants respect the cooperative principles.
Ex 1: A: “I hope you brought the bread and the cheese.”
B: “I brought the cheese.”
Implicature: B did not bring the bread (quantity maxim)
Ex 2: A: “Is the boss in?”
B: “The light in his office is still on.”
Implicature: Maybe the boss is still in the office (relation / relevance maxim)
b. Scalar implicature
An implicature based on scales: when any form in a scale is asserted, the negative
of all forms higher on the scale is implicated.
• Quantity scale: No one – Few – A few – Some – Many – Most – All
• Frequency scale: Never – Rarely – Seldom – Sometimes – Ofen – Usually – Always.
• Possibility scale: Possible – probable – Almost certain – Certain.
Ex 1: “Some students visited me yesterday”
Implicature: Not many / Not all … visited me yesterday
Ex 2: “I seldom go to Ky Dong swimming pool.”
Implicature: I do not go to KD swimming pool very ofen.
c. Conventional implicature
An implicature based on the convention associated with specific words.
Ex 1: “I tried my best to get the ticket.”
Implicature: I didn’t get the ticket (tried conventionally implicates failure)
Ex 2: “The teacher hasn’t come yet.”
Implicature: The teacher is expected to come later. (Yet implicates to be true later)
Ex 3: “Even the President came to the party.”
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Implicature: That the President came to the party is out of expectation. (Even
implicates contrary to expectation).

PRESUPOSITION

1. Definition
A presupposition is:
-‘what a speaker or writer assumes that the receiver of the message already knows’
(Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 228)
-‘anything the speaker assumes to be true before making the utterance.’ (Pecci, 1999: 19)
2. Types of presupposition
a. Existential presupposition: assumes the existence of the entities named.
• Mary’s dog is cute >> (presupposes) Mary has a dog (the dog exists)
• Your car is nice >> You have a car.
b. Factive presupposition: assumes something to be a fact (usually with the verbs
as ‘know, realize, regret, be aware of, be glad’ …)
• We regret telling him the news >> We told him the news
• She didn’t realize he was ill >> He was ill.
c. Lexical presupposition: the use of some words that conventionally assume the
understood meaning.
• He stopped smoking >> He used to smoke.
• You’re late again >> You have been late before.
d. Structural presupposition: the use of some structures that assume something to be
true: A Wh-question ⇒ a completed action
• When did he leave? >> He lef.
• Where did you buy the bike? >> You bought the bike.
e. Non-factive presupposition: one that is assumed not to be true (the verbs like:
dream, imagine, pretend…)
• I dreamed that I was rich >> I was not rich.
• We imagined we were in Hawaii >> We were not in Hawaii.

• He pretends to be ill >> He is not ill.
f. Counter-factual presupposition: one that is presupposed not only not to be true, but
also is the opposite of what is true (contrary to facts)
Ex: If you were my friend, you would have helped me >>You are not my friend.

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