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PART 2 CHAPTER V THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCECHAPTER OUTLINE5.1 Introduction5.2 Grammaticality, acceptability and meaningfulness5.3 The principle of compositionality5.4 Variables in the function of sentence meaning5.5 The representational meaning5.6 The interpersonal meaningTHEORIES CONCERNING THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCEThe denotational theory correspondence theory of meaningThe conceptualist theory The pragmatic theory meaninginuse theoryThe cognitive theoryThe denotational theory correspondence theory of meaningThe meaning of an expression is characterized in terms of the notions reference and truthThe meaning of a sentence can be described by specifying when it is true.The correspondence between language and the world is the crucial element of meaning.
PART - CHAPTER V THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE CHAPTER OUTLINE 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Grammaticality, acceptability and meaningfulness 5.3 The principle of compositionality 5.4 Variables in the function of sentence meaning 5.5 The representational meaning 5.6 The interpersonal meaning 5.1 INTRODUCTION THEORIES CONCERNING THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE The denotational theory / correspondence theory of meaning The conceptualist theory The pragmatic theory / meaning-in-use theory The cognitive theory The denotational theory / correspondence theory of meaning The meaning of an expression is characterized in terms of the notions reference and truth The meaning of a sentence can be described by specifying when it is true The correspondence between language and the world is the crucial element of meaning The conceptualist theory The meaning of an expression is identified with the concepts or ideas associated with the expression or with a mental representation of the content of the expression, often making use of decomposition of meaning The pragmatic theory / meaning-in-use theory The meaning of an expression is identified with the use that is made of it by participants in an interaction The cognitive theory The meaning of an expression is identified as a reflection of the way we conceptualize the world out there The meaning of a sentence / utterance will reflect our experience of the world, and is the combination of its parts 5.2 GRAMMATICALITY, ACCEPTABILITY AND MEANINGFULNESS These three concepts are interrelated and should not be confused Grammatical sentences are not necessarily meaningful or acceptable The farmer has killed the house Grammatical, meaningless, unacceptable Fully grammatical and perhaps meaningful sentences are, for a variety of reasons, unacceptable (the reason may be a taboo / social etiquette in certain English-speaking society) His father died last night Grammatical, meaningful, acceptable My father died last night Grammatical, meaningful, unacceptable Acceptability may have to with what is called rationality and logical coherence He thought that it was possible because it was not impossible Grammatical, but nonsense (i) Material processes – processes of doing - A material process usually involves an actor and a goal E.g She hit the ball actor material process goal (ii) Mental processes – processes of sensing - A mental process involves a senser (or processer) and a phenomenon Everyone likes the play sensor mental process phenomenon - Mental processes can be subdivided into: (a) perception (seeing, hearing, noticing, etc.) (b) affection (liking, fearing, hating, etc.) (c) cognition (thinking, knowing, understanding, realizing, believing, etc.) Bill Gates fears that the lawsuit would hurt the company’s expansion into the cyberspace area (iii) Relational processes – processes of being - A relational process involves: (a) the identification of an entity with another one (The identifier and the identified) The chairman is my brother (b) an entity is characterized by a quality, the two participants here are defined as the carrier and the attribute He is a smart boy (c) belongs to somebody, the participants are the owner and the possession This book is John’s (iv) Behavioral processes – processes of physiological and psychological behaviour A behavioral process involves one participant called the behaver and a process She smiled Other verbs include “laugh, sigh, weep, kiss, etc.” Behavioral processes are classified into (a) (near mental) processes of consciousness represented as forms of behaviour, eg look, watch, stare, listen, think, worry, dream; (b) (near verbal) verbal processes as behaviour, e.g chatter, grumble, talk; (c) Physiological processes manifesting states of consciousness, e.g cry, laugh, smile, frown, sigh, snarl, whine; (d) Other physiological processes, e.g breathe, cough, faint, shit, yawn, sleep; (e) (near material) bodily postures and pastimes, e.g sing, dance, lie (down), sit (down, up) (v) Verbal processes – processes of saying - A verbal process involves a sayer, a verbiage, a target, and a receiver He said it loud to everyone Other verbs include “tell, insult, praise, slander, abuse, flatter, promise, etc.” + The sayer: anything that sends out a signal or message + The receiver: the entity to whom the saying is directed + The verbiage: what is said + The target: the entity that is targeted by the process of saying (vi) Existential processes – processes of existing or happening - An existential process involves an existent E.g There is a cat in the corner of the room Other verbs include: “be, live, come, follow, exist, arise, occur, come about” E.g Once upon a time, there lived an old man and a woman The participants: The participants are those roles involves in the process (expressed by the predicator) There is a long list of all the possible roles including: (GIVE EXAMPLES FOR EACH) i Agentive (agent and actor) – the creator of the process ii Instrumental – the instrument involved in the process iii Factitive – the entity which is the result of the process (she wrote a letter) iv Locative – the position or direction of the action or state expressed by the verb v Owner and possession vi vii viii ix x Benefactive – the entity that benefits from the action expressed by the verb Comitative – the participant that accompanies the subject involved in a process or action expressed by the verb (She went to the cinema with him.) Source – the point of origin of where the process comes from Goal – the target, to which an action is directed Undergoer (sensor / experiencer) – just the participant that undergoes or experiences a process xi xii xiii xiv The behaver – the participant that behaves The carrier and attribute – the participant or entity that has the feature expressed by attribute The identifier and the identified The existent – the participant or entity that exists The circumstances: Most circumstances are realized by prepositional phrases; however, they can be clauses, as well There are many types of circumstances such as: Time Place Condition Concession Result Manner Attending circumstances Cause Purpose GIVE EXAMPLES FOR EACH 5.6 THE INTERPERSONAL MEANING The interpersonal meaning has to with the functions of speech (illocutionary force) Let us consider the following examples: Examples Types of sentences/mood Possible functions Can you help me with the suitcase? Question/imperative Request Could you help me with Question/imperative the suitcase? More polite request I have the happiness to know it’s a rising sun Statement/indicative Giving information I wish I could get the job Statement/subjunctive Wish Halliday’s term modality is closely related to modality which expresses the attitude and opinion of the speaker toward the representational content of the sentence English modality can be expressed by the process of grammaticalization (in the form of mood) and lexicalization (by means of lexical items like modal verbs, modal adverbs, or some other lexical verbs) GRAMMATICALIZATION OF MODALITY Mood Examples Speakers’ attitude / functions Indicative It rained very hard last night Proposition as a fact Imperative Come in Subjunctive If I were you Proposition as command Proposition as non-fact LEXICALIZATION OF MODALITY She is certainly the best You must finish the report by tomorrow I suppose that it is critical to start it now THE END .. .CHAPTER OUTLINE 5. 1 Introduction 5. 2 Grammaticality, acceptability and meaningfulness 5. 3 The principle of compositionality 5. 4 Variables in the function of sentence meaning 5. 5 The representational... with Friday (G Ryle) b c 5. 3 THE PRINCIPLE OF COMPOSITIONALITY (syntax – semantics interface) The meaning of a sentence is determined by the meanings of its parts (semantics) and by the way... of grammar rather than semantics I want that my daughter marry him meaningful, but ungrammatical and unacceptable The meaningfulness of a sentence is conditioned by semantics in spite of how