In
general, semantics defined as the study of meaning and anything related to it,
while logically, semantics defined as the linguistics clue and the real
condition of linguistics.
In
the early of 60s, semantics especially in America regarded as not too important
to study because semantics regarded as those a clumsy and not part of grammar,
until Katz and Fodor propose their article ”The structure of a semantic
theory.”
Talking
about semantics, also talking about
meaning. Both of them cannot be separated. What is meaning? There are three
types of meaning theory, they are:
1. The
Referential Theory of Meaning
This theory is trace back to Aristotle, that consider the
meaning of word/phrase/expression are the things which the words refers to.
It means that everything which has meaning must have reference. For example a word table, we will know what the meaning of
table if we can see the table by our bare eyes. There is a table
in front of us. It must be a concrete thing. If we believe that meaning from an
expression has a referent, than we have three consequent, they are:
a.
If an expression has a meaning, of
course it has a reference. For example, the word tree, we can see what the
meaning of a tree if we can see the tree itself and directly
b.
If two expressions have the same
referent, means that they have the same meaning. For example, when we say marzedez Benz or Honda Jazz.
Actually it has two referent but it has same the meaning; car
c.
If the reference of an expression is
true, means that its meaning will also true
This
three consequent have some weakness. Point (a) stated that every expression
which have meaning must have a reference, means that it must be a concrete
thing, but we have to consider if we find an expression from an abstract word
such as angel, evil, love, hate, destiny, and other abstract words. Does it mean
that such expression does not have meaning?
Point (b) stated that two expressions have the same meaning. It means
that both of them are synonymous. There are some expressions which refer to one
object, but have different meaning. For example the words ” the morning stars”,
“the evening stars”, and “venus” all can refer to the same planet, but they are
not synonymous. Another example, the first president in Indonesia and Soekarno are synonymous, but they refer to the
same person. And the last point (c), stated that anything that is true of the
referent of an expression is true of its meaning. Let see the sentence Sir Edmund Hillary was the first European to
climb Mt. Everest, and as the consequence he was knighted by the queen. But, if
we conclude that the meaning of Sir Edmund Hillary was the first European to
climb Mt. Everest is he was knighted by the queen, it seems an absurd. So, we
can conclude that this theory is rejected or modified in some significant way.
2. Mentalist
theory of meaning
This theory is develoved by Jhon Lock. It stated that if
no reference of word, meaning can consist of idea or mental image associated
with that words, example: angel and devil. Well, we can say that,
if meanings are not actual object or they are abstracts objects, it may mental
objects, it can be such an idea, and maybe this idea is the meaning of the
mental objects. Glucksberg and Danks (1975,50) propose that “The set of
possible meanings of any given words is the set of possible feelings, images,
ideas, concepts, thoughts, and inferences that a person might produce when that
word is heard and processed.” This conception of meaning can be formulated as:
The
meaning of each expression E is an idea (or ideas), I, associated with E in the
minds of speakers.
This
theory have some problems, they are:
1. The idea which becomes the basic of the theory
is still unclear if we use to interpret something specific. Also, this theory
cannot be tested.
2. If
the idea can be tested, this theory can make wrong prediction.
3. This
theory also stated that meaning also an image of a person. In fact, the image
of this theory was too abstracts to illustrate something, especially verb or
noun.
4. Another
problem from this theory is when making concepts from anything related with
idea. A theory must able to identify and distinguish a concept from its
meaning. In other words, this theory has many difficulties. The problems can be
from the first assumption that a meaning is a unity.
3. The
use theory of meaning
This
theory stated by Wittgenstein in1930. He stated that:
The meaning of an expression E is determined by its
use in the language community
This explains how
the same word may have many distinct meanings. For example:
-
She is a green lawyer which is means that
she is inexperienced
-
He is looking green which is mean that
he looks nauseated
-
We had a green winter last year which is
means that the last winter there is no snow.
Look
into the example above, we can see that a word has many meanings. It depends on
its usage and the meaning is based on the contextual.
Problems
that faced in this theory is that the concepts which has relation with the
usage must be accurate, and how its usage used in daily communication.
To
know more about meaning. I wil expalin you the types of meaning. There are four
types of meaning, they are:
1. Grammatical
meaning
Grammatical
meaning is the meaning which is exists when it is related to the other
expression, phrases, and words.
E.g.
I am going to finish my job
The
word am only will have
meaning when it is related to ‘I’, if not, am will have no
meaning, so am cannot stand alone (that’s we call as grammatical/relational
meaning)
In
contrast, if we take ‘job’, it still has a meaning. Another example:
She
is wearing the black shirt.
The
word is only will have meaning when it is related to she. if not, is will have no meaning. That
is why it is called grammatical meaning, because some words will only have
meaning when it is in grammatical form.
2. Discourse
meaning
Discourse
meaning is the meaning given by social and cultural context, this usually
depends on how a community of people interpret a word. It usually related to
the social value cultural. For example:
When Sasak
people talking to the higher social status, they use different words such
as “pelunggguh, pelinggih.”
In Germany the using of the word ‘sie’ and
‘du’ in which means ‘you’ is different.
“Sie” for higher class
“du” for lower class
3. Symbolic
meaning
Kind
of meaning that express by symbol according to the conventional agreement, even
does not written but it has known genearally.
Ex:
The
symbol means that in the area, smoking is forbidden.
4. Speaker
meaning
Speaker
meaning divided into two, they are:
-
Literal meaning
Literal
meaning is the real meaning of a word, we don't need interpretation or the
other mind to show the meaning because it has created by the people.
-
Non-literal meaning: the meaning is
different from what our word mean. This expression often we meet in idioms or
figurative language. Example
|
Literal
meaning
|
Non-literal
meaning
|
|
Thank you
|
Thank you
|
|
Our marriage is on the rock
|
Our marriage is on the rock
|
|
The door is right behind you
|
The door is right behind you
|
All
of the sentences may be have the same expression, but in terms of meaning, it
is different. In the literal column, the meaning is what has written, but it
different in non literal column. Let me explain you what does the sentences
mean in the non-literal column.
1. Thank
you means no. It is an expression to show politeness to other people to
say no.
2. Our
marriage is in the rock means that the marriage of a couple is in trouble.
3. The
door is right behind you means that please go out now
Talking
about semantics, also talking about meaning. Both of them cannot be separated.
What is meaning? There are three types of meaning theory which explain what
meaning means. They are referential theory of meaning, mental theory of meaning
and the use theory of meaning. There are four types of meaning which also
explore the meaning itself. They are Grammatical meaning, Discourse meaning,
Symbolic meaning, and Speaker meaning.
In
general, semantics defined as the study of meaning and anything related with
it, while logically, semantics defined as the linguistics clue and the real
condition of linguistics.
In
the early of 60s, semantics especially in America regarded as not too important
to study because semantics regarded as those a clumsy and not part of grammar,
until Katz and Fodor propose their article ”The structure of a semantic
theory.”
Talking
about semantics, also talking about
meaning. Both of them cannot be separated. What is meaning? There are three
types of meaning theory, they are:
1. The
Referential Theory of Meaning
This theory is trace back to Aristotle, that consider the
meaning of word/phrase/expression are the things which the words refers to.
It means that everything which has meaning must have reference. For example a word table, we will know what the meaning of
table if we can see the table by our bare eyes. There is a table
in front of us. It must be a concrete thing. If we believe that meaning from an
expression has a referent, than we have three consequent, they are:
a.
If an expression has a meaning, of
course it has a reference. For example, the word tree, we can see what the
meaning of a tree if we can see the tree itself and directly
b.
If two expressions have the same
referent, means that they have the same meaning. For example, when we say marzedez Benz or Honda Jazz.
Actually it has two referent but it has same the meaning; car
c.
If the reference of an expression is
true, means that its meaning will also true
This
three consequent have some weakness. Point (a) stated that every expression
which have meaning must have a reference, means that it must be a concrete
thing, but we have to consider if we find an expression from an abstract word
such as angel, evil, love, hate, destiny, and other abstract words. Does it mean
that such expression does not have meaning?
Point (b) stated that two expressions have the same meaning. It means
that both of them are synonymous. There are some expressions which refer to one
object, but have different meaning. For example the words ” the morning stars”,
“the evening stars”, and “venus” all can refer to the same planet, but they are
not synonymous. Another example, the first president in Indonesia and Soekarno are synonymous, but they refer to the
same person. And the last point (c), stated that anything that is true of the
referent of an expression is true of its meaning. Let see the sentence Sir Edmund Hillary was the first European to
climb Mt. Everest, and as the consequence he was knighted by the queen. But, if
we conclude that the meaning of Sir Edmund Hillary was the first European to
climb Mt. Everest is he was knighted by the queen, it seems an absurd. So, we
can conclude that this theory is rejected or modified in some significant way.
2. Mentalist
theory of meaning
This theory is develoved by Jhon Lock. It stated that if
no reference of word, meaning can consist of idea or mental image associated
with that words, example: angel and devil. Well, we can say that,
if meanings are not actual object or they are abstracts objects, it may mental
objects, it can be such an idea, and maybe this idea is the meaning of the
mental objects. Glucksberg and Danks (1975,50) propose that “The set of
possible meanings of any given words is the set of possible feelings, images,
ideas, concepts, thoughts, and inferences that a person might produce when that
word is heard and processed.” This conception of meaning can be formulated as:
The
meaning of each expression E is an idea (or ideas), I, associated with E in the
minds of speakers.
This
theory have some problems, they are:
1. The idea which becomes the basic of the theory
is still unclear if we use to interpret something specific. Also, this theory
cannot be tested.
2. If
the idea can be tested, this theory can make wrong prediction.
3. This
theory also stated that meaning also an image of a person. In fact, the image
of this theory was too abstracts to illustrate something, especially verb or
noun.
4. Another
problem from this theory is when making concepts from anything related with
idea. A theory must able to identify and distinguish a concept from its
meaning. In other words, this theory has many difficulties. The problems can be
from the first assumption that a meaning is a unity.
3. The
use theory of meaning
This
theory stated by Wittgenstein in1930. He stated that:
The meaning of an expression E is determined by its
use in the language community
This explains how
the same word may have many distinct meanings. For example:
-
She is a green lawyer which is means that
she is inexperienced
-
He is looking green which is mean that
he looks nauseated
-
We had a green winter last year which is
means that the last winter there is no snow.
Look
into the example above, we can see that a word has many meanings. It depends on
its usage and the meaning is based on the contextual.
Problems
that faced in this theory is that the concepts which has relation with the
usage must be accurate, and how its usage used in daily communication.
To
know more about meaning. I wil expalin you the types of meaning. There are four
types of meaning, they are:
1. Grammatical
meaning
Grammatical
meaning is the meaning which is exists when it is related to the other
expression, phrases, and words.
E.g.
I am going to finish my job
The
word am only will have
meaning when it is related to ‘I’, if not, am will have no
meaning, so am cannot stand alone (that’s we call as grammatical/relational
meaning)
In
contrast, if we take ‘job’, it still has a meaning. Another example:
She
is wearing the black shirt.
The
word is only will have meaning when it is related to she. if not, is will have no meaning. That
is why it is called grammatical meaning, because some words will only have
meaning when it is in grammatical form.
2. Discourse
meaning
Discourse
meaning is the meaning given by social and cultural context, this usually
depends on how a community of people interpret a word. It usually related to
the social value cultural. For example:
When Sasak
people talking to the higher social status, they use different words such
as “pelunggguh, pelinggih.”
In Germany the using of the word ‘sie’ and
‘du’ in which means ‘you’ is different.
“Sie” for higher class
“du” for lower class
3. Symbolic
meaning
Kind
of meaning that express by symbol according to the conventional agreement, even
does not written but it has known genearally.
Ex:
The
symbol means that in the area, smoking is forbidden.
4. Speaker
meaning
Speaker
meaning divided into two, they are:
-
Literal meaning
Literal
meaning is the real meaning of a word, we don't need interpretation or the
other mind to show the meaning because it has created by the people.
-
Non-literal meaning: the meaning is
different from what our word mean. This expression often we meet in idioms or
figurative language. Example
|
Literal
meaning
|
Non-literal
meaning
|
|
Thank you
|
Thank you
|
|
Our marriage is on the rock
|
Our marriage is on the rock
|
|
The door is right behind you
|
The door is right behind you
|
All
of the sentences may be have the same expression, but in terms of meaning, it
is different. In the literal column, the meaning is what has written, but it
different in non literal column. Let me explain you what does the sentences
mean in the non-literal column.
1. Thank
you means no. It is an expression to show politeness to other people to
say no.
2. Our
marriage is in the rock means that the marriage of a couple is in trouble.
3. The
door is right behind you means that please go out now
Talking
about semantics, also talking about meaning. Both of them cannot be separated.
What is meaning? There are three types of meaning theory which explain what
meaning means. They are referential theory of meaning, mental theory of meaning
and the use theory of meaning. There are four types of meaning which also
explore the meaning itself. They are Grammatical meaning, Discourse meaning,
Symbolic meaning, and Speaker meaning.
Reference:
Dale,
Russell Eliot.1996. The Theory of Meaning.
Menant ,Christophe. Introduction
to a Systemic Theory of Meaning
