Group 5 (Sentential Meaning) - 1

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study

Studying semantics is important because semantics (as the study of
meaning) is central to the study of communication and as communication
becomes more and more a crucial factor in social organization, the need to
understand it becomes more and more pressing. Semantics is also at the center of
the study of the human mind - thought processes, cognition, conceptualization -
all these are intricately bound up with the way in which we classify and convey
our experience of the world through language.
Because it is, in these two ways, a focal point in man's study of man,
semantics has been the meeting place of various cross-currents of thinking and
various disciplines of study. Philosophy, psychology, and linguistics all claim a
deep interest in the subject. Semantics has often seemed baffling because there are
many different approaches to it, and the ways in which they are related to one
another are rarely clear, even to writers on the subject. (Leech 1990: IX).
Sense or lexical relations are concerned with the meaning of individual
words. However, as we observed in the unit on semantic theories, the function of
theories of meaning includes the explication of sentences. A great deal of the
problems of communication derives from the confusion at the level of sentences.
It is, therefore, important that you explore sources of these problems. We do not
communicate with isolated words. Indeed, knowledge of language and the art of
communication depend on our ability to combine words in a systematic way.
When words are confined, we achieve sentential meaning. The study of semantics
is also expected to explore meaning at this level. This is the purpose of this unit.
1.2 Formulation of the Problem
Based on the background of study that has been explained above, the
writer idintifies the formulation of the problems that are devided into five points,
such as:
1) How to identify different issues related to the meaning of sentence?
2) What are the major concepts in the meaning of English sentence?
3) How to apply these concepts in real language situation?
1.3 The Aims

Regarding to the fomluation of the problem that has been stated before, the
writer determine the objective of the study. The aims are devided into three
points, those are:
1) To identify different issues related to the meaning of sentence.
2) To explain major concepts in the meaning of English sentence.
3) To demonstrate the ability to apply these concepts in real language situation.
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
2.1 Sentence Meaning

According to Hurford, Heasley and Smith (2007), sentence meaning is what a
sentence means, i.e. what it counts as the equivalent of in the language concerned.
According to Lyons, (1985) as in Sutrisno (2012), the meaning of sentence is the
product of both lexical and grammatical meaning (the meaning of the constituent
of lexemes and of the grammatical constructions)
Examples :
1. This is a beautiful garden flower
2. This is a beautiful flower garden
In sentence (1) the focus is on flower, where as in sentence (2) the focus is on
garden. It is clear that the conceptual meaning of the sentence depends on the
reference and the structures of the words.
A sentence is a grammatically complete string of words expressing a complete
thought. This very traditional definition is unfortunately vague, but it is hard to
arrive at a better one for our purposes. It is intended to exclude any string of
words that does not have a verb in it, as well as other string. Utterances of non-
sentences, e.g. short phrases, or single words, are used by people in
communication all the time. People do not converse wholly in (tokens of) well
formed sentences. But the abstract idea of a sentence is the basis for
understanding even those expressions which are not sentences. In the
overwhelming majority of cases, the meanings of non-sentences can best be
analyzed by considering them to be abbreviations, or incomplete versions, of
whole sentences. (Hurford, Heasley and Smith, 2007).
A sentence is neither a physical event nor a physical object. It is conceived
abstractly a string of words put together by the grammatical rules of a language. A
sentence can be thought of as the ideal string of words behind various realizations
in utterances and inscriptions. We have defined a sentence as a string of words. A
given sentence always consists of the same words, and in the same order. Any
change in the words or in their order makes a different sentence for our purposes.
2.2 Concepts of Sentential Meaning
2.2.1 Paraphrase
In the study of meaning processes in the sentence, we shall discuss these

concepts in the sections that follow.1
Paraphrase is to the sentence what synonymy is to words. This means that

the paraphrase explains a situation in which two or more sentences have one
meaning. Indeed, a sentence can have many paraphrases. There are two types of
paraphrases: lexical and structural paraphrases. In lexical paraphrases, we have
two or more sentences giving the same interpretation as a result of the
replacement of one word or phrase by another. The following are examples.
(i) The chef hired a bachelor
(ii) The chef hired an unmarried man
In the two sentences above, the change in their structure is as a result of the
substitution of a bachelor for an unmarried man. Both a bachelor and unmarried
man are phrases. Consider further the following sentences.
(i) The man was agitated
(ii) The man was anxious
We have achieved the paraphrase by the substitution of the word “agitated” for
another, “anxious.”
Structural paraphrase is achieved when we alter the arrangements of the sentences

through transformations. The following are examples:
(i) They bought a new apartment (Basic –subject + Verb+ object)
1
Charles, U. Introduction to Semantics, National Open University of Nigeria. hal: 39
(ii) It was a new apartment that they bought (Cleft)
(iii) What they bought was a new apartment (Pseudo cleft)
(iv) A new apartment was what they bought (topicalised)
2.2.2 Ambiguity
When an expression can be given more than one interpretation ambiguity

arises. Therefore, why polysemy relates to words, ambiguity is concerned with
sentences. We have two types of ambiguity – lexical and structural.
Lexical ambiguity occurs when the presence of just a specific word leads
to multiple interpretations. Consider the following examples.
(i) The team has many goals
(ii) She prepared tables
It should be noted that “goals” and “tables” can be interpreted in different easy
based on the contexts. Structural ambiguity is achieved by the organisation of the
elements of the sentence. It is possible to interpret these elements in different
ways. Consider these examples.
(i) They promoted all English teachers
(ii) Boiling water can be dangerous
The ambiguity in the second sentence drives from the possibility of
reading the sentence as:
(i) Water that is boiling (i.e. hot) can be dangerous
(ii) The act of boiling water can be dangerous
The first interpretation makes boiling water as the subject noun phrase whereas in
the second interpretations, boiling water is the complement.
2.2.3 Vagueness
A sentence is vague when it has no definite meaning. This lack of meaning

may derive from the incompatibility of the semantic properties of some of the
words. Sometimes, a vague expression may be grammatically well formed, yet its
meaning may be farfetched. Consider the following classical example taken from
Chomsky (1965).
(i) Colourless green ideas sleep furiously together
It should be noted that many of what we describe as literary language would have
been vague except that we understand the background as literary. Consider further
the following example.
(ii) The stones consoled her
This expression is clearly a personification since stones which are inanimate have
been endued with the characteristics of consoling.
2.2.4 Tautology
A situation of tautology arises when we have unnecessary repetition of

elements in communication. There is undue emphasis without necessarily making
meaning any clearer. Tautology is closely associated with redundancy, which is
the introduction of linguistic units, which do not affect the status, or meaning of
the larger construction.
The following are examples of tautology.
(i) This bachelor has not been married
(ii) The congregation are members of a church
Other instances of tautology are:
• circumnavigate around
• unlawful theft
• can be able
2.2.5 Presupposition
In presupposition, there is usually a piece of information, which the

speaker assumes the hearer already knows. This assumption is based on some
shared background knowledge between the speaker and the hearers. An outsider
in the circle of communication may be at a loss.
Let us illustrate this situation with the following sentences.
(i) John: Are you able to bring Harry along?
(ii) Peter: That will be splendid. On our way, we shall pick up the drinks.
The presupposition in this conversation is that both John and Peter know who
Harry is. They both have an idea of the drinks, and the source from where to bring
them.
2.2.6 Entailment
According to Cambridge Dictionary, entailment is a relationship between two

statements when for one to be true, the other must also be trueIn entailment, there
is usually a pair of sentences and the truth of one derives from the truth of other.
Consider the following sentences.
(i) Tracy is a spinster
(ii) Tracy is a female
Sentence (i) derives from the meaning of sentence (ii). This means that if sentence
(i) entails sentence (ii) then, sentence (ii) is necessarily the implication of sentence
(i).
2.2.7 Anomaly
Anomaly results from the combination of two semantic features that are
not compatible in describing a phenomenon. Words attract specific selectional
restrictions. For instance, trees are vertical while rulers, ropes and snakes are
horizontal. For vertical items, we describe them in terms of tall, while for the
horizontal ones we talk of long. Thus, we can have tall trees, tall buildings, tall
people, but long ropes, long snakes, long rulers, and so on. It will therefore be
anomalous to have:
• a long man
• a tall snake
2.2.8 Contradiction
Contradictory expressions present two opposing proposition at the same time.

Thus, a person cannot be dead and alive at the same time. Other examples of
anomaly are:
(i) That circular house is rectarectangul

(ii) The drains are flooded because there are no rains
(iii)
2.2.9 Analyticity
We talk about analyticity when we have sentences in the grammatical forms and
lexical meanings of their proposition, which make them necessarily true. Consider
the following examples.
(i) Churches are usually attended by Christians

(ii) Unmarried ladies are spinsters
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
We have studied in this unit, different area of emphasis in the mechanisms

for deriving the meaning of sentences. We have focused attention on paraphrase,
ambiguity, vagueness, tautology, presupposition, entailment, anomaly, and
analyticity.
A sentence is a group of words that are put together to mean something. A

sentence is the basic unit of language which expresses a complete thought. It does
this by following the grammatical rules of syntax. An Utterance is any sound of
talk, that human produce. To differentiate utterance and sentence, we usually use
quotation mark (“….“) in written form of utterance. A Proposition is that part of
the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some state
of affairs. Besides declarative sentence, proposition also clearly involved in the
meaning of interrogatives and imperative sentences.
REFERENCE
Lyons, John. (1977). Semantics, 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Huford, J. R. and B. Heasly (1983). Semantics: A Coursebook. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.
Huford, J.R., B. Heasly and M. B. (2007). Semantics: A Coursebook (2nd Edn).

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Huford, J.R. & Heasley, B. (1983). Semantics: A Course Book. London:

Cambridge University Press.
Kempson, R. (1977). Semantic Theory. London: Cambridge University Press.
Ndimele, O.M. (1998). Semantics and Frontiers of Communication. Port

Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press.
Ogbulogo, C. (2005). Concepts in Semantics. Lagos: Sam Iroanusi Publication.

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CHAPTER I

1.1 Background of Study

1.3 The Aims

2.1 Sentence Meaning

In the study of meaning processes in the sentence, we shall discuss these

Paraphrase is to the sentence what synonymy is to words. This means that

(i) The chef hired a bachelor

(ii) The chef hired an unmarried man

(i) The man was agitated

(ii) The man was anxious

Structural paraphrase is achieved when we alter the arrangements of the sentences

(i) They bought a new apartment (Basic –subject + Verb+ object)

(iii) What they bought was a new apartment (Pseudo cleft)

(iv) A new apartment was what they bought (topicalised)

When an expression can be given more than one interpretation ambiguity

(i) The team has many goals

(ii) She prepared tables

(i) They promoted all English teachers

(ii) Boiling water can be dangerous

The ambiguity in the second sentence drives from the possibility of

reading the sentence as:

(i) Water that is boiling (i.e. hot) can be dangerous

(ii) The act of boiling water can be dangerous

A sentence is vague when it has no definite meaning. This lack of meaning

(i) Colourless green ideas sleep furiously together

(ii) The stones consoled her

A situation of tautology arises when we have unnecessary repetition of

The following are examples of tautology.

(i) This bachelor has not been married

(ii) The congregation are members of a church

Other instances of tautology are:

In presupposition, there is usually a piece of information, which the

Let us illustrate this situation with the following sentences.

(i) John: Are you able to bring Harry along?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, entailment is a relationship between two

(i) Tracy is a spinster

(ii) Tracy is a female

Contradictory expressions present two opposing proposition at the same time.

(i) That circular house is rectarectangul

(i) Churches are usually attended by Christians

We have studied in this unit, different area of emphasis in the mechanisms

A sentence is a group of words that are put together to mean something. A

Lyons, John. (1977). Semantics, 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Huford, J. R. and B. Heasly (1983). Semantics: A Coursebook. Cambridge:

Huford, J.R., B. Heasly and M. B. (2007). Semantics: A Coursebook (2nd Edn).

Huford, J.R. & Heasley, B. (1983). Semantics: A Course Book. London:

Kempson, R. (1977). Semantic Theory. London: Cambridge University Press.

Ndimele, O.M. (1998). Semantics and Frontiers of Communication. Port

Ogbulogo, C. (2005). Concepts in Semantics. Lagos: Sam Iroanusi Publication.

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