Semantika engleskog jezika

S E M A N T I K A E N G L E S K O G A J E Z I K A

• m e n t a l i s m implies that phenomena within language have a mental basis, which means that language is not seen exclusively as an abstract system existing on its own
• a n t i – m e n t a l i s m implies that language is seen as a structure which is in no way related to any kind of psychological attributes of the human being
• t h e o r i e s have an explanatory function; they systemise the data according to the general principles; on the basis of this systematisation things become clearer
• m e t h o d o l o g y is a set of methods by means of which the postulates of the theory are, hopefully, proven
• l i n g u i s t i c c o n t e x t: immediate syntagmatic environment in which a linguistic element can appear (+ non-linguistic context + context of situation)

• l i n g u i s t i c s: the scientific study of language (language is seen as an abstract system)
• 1916, Saussure’s “Course on General Linguistics” = the beginning of linguistics as a science, and the beginning of structural linguistics
• it is the scientific study of language which aims at explaining how language functions
• language is seen as a unique system/structure whose basic principles are identified, explained and can then be applied to all languages
• he distinguished between synchronic and diachronic research
• he distinguished between ‘langue’, ‘parole’ and ‘langage’ (the totality of the linguistic phenomena)
• he started distinguishing between the psychological and sociological reality of language
• linguistic sign is comprised of form and content (signifié and signifiant)
• paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations

• syntagmatic – linear; they are combinatory sequences determined by the two sets of rules: those that determine how sequence can appear, and those that are deliminated by possible choices
• paradigmatic – all the possibilities within language that can be interchanged on the syntagmatic level
• they pose a unity, i.e. function in unison

• structuralism developed in two major mainstreams

• European
• American

• based on the psychological theory of behaviourism
• very radical kind of anti-mentalism

• basic levels of linguistic analysis from the traditional point of view (i.e. what linguistics deals with):

• phonology
• morphology
• syntax
• lexicology
• semantics (studies the structure above individual words/phrases)

• impact on other humanities: they could function as a legitimate scientific disciplines

• s e m i o t i c s: the scientific study of signs

• Ogden and Richards:

• semioticians intrigued by meaning in natural languages
• “The Meaning of Meaning” (1923): came up with 22 definitions of meaning
• something radical should be done, through analytical rigour – meaning must have some kind of structure; they say that analytical rigour is the only way out within any linguistic discipline that deals with meaning
• knowledge of the language and of the world depends on a cultural background and on the direction of the development of a language
  • eng.: trot > canter > gallop = hrv.: kas > ? > galop => lexical gap
  • galop je posuđenica iz engleskog jer to nije bila primarna uloga konja u Hrvatskoj