work.
2.2 words defined as reference
• 所指关系 • relationship between language and the world ;
between words and the things, actions, events, and qualities they stand for. By means of reference, a speaker indicates which things in the world (including persons) are being talked about. • For example, the word ‘tree’ refers to the object ‘tree’.
Some words just don’t have referents in real world, but they make sense, but, what is sense? 有些词虽然在现实世界中没有具体对 象，但它们却有意义。 什么是意义？
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱense
• 语义 • 词或句子本身所表示的语言本身的
2.The reference of a word to a thing outside the language is arbitrary （随意的）and conventional（约定俗成的）. This connection is the result of generalization（ 归纳） and abstraction（抽象）.
Week 7
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Outline
1.Word Meaning词义 2.Motivations of meaning 词的理据
–词的意义究竟指什么？
–这个词为什么是这个意思？
关于词义的一些基本理论和基本概念
1.words defined as things 2.words defined as reference
意义。即，词义和句义。 • 每个有词义的词都有语义，但不一
定有所指称的事物（reference）。
reference & sense: difference
➢ Sense denotes the relationships inside the language. ➢ Reference denotes the relationship between words and
Meaning and Concept：difference
• closely connected but not identical（关系密切、并不 相同）
• They are both related directly to referents and are notions of the words but belong to different categories.
but it has little linguistic meaning
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Sometimes two different proper names have the same referent.
hobbits
unicorn
Harry Potter
Semantic Triangle 语义三角
意义（概念）Meaning (Concept)
tree 词Word
形式 Form
所指对象 Referent
What is concept?
It is the general idea or meaning which is associated with a word or symbol in a person’s mind. 指词或符号在人脑中的大致印象或意义。Tree
• 概念属于人类认知领域思维领域； • 意义属于语言领域。
Words and Referents
1.专有名词无词义，有所指对象；不 同的专有名词指同一个对象；
2.少数词有词义，无所指对象；
• proper names typically have only one reference
Barack Hussein Obama
• Concept, which is beyond language, is the result of human cognition, reflecting the objective world in the human mind.
• Concept is universal to all men alike regardless of culture, race, language and so on.
1.In other words, only when a connection has been established between the linguistic sign（语言符号） and a referent （所指物）, i.e., an object, a phenomenon, a person, etc. does the sign become meaningful.
1. 1 words defined as things
• Word meaning can be defined as a reciprocal relation between name and meaning.
• ‘Meaning’ is what the form stands for. • 意义指的是它代表的内容。 • e.g.desk: something you sit at and you do your
• But meaning belongs to language, so is restricted to language use.
• A concept can have as many referring expressions as there are languages in the world. Even in the same language, the same concept can be expressed in different words.