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1、semanticsSemanticsisgenerallyconsideredtobethestudyofmeaninginlanguage.WhatisSemantics?Butthequestionofwhatmeaningreallyisisdifficulttoanswer.Everylinguistscannotagreeamongthemselvesconcerningthisquestion.Whatmakesthemattermorecomplicatedisthatphilosophers,psychologists,andlogiciansallclai
2、madeepinterestinthestudyofmeaning.Buttheydifferintheirfocusofinterest.Thisiswhyitisnotsurprisingtofindtenbooksallbearingthetitle“Semantics”buttalkingaboutdifferentthings.Inourdiscussion,wewilllimitourselvestothestudyofmeaningfromalinguisticpointofview.SomeViewsonsemantics1)Oneoftheoldestvi
3、ewsistheNamingTheory.ThenamingtheoryOneoftheoldesttheoryconcerningmeaning,andalsoaveryprimitiveone,wasthenamingtheoryproposedbytheancientGreekscholarPlato.Wordsarenamesorlabelsforthings.Meaningaretheobjectswhichthewordsstandfor,referto,ordenote?Inotherwords,thesemanticrelationshipholdingbe
4、tweenwordsandthingsistherelationshipofnaming.WeakpointsofNamingTheories1)Thistheoryseemstoapplyonlytonouns.Nounscanbeconsideredasnamesorlabels.Butverbs,adjectives,andadverbsarenotlabelsofobjects.2)evenwithnouns,therewillbeproblems,becausemanynounssuchasunicorn,fairy,ghost,dragonrelatetocre
5、aturesorthingsthatdonotexist.对命名论的批评斯特劳森认为:如果词的意义就是词的指称对象,那就意味着人可以从口袋里掏出手帕这个名称的意义。还有别的学者这样批评指称论:我们只能把苹果吃下去,但不能吃它的意义。2.ConceptsThistheoryholdsthatwordsandthingsarerelatedthroughthemediationofconceptsofthemind.ThiscanbebestillustratedbytheSemioticTriangleadvancedbyOgdenandRichards.ThoughtorR
6、eferenceSymbol/FormReferentThoughtorReferenceSymbolReferentLinguisticelementssuchaswordsorsentencesTheobject,etc,intheworldofexperienceconceptAccordingtothistheory,thereisnodirectlinkbetweensymbolandreferent(betweenlanguageandtheworld).Thelinkisviathoughtorreference,theconceptsofourminds.T
7、histheoryraisesanewproblem.Forexample,whatispreciselythelinkbetweenthesymbolandconcept?Weakpoints?Somescholarshavesuggestedthatthelinkissimplyapsychologicalone---whenwethinkofaname,wethinkofaconcept.Theproblemisthatpeopledon’tactuallytrytoseetheimageofsomethin