Contrastive Semantics

Mtro. Francisco A. Espinoza Moreno

Lingüística contrastiva aplicada a la traducción

Contrastive Semantics

empezar

Introduction

Semantics is the study of meaning. Linguistic semantics is the study of the meaning of expressions in natural language (NL), which include:

Other forms of semantics include the semantics of artificial languages such as programming languages as well as formal logics, semiotics, etc.

• Words
• Phrases

• Sentences
• Texts

Linguistic semantics (henceforth semantics) aims to provide:

A definition of the meaning of expressions

An explanation of their meaning

A representation of their meaning

An account of the semantic relations between expressions

Analysis of the meaning of

'brunch'

explanation of the semantic relation between expressions

Working definition

explanation of the meaning

representation of the meaninh

'DIE'

Intra/inter-lexical semantic relations

Intra-lexical

Inter-lexical

'polysemy'

'synonymy'

Polysemy

Polysemy is the most typical type of intra-lexical semantic relation. Polysemy could be defined as the existence of múltiple, related meanings for one and the same lexical item.

MAN

bacteria

Polysemy seems to be the default valué, while monosemy is rare.

Technically, there is no limit other than acceptance and generalisation in use of the senses given by speakers. Polysemy is the result of some mechanisms that extend the meaning of the words used in all languages. They include connotation, metaphor or metonymy.

metonymy

metaphor

connotation

Polysemy

Polysemy is often distinguished from homonymy, which is not a type of semantic relationship. Homonyms are homographs and/or homophones (same spelling and/or pronunciation) but have different meanings and are etymologically unrelated:

Polysemy

When comparing Spanish and English, apparently 'full' or 'partíal' cross- linguistic homonymy is a source of errors in translation and foreign language use.

Polysemy

There are three types of false friends, whose meanings:

belong to some common semantic field

belong to different semantic field

Overlap partially

Are false friends the same as cognates?

Synonymy / antonymy

Although most lexical items have no apparent semantic relationship, many others are related semantically. Such semantic relationships can be:

hierarchical relationships

Similarity relationships (same / opposite)

Only focus on similarity relationships. It could be stated that synonyms (e.g. kid-child, talk-speak, high-tall, etc.) are interchangeable in some/most contexts, unlike polysemous words. Concerning antonymy, it could be defined as the semantic property of two lexical items being ópposed to each other (e.g. live- die, up-down).

Synonymy / antonymy

Synonyms and antonyms share two major features, on the one hand: they are symmetric, on the other hand, they only apply to lexical items of the same word class.

English and Spanish have extensive networks of synonyms and antonyms, often gathered in thesauri. English and Spanish have noticeable cross-linguistic synonymy in a wide range of shared cognates, for instance: electricidad - electricity; olive - olive or goose - ganso.

To better understand cross-linguistic synonymy in English and Spanish, the history of both languages will be referred to very briefly. Let us start by looking at the major families of European languages.

The Norman Conquest -The History of English

Although English is a Germanic language, it was strongly influenced by Norman French in the Middle Ages and by Latin throughout its history.

The History of the Spanish Language

Spanish was not influenced by Norman French, but it was influenced by other peninsular languages (e.g. Basque), Gothic (after the fall of Rome), Arabic (during the Al-Andalus period) and American-Indian languages (after 1492).

Polysemy & Homonymy

The relatively close relationship between both languages is due mainly to their same (distant) origin: (Proto-)Indo-European, their wordstock originating in Latin.

English Wordstock = Latin + Norman language

spanish Wordstock = Latin

Polysemy & Homonymy

Their wordstocks have also interacted relatively recently (1500-on) and we can easily find mutual borrowings (e.g. Eng. paella, Sp. fútbol), which lead to both languages displaying noticeable cross-linguistic (partial/full) synonymy and homography.

as regards their same origin - (proto-) indo-European

Wordstock originating in latin

arabic roots also coexist with latin ones in spanish

saxon roots also coexist with Norman ones in English

figurative language

Figurative (or 'non-literal') language refers to words/expressions that depart from their everyday literal senses. It is often used for the sake of comparison, expressiveness, etc. It's a more descriptive, 'creative' use of language, i.e. The cloud is crying.

There are different types of 'figurative language', including metaphor, hyperbole, synecdoche, puns, personification, etc. Let us look at similes and idioms in greater detail.

simile

idiom

similes

Siimiles compare one object or idea with another one to suggest two things are alike: As busy as a bee Smoke like a chimney Sudar como un cerdo ('sweat like a pig') ​Some siimiles have referential equivalents: Terco como una mula - as stubborn as a mulé Dormir como un tronco - sleep like a log. Some others are unrelated or slightly similar at the most: Aburrirse como una ostra (bored to death/to tears) Más lento que una Tortuga (as slow as a snail).

idioms

Idioms and other multi-word units are word sequences established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.

References

Hatim, B. (2004). Translation: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routlege. Nash, R. (1977). Comparing English and Spanish: Patterns in Phonology and Ortography. New York: Regents Publishing Company. Sánchez Benedito, F., Lavín, E. & Dawson, A.S. (2003). A New English Grammarfor Spanish Speakers (3rd ed.). Granada: Editorial Comares. Stockwell, R.P., Bowen, D., and J.W. Martin (1969/1970). The Grammatical Structures o f English and Spanish (4th & 5th imp.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Whitley, M. S. (1986). Spanish/English Contrasts: An Introduction to Spanish Linguistics. Washington: Georgetown University Press.

quiz

1. What is semantics?
1. What does it study?
2. What are polysemic words?
1. How does this phenomenon manifest itself in Spanish and English?
3. What do synonymy and antonymy refer to?
1. How do they work in both languages?
4. How is the history of both languages related to meaning-related phenomena?
5. How do Spanish and English behave when it comes to figurative language?

¡gracias!

francisco.espinozamrn@uanl.edu.mx