THE SYNTAGMATIC DELIMITATION OF LEXICAL UNITS nThe syntagmatic delimitation of lexical units: n - is a feature of language in virtue of which the meaning of a sentence is a n function of the meanings of its constituent parts n n - for example: the meaning of the sentence “John thought the dog fetched the n stick.” is a function of the meanings of the component phrases n “ the dog fetched the stick” and “John thought,” whose n meanings are in turn a function of their parts. n n Lexical units: A lexical unit is a form-meaning complex with discrete semantic n properties. n It is a single word or chain of words that forms the basic elements of n a language`s lexicon (vocabulary). n Sense is the meaning aspect of a lexical unit. n n nIn the case of the syntagmatic delimitation, we have to consider three aspects of the ndelimitation of a lexical item. n1) delimit the form of a lexical item syntagmatically n - it means to state in any sentence where the boundaries between lexical items are n n2) having set up syntagmatic units, we observe that many of them appear to operate in n a variety of grammatical environments n n3) a word form may well display a split semantic personality, too, even within a n constant grammatical frame. n nThe basic syntagmatic lexical units of a sentence are defined as the smallest parts nwhich satisfy the following 2 criteria: n a) a lexical unit must be at least one semantic constituent n b) a lexical unit must be at least one word nExamples that are not the lexical units: n - the prefix dis- of disobey is not the lexical unit because, although it is a semantic n constituent, it is smaller than a word. n n - the pulled of Arthur pulled a fast one is not the lexical unit because, although it is n a word, it is not a semantic constituent. n n nSemantic constituents nAny constituent part of a sentence that bears a meaning which combines with the nmeanings of the other constituents to give the overall meaning of the sentence. nThe meaning of a sentence is complex in that it results from the combination of nmeanings which are in some sense simpler. The simpler meanings are carried by nidentifiable parts of the sentence. nThe meaning of The cat sat on the mat is: the + cat + sat + on + the + mat, combined in nthe ways signalled by the syntactic structure, which tells us that on goes with the mat, nrather than with the cat. n nTwo types of the constituents: n 1) a semantic constituent – any constituent part of a sentence that bears a meaning n which combines with the meanings of the other n constituents to give the overall meaning of the sentence n n 2) a minimal semantic constituent – a semantic constituent which can not be n segmented into more elementary semantic n constituents n nOn the mat is a semantic constituent of the cat sat on the mat. n nBut the semantic constituent is not used to refer to a meaning only but also to a form- nplus-meaning complex. It means that the semantic constituent is a meaningful form nwith a determinate grammatical function. nAn important indication that a part of a sentence is a semantic constituent is that nsemantic contribution to the sentence is the same as that which it makes to other, ndifferent sentences. n n1. The sacks had been hung out to dry. n2. A woman was repairing sacks. n3. Everywhere there were sacks full of potatoes. n nAll sentences contain the meaning “sacks”. The only formal element they have in ncommon is the graphic sequence sacks. We can identify sacks as the bearer of the nmeaning “sacks”. However, this is not sufficient to guarantee semantic constituency. n nThe test of recurrent semantic contrast – an important diagnostic test for semantic n constituency. This test locates the form n responsible for a given meaning and at the n same time ensures that its role is that of n a semantic constituent. nThe cat sat on the mat. – We can substitute one of its constituent parts, cat, by a n different but syntactically identical element such a dog. The n result is change in the meaning of the sentence. nCollocational uniqueness: n- no contrast in which the unique element participates can be tested in a distinct n linguistic environment n nSemantic tallies: n- do not carry meaning n- part of minimal semantic constituents n- main target is to distinguish from other semantic constituents with the same n semantic categoriser nExample: cranberry – it is a variety of berry but what exactly does cran- mean? For n example creation like cranbeads means nothing, although one n might have expected some interpretation such as “small round n red beads.” The fact is that element like cran- does not carry n any meaning at all. n n nSemantic categoriser: n- partner element of the semantic tally n- indicates a generally category n- a semantic tally in combination with a semantic categoriser constitutes a minimal n semantic constituent n- cranberry: cran- is a semantic tally and the partner element –berry is a semantic n categoriser n nSemantic indicators: n- general term for elements which fall short of being constituents, but have a semantic n function relatable to the meanings the same forms carry when they are semantic n constituents n- they are not constituents but have a semantic function nexamples: black- and bird- in blackbird or green- and house- in greenhouse n nWords nA word is typically the smallest element of a sentence which has positional mobility. It ncan be moved around without destroying the grammaticality of the sentence. n John saw Bill. n Bill saw John. n Bill, John saw. nThe morphemes constituting a single word have a rigidly fixed sequential order. We nhave word unwillingly, but we can not say lywillingun or unlywilling. nThe word is also typically the largest unit which resists ‘interruption’ n nIdioms nAn idiom is an expression whose meaning can not be inferred from the meanings of its nparts. The meaning does not follow the meaning of the individual words of which it is ncomposed. nIdioms typically admit two different interpretations: a literal one and a nonliteral n (figurative) one nIdioms are often colloquial metaphors. The most common ones can have deep roots, ntraceable across many languages. n n n n nMany have translations in other languages, some of which are direct. nFor example: get lost! – which means go away or stop bothering me n nkick the bucket – to die nnever look a gift-horse in the mouth – you should accept a received gift without trying n to find a fault in it nit’s raining cats and dogs – used to refer to severe rainstorms. Cats were associated n with heavy rain and dogs with storm and wind. Nowdays, n it has become old-fashioned. npull someone’s leg – to tell someone something that is not true as a way of joking with n them n nMost idioms are homophonous with grammatically well-formed transparent expressions. nA few are not in this sense well-formed, although some grammatical structure is normally ndiscernible. Such cases, of which by and large and far and away are examples, are often ncalled asyntactic idioms. nCollocations: n- refer to sequences of lexical items which habitually co-occur, but which are nonetheless n fully transparent in the sense that each lexical constituent is also a semantic constituent n- the collocation of a word plays a major role in determining its meaning in context n- collocations, like idioms, need to be individually learned n nexamples : fine weather, torrential rain, light drizzle, high winds n nIdioms and ‘dead’ metaphors: n- expressions whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of their parts n- is a type of expression which is included in the category of idiom, but which ought to be n kept distinct, and that is what is sometimes called ‘frozen’ or ‘dead’ metaphor. n- a metaphor induces the hearer or reader to view a thing, state of affairs as being like n something else n- dead metaphor is a figure of speech that has lost its force and imaginative effectiveness n through frequent use n- dead metaphor has lost the original imagery of its meaning due to extensive, repetitive n popular usage. Because dead metaphors have a conventional meaning that differs from n the original, they can be understood without knowing their earlier connotation. nExamples of dead metaphors: n - flowerbed n - head teacher n - to lose face n - to lend a hand n - a computer mouse n n n nThank you for your attention!