7.2 Compositional Semantics
5 min read•july 31, 2024
is all about how we build meaning from smaller parts. It's like putting together a puzzle, where each word is a piece and the rules of grammar are the instructions.
This topic dives into how we combine words to create phrases and sentences. It explores the challenges we face when dealing with tricky language like and , and how context plays a big role in understanding.
Compositional Semantics
Principles and Foundations
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- Compositional semantics determines complex expression meanings from constituent parts and combination rules
- (Gottlob Frege) defines complex expression meaning as a function of part meanings and combination mode
- combines word or phrase meanings to derive larger linguistic unit meanings (sentences)
- Assumes language systematicity with regular meaning combination patterns
- Utilizes recursive processes allowing infinite novel sentences from finite words and rules
- Formal semantic theories () provide mathematical frameworks for compositional meaning representation and computation
- Faces challenges with idioms, metaphors, and requiring additional semantic mechanisms
Semantic Composition Process
- Combines individual word meanings to form phrase meanings
- Builds up sentence meaning from constituent phrase meanings
- Applies composition rules based on
- Accounts for word order and grammatical relationships
- Resolves ambiguities through contextual information
- Integrates world knowledge and pragmatic factors
- Handles (metaphors, idioms) through specialized mechanisms
Compositionality Challenges
- Idioms resist strict compositional analysis ("kick the bucket" ≠ physically kicking a bucket)
- Metaphors require mapping between conceptual domains ("time is money")
- Context-dependent expressions change meaning based on situation ("it's cold" relative to speaker/location)
- force meaning shifts ("enjoy the book" implies reading, not physical object)
- ambiguities lead to multiple interpretations ("every student read a book")
- Presuppositions and implicatures contribute meaning beyond literal composition
- Vague or underspecified meanings require contextual resolution ("tall" relative to comparison class)
Syntax and Meaning
Syntactic Structure and Semantic Interpretation
- Syntax provides structural framework for semantic composition
- Determines word and phrase combination into larger meaningful units
- Semantic compositionality ties closely to syntactic structure
- Complex expression meaning depends on syntactic configuration
- Syntactic categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives) constrain possible semantic interpretations
- Phrase structure rules and syntactic trees represent hierarchical organization of expressions
- Guides semantic composition process through structural relationships
Syntactic Ambiguity and Meaning
- leads to multiple semantic interpretations of single sentences
- Structural ambiguity arises from different possible phrase attachments ("I saw the man with the telescope")
- Lexical category ambiguity occurs when words have multiple syntactic roles ("bank" as noun or verb)
- Coordination ambiguity results from unclear scope of conjunctions ("old men and women")
- Garden path sentences temporarily mislead readers due to initial incorrect parsing ("The horse raced past the barn fell")
- Resolution often requires context, world knowledge, or pragmatic reasoning
Argument Structure and Semantic Roles
- specifies number and types of semantic arguments for predicates
- Influences overall sentence meaning through participant relationships
- (Agent, Patient, Theme) assign semantic functions to syntactic positions
- affect argument realization and interpretation ("The vase broke" vs. "John broke the vase")
- Syntactic operations (passivization, causativization) modify argument structure and semantic focus
- Verb classes (unaccusative, unergative) determine allowable argument patterns
- ensures one-to-one mapping between semantic roles and syntactic positions
Function vs Content Words
Content Words: Lexical Meaning Contributors
- Carry substantive semantic content in expressions
- Include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
- Nouns denote entities, objects, or abstract concepts ("cat," "freedom")
- Verbs express actions, states, or processes ("run," "think")
- Adjectives describe properties or attributes ("red," "intelligent")
- Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs ("quickly," "very")
- Open class allows new members to be added to the lexicon
- Contribute to propositional content and of sentences
Function Words: Grammatical and Structural Elements
- Serve primarily grammatical purposes in sentences
- Contribute to structural meaning and relationships
- Include determiners, prepositions, conjunctions, and auxiliaries
- Determiners specify reference and quantification of noun phrases ("the," "some")
- Prepositions encode spatial, temporal, or other relations ("in," "on," "by")
- Conjunctions combine phrases or clauses ("and," "but," "because")
- Auxiliaries provide tense, aspect, and modality information ("have," "will," "must")
- Closed class with limited membership and infrequent additions
- Essential for creating grammatical and coherent expressions
Interaction and Semantic Contribution
- modify or specify semantic contribution of
- (function words) determine scope and interpretation of noun phrases ("every," "some")
- Determiners affect referential properties and discourse status of entities ("the" vs. "a")
- Prepositions link content words to create complex semantic structures ("the book on the table")
- Conjunctions establish logical relationships between propositions ("It's raining, so the ground is wet")
- Tense and aspect markers (function words) situate events in time and specify their internal structure
- Modals contribute to the expression of possibility, necessity, and obligation ("can," "should")
- Negation words alter truth values and create scope ambiguities ("not," "never")
Interpreting Sentence Meaning
Lexical and Syntactic Analysis
- Identify lexical meanings of individual words, distinguishing denotations from connotations
- "Bank" denotation financial institution, connotation stability or wealth
- Analyze syntactic structure, determining hierarchical relationships between words and phrases
- Create syntactic tree representing constituent structure (S → NP VP)
- Recognize syntactic categories and their combinatorial properties (Adjective + Noun, Verb + Object)
- Resolve structural ambiguities based on context or preferred interpretations
- "The man saw the girl with the telescope" attachment ambiguity
Semantic Composition and Ambiguity Resolution
- Apply to combine constituent meanings
- Start from lowest levels of syntactic tree, working upwards
- Adjective + Noun: intersective ("red ball") vs. subsective ("skillful surgeon")
- Verb + Arguments: fill thematic roles based on verb semantics ("John gave Mary the book")
- Resolve semantic ambiguities considering possible interpretations
- Lexical ambiguity: "bank" financial institution or river edge
- Scope ambiguity: "Every student read a book" (one book or multiple)
- Select most appropriate interpretation based on context or world knowledge
- "The pen is in the box" likely writing instrument, not animal enclosure
Non-compositional Elements and Truth Conditions
- Identify and interpret (idioms, metaphors)
- Idioms: "kick the bucket" interpreted as "die" rather than literal meaning
- Metaphors: "Time is money" understood through conceptual mapping
- Integrate non-compositional meanings into overall sentence interpretation
- Account for pragmatic implicatures and presuppositions
- "Some students passed" implicates not all students passed
- "The king of France is bald" presupposes existence of French king
- Evaluate truth conditions based on composed meaning
- Consider how sentence relates to possible states of affairs in world
- "The cat is on the mat" true if and only if there exists a cat located on a mat
Key Terms to Review (28)
Argument Structure: Argument structure refers to the formal representation of the relationships between a verb and its arguments, which are typically the entities involved in the action, such as the subject, object, and adjuncts. This concept plays a crucial role in understanding how different syntactic structures can be formed and how meanings are constructed in a sentence, linking syntax with semantics.
Coercion phenomena: Coercion phenomena refer to situations in language where the meaning of a word or phrase changes depending on its syntactic or semantic context, often forcing a reinterpretation of its usual meaning. This occurs when one expression necessitates a specific interpretation of another, illustrating how context can influence meaning and revealing complexities in compositional semantics.
Compositional semantics: Compositional semantics is the study of how the meaning of complex expressions is derived from the meanings of their parts and the rules used to combine them. This concept plays a crucial role in understanding how words combine in phrases and sentences to create meaningful structures. By examining how individual elements interact within a given context, compositional semantics helps illuminate the connection between language structure and meaning.
Content words: Content words are words that carry significant meaning in a sentence, typically including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They provide the core information and concepts, making them essential for understanding the overall message of a statement. Unlike function words, which serve grammatical purposes, content words convey specific ideas and allow for richer expression.
Context-dependent expressions: Context-dependent expressions are linguistic elements whose meaning can change based on the situation or context in which they are used. These expressions often rely on factors such as speaker intentions, the listener's background knowledge, and situational variables, making them crucial for understanding how language conveys meaning beyond mere words.
Function words: Function words are words that have little lexical meaning but serve to express grammatical relationships and structure within sentences. They include prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and pronouns, which help connect content words to create coherent expressions and convey the intended meaning of a statement.
Grammatical purpose: Grammatical purpose refers to the function that a grammatical structure serves within a sentence, influencing how meaning is conveyed and understood. This concept highlights how various grammatical elements, such as tense, aspect, mood, and case, contribute to the overall interpretation of a sentence. Understanding grammatical purpose is crucial for comprehending the nuances of language and how different structures can alter meaning and emphasis.
Idioms: Idioms are expressions whose meanings are not predictable from the individual words used in them. They reflect cultural nuances and often carry figurative meanings that differ from their literal interpretations, making them a fascinating aspect of language and cognition. Understanding idioms is essential in grasping the richness of language as they can reveal insights about cultural values and thought patterns.
Implicature: Implicature refers to the meaning that is suggested or implied in a conversation rather than explicitly stated. This concept plays a crucial role in understanding how people communicate, as it highlights the ways in which context and social norms shape the interpretation of language. By examining implicature, one can uncover the layers of meaning that go beyond the literal words spoken, revealing the speaker's intentions and assumptions about the listener's knowledge.
Lexical and Syntactic Analysis: Lexical and syntactic analysis involves breaking down sentences into their components to understand their structure and meaning. This process looks at the individual words, known as lexical items, and their grammatical relationships to build a coherent understanding of the overall meaning of a sentence. It plays a critical role in compositional semantics, where the meaning of larger expressions is derived from the meanings of their parts.
Lexical meaning: Lexical meaning refers to the meaning of a word or phrase as it is defined in a language's lexicon or dictionary. It encompasses the specific, dictionary-based meanings that words carry, which are often contrasted with their contextual or pragmatic meanings. Understanding lexical meaning is crucial for grasping how words combine and interact in compositional semantics, as it forms the foundation for how phrases and sentences convey overall meaning.
Metaphors: Metaphors are figures of speech that describe an object or action by comparing it to another object or action, suggesting a similarity between the two. They are essential for understanding language, as they shape how we perceive and communicate complex ideas by relating unfamiliar concepts to familiar ones. Metaphors play a key role in shaping meaning, influencing emotions, and constructing thought patterns in both everyday language and literary expressions.
Model-theoretic semantics: Model-theoretic semantics is a framework used in formal logic and linguistics that defines the meaning of sentences based on mathematical structures called models. This approach connects linguistic expressions to their interpretations through a systematic mapping of language to the corresponding elements in the model, allowing for a precise analysis of meaning, truth, and reference in language.
Non-compositional elements: Non-compositional elements refer to parts of meaning in language that cannot be derived from the meanings of their individual components. In other words, the whole does not equal the sum of its parts. These elements are important in understanding how meaning can sometimes be context-dependent, rather than strictly based on the structure or composition of the phrase.
Non-literal language: Non-literal language refers to expressions that convey meanings different from their literal interpretation. This type of language often involves figures of speech, such as metaphors, idioms, and hyperbole, that rely on contextual understanding rather than direct definitions. Understanding non-literal language is essential for grasping nuances in communication and meaning-making processes.
Presupposition: Presupposition refers to the background assumptions or beliefs that are taken for granted in communication. It plays a crucial role in shaping meaning by affecting how information is interpreted and understood, often relying on shared knowledge between speakers and listeners. This concept highlights how the context of conversation influences comprehension, emphasizing the interplay between language, intention, and inferred meaning.
Principle of compositionality: The principle of compositionality states that the meaning of a complex expression can be determined by the meanings of its constituent parts and the rules used to combine them. This principle highlights how language structure allows for the generation of meaning through syntax, where the arrangement and relationship of words play a vital role in interpreting overall meaning.
Quantifier scope: Quantifier scope refers to the way in which the interpretation of quantifiers, such as 'every' or 'some', can change depending on their syntactic arrangement in a sentence. This concept is crucial in understanding how meaning is constructed through compositional semantics, especially when different readings can arise from the same string of words due to the placement of quantifiers.
Quantifiers: Quantifiers are expressions that indicate the quantity of a subject in a statement, providing essential information about the scope and extent of what is being referred to. They play a significant role in compositional semantics by helping to specify how meanings combine when constructing sentences, allowing for a deeper understanding of logical relationships and truth conditions within language.
Semantic composition: Semantic composition is the process through which the meanings of individual words combine to form the meaning of larger linguistic units, such as phrases or sentences. This involves understanding how words interact and influence each other's meanings, leading to the creation of a coherent overall meaning. It's essential for understanding how language conveys complex ideas and relationships.
Semantic composition rules: Semantic composition rules refer to the principles that govern how the meanings of individual words combine to form the meanings of larger phrases and sentences. These rules play a critical role in understanding language, as they help us derive meaning from various syntactic structures and ensure that the intended meaning is conveyed when words are put together.
Semantic interpretation: Semantic interpretation refers to the process by which the meaning of sentences or phrases is derived based on the meanings of their constituent parts and the rules governing their combination. This concept plays a crucial role in understanding how language conveys meaning through structured expressions, highlighting the relationship between linguistic elements and their interpretations within various contexts.
Syntactic ambiguity: Syntactic ambiguity occurs when a sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways due to its structure. This happens when the arrangement of words allows for different syntactic interpretations, leading to confusion or multiple meanings. Understanding syntactic ambiguity is essential for parsing sentences effectively and is closely related to how people comprehend language and construct meaning, especially when faced with garden path sentences that mislead readers or listeners.
Syntactic structure: Syntactic structure refers to the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. It encompasses the rules and principles that govern sentence formation, determining how different elements such as subjects, verbs, and objects interact to convey meaning. Understanding syntactic structure is crucial in compositional semantics, as it directly influences how meaning is derived from combinations of words and phrases.
Thematic roles: Thematic roles are the functions that participants in a sentence play in relation to the action of the verb. They help clarify the relationship between the verb and the noun phrases, indicating who is doing what and how they are involved. Understanding thematic roles is essential for grasping compositional semantics and how meaning is constructed in sentences, as well as for analyzing syntactic representation.
Theta Criterion: The theta criterion is a principle in linguistics that relates to how arguments in a sentence are assigned specific semantic roles, or theta roles, based on their syntactic structure. It ensures that every argument of a verb is assigned a role that corresponds to its syntactic position and meaning, helping to maintain coherence between syntax and semantics.
Transitivity Alternations: Transitivity alternations refer to the variations in the number of arguments a verb can take, leading to changes in its syntactic structure and semantic meaning. This phenomenon highlights how the same verb can express different levels of action or involvement based on its argument structure, affecting overall meaning in sentences. Understanding transitivity alternations is crucial for comprehending how verbs function within a language, especially in terms of their role in sentence composition and interpretation.
Truth conditions: Truth conditions refer to the specific circumstances under which a proposition or statement can be considered true or false. This concept is crucial in understanding how meaning is derived from sentences and plays a significant role in the study of semantics, particularly in relation to how the meaning of larger expressions can be determined by the meanings of their parts.