Inherent Problems In Using Genus And Differentia Approach In Dictionary Definitions

Genus and differentia (GD definition) is often the approach used by lexicologists who write dictionary definitions. Are there any inherent problems in using this approach?  If so, why?  Explain using three specific examples. FREC12H students should give examples from the French language.

Give two examples (in full sentences) of each of the following types of deixis:

1. a) person deixis
2. b) temporal deixis
3. c) discourse deixis

Give 5 examples of indirect speech acts, i.e. situations where a particular grammatical structure (question, command, statement, etc.) is used with an illocutionary force different from the one it is typically assumed to express. FREC12H students should provide at least three examples from the French language.

Examples of Indirect Speech Acts

Late assignments will receive a penalty of 5% per day, unless there is a satisfactory reason for the late submission, which is discussed with the instructor in advance. French students may write explanations in English (although are welcome to write in French); please note that examples must be from the French language where indicated.

There are many meaningful ways of behaving which do not involve language. Some conventional, accepted symbols are the left-right indicator on cars, the use of flags at sea to convey various specific messages, or the many types of symbols involving body parts (bowing, waving, nodding, etc.) Identify 5 other conventional non-linguistic symbols, which are not from class or from the textbook. (5 marks)

Emblems

These are gestures that have specific agreed-on meaning. These differ from the signs language employed by those with hearing difficulties. Examples include a raised thumb, the ‘OK’ sign with thumb and index finger joined together to form a circle (Mavridis, 2015).

These are objects and images used to communicate specific information. For example, an avatar can be used on social media to represent an identity. Uniforms are also provided more details about one’s identity.

The space distance between individuals and objects can show whether the association is formal or social or their social rank. For example, the best corner office or desk is left for the executive.

Symbols such as gold, jewellery, cars, clothing and other valuables are used to communicate the social status, financial strength,  influence and religion in the society.

Haptics

This is communication through touch. Depending on the sex and position of the touch, one can communicate affection, familiarity, sympathy among others. Women tend to use touch to communicate care and concern whereas men mostly use it to convey control.

2.  The following pairs have similar denotations but very different connotations:

cheap / inexpensive avare / économe

speaking / yapping mince / maigre

studious / nerdy homme / mec

Write 5 other pairs of words (not from class or the textbook) that have different connotations. You may use examples from other languages but, if you do so, provide an English translation. For students enrolled in FREC12H, the pairs of words must be from the French language. (5 marks)

Solution

Handicapped /crippled

Attractive/ pretty

House/ Residence

Childlike/childish

Skinny/slender

3.  In some ways, language is compositional and in some ways it is non-compositional. Write 5 compositional phrases and 5 non-compositional phrases. Students in FREC12H must provide phrases in French.  (5 marks)

Solution

Compositional phrases

Blackboard

Stomach pain

Bread flour

Rabbit foot

Lake fish

Real estate

Face value

Shooting pain

Greenhouse

Bluebird

(Hashimoto & Tsuruoka, 2016).

Can the meanings of the following words be described in terms of situation? If so, which situations? FREC12H students should refer to the French words.

Examples of Deixis

goodbye / au revoir

pasta / pâtes

that / cela

us / nous

doorway / l’embrasure de la porte

Solution

Goodbye

Yes,

This word Describes a situation of departing or separation. It can be an emotional separation or joyous one. For instance, travelling far away and leaving the loved ones or a lady is getting married and bidding the parents.

Pasta

Yes. This is food made from unleavened dough of durum mixed with what floor or eggs then cooked by boiling or baking. The food is high in carbohydrate and thus is taken any time except during evening. So the meaning of the meal describes daytime when it should be taken.

That

The word ‘that’ can be used to describe a situation or object that is not near or a situation that is past. It can also be used to describe singular or plural.

Us

The word ‘us’ denotes plurality and can imply a situation where there is unity or agreement among people upon a certain point

Doorway

The word can be used to describe the existence of a pathway with or without a door at the entrance or just a door itself. Alternatively, It can be used to describe an opening or freeway.

Some dictionaries use pictures in order to escape the problem of circular definitions. What are the advantages and limitations of this strategy? Explain how easily the meaning of the following words could be conveyed pictorially and why: birch, to stab, pink, sad, river, above, meadow, cell phone, cautious, awful. FREC12H students please consider the meaning of the French equivalents to the above words: un bouleau, blesser/tuerd’un coup de couteau, le rose, triste, une rivière, au-dessus, un pré, un cellulaire, prudent, affreux. (5 marks)

1. Effective for illiterate people. The pictures in the dictionary can convey meaning even to the ignorant
2. Easy explanation. Pictorial representation makes interpretations and meanings easier

• Saves time. Written and oral communication takes a lot of time to exchange information as opposed to pictures that can contain compressed information

1. Pictures stick to the memory so is the information that comes with it.

Disadvantages

Complex presentation. Sometimes the use of pictures to present information becomes complex, and the receivers may not comprehend the meaning portrayed by the pictures.

Time wastage. Sometimes the use of pictures to portray given ideas can take a lot of time compared to oral communication where it can just be spoken at once.

Birch - can be portrayed pictorially by using a person being caned with a bundle of twigs.

To stab - use of a picture of a person thrusting a knife into someone’s body and presence of blood.

Pink - little girls can be used to portray the romantic and cute scenario that the colour represents

Sad- an individual with his/her head bent to curled knees and with a background that is dull

Conventional Non-Linguistic Symbols

River- use of a picture with a river flowing with rugged banks and a sky that is either blue or dark – use of a picture with black colour and some little light from the moon in the sky

Above- use of a flying eagle and blue sky or a kite

Meadow – use of picture with grassland or with some blossomed flowers and the sun rising at the horizon.

Cell phone- use of a picture of a phone or an individual on-call using the cellphone

Cautious- use of a triangularly shaped picture with an exclamation mark at the centre

Awful – use of a picture with an unordinary event or action

Words are not the only linguistic units that communicate meaning. Discuss whether each of the following categories can communicate meaning and, if so, what sorts: intonation, speech volume, speech speed, length of sentence, choice of language and (for type-written language) choice of font.  (5 marks)

Can be used to express feelings and emphasise and whether the sentence has come to an end.

Speech volume

High or low speech volume can be used to express excitement, emotional involvement or to create interest. A raised speech volume can be used to add emphasis.

Speech speed

Speaking rate can be high, medium or low and all can be used to portray meaning. A high rate of speech speed may give the listener an impression of limited time or quick thinking; average rate may imply the listener is expected to understand and follow after, whereas slow speaking may mean the listener is slow of thought, incompetent or uneducated.

Sentence length can be long or short to portray a detailed explanation for purposes of comprehension whereas a short phrase may imply simplicity of idea being communicated.

Choice of language

The choice of language can convey a different meaning. An appropriate language brings out the meaning of words. The choice of language can also portray the type of audience and the situation as well.

The choice of the font has to mean. For instance, in a formal setting, times new roman is usually used whereas in a casual environment other fonts which appear casual are used. The expected audience and way of delivery can also determine the choice of font. For instance, clear fonts are supposed to be used for PowerPoint presentations as opposed to those used in documents.

Noun compounding is an extremely frequent means of word-formation in English, and shows many different types of meaning relation between the compounded elements: a tree houseis a type of house in a tree, but a lighthouseis a type of 'house' which contains a light, and a poorhouse was an institution for the accommodation of the poor. A computer problem is a problem with a computer and a zebra crossing is a crossing that is striped like a zebra.

Pairs of Words with Different Connotations

FREC12H: En français, une portefeuille est quelque chose (non pas une porte!) POUR porter les feuilles et un fruit de mer est quelque chose (non pas un fruit!) qui vient DE la mer.

List 5 more examples of noun compounds and describe the semantic relationships between the constituent parts. (FREC12H students: At least 3 examples must come from French.) What do compounds reveal about meaning in language?  (5 marks)

Toothpaste – is made up of two nouns tooth and paste but when joined they form a word which means it is a paste for the teeth.

Bedroom - is made up of two nouns which have right meanings separately but when combined they form one word which means it’s a room where the bed is located

Swimming pool- is made up of a verb and a noun. The verb tells more of the noun. For instance, it shows that it is a pool meant for swimming and nothing else

Driving licence – is made up of a verb and a noun where the verb provides more information to the noun. That is, it tells that the type of license is a driving one.

Greenhouse – is made up of an adjective and a noun where the adjective provides additional information to the noun. For example, green tells us more about the type of the house that it is for agricultural purposes.

Genus and differentia (GD definition) is often the approach used by lexicologists who write dictionary definitions. Are there any inherent problems in using this approach?  If so, why?  Explain using three specific examples. FREC12H students should give examples from the French language.  (5 marks)

Limitations

The GD definition produces a multiplicity of meaning from a single word.

Example: a square can be taken to mean a rectangle or a rhombus

Under the GD definition, two different objects or nouns can have the same meaning which can be misleading.

For example, a triangle is defined as a plane figure comprising of 3 straight sides that are connected, whereas a quadrilateral is equally a plane figure with four straight sides that are connected.

Some definitions can be expressed as a single genus and two differentiae.

For example, both the triangle and a quadrilateral have a single genus called a plane figure.

Both the triangle and quadrilateral have two differentiae of three and four straight connected sides respectively.

Give two examples (in full sentences) of each of the following types of deixis

a) Person deixis

b) temporal deixis

c) discourse deixis

Students in FREC12H should provide examples from the French language.

1. a) Person deixis

I am going to the market to get some fresh vegetable for dinner.

You should be dressing up for the concert before it starts to rain.

1. b) Temporal deixis

It is so unfortunate that I have stayed with your novel for so long, but be sure to get it before the end of next week.

They arrived here for the checkup very late; they have to book for another appoint tomorrow

1. c) Discourse deixis

That was a challenging examination.

This is a hardworking student

Give 5 examples of indirect speech acts, i.e. situations where a particular grammatical structure (question, command, statement, etc.) is used with an illocutionary force different from the one it is typically assumed to express. FREC12H students should provide at least three examples from the French language.  (5 marks)

ex:  "You're not taking that course, are you?" - implies that it's a bad idea to do so

“Watch out Dwaine! You are driving off the road.” – Implies that if Dwaine is not careful, he is getting out of the road.

“Marie, you got that right? Don’t leave the house until I am back.” – meaning that Marie should remain in the house until her sister is back.

“Have a seat and let us have lunch, shall we?” – He is already welcomed to join in having lunch together

“Don’t worry, you will make there, you only need to put in a little more effort” – encouraging that all is possible at the end.

“You are not bringing those dirty tins to the house, are you?”- The dirty tins are not permitted in the hous

References

Hashimoto, K., & Tsuruoka, Y. (2016). Adaptive joint learning of compositional and non-

compositional phrase embeddings. arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.06067.

Mavridis, N. (2015). A review of verbal and non-verbal human–robot interactive

communication. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 63, 22-35.