14 .What Are Meaning Relations? Relation of Reference vs. Sense Relation

In the narrow sense are semantic relations relations between concepts or meanings.

The concept [school] should be distinguished from the word ‘school’. [School] is a kind of [educational institution]. This indicates a hierarchical (or generic) relationship between two concepts or meanings, which is one kind among a long range of kinds of semantic relations.

 

The concept [School] may, for example, be expressed by the terms or expressions ‘school’, ‘schoolhouse’ and ‘place for teaching’. The relation between ‘school’ and ‘schoolhouse’ is a (synonym) relation between two words, while the relation between ‘school’ and ‘place for teaching’ is a relation between a word and an expression or phrase. The relations between words are termed lexical relations. 'School' also means [a group of people who share common characteristics of outlook, a school of thought]. This is a homonym relation: Two senses share the same word or expression: ‘school’.  Synonyms and homonyms are not relations between concepts, but are about concepts expressed with identical or with different signs.

 

Relations between concepts, senses or meanings should not be confused with relations between the terms, words, expressions or signs that are used to express the concepts. It is, however, common to mix both of these kinds of relations under the heading "semantic relations" (i.e., Cruse, 1986; Lyons, 1977; Malmkjær, 1995 & Murphy, 2003), why synonyms, homonyms etc. are considered under the label "semantic relations" in in a broader meaning of this term.

 Sense vs. Reference: The reference of a word or phrase is the actual (real-world) object(s) denoted by that word, without any further connotations. 'Sense', however, encompasses the full meaning of a phrase, and so extends beyond the merely actual. A 'rigid designator' is some phrase that refers to the same object throughout all possible worlds (and so lacks any deeper 'sense'). Names are the typical examples of rigid designators, whereas descriptions are the opposite. As an example, compare the name 'George W. Bush' to the description 'President of the United States'. The phrases have identical reference (since both refer to the same actual person). However, they have a very different meaning (or 'sense'), since we can imagine other possible worlds where Al Gore (for example) is president instead. Note that 'George W. Bush' refers to the same person in all possible worlds where he exists, whereas the referent of 'President of the United States' will vary from world to world. (Incidentally, I think sense/reference mirrors the de dicto/de re distinction that is crucial to the 'longer than it is' puzzle.)

15 . Synonymy. Strict (absolute) and loose Synonyms. Criteria for absolute synonymy.

A synonym – is a word of similar or identical meaning to one or more words in the same language. All languages contain synonyms but in English they exist in superabundance.

They’re no two absolutely identical words because connotations, ways of usage, frequency of an occurrence are different.

Senses of synonyms are identical in respect of central semantic trades but differ in respect of minor semantic trades.

Strict and Loose Synonymy

Synonyms are normally divided into two main types: strict (absolute) and loose synonyms. As for strict synonymy, two words are considered strict synonyms if they can be used interchangeably in all of their possible contexts of use. Furthermore, the substitution of one word for the other must not result in a change in meaning, style, and connotation of what is being said or written. (Jackson & Amvela, 2000. In this case, it is the speaker’s or writer’s choice to use one or the other since either can fit in the same context.

Still, according to the above definition, such strict synonyms are extremely rare or not existent (MaCarthy, O’Keeffe, & Walsh, 2010). As a matter of fact, strict synonymy is considered uneconomical since it leads to unnecessary redundancy in a language.