SEMANTICS THEORY

DEVELOPMENT
(Learning the Meaning of Word )

Compiled by: Group 11

1. Eva Srifarida Pakpahan (20157479064)
2. Arip Wicaksono (20157479 )
3. Heri (20157479 )
4. Pharid (20157479 )

Guided by : Dr. Supadi

Lecture: Semantics
Four Kinds of Linguistics Knowledge
(Andrew Matthews 1996:8)

1. Phonology : refers to set of basic units of

speech/Phonemes (45 Phonemes).
2. Semantics : The stage at which individually
meaningless phonemes are assembled to produce
meaningful portion of language, called morphemes.
3. Syntax : refers to form or structure of the language
and deals with the rules that specify how words are
combined in order to express meaning. Children go
through a stage when they recognize that words are
used to convey meaning.
4. Pragmatics: refers to meaning based on the
context
 SEMANTICS THEORY DEVELOPMENT

Before words
Babies can understand pragmatic
intent of adults messages before they
know the meaning.

The meaning can be understood at

the emotional, social and contextual.
 As Words Develop

Semantic development is closely related to

acquisition of words, their meanings and
the links between them.

The better a childs abilities in those areas,

the more language he receives and
practices

Process of semantic development is

strategies formed for learning word
meanings and relating them to each other.
How can you know what a
child means by a word, if
what they mean is different
from what you mean?
 The relation between words and their referents

The word is a sign that signifies a referent.

The relationship between the name and the referent is arbitrary and
symbolic in which language-specific adapted by social convention.
Young children believe that the name and the referent are intrinsically
related.

Clarks theory predicts that a given word will be used for

objects that are perceptually similar regardless of the
function.

While Nelsons theory predicts that the word will be

used to refer to objects that either function in the same
way, regardless or perceptual properties.
Mental images

a. Meaning is a mental representation or concept. Some

words are picture/ mentally visualized, whereas
others do not have a picture referent.

b. Mental images tend to be particularistic or

idiosyncratic, e.g. house could like a brick
bungalow or a colonial.

c. Meaning has to be a social construct and to be useful

for communication.
Learning Theory

Children learn through association.

Behavioral model

Learning theory may explain the earliest and simplest kinds of

linking between words and objects.

Association can be facilitated by many factors, e.g., adults put

special emphasis on new words and things they refer to.
 Developmental Theories

Development theories consider semantic

development within the wider context of the childs
unfolding social, cognitive, and linguistic skills.
Ontological categories: concepts about how the word
is organized
A novel word they hear probably relates to an object
or event that the speaker is paying attention to.
The ability to establish and maintain joint focus of
attention with those around them is crucial for
childrens efficient word learning.
Principle and strategies

Words refer to objects

Shape bias
Taxonomic principle
Novel name-nameless principle
Principle of contrast
Principle of mutual exclusivity
after using semantic and syntactic
information or pragmatic information
How Children acquire meaning?
Paul Bloom
a. Bloom equates meaning with a concept.
According to him, to know the meaning of
word is to have a certain concept that is
associated with a certain form. (Ex: Noun)
b. Children learn words through
sophisticated cognitive abilities that exist
for other purposes. (For Instance, verb and
adjective).
c. A child has that insight that every thing
has a name and there is a name for
everything.
Fast Mapping
Children as young as 18 months old can
make an initial word-referent mapping
after only a few exposures to a new word,
also without explicit instruction by an
adult.
As with most other kinds of learning,
exposure distributed over several days
makes for more successful word learning
than the same number of exposures in a
single day.
Children may learn nouns as effectively
through incidental learning.
Fast Mapping

Fast mapping a hypothetical process; the initial

word-referent relationship or word meaning
created by a child based on limited exposure to a
word
Fast mapping is affected by neighborhood.

Carey and Bartlett 1978, Fast mapping is usually

applied to children. Kids dont learn their mother
tongue through active learning but rather through
picking up words and their meaning through
everyday life.