Semantics

Question 1

Sound Symbolism

Answer 1

• associations between certain sounds and abstract meanings
• used in marketing to mimic aspects of the product
  e.g. Mazda ‘Zoom Zoom’, ‘z’ and ‘m’

Question 2

Semantic Field

Answer 2

• what the text is about/the general association between the words
  e.g. sports - ball, bat, court

Question 3

Inference

Answer 3

• infer the meaning of something from a word
• helps achieve coherence as meaning/references must be inferred
  e.g. words that are unkown to the leader lack inferetial meaning, lowering coherence

Question 4

Personification vs Animation

Answer 4

• personification - giving non-human things human characteristics
  e.g. the waterfall cried
• animation - giving non-human things animal characteristics
  **e.g. the tree howled at the moon **

Question 5

Oxymoron

Answer 5

• a contradicting statement to emphasise something
  e.g. deafening of silence

Question 6

Irony

Answer 6

• when a speaker states one thing but intends for the audience to interpret the opposite meaning
• often used with emphasis, elongated vowel sounds, slow tempo to fully achieve coherence

Question 7

Lexical Ambiguity

Answer 7

• a sentence/word that can indicate multiple meanings
• puns use lexical ambiguity for comedic effect, can grab attention

Question 8

Synonymy|Antonymy|Hyponymy

Answer 8

• synonomy - words with similar meaning
• antonymy- words with opposite meaning
• hyponymy - words within a hierarchy
  **e.g. apple - hyponym - fuji | hypernym - fruit **

Question 9

Denotation vs Connotation

Answer 9

• denotation - literal meaning
• connotation - associated meaning, can be subjective
• connotation can help achieve function of text such as positive connotation in marketing

Question 10

Taboo and Euphamism

Answer 10

• taboo - topics that are not comfortably directly discussed within a society/culture
  e.g. sex, profanity, racism
• euphamism - phrases that indirectly discuss taboo or mask offensive meaning
• used in public and professional setting to signal respect and politeness, avoiding offense
  e.g. gone to god meaning death

Question 11

Dysphemism

Answer 11

• phrase that further magnifies the inappropriate/offensive nature of a taboo
• used in more private and closer relationships to signal closeness adn be humorous or overtly signal lack of embarrassment for a taboo
  e.g. take a piss meaning urinate

Question 12

Hyperbole vs Understatement

Answer 12

• hyperbole - overstatement/exaggeration to emphasise something for function/register
• understatement - underexaggeration to signal nonchalantness, bravery or humility, characteristic of Australian English and identity