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研究ノート

The Form and Meaning Asymmetryi :Focusing on “Commencement Ceremony” and “Confidence Trick”
FU Kenryo(Professional College of Arts and Tourism)

1.

Introduction
As one example of the form and meaning symmetry, “commencement” (Form)primarily functions to refer to “the beginning of something” (Meaning 1 or the literalmeaning) according to dictionaries such as Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries (OALD
Online) and LEXICO. This form and meaning symmetry can be illustrated in (1) and(2), in which the literal meaning of “commencement” in the headline in (1) isguaranteed by further supportive details, “will jointly hold the first meeting” in therecapitulation of the news press in (2) below. Thus, the literal meaning (LM or the
Meaning 1) of “commencement” corresponds to its contextual meaning ii (CM or
Meaning 2) in (1). However, the symmetry exhibits only partial semantic
characteristics of “commencement.” As a counter-example to the symmetry, “theCommencement ceremony” (Form) in (3) is not a ceremony to mark the beginning ofuniversity life in its literal meaning, but a graduation ceremony, i.e., a ceremony tomark the completion or end of college life in its contextual meaning. The contextual
meaning of “commencement” in (3) can be verified by such phrases as “graduating
students” or “graduation” in the immediate context.
(1) Commencement of the First Meeting of Public-Private Committee on New
Technologies toward Decarbonization of Aircraft(METI Homepage, underlined by the author, attested on July 9th, 2022)(2) On June 20, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and theMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) will jointly holdthe first meeting of Public-Private Committee on New Technologies toward
Decarbonization of Aircraft.

(METI Homepage, attested on July 9th, 2022)(3) A group of graduating students at the University of Notre Dame are planning tosilently walk out of Vice President Mike Pence's commencement address thisSunday. #The demonstration, organized by the student activist group We Stand
For, is meant to protest Mr. Pence's policies as Indiana governor, including his

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signature of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2015. # “We invite all
students, faculty, and families who will be attending the Commencement
ceremony to walk out with us as we take back our graduation and show ourdissatisfaction with the University's selection of Mike Pence as honored speaker,”reads a Facebook event page for the protest, which says more than 100 people
have agreed to participate.

(COCA, Washington Times, 2017)

Further, another form and meaning asymmetry instance is “confidence.” The
primary function of “confidence” (Form) is to indicate “trust” or “belief” (Meaning 1 or
the literal meaning) according to OALD Online and Merriam-Webster Online. In (4)below, the LM (Meaning 1) of “confidence” is identical to the CM (Meaning 2). On theother hand, the CM (Meaning 2) of a “confidence game” in (5) below contrasts with its
LM. In this contradiction between the LM and the CM in (5), the “confidence game” isnot a trustworthy game but an untrustworthy game, i.e., “a professional swindling”
game (OED, 1989).
(4) He also secured the continuation of his government through a vote of confidence.
(LEXICO)(5) You two were victims of the oldest confidence game going - the pigeon drop. But
he just seemed so honest. Well, that's why it's called a confidence game. He has towin your confidence or you wouldn't put up the money. It wasn't his idea.
(COCA)
This paper is a case study of the aforementioned form and meaning asymmetry,
which is named the dust puzzleiii in Fu (2020) and Fu (2021). With a focus on the dust
puzzle of the “commencement ceremony” type and the “confidence trick” type, thisresearch aims to solve the puzzle of one form with contradicting senses from multiple
perspectives. Following Introduction in Part One, Part Two introduces and outlines therelevant literature on the dust puzzle. Next, Part Three examines the puzzle of the“commencement ceremony” type involving a conceptual perspective of language users,
while Part Four solves the puzzle of the “confidence trick” type by employing a refinedsyntactic-semantic approach. Finally, Part Five is an interim conclusion of the study.
2.

Literature
Karaman (2008) analyzes “contronymyiv” holistically from a semantic perspective,

leaving much space for further discussions on syntactic and contextual supports for thecontradictory meanings of each contronym. Fu (2020) adopts a syntactic-semantic

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approach and focuses on one example of the dust puzzle. The characteristics of the
Cover Type and Remove Type uses of the contronym “dust” in Fu (2020) can besummarized in Figs 1 and 2. In the figures below, in the Cover Types use the subject ofthe verb “dust” sprays dust or dust-like substance (hereinafter referred to as “dust” forbrevity) onto the object, while in the Remove Type use the subject removes dust fromthe dusty or dirty object. The ambiguity of the verb “dust” originates from the fact thatat the lexical conceptual specification (LCS) level, the direction of the movement of
dust is not defined (Fu, 2021).

dust

→

ObjectFig. 1 The Movement of Dustv
in the Cover Type Use of “Dust” in Fu (2020, 2021)

←

dust

Object (dusty or dirty)

Fig. 2 The Movement of Dustin the Remove Type Use of “Dust” in Fu (2020, 2021)
In addition to the above linguistic approach, a perspective of a speaker’s indirect
understanding is advocated by Lakoff & Johnson (1980) to examine form and meaning
asymmetry examples. In (6), two contradictory or opposite understandings of the samesentence can be possible, with M and M’ in Lakoff & Johnson (1980) respectively being
the literal meaning and the contextual meaning in this papervi. Lakoff and Johnson
further elaborate on the CM as in (7), which pushes out the boundary of the linguistic
or formal analysis to the psychological and conceptual approachesvii.
(6) In uttering a sentence S (S = “He’s a real genius”), which has the objective
meaning M (M = he has great intellectual powers), the speaker intends to convey
to the hearer objective meaning M’ (M’ = he’s a real idiot).
(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 207)
(7) The objectivist accounting of understanding is thus always based on its account ofobjective truth. It includes two kinds of understanding, direct and indirect. Direct
understanding is understanding a literal objective meaning of a sentence interms of the conditions under which it can be objectively true. Indirect

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understanding involves figuring out when the speaker is using one sentence toconvey an indirect meaning, where the conveyed meaning can be understood
directly in terms of objective truth conditions.
(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, pp. 208-9)
However, the suggested approaches in Karaman (2008), Fu (2020), Fu (2021), andLakoff & Johnson (1980) do not directly apply to the dust puzzle of the “commencement
ceremony” or “confidence trick” type. Therefore, this paper takes the position that arefined version of the above approaches is required to solve these two types of the dust
puzzle.
3.

The Dust Puzzle of the “Commencement Ceremony” Type: Language Users’
Perspective
This

sectionfirst

providesaconcisehistoricalaccount

of

the

form

“commencement” based on dictionary descriptions. The first use of “commencement” inthe literal meaning (Meaning 1) as in (8) and (9) appeared around the year 1250 (OED,1989) or in the late 13th century (Online Etymology Dictionary). Then, the first use of“commencement” in the contextual meaning (Meaning 2) as in (10) and (11) appeared
as late as the year 1387 in OED (ibid.) or in the late 14th century in Online Etymology
Dictionary. Thus, both dictionaries agree that Meaning 1 was introduced about 100
years earlier than Meaning 2, which supplements the viewpoint of this research that
Meaning 1 should be the literal meaning of “commencement,” and Meaning 2 thecontextual meaning.
(8) Meaning 1 of “commencement” in OED
The action or process of commencing; beginning; time of beginning.
(OED, Second Edition, CD-ROM, 1989)(9) Meaning 1 of “commencement” in Online Etymology Dictionary
late 13c., "a beginning, act or fact of coming into existence," from Old French
comencement "beginning, start" (Modern French commencement), from comencier"to begin, to start" (see commence).

(Online Etymology Dictionary)(10) Meaning 2 of “commencement” in OED
The action of taking the full degree of Master or Doctor; esp. at Cambridge, Dublin,and the American universities, the great ceremony when these (also, in some cases
other degrees, esp. in U.S., that of Bachelor) are conferred, at the end of theacademical year.

(OED, Second Edition, CD-ROM, 1989)

The Form and Meaning Asymmetry:
Focusing on “Commencement Ceremony” and “Confidence Trick”

55(11) Meaning 2 of “commencement” in Online Etymology Dictionary"school graduation ceremony" attested by 1850, American English, originally incolleges, in reference to the ceremonies by which members of the graduating classare made ("begin to be") bachelors, masters, etc. (commencement in the sense of"entrance upon the privileges of a master or doctor in a university" is from late14c.); thence extended to graduation ceremonies of academies and lower schools.
(Online Etymology Dictionary)
Based on (10) and (11), the advent and development of Meaning 2 of“commencement ceremony” in the collocation of “commencement ceremony” can besummarized in Table 1. As common sense in a regular educational system in the world
we live in, a graduation ceremony plays a dual role in celebrating both the completionof a course, such as a degree course at universities, and the beginning of an academic
degree, such as a master or a doctorate. In the early stage of “commencement
ceremony,” “commencement” still maintained its literal meaning in language users’
cognitive and conceptual fields, as the phrase was limited to the beginning to bebachelors or masters after graduation from universities or colleges. The binding to theliteral meaning of “beginning” might represent the then social backdrop that the
beginning to be bachelors or masters was more highly valued than the end of theacademical year or degree courses at colleges. However, with the further developments
in higher education and the extended uses of the phrase to the school graduation
ceremony in general, the CM of “commencement ceremony” gradually overrode its LM
and has been deemed approximately identical to the graduation ceremony in languageusers’ cognitive and conceptual fields. In summary, the above diachronic account of theform “commencement” reveals that it is the language users’ cognition of the then social
background that leads to the advent of the CM in the collocation of “commencement
ceremony.”
Despite the semantic development of “commencement,” the ambiguous aspect of“commencement ceremony” still remains in present-day English. The above-mentioned
Table 1 The Advent and Development of “Commencement Ceremony”
in OED (1989) and Online Etymology Dictionary
LM (Meaning 1)late 14cby 1850

CM (Meaning 2)

beginning to be bachelors, masters,
etc.
end of the academical year or degree
courses at colleges

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two-faced semantic features of “commencement ceremony” in the language users’
cognition and conception lead to the ambiguity of the construction. On the one hand,
the CM of “commencement” in “commencement ceremony” is restricted to educational
contexts, in which the beginning to be bachelors or masters is identical to the end of
the academical year or degree courses at colleges. On the other hand, the“commencement ceremony” used beyond educational contexts, such as (12) below, canonly be deemed as its LM, in which the form “mark the official start of” matches the
LM reading of “commencement.”(12) LECM held the works commencement ceremony for its new building on 11th
August 2006 (Friday) at 10:00 am to mark the official start of construction of the
New LECM Building.”(LECM, https://www.lecm.org.mo/en/news/30, attested in July, 2022)
The analysis of conceptual and cognitive aspects so far on the dust puzzle of the“commencement ceremony” type can apply to languages other than English. In
Japanese, for example, the literal meaning of o-hiraki (Form) is “to open or begin;”
however, it is sometimes employed to declare the end (the contextual meaning) ofcongratulatory banquets, such as a wedding ceremony. In other words, the same
Japanese form o-hiraki has two contradictory meanings, “to open or begin” (the LM)
and “to end” (the CM). According to Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (2006), as common sense inJapan, imi-kotoba, i.e., taboo words, such as owaru (literally meaning “to end”) or waru
(literally meaning “to break”), should be avoided at a wedding ceremony, for instance,
and are usually replaced by o-hiraki. Lee (2001) states that “linguistic expressions codea particular way of perceiving the relevant scene” (p. xi); cognitively speaking, the endof a wedding ceremony is coded by o-hiraki to mark the beginning of the couple’s newstage of life thereafter.
In summary, the common sense in educational contexts and the cognitive andconceptual viewpoints of language users lead to the puzzle of the “commencement
ceremony” type with two contradicting senses. Just as the completion or end of amaster’s course marks the beginning or start of a master, there is no wonder that“commencement ceremony” can express not only the literal meaning (beginning) but
also the contextual meaning (end). Similar to “commencement” in English, thenon-linguistic account for the puzzle is also applicable to o-hiraki in Japaneseviii.

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57

The Dust Puzzle of the “Confidence Trick” Type: A Refined Syntactic-Semantic
Approach
The literal meaning of confidence is approximately “trust” or “belief” (OALD

Online) as in (14) below. A refined version of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 in Part Two above canillustrate two subtle movements of “confidence” and “vote” between two participants inthe event of the vote in (13), the techs and Sidewheel. According to the formula of “votefor” or “vote against” in (13), “the techs” is the subject of the vote whilst “Sidewheel” isthe object of the vote. The semantic relation in Fig 3 exhibits that the techs’ confidence
is approaching Sidewheel; similarly, the meaning interaction in Fig. 4 displays that thetechs’ vote is also towards Sidewheel. To sum up, the identical direction of movementsof “confidence” and “vote” between the event participants leads to the literal meaningof confidence in (14).
(13) Formula: Agent + [vote for or vote against] + Patientix(14) Tommy and Barry asked the techs to cast a confidence vote on Sidewheel.
(Google Books, attested in July, 2022)

the techs

confidence→

Sidewheel

Fig. 3 The Movement of Confidence
in the Semantics of “a Confidence Vote”

the techs

vote→

Sidewheel

Fig. 4 The Movement of Votein the Semantics of “a Confidence Vote”
Although “a confidence trick” in (15) has a similar syntactic structure as that of“a confidence vote” in (14), “confidence” in (15) does not employ its literal of “trust,” butits contextual meaning of “swindling” as in (16). This difference can be illustrated inFig. 5, in which “confidence” in Fig. 5 shows the opposite direction of movement to thatof “confidence” in Fig. 3. Moreover, “confidence” in Fig. 5 also shows the opposite
direction of movement to that of the trick between “he” and “us” in Fig. 6. These
differences lead to the contextual meaning of “a confidence trick” as in (16) below.

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58(15) “Saad,” said Marcus with complete surprise in his voice. “Why would he wish toplay a confidence trick on us?”(swindler ) he ←(Google Books, attested in July, 2022)

confidenceus (victims)

Fig. 5 The Movement of Confidence
in the Semantics of “a Confidence Trick”(swindler ) he

trick

→

us (victims)

Fig. 6 The Movement of Trickin the Semantics of “a Confidence Trick”(16) a method of professional swindling, in which the victim is induced to hand overmoney or other valuables as a token of ‘confidence’ in the sharper (OED, 1989)
A similar analysis can be valid in the form of “a confidence game” in (18) below.
As in the formula in (17), with “play a confidence game on” deemed as a set phrase, thesubject of the event coded by the set phrase is “a few people,” i.e., swindlers, and thetarget “the masses,” i.e., “victims.” The movements between these two event
participants illustrate that “confidence” moves from the victims to the swindlers, i.e.,swindler-oriented or agent-oriented, while “game,” i.e., trick, moves from the swindlers
to the victims, i.e., victim-oriented or target-oriented. The opposite movement
directions lead to the contextual meaning of “a confidence game,” which contradicts its
literal meaning.
(17) Formula: Agent + [play a confidence game on] + Target(18) Every few years or so it seems that we see a streak of white-collar crime happen,
and that’s only what we find out about. That's pretty much what happened in
1929 with the stock market crash, a few people play a confidence game on themasses, get everyone into the over-confident buying frenzy, and then theconfidence guys pull the carpet out from under everybody when nobody seems to
be looking.

(Google Books, attested in July, 2022)

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Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper is a case study of the dust puzzle, one type of the form

and meaning asymmetry. The research has focused on the dust puzzle of the“commencement ceremony” type and the “confidence trick” type, respectively from a
non-linguistic perspective and a refined syntactic-semantic perspective. In the formercase study, the conceptual viewpoints of language users solve the puzzle of“commencement” with two contradictory meanings. In the latter case study, themovement direction of “confidence” and “trick” between the event participants is the
key to its ambiguity in different contexts. The non-linguistic approach and a refinedsyntactic-semantic perspective approach have been proved valid in solving the dust
puzzle of the “commencement ceremony” and “confidence trick” types.

Notes
I am grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and valuable comments. The
remaining errors and deficiencies are my own.
ii The contextual meaning, i.e., Meaning 2, in this paper, is also called “the non-literal use” in
Lindner (1982).
iii In Fu (2020), “we adopt the term ‘contronym’ to indicate a lexical item that has at least twosenses that contradict each other and “contronymy” to refer to the linguistic fact or phenomenon
in which a lexeme has two senses that are opposite to each other.” The contronymy, i.e., one form,
two contradicting literal meanings, is a typical example of the dust puzzle, while in a broad
sense, the dust puzzle also includes such a linguistic fact or phenomenon in which a lexeme’s
literal meaning and contextual meaning contradict each other.
iv Contronymy in Karaman (2008) is approximately equivalent to the dust puzzle in Fu (2020).
v I am in debt to Ms. Fu Minran for her creative ideas in the figure design.
vi According to Lakoff & Johnson, the contextual meaning (M’) of sentence S in (6) can be causedby sarcasm, for example.
vii In Talmy (2000), three approaches to the analysis of language are the formal approach, thepsychological approach, and the conceptual approach (pp. 1-3).
viii Another example of one form with two contradictory meanings is the proverb, “A rolling stonegathers no moss.” The interpretations of the proverb contradict each other in British English
and American English. This contradiction is not caused by linguistic elements, but by
non-linguistic elements such as social value or the so-called common sense in respective
communities.
ix In Fu (2022, forthcoming), a formula “exhibits the syntactic-semantic traits of a verb, such as
the usages of the verb and required or optional participants of the event or state encoded by theverb.” For the convenience of analysis, “vote for” or “vote against” in this formula is deemed as aphrasal verb, and the form following “vote for” or “vote against” as a patient.
iReferences
Dixon, R. M. W. (2005). A semantic approach to English grammar. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Karaman, B. I. (2008). On contronymy, International Journal of Lexicography, 21(2).
173–192.

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Fu, J. L. (2020) Dust: A Case Study of Contronymy, The JASEC Bulletin, 29(1), 93-101.
Fu, K. (2021) The Lexical Conceptual Specification (LCS) and Lexical Conceptual
Elimination (LCE) Principles in Contronymy, The JASEC Bulletin, 30 (1), 53-61.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphor we live by. Chicago and London: The
University of Chicago Press.
Lee, D. (2001). Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lindner, S. (1982). What goes up doesn't necessarily come down: The ins and outs of
opposites, Papers from the 18th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics

Society, 305-23.
Shen, J. (2015). Bu Duicheng he biaojilun [Asymmetry and Markedness Theory].
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Data, Sources, and Dictionaries
COCA (https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/)
Google Books (https://books.google.com/, attested in July, 2022)
LECM (https://www.lecm.org.mo/pt/news/27, attested in March, 2022)
LEXICO (https://www.lexico.com/, attested in July, 2022)
Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/, attested in July, 2022)
METI (https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/index.html, attested in July, 2022)

Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (2006)(https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BE%A1%E9%96%8B-2017535, attested in March,
2022)
OALD Online (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/, attested in March, 2022)
OED (CD-ROM, Second Edition, 1989)
Online Etymology Dictionary (https://www.etymonline.com/, attested in March, 2022)