Semasiology - lecture 5.pptx
- Количество слайдов: 22
Semasiology Lecture 5
1. Semasiology • Semasiology studies meaning < Greek sẻmasia ‘signification’ • Meaning: 1) lexical; 2) grammatical • Diachronic semasiology > change in meaning • Synchronic semasiology > typical semantic structures and general semantic system of language • Semasiology is concerned with: - the word meaning - the problems of polysemy - the semantic change
2. Approaches to the study of meaning Referential Functional Informational. • Referential approach: concept “a place to live, normally a building” / intensional [haus] a real object sound or written symbol or referent / e extensional Meaning then was described as a relationship between the word and the notion or the word and the object.
• Functional approach: Meaning depends on the function of the word in speech • e. g. shine, glare, blaze, glitter, glimmer, twinkle – “shine” can have the meaning of every word of this list. > meaning = use Functional approach is fruitful because it helps to differentiate the meanings of the words in synonymic sets or antonymic pairs but the nature of meaning as a linguistic category is not defined.
• Informational approach: • From the point of view of this approach meaning is defined as information conveyed by this word. • The drawback of this definition is that it does not state relationship between the word, the real world and thinking. CONCLUSION: • Meaning can be more or less described as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated, giving the word with the ability of denoting real objects, qualities, actions and abstract notions.
3. Types of meaning • Most of the words may have 1 of the 2 semiological functions: 1) demonstrative (specified objects); 2) significative (notions). • Man is mortal. ~ Look at this man. • The telephone was invented by Edison. ~ This telephone is out of order. Class nouns can have both the demonstrative function and the significative function. Abstract nouns, adjectives, verbs have the significative function. Personal pronouns – demonstrative.
Lexical & grammatical meaning: • Grammatical meaning – abstract, generalized, changeable and varies with the paradigm of the word: learned ~ pulled ~ talked, writing ~ seeing ~ mocking • Lexical meaning – unique, specific, individual and paradigm independent: big ~ bigger ~ biggest, haze ~ hazy ~ hazily • Lexical and grammatical meanings though opposed to each other are nevertheless closely connected. • Auxiliary, link verbs, articles, conjunctions, prepositions – no lexical meaning.
• Grammatical meaning can be lexicalized : look – looks; colour – colours; custom – customs; sky – skies • Lexical meaning falls into denotation and connotation. All notional parts of speech have a denotation! Connotation – additional part of a meaning, reflecting the speaker’s attitudes.
Types of connotation: 1) Emotional – emotions: honey, darling, bastard, sissy, cry-baby 2) Evaluative – good or bad? : coward (negative) – hero (favourable); kind – malicious, righteous – wicked 3) Expressive – degree of some quality: • a) quantitative (amazing, huge, vast, tremendous); • b) qualitative (He gonna kick yer asses!) 4) Stylistic – usage sphere (slang, colloquial, official words). He’s totally bananas! – slang; sky – neutral ~ skies, azure, ether – poetic
• Denotative meanings often overlap the connotative one > no strict border between denotative and connotative aspects of meaning • notorious (connotation) ~ famous (denotation) BUT notorious means famous for something bad (denotation). Other kinds of meanings: - part-of-speech meaning - lexico-grammatical meaning - word-formation meaning dreadful, scornful, pitiful teacher, driver, brain-teaser
Implicational meaning • Connotation differs from implicational meaning. A wolf is known to be greedy and cruel (implicational meaning) BUT a wolf is "a wild animal resembling a dog that kills sheep and sometimes even attacks men".
4. Componential analysis • dull 1. uninteresting – deficient in interest or excitement 2. stupid – deficient in intellect 3. not bright – deficient in light or colour 4. not loud – deficient in sound 5. not sharp – deficient in sharpness 6. not active – deficient in activity 7. seeing badly – deficient in eyesight 8. hearing badly – deficient in hearing Meaning is a mosaic set of semes (semantic primitives) which are not separate meanings themselves
Denotative component is primary • • lonely, adj. – alone, without company solitary, adj. – alone, without company notorious, adj. – widely known celebrated, adj. – widely known to glare, v. – to look to glance, v. – to look to shiver, v. – to tremble to shudder, v. – to tremble
Denotative Connotative components lonely, adj. alone, + melancholy, Emotive without company sad connotation notorious, adj. widely known for criminal acts or bad Evaluative traits of character connotation, negative celebrated , adj. widely known + for special achievement Evaluative in science, art, etc. connotation, positive to glare, v. to look + 1) steadily, lastingly 1. Connotation of duration 2) in anger, rage, etc. 2. Emotive connotation to glance, v. to look + briefly, passingly Connotation of duration
• The classical way of componential analysis is based on oppositions. Boy – girl, man – woman – semantic components are “male” and “female”. • • • boy = girl = “young” man = woman = “adult” boy = girl = human bull = cow = animal
5. Lexical meaning vs. notion • meaning ≠ notion Words like Oh! / he / forward / there / upstairs etc. have meanings but have no notions Notions have no connotations notion – international, meaning – national Man is mortal. A woman is a man. Notion: 1) obligatory part (intentional part of the meaning; 2) associative part (implicational part of the meaning) Sea 1) water body; salty water 2) vast stretch > metaphor ‘a sea of troubles’
6. Polysemy • Polysemy – more than 1 meaning. One of them in a particular situation is its lexico-semantic variant. TABLE: • 1. a piece of furniture; • 2. the persons seated at a table; • 3. sing. the food put on a table, meals; • 4. a thin flat piece of stone, metal, wood, etc. ; • 5. pl. slabs of stone; • 6. words cut into them or written on them (the ten tables); • 7. an orderly arrangement of facts, figures, etc. ; • 8. part of a machine-tool on which the work is put to be operated on; • 9. a level area, a plateau.
Semantic paradigm • All lexico-semantic variants of a word taken together FACE: 1. The front part of the head: He fell on his face, 2. Look, expression: a sad face, smiling faces, 3. Surface, facade: face of a clock, face of a building, He laid his cards face down. 4. fig. Impudence, boldness, courage; put a good/brave/ boldface on smth, put a new face on smth, the face of it, have the face to do, save one's face. 5. Style of typecast for printing: bold-face type.
Main types of polysemy • 1. Radial 1 2 3 4 5 • to fly 1) лететь; 2) пилотировать; 3) лететь, мчаться; 4) запускать (змея); 5) бежать, спасаться бегством • dim 1) тусклый, неясный; 2) слабовидящий; 3) тупой, бестолковый • 2. Chain 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 crust 1) “hard outer part of bread“ > 2) “hard part of anything /a pie, a cake/” > 3) “harder layer over soft snow” > 4) “a sullen gloomy person” > 5) “impudence” 3. Mixed
• The relations between lexico-semantic variants: - implicational: slide 1) скольжение 2) горка 3) слайд - classificational: coat 1) пиджак, мундир 2) мех, шерсть 3) слой, покров 4) облицовка, обшивка
7. The elements of the semantic structure. 3 viewpoints on the semantic structure: • A) stylistic; B) etymological; C) synchronic A) STYLISTIC VIEWPOINT 1) stylistically neutral 2) stylistically colored > 2. 1) colloquial 2. 2) bookish, literary 2. 1 > a) literary colloquial; b) familiar colloquial; c) slang. 2. 2 > a) general; b) poetical; c) learned
B) ETYMOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT 1) etymological 2) archaic 3) present-day c) SYNCHRONIC VIEWPOINT pairs / oppositions -direct or figurative (sharp); -primary or secondary (hand – рука, помощь); -concrete or abstract (love, my love); -central or peripheric (foot – нога, пехота); -general or particular (elbow – локоть, изгиб реки); -free or phraseologically bound (heart of the matter; bloom – 1) цветок; 2) the time of the greatest beauty).