SEMASIOLOGY Types of Meaning What is meaning

SEMASIOLOGY Types of Meaning What is meaning?

Word-meaning is the relationship between language and the real world, between the signaling system and the things that the signals refer to or stand for. There are two approaches to the problem of meaning: referential approach and functional approach.

Referential approach studies the connection of meaning with concept and things they denote. Functional approach studies the function of words in speech, how they work.

basic triangle concept, thought sound form, symbol referent

Types of meaning The word-meaning is made up of various components which are described as types of meaning. The two main types of meaning are grammatical and lexical. The grammatical meaning is the meaning proper to sets of word forms common to all the words of a certain class. (look, looks, looked; destroy, destroys, destroyed)

Lexical meaning The lexical meaning of the word is the component of the word through which a concept is communicated with real objects, things, qualities, actions, abstract notions. Lexical meaning is the meaning proper to the given linguistic unit in all its forms and distributions. (a student, students, student’s, students’)

Denotational component Lexical meaning includes denotational and connotational components. To denote means to serve as a name for an actually existing object referred to by a word. The term denotatum or referent means either a notion or an actually existing individual thing to which reference is made.

Connotational meaning expresses the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the word: emotion, (mummy, granny), evaluation (clique), intensity (adore, love), stylistic coloring (to pass away, in one’s birthday suit) Stylistically words are subdivided into literary, stylistic, neutral, colloquial. friend –chum, fellow – guy, magnificent; terms, scientific words; poetic words

Change of meaning Extension (widening) of meaning: ship – a vessel for travelling on the sea; modern meaning: aircraft, ship, spaceship. Fair originally meant fit, suitable; in O. E. – pleasant, agreeable, beautiful; just; (from 14 c. ) – pleasant conduct, free from bias; injustice. Horn – animal weapon; now also a musical instrument; an apparatus, as in a car, which gives a warning sound.

Narrowing of meaning (a word becomes more specialized in meaning) to starve (originally meant to die), in Middle English – die of cold, in the 16 th c. die of hunger; deer meant animal, meat- in O. E. ‘mete’ – food in general (phr. meat and drink) Amelioration of meaning - a word loses an original sense of disapproval. Examples: nice – ignorant, unaware, foolish; Knight – servant; royal chivalrous servant (chivalry – noble soldier); success – result; favorable result Pejoration of meaning (a word develops a sense of disapproval) villain – peasant; scoundrel, criminal; notorious – widely known; widely and unfavorable known

Polysemantic words Words are considered to be polysemantic if there is a connection between the various meanings, if not then it is a case of homonymy. The problem of discrimination between polysemy and homonymy is connected with the problem of the basic unit at the semantic level of analysis.

meanings In polysemantic words there are the main and secondary meanings. The main meaning of the word air is: the mixture of gases that surrounds the earth and we breathe. Secondary meanings are: – a very light wind; – a tune of melody – a style of manner – a way of acting or behaving.

The word is polysemantic in language but in speech it is monosemantic due to the context. When analyzing the semantic structure of a polysemantic word it is necessary to distinguish between two levels of analyses. The basic meaning of the word occurs in various contexts, while minor meanings are observed only in certain contexts.

Figurative language Metaphor foot of a hill or the mouth of a river The transfer of the name of one object to another, and different one, based on the associations of similarity or contiguity is called a metaphor.

Metaphors may be based on similarity of shape: head of a cabbage; function, position at the foot of the bed; behaviour and function: bookworm. The most frequent metaphors are based: on the words denoting parts of the body: arms and mouth of a river, eye of a needle; upon analogy between duration of time and space: long speech, a short time. another group of metaphors deals with transitions of proper names into common ones: a Don Juan, Hooligan

Metonymy When the transfer is based upon the association of contiguity it is called metonymy The chair may mean the chairman; cello, violin, saxophone are often used to denote the musicians who play them. We know many physical and technical units that are named after great scientists: volt, ampere, ohm watt. In political vocabulary the place of some establishment is used for its staff, for its policy: The White House, the Pentagon.

Geographical names: bikini, boston, china, tweed, cheviot. The factors accounting for semantic change are divided into linguistic and extra- linguistic factors. And we know two ways for providing new names for newly created notions: word-building and borrowing. New meanings can also be developed due to linguistic factors. The development of new meanings, a complete change of meaning, may be caused through the influence of other words, synonyms.

Euphemisms There are words in every language which people consciously avoid to use because they are considered indelicate, offensive, harsh, impolite or too direct. euphemisms. lavatory: washroom, restroom, ladies’ room gentlemen’s room, water closet drunk: intoxicated, merry, fresh, high, half-seasover stupid: not exactly brilliant; slow learner; white meat, dark meat (chicken’s breast, leg) the black death (mortal disease); Prince of Darkness (devil); to kick the bucket