Unit 4 Word Meaning.doc

Unit 4 Word Meaning1. The Meaning of Words 1) What is “meaning”? 2) What is “semantic meaning”? In broad sense, semantic meaning represents mans mind and thought.In narrow sense, semantic meaning refers to word meaning or sentence meaning.3) What is “word meaning”?Theories of word meaning:(1) The Naming Theory /The Referential Theory(指称论) 词 (words) 事物 (things) -PlatoWord meaning can be defined as a reciprocal relation between name and meaning. Words name or refer to things. i.e. words are just names or labels for things. (2) The Semantic Triangle The symbol or sign/ form refers to the linguistic elements (lexeme, word, sentence, etc.).The referent refers to the object or entity in the world of experience.The “concept” is the meaning of the word. The symbol of a word signifies “things” by virtue of the “concept”, associated with the form of the word in the mind of the speaker of the language. (3) Behaviorism (Bloomfield) Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form as “the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer”.Bloomfield argued that meaning consists in the relation between speech and the practical events.2. The Motivation of Words (词的理据)1) Definition of MotivationMotivation refers to the connection between the linguistic symbol and its meaning. 理据解释语言符号与意义之间的关系。 Conventionality: Most English words are conventional, arbitrary symbols. There is no connection between the word form and its meaning. (Opaque words 隐性词)Motivation: Some English words are motivated symbols. There is some connection between the word form and its meaning. (transparent words 显性词)2) Classification of Motivation (1) Onomatopoeic/ Phonological motivation (拟声理据)Words motivated phonetically are called echoic or onomatopoeic words, whose pronunciation suggests the meaning. Primary onomatopoeia: the likeness between sound and meaning.Secondary onomatopoeia: the association between sound and certain symbolic meaning: Phonaesthemes (联觉音组)，语音象征词(2) Morphologic motivation (形态理据)Morphologic motivation means that the meaning of some words can be inferred from the meaning of the affixes, roots, or other parts of the words.(3) Semantic motivation (语义理据)It refers to the mental associations suggested by the conceptual meaning(概念意义) / referential meaning (所指意义) of a word. It explains the connection between the literal sense(表面意义) and figurative sense (形象意义) of the word.Sometimes the meaning of a word can be extended to refer to something which is figuratively associated with the original meaning. (4) Etymologic motivation(词源理据)The origins of words throw light on their meanings. All the words commonized from proper names can be explained in terms of their origins. 专有名词普通化pen (origin: feather)walkman (origin: a brand of this device)(5) Analogical Motivation(类推理据) Words are created in imitation of other wordsColor analogyNumber analogyPlace and space analogy3. Classification of Word Meaning 1) H. P. Grice s(格赖斯) classification of word meaningTimeless meaning (固定意义)/ Literal meaning (字面意义)Applied timeless meaning (应用固定意义)Occasion meaning (语义情景意义)Utterers occasion meaning (说话者的情景意义)2) Geoffrey N. Leechs Classification of Word Meaning(1) Conceptual Meaning 概念意义Denotative meaning (外延意义)/ cognitive meaning (认知意义), is concerned with the relationship between a word and the thing it denotes, or refers to. Conceptual meaning is meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning.概念意义是词典中所给的意义，是词义的核心。 (2) Connotative Meaning内涵意义The connotative meaning refers to the emotional association a word carries. For example, mother, denoting a female parent, is often associated with love, care, tenderness, warmth, support, etc. The denotation of a word is the thing in the real world the word is linked to. The connotation of a word refers to the emotional associations that a word may carry. (3) Social Meaning 社会意义Social meaning is that which a piece of language conveys about the social circumstance of its use, i.e. different styles under different social circumstances. Martin Joos (朱斯) (1967) recognized five different styles using the criterion of formality：Frozen(庄严体)，Formal(正式体)，Consultative(商榷体)，Casual(随意体)，Intimate(亲密体)。We can simplify the styles into three levels: formal, neutral, and informal. (4) Affective Meaning 情感意义Affective meaning is concerned with the attitudes of the speaker or writer. Words that have emotive values may fall into two categories: appreciative/ commendatory (褒义化) or pejorative/ derogatory (贬义化).(5) Reflective Meaning 联想意义The meaning arising in cases of multiple conceptual meanings, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense.It is the product of peoples recognition and imagination. Taboo words (禁忌词) avoidedEuphemism/ Euphemistic expressions (委婉语) needed.(6) Collocative Meaning 搭配意义Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the meaning of words which tend to occur in its environment. (7) Thematic Meaning 主题意义The meaning arising out of the way in which the writer or speaker organizes his message: sentence sequence (语序), emphasis (强调手段), focus of information (信息焦点)3) Other ClassificationClassification of MeaningGrammatical MeaningLexical MeaningConceptual MeaningAssociative MeaningConnotative MeaningCollocative MeaningAffective MeaningStylistic Meaning4. Analysis of Word Meaning 1) Componential Analysis (语义成分分析法) (1) What is Componential Analysis?All lexical items can be broken down into a set of minimal components, which are known as semantic features (语义特征) or semantic components (语义成分), which may be universal. This semantic theory is called Componential Analysis (CA).(2) How to make Componential Analysis? In making componential analysis, it is important to focus on the defining features, i.e. features which can distinguish one word from another. e.g. Between boy, chair, dictionary and hope, thought, problem, the distinguishing feature is +/-CONCRETESemantic components are conventionally enclosed in square brackets or parenthesis or without. They are all written in capital letters or in small letters with the lette