32. Connotative and denotative meaning. Types of connotative meaning

Proceeding with the semantic analysis we observe that lexical meaning is not homogenous either and may be analysed as including denotational and connotational components.

As was mentioned above one of the functions of words is to denote things, concepts and so on. Users of a language cannot have any knowledge or thought of the objects or phenomena of the real world around them unless this knowledge is ultimately embodied in words which have essentially the same meaning for all speakers of that language. This is the denotational meaning, i.e. that component of the lexical meaning which makes communication possible. There is no doubt that a physicist knows more about the atom than a singer does, or that an arctic explorer possesses a much deeper knowledge of what arctic ice is like than a man who has never been in the North. Nevertheless they use the words atom, Arctic, etc. and understand each other.

The second component of the lexical meaning is the connotational component, i.e. the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the word.

Four main types of connotations are described below. They are stylistic, emotional, evaluative and expressive or intensifying. An emotional or affective connotation is acquired by the word as a result of its frequent use in contexts corresponding to emotional situations or because the referent conceptualised and named in the denotative meaning is associated with emotions. For example, the verbbeseech means 'to ask eagerly and also anxiously'. E. g.: He besought a favour of the judge (Longman).

Evaluative connotation expresses approval of disapproval. Making use of the same procedure of comparing elements of a synonymic group, one compares the words magic, witchcraft and sorcery, all originally denoting art and power of controlling events by occult supernatural means, we see that all three words are now used mostly figuratively, and also that magic as compared to its synonyms will have glamorous attractive connotations, while the other two, on the contrary, have rather sinister associations.

It is not claimed that these four types of connotations: stylistic, emotional, evaluative and intensifying form an ideal and complete classification. Many other variants have been proposed, but the on suggested here is convenient for practical analysis and well supported by facts.

33. Semantic structure of a word. Polysemy.

The semantic structure of a word is an organised system comprising all meanings and shades of meanings that a particular sound complex can assume in different contexts together with emotional, stylistic and other connotations.

Polysemy. The semantic structure of the word does not present an indissoluble unity, nor does it necessarily stand for one concept. Most words convey several concepts and possess several meanings, e.g. the word blanket has the following meanings: 1) a woolen covering used on beds (‘шерстяное одеяло’), 2) a covering for keeping a horse warm (‘попона’), 3) a covering of any kind (a blanket of snow, a blanket of gloom (‘покров’)). A word having several meanings is called polysemantic. A number of meanings a word expresses are known as lexical-semantic variants. The ability of words to have several meanings is called polysemy. Polysemy is singleness of form and multiplicity of content. Polysemy (Gr. πολυσημεία ‘multiple meaning’) is the ability of words to have more than one meaning. Polysemy is typical of the English vocabulary due to:

its monosyllabic character;

the predominance of root words. A monosemantic word is a word having only one meaning; these are mostly terms, e.g.: hydrogen, molecule. A polysemantic word is a word having more than one meaning; highly polysemous words can include dozens of meanings, e.g. to go – appr. 40 meanings), to get, to put, to take – appr. 30 meanings

• Polysemy A lexeme is the totality of all the forms and meanings of a word; a structural item of the vocabulary.

• A lexico-semantic variant is one of the individual meanings of a polysemantic word.

• The semantic structure of a word is an organised system comprising all meanings and shades of meanings that a particular sound complex can assume in different contexts together with emotional, stylistic and other connotations.

34.