19. Types of meaning.

 Types of meaning. The word meaning is not homogeneous. It is made up of various components. The combination and interrelation of which determines the inner structure of the word. These components are usually described as types of meaning: grammatical; lexical.

 The grammatical meaning is defined as an expression in speech of relationships between words based on contrastive features of arrangements in which they occur. The grammatical meaning is more abstract and generalized than the lexical meaning. It unites words into big groups: part of speech, lexico-grammatical classes. The lexico-grammatical meaning is the common denominator of all the meanings of words belonging to a lexico-grammatical class of words.

The lexical meaning is the meaning the word has on its own. Both meanings comprise the word meaning and neither can exist without the each other.

20. Word meaning and motivation.

Word meaning is studied by the branch of lexicology called semasiology. Among the word’s various characteristics meaning is the most important. There are different theories of the nature of meaning. Usually meaning is defined as the realization of a notion (or concept, in other terms) by means of a definite language system. It is usually said that a word denotes objects, qualities, actions, phenomena, or expresses the corresponding notions. The complex relationships between referent (object, etc., denoted by the word), notion (concept, thought) and word (symbol, sound-form) are traditionally represented by the following triangle: The dotted line suggests that there is no immediate relation between word and referent, it is established only through the concept. Word meaning is made up of various components which are usually described as types of meaning. The two main types of meaning are grammatical and lexical meanings.  ^ Grammatical meaning unites words into parts of speech. Such words as goes, stops, works have different lexical meanings, but are united by a common grammatical meaning: they are characterized by a common system of forms in which their grammatical categories are expressed. ^ Lexical meaning is individual for every word: grammatically identical words have individual lexical meanings (cf.: went, kissed, looked), which are common for all forms of one and the same word. Go, went, going – all these forms denote the process of movement. Lexical meaning includes two components: denotational and connotational. ^ Denotational component is present in every word and makes communication possible. It expresses the notional content of the word, shows what the word refers to. Connotational component expresses additional meanings of the word which may be of different types: stylistic, evaluative and emotional, etc. Evaluative connotation expresses positive or negative attitude to the object or phenomenon denoted by the word. It may be rational and emotional. In the latter case we speak of emotive-evaluative connotation. The words brain (“a clever man”), for example, is evaluated as positive, while the word brock (“a scoundrel”), to cheat– have negative connotations. Cf. also: notorious – celebrated. Emotional, or emotive connotation of the word is its capacity to evoke and express emotion (duckling, darling (diminutive emotive value)). Stylistic connotation shows the stylistic status of a word: neutral, bookish, colloquial, slang, etc. It should be noted that connotation is not an obligatory component of word meaning. Many words, for instance, give, take, walk, book, table, etc., used in their direct meaning, denote but not connote anything. The meaning of a word is studied with the help of Componential Analysis. It consists in decomposition of the word meaning into semes – minimal components of meaning, or elementary units of sense. One and the same seme may be found in the meaning of different related words. Thus, such words as boy and man have the common seme “the male sex”, and the words girl and woman – the seme “the female sex”. Different semes may have different statuses in the system of semes in the word meaning. Lexicologists usually distinguish archisemes wich express the generic meaning and differential semes which modify or qualify the idea expressed by the archiseme. Thus, the word spinster may be split into the following semes: 1) human being (archiseme); 2) female, unmarried; elderly (differential semes). Componential analysis is one of the modern metods of semantic research which provides a deeper insight into semantic aspects of the language.

Motivation – is the relationship between the phonemic or morphemic composition and structural pattern of a word on the one hand, and its meaning on the other.

 

Three types of motivation:

1.     phonetic (primary);

2.     morphological;

3.     semantic

 

 

Phonetic motivation – indicates a certain similarity the word and the natural sounds

                                       produce the nature by machines, animals. (cuckoo, buzz) (1%)

Morphological motivation – the meaning of the whole lexical unit is based on the

                                                 literal meanings of its components but the meanings of

                                                 its components themselves are faded.(re/think bed/room)

Semantic motivation – is based on the coexistence of direct and figurative meaning of

                                       the word (metaphor, metonymy) (the mouth of the river)

 

 

 

 

·        There are not very many motivation words in any language. The majority of the words are not motivating.

·        Faded motivation occurs when people recognize the motivation, whereas others do not.

·        Folk motivation is mistaken motivation, when the speakers change the form of the word so as to give it a connection with some well-known word.

·        The only principle to identify is a word motivating or not motivating is your intuition.