7. Semantics Outline

7.1 Meaning. Semantic triangle

7.2 Lexical meaning and concept

7.3 Types of lexical meaning

7.4 Semantic change

7.1 Meaning. Semantic triangle

Semantics is the study of meaning. Lexical semantics is the study of word meaning. Meaning is a message conveyed by words. Meaning is a component of the word through which a concept is communicated. In this way it gives the word the ability of denoting real objects, qualities, actions and abstract notions.

Relationships between referent (object, denoted by the word), concept and word are traditionally represented by the following triangle:

There is no direct relationship between the word or 'symbol‘ and the extralinguistic thing or 'referent' denoted by it. This is symbolized by the broken line connecting the two, which C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards characterize as "an imputed relation", saying that the 'symbol' "stands for" the 'referent’. The relationship between the two is indirect and mediated by a concept or "thought", which Ogden/Richards call reference. Since in this schema a psychological or mental entity, namely thought , plays a role, we have a mentalistic model here too.

The term reference, identified with thought, is used in a different way by Ogden/Richards than in many recent linguistic theories. I

C.K.Ogden

n the latter, reference is usually understood as a relational concept. The term is either used for the relation between the full linguistic sign and an extralinguistic referent, or the action of a speaker referring to an extralinguistic object by means of a linguistic sign. Semantic triangle is a model proposed by C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards in the 1920s. Meaning is a three-fold relation between linguistic forms, concepts and referents.

Contemporary interpretations consider meaning as a four-fold relation, with the fourth element being the speaker. The modern approach to semantics is based on the assumption that the inner form of the word (i.e. its meaning) presents a structure which is called the semantic structure of the word.

There are two main approaches to the study of lexical meaning: referential that studies the connection between words and things or concepts they denote and functional approach that deals with relations between words.

The referential approach. The referential model of meaning is the so-called basic semantic triangle. It consists of:

1. The sound-form (Sign) of the word: [bз:d].

2. The referent (Denotatum) – the object which the word names: the actual bird.

3. The concept (Designatum) – The essential properties of this object which are reflected in human mind: "a feathered animal with wings".

The functional approach assumes that the meaning of a linguistic unit can be studied only through its relation to other linguistic units and not through its relation to concept or referent,

e.g. the meaning of bird (n) and bird (v) is different because they function in speech differently.

Analyzing various contexts in which these words are used we can observe that they have different distribution.