Элементы семантической структуры слова. Полисемия в английском языке Semantic triangle

The account of meaning given by Ferdinand de Saussure implies the definition of a word as a linguistic sign. He calls it ‘signifiant’ (signifier) and what it refers to — ‘signifie’ (that which is signified).

Originally this triangular scheme was suggested by the German mathematician and philosopher Gottlieb Frege (1848-1925). Well-known English scholars C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards adopted this three-cornered pattern with considerable modifications. With them a sign is a two-facet unit comprising form regarded as a linguistic symbol, and reference which is more linguistic than just a concept. Several generations of writers, following C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards, have in their turn taken up and modified this diagram. It is known under several names: the semantic triangle, triangle of signification, Frege semiotic triangle, Ogden and Richards basic triangle or simply basic triangle.

The scheme is still over-simplified and several things are left out. It is very important, for instance, to remember that the word is represented by the left-hand side of the diagram — it is a sign comprising the name and the meaning, and these invariably evoke one another.

Meaning and the sound complex

The sound form is not identical with the meaning and their connection is conventional. Different languages have different sound forms to convey the same meaning (“dog” - “собака” - “Hund” - “chien”). In different languages the same sound form possesses different meanings: “caught” - “кот”. Besides, homonyms exists in the language. The same sound form gives different meanings (e.g., “seal₁” vs. “seal₂”). Diachronically, change in the sound form does not cause a change in the meaning (e.g., O.E. “lufan” vs. M.E. “love”).

Meaning and the concept

Meaning is connected with concept, but it is not identical with it. Concept is a category of human cognition. Our concepts abstract and reflect the most common and typical features of different objects and phenomena of the world. Being the result of abstraction and generalization, concepts are almost the same for the whole humanity in one and the same period of its historical development. As for meanings, they are different in different languages. Thus, words expressing identical concepts may have different meanings and different semantical structure in different languages. E.g., some meanings of the Russian “идти” cannot be found in English (It rains; to go by bus). The difference between meaning and concept can be observed by comparing synonymous words and word-groups which are not identical in their meaning (cf.: “big” - “large” - “great”). The precise definition of a concept comes withing the sphere of logic. A word is a language unit while its concept is a unit of thinking.

Meaning and the referent

Meaning is a linguistic phenomenon while referent, or object, is an extra-linguistic one. Meaning is not identical with a referent because of the following considerations:

• We can denote in speech the same object differently. These words have the same referent (apple - fruit - food).

• If we take “water” and “H₂O”, they are not identical.

• Besides, words can have meaning but no actual referent, e.g. “phoenix”.

Meaning is closely connected but not identical with sound form, concept or referent.