Clipping

Consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts.

Mathematics – maths

Laboratory – lab

Captain – cap

Gymnastics – gym

3 types:

1) The first part is left (the commonest type)

advertisement – ad

2) The second part is left

telephone – phone

airplane – plane

3) A middle part is left

influenza – flu

refrigerator – fridge

Accepted by the speakers of the language clipping can acquire grammatical categories (used in plural forms)

Blending

Is blending part of two words to form one word (merging into one word)

Smoke + fog = smog

Breakfast + lunch = brunch

Smoke + haze = smaze (дымка)

- addictive type: they are transformable into a phrase consisting of two words combined by a conjunction “and”

smog → smoke & fog

- blending of restrictive type: transformable into an attributive phrase, where the first element serves as modifier of a second.

Positron – positive electron

Medicare – medical care

Word manufacturing

A word or word combination that appears or especially coined by some author. But it doesn’t name a new object or doesn’t express a new concept

Sentence – sentenceness

“I am English & my Englishness is in my vision” (Lawrence)

Word manufacturing by children:

Влюбчивый – вьбчивый

Барельеф – баба рельеф

Componential analysis

Is linguistic analysis of the semantic structure of a word. It can be a monosemantic word or lexico-semantic variant of polysemantic word.

The meaning of any word can be represented in a form of a structure, semantic components of the words’ meaning form a hierarchy.

Is an investigation of the structural organization & interrelations of the semantic components of the words’ meaning.

Lexical meaning is a complicated dynamic whole & its constituency are semes.

A seme is a minimal unit of sense, an atom of lexical semantics distinguished on the basis of oppositions by method of componential analysis.

A seme is not expressed in a word in any material unit but it’s revealed & singled out through interrelations of the word with other words on a paradigmatic & syntagmatic levels.

The sem. structure of a word can be represented graphically:

Father = human

Adult

Male semes

Parent

“+”

1) Componential analysis is very popular in linguistics, it shows a heterogeneity, complexity of lexical meaning.

2) Componential analysis helps to differentiate between words (especially between synonyms)

the difference between small & little lies in the presence of an additional seme (pleasant, nice) in the word “little” → not absolute synonyms.

3) Componential analysis helps to explain semantic derivation

(metaphor, metonymy, etc.)

4) Componential analysis to create the so called language of semantic primitives – minimal units of sense.

“-“

as soon we start to describe the semantic structure of a word we start to describe the referent dog=animal

TYPOLOGY OF SEMES.

Semes differ in many aspects:

• the role they play & the place they occupy in their structure.

• Interrelations between each other

• Dependence of all the context

• Participation in formation an actual meaning

• The role they play in secondary nomination or in semantic

1) Cognitive & pragmatic semes

“dog” cognitive semes – living being

- animal

- domestic

- carnivorous (плотоядный)

pragmatic semes – friend

- devoted

- understanding

- silent

2) Extralinguistically bound & linguistically bound

(appear as a result of pragmatic (mostly cognitive,

factors, show the attitude of part & parcel of

language users towards word lexical meaning)

reference)

fascist – negative connotations, extralinguistic bound

among extralinguistically semes can be cultural bound.

The English notion of freedom is negatively oriented

Freedom – non-imposition, the possibility of choice

(if you are free you can be sure that you will be left alone,

won’t be imposed anybody’s wills)

Russian conception of freedom – the idea of absence of outer restrictions.

3) Central & peripheral

Central – belonging to the core of the word meaning (belong to the intention)

Father – male, parent, human

• adult (peripheral)

4) Categorial & non-categorial

(hypersemes) (hyposemes)

bathe – swim for pleasure or for the medical reasons

swim – through water

float – to stay on a surface without sinking

sail – in a ship or boat

1 hyperseme – to move in the water

but hyposemes are different

they show – type of movement, use of transport means, type of agent

5) Actual & potential

potential can be generated in some particular content

THE STRUCTURE OF LEXICAL MEANING

According professor Nikitin

Meaning

Implicational Semiotic

Pragmatic Cognitive

Extension Cognitive

denotative significative

Semiotic meaning is arbitrary and conventional, especially established for the sake of communication. No link between the sign and the referent existing in reality

Ex.: winter (December - February); dog

Implicational meaning is based on natural linkage of objects in reality.

Winter – cold, snow, frost (implicational meaning) – associations connected with a name.

Implicational meaning is culture bound, territory bound

4 types of implicational meaning:

1) Rigid implication (жесткий имплекционал)

highly probable features of winter (for Russia – холод, мороз)

2) Strong implication

probable features of winter – реки замерзают

3) Weak implication

these are unlikely features of winter – rain, warm weather

4) Negative implication

features that can never be applied to this referent

green grass, hot weather – not winter

in stylistic it is called oxymoron

Cognitive meaning represents the information about the world (the referent)

Pragmatic component presents our subjunctive attitude towards the world and its elements (depends on our life experience)

Both of them or only one of them is represented in the structure of lexical meaning.

1) Most words are pragmatically neutral (only cognitive component in the structure of their meaning)

chair, desk, pen – they are free from expressing subjunctive attitude to the referent.

2) “fascist” – cognitive and pragmatic components

3) sometimes cognitive components are switched off & pragmatic component plays the leading role

(ругательства)

“mother”

extension

cognitive

c ontention

The difference between extension & contention lies in the difference between the contents & the volume of the notion.

Contentional meaning reflects the structure of essential features of the notion.

M other – female + main intention, the core part of lexical meaning

Con- parent + obligatory features to the reference of this class

ten- adult +

tion human +

previous generation +

Extension: a number of denotater to which its name refers: godmother, biological mother, mother-in-law.

Both components are variable.

1) They have got a parrot. This parrot has been with them for a long time. This parrot is a funny creature.

2) How long can a parrot live?

In this two examples the word PARROT changes its extensional.

1 – a representative of a class (denotative – конкретный)

2 – a name of a class (significative – усредненный)

the contentional is also different:

2) A bird living in some tropical countries, exotic bird, is able to speak

1) 2 + a concrete bird living with them

(more features of contentional meaning)

Not all the words have extensional meaning.

Names of properties (признаковые слова)

Verbs, adjectives, adverbs – don’t have the extensional meaning, because they are non-referential.

(они не могут выступать в репрезантивной функции они могут только описывать то, что уже описано другим именем (существительным)

A name has a denotative meaning if it represents a representative of a class.

When it represents the class in general it has significative meaning.

1. This is the house that Jack built.

2. A good laugh is sunshine in the house

general idea of the house

1 – denotative

2 – significative meaning

All common nouns can represent both a representative of a class & some class in general.

They can have either denotative or significative meanings.

Proper names can represent only a representative of a class. They can’t represent a the class in general. They have no intentional. They have only denotative meaning.

Some linguists use the term “connotational meaning” instead of the term “pragmatic meaning”

“dog”

semiotic – (sign) – dog

cognitive – an animal kept as a pet

used for hunting and guarding

pragmatic – devoted, friend – positive

wicked, bites, evil – negative

intentional – animal +

pet +

mammal +

used for hunting and guarding +

carnivorous +

extensional – different kinds of dogs (breeds)

significative – a dog is a man’s friend

How long can a dog live?

Denotative – I have a dog. This dog lives with me for a long time.

Implicational – 1. rigid implication: 4 paws, a tail, barks

2. strong implication: runs fast. Bites

3. weak implication: can swim

4. negative implication: a speaking dog