English Morphology and Lexicology Shaoguangqing@gmail.com

Preview:

Citation preview

English Morphology and Lexicology

Shaoguangqing@gmail.comwww.windofspring.weebly.com

Chapter 5 Word meaning

5.1 The meanings of ‘meaning’ Reference; Concept; Sense

5.2 Motivation Onomatopoeic; Morphological; Semantic;

Etymological 5.3 Types of meaning

Grammatical vs. Lexical Conceptual vs. Associative

5.1 The meanings of ‘meaning’

5.1.1 Reference In linguistics, we use the triangle of the triangle of

referencereference to explain how words convey meaning.

Reference is the relationship between language and the world.

the triangle of reference

The triangle of reference says that a word suggests an idea in the mind of the hearer. The idea connects to a real-world object.

Hurford and Heasley 1983:25 By means of reference, a speaker

indicates which things in the world (including persons) are being talked about. (My son) is in (the beech tree).

Identifies persons Identifies things

The reference of a word to a thing outside the language is arbitrary and conventional.

cat

Although reference is a kind of abstraction, yet with the help of context, it can refer to something specific.

Jean forgot to feed her cat yesterday evening.

Therefore, meaning can be pinned down by the user, time, place, etc. (context)

The same thing can have different referring expressions without causing any confusion.

1.animal2.my dear3.Jassy 4.this5.She6. ...

5.1.2 Concept

concept

Linking words

Concept vs. Meaning

Meaning and concept are closely related;

They are both related directly to referents and are notions of words.

Concept vs. Meaning

Concept, reflecting the objective world in the human mind, is universal to all men alike regardless of culture, race, language, etc. [i.e. concept is beyond language.]

However, meaning belongs to language, so is restricted to language use.

새 Vogel

oiseau

bird

Concept vs. Meaning A concept may

have as many referring expressions as there are languages in the world.

Concept vs. Meaning

Even in the same language, the same concept can be expressed in different words. much and many have the same

concept, but collocate with different words. much time/money/water many people/ books/ buildings

Concept vs. Meaning

The same concept, the different words/socio-cultural (stylistic) values die-pass away ask-question quarrel-argue …

meaning vs. sense vs. reference

Every word that has meaning has sense, but not every word has reference. probably, nearly, and, if, but, yes… All have meanings; All have senses; None refers to anything in the world

(reference).

5.1.3 Sense

Sense denotes the relationship inside the language. The sense of an expression is its place in

a system of semantic relationships with other expressions in the language.

meaning vs. sense vs. reference

Expressions in different dialects have the same sense. pavement (BrE.) pal sidewalk (AmE.) chum

5.2 Motivation

Word form vs. meaning arbitrary (no logical relationship) and

conventional (following accepted customs): non-motivated

motivated (the connection between form and meaning can be explained) Onomatopoeic motivation; Morphological motivation; Semantic motivation; Etymological motivation

5.2.1 Onomatopoeic Motivation Words are created by imitating the natur

al sounds or noises. bow-wow bang ping-pong miaow cuckoo tick-tuck ha ha

Can you guess which animal produces each of the following sounds?

crow [kr ] əʊ quack [kwæk] trumpet ['tr mp t] ʌ ɪ buzz [b z] ʌ croak [kr k] əʊ squeak [skwi k] ː neigh [ne ] ɪ bleat [bli t] ː hiss [h s] ɪ roar [r :]ɔ

crows or cocks ducks elephants bees or flies frogs mice horses goats snakes lions

5.2.2 Morphological Motivation If a word is morphologically motivated, a direct

connection can be observed between the morphological structure of the word and its meaning.

If one knows the meaning of each morpheme, one can figure out the meaning of the whole word. airmail (mail by air) reading lamp (lamp for reading) miniskirt (small skirt) hopeless (without hope)

5.2.2 Morphological Motivation However, not all words are

morphologically motivated. black market

illegal selling and buying greenhorn

a newcomer

5.2.3 Semantic Motivation Semantic Motivation means that

motivation is based on semantic factors. It is a kind of mental association; it

explains the connection between the literal sense and figurative sense of the word. mouth (of a river); foot (of a mountain) His is fond of the bottle. The pen is mightier than the sword.

5.2.4 Etymological Motivation It deals with the source of the word name an

d its sense, e.g pen

Now: a writing tool Originally: ‘feather’-before modern pens were cre

ated, feathers were used for writing. laconic

‘brief’ or ‘short’ Derived from “Lacons”-a tribe of people who were

known for their brevity of speech and for their habit of never using more words than necessary.

5.2.4 Etymological Motivation It deals with the source of the word name an

d its sense, e.g Braille

a system of printing for blind people is derived from the inventor of braille, Louis Braille;

walkman a small cassette player with headphones which peo

ple carry around so that they can listen to music, for example, while they are travelling

comes from the brand Walkman.

5.3 Types of meaning

Grammatical meaning Part of speech Singular/plural Tenses Inflectional forms

of verbs The dog is chasing

a cat.

Different lexical meanings, but the same grammatical meaning tables; men; oxen;

potatoes taught; worked;

forgave

5.3.1 Grammatical vs. Lexical meaning

5.3 Types of meaning

Grammatical meaning Part of speech Singular/plural Tenses Inflectional forms

of verbs The dog is chasing

a cat.

The same lexical meaning, but different grammatical meanings forget; forgets;

forgot; forgotten; forgetting

5.3.1 Grammatical vs. Lexical meaning

5.3 Types of meaning

The meaning given in dictionary; denotative meaning

Constant and relative stable the sun

The secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning Connotative m. Stylistic m. Affective m. Collocative m.

5.3.2 Conceptual vs. Associative

1. Connotative meaning

mother denotative meaning: female parent connotative meaning: love, care,

tenderness, forgiving… home

DM: a dwelling place CM: family, friends, warmth, safety, love,

convenience… (East or west, home is best. There is no place like home.)

2. Stylistic meaning

formal; informal; literary; archaic; slang pregnant expecting (informal) knocking up (slang) in the club (slang)

Five degrees of formality

1. Frozen: e.g., charger 2. Formal: e.g., steed 3. Consultative: e.g., horse 4. Casual: e.g., nag 5. Intimate: e.g., plug

formalformal

informal

neutral

3. Affective meaning

appreciative(showing

appreciation) famous determined slim/slender black

pejorative 경멸적(showing contempt) notorious pigheaded skinny nigger

Appreciative or pejorative?

He is bright and ambitious. Knowledge of inequality has

stimulated envy, ambition and greed.

The reactionary’s chief ambition is to become the emperor.

One who is filled with ambition usually works hard.

4. Collocative meaningpretty girl boy woman flower garden color village

handsome boy man car woman overcoat airline typewriter

=Good looking=

4. Collocative meaningtremble

tremble with fear

quiver

quiver with excitement

=shake involuntarily=

4. Collocative meaninggreen green color

green green on the job

(immature; inexperienced)

green fruit (raw fruit; not yet ripe )

green with envy green-eyed

monster (=envy; jealousy)

Recommended