English Morphology and Lexicology

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 ’  Reference the triangle of reference In linguistics, we use the triangle of reference 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 personsIdentifies 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.animal 2.my dear 3.Jassy 4.this 5.She 6....

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.

birdoiseauVogel 새鸟 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 natural 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 ə ʊ ]  quack [kw æ k]  trumpet ['tr ʌ mp ɪ t]  buzz [b ʌ z]  croak [kr ə ʊ k]  squeak [skwi ː k]  neigh [ne ɪ ]  bleat [bli ː t]  hiss [h ɪ s]  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 and its sense, e.g pen  Now: a writing tool  Originally: ‘ feather ’ -before modern pens were created, 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 and 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 people 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 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 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 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 formal 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 meaning pretty  girl  boy  woman  flower  garden  color  village handsome  boy  man  car  woman  overcoat  airline  typewriter =Good looking=

4. Collocative meaning tremble  tremble with fear quiver  quiver with excitement =shake involuntarily=

4. Collocative meaning green  green color green  green on the job (immature; inexperienced)  green fruit (raw fruit; not yet ripe )  green with envy green-eyed monster (=envy; jealousy)