(词汇学)Word Meaning

Ⅱ.WordMeaning(Ⅰ).Definition:Meaningisanotioninsemanticsclassicallydefinedashavingtwocomponents:reference,anythinginthereferentialrealmdenotedbyawordorexpression,andsense,thesystemofparadigmaticandsyntagmaticrelationshipsbetweenalexicalunitandotherlexicalunitsinalanguage.TheEnglishlinguist,EricPartridge,says:“Wordshavenomeaning;peoplehavemeaningforthem.”（词本无义，人赋予之。）Isay:“Wordsarewords,becausetheyaremeaningful.”Acompleteword:meaning(房子)form---------------referent(house)这个图形表示:第一,词有两个方向—“形式”和“意义(概念)”.“形式”指的是拼写;与此相对的是词的“意义(概念)”,也就是词的内容.每个词都有一定的形式和意义,这两方面缺一不可.第二,词义与所指对象连接在一起.一方面,词义在客观世界中是有所指的;另一方面,词义又是客观世界的某一(或某些)事物在语言中的反映.第三,在“语义三角”中,“形式”和“所指对象”间不是实线,而是用虚线连接起来的,说明它们两者之间没有必然的直接关系.也就是说,house和之间没有必然联系，它们之间是约定俗成的．Whydowenamea“house”Thereisnowaytoexplain“why”.However,thereissomewaytoexplain“house”in“Ithousesus.”or“Wearehoused.”So,wordsmayhavetwonatures:“conventionality”and“motivation”.(Ⅱ).NaturesofWordMeaning:1.Conventionality（约定俗成）MostEnglishwordsareconventional，arbitrarysymbols;consequently,thereisnointrinsicrelationbetweenthesymbolanditssense.Thereisnowaytoexplainwhythisorthatsymbolhasthisorthatmeaning.2.Motivation:（理据形成）Motivationreferstotheconnectionbetweenwordsymbolanditssense.Fromthepointofviewofmotivation,thegreatmajorityofEnglishwordsareconventional.However,thereisasmallgroupofwordsthatcanbedescribedasmotivated,thatis,adirectconnectionbetweenthesymbolanditssensecanbereallyobserved.Motivationcanariseinthreemajorways:(1).Phoneticmotivation:(onomatopoeicwords)(2).Morphologicalmotivation:(derivation,compounding,conversion)(3).Semanticmotivation:Semanticmotivationreferstomotivationbasedonsemanticfactors.Itisakindofmentalassociation.eg:thelegofatable,astonyheart,Herfavoritedishissteak.Hemanagestoearnbread.(Ⅲ).MainTypesofWordMeaningWordmeaningismadeupofvariouscomponentswhichareinterrelatedandinterdependent.Thesecomponentsarecommonlydescribedastypesofmeaning.Twomaintypesofwordmeaningaregrammaticalandlexical.1.Grammaticalmeaning:(1).word-class:modern(adj)→modernize(v)→modernization(n)(Howtousethem?)(2).Inlfectionalparadign:（词形变化）cat→catswrite→writes→wrote→written→writing2.Lexicalmeaning:(1).Denotativemeaning:Itisthecentralfactorinlinguisticcommunication.eg:chair→椅子mother→母亲man→男人woman→女人politician→政客blood→血液chicken→小鸡adult→成年人(2).Connotativemeaning:eg:chair→官位mother→love,care,tendernessman→勇敢，强壮，责任心，大度woman→意志薄弱，爱流泪，多情善感(Anyway,sheisawoman.)politician→欺诈，夸夸其谈blood→出身，亲情，民族(Bloodisthickerthanwater.HehasCanadianblood)chicken→懦弱，胆怯adult→责任(3).Socialmeaning:Basedon:①thesocialrelationshipbetweenthespeakers;②theoccasion;③thesubjectmatter;④themodeofspeech;etc.eg:What’syourage?（对求职者）你吃了吗？(denotativemeaning;connotativemeaning)(4).Affectivemeaning:a.Interjections:Oh!Alas!Ouch!b.Approvalanddisapproval:mother,scholar,masterpiece,career,buzz,gang,boast,workaholic,etc.c.Bias:slender—skinny,statesman—politician,famous—notoriousproud—arrogant（褒义）（贬义）(Ⅳ).PolysemyandHomonymyAsawordisapurelyarbitraryandconventionalsymbolwithoutanyintrinsicconnectionwithwhatitrefersto,itmaysometimeshappenthatmorethanonemeaningisattachedtoaword,ortwoormorewordsmayhavethesameformbutbedifferentinmeaning.TheformerisknownasPolysemy,andthelatter,Homonymy.1.Polysemy（一词多义）(1).Definition:Polysemyisatermusedinsemanticanalysistorefertoalexicalitemwhichhasarangeofdifferentmeanings.IfyoulookatanyEnglishdictionary,youwillknowhowfrequentPolysemyis.One-meaningwordsareveryrare.(Theyareoftenscientificterms:oxygen,monoxide,moonwalk,hepatitis,penicillin,etc).ItmaybesaidthatPolysemyistheruleandMonosemyistheexception.Themorecommonawordis,themoremeaningsithas.eg:“get”,“do”,“make”,“take”,“have”,etc.Polysemyisalsoanessentialfeatureofalanguage’seconomyandefficiency.JustimaginewhataheavyburdenitwouldbeonourmemoryifithadnotbeenforPolysemy.(2).ApproachesorprocessesleadingtoPolysemy:a.originalmeaning—extendedmeaningpen（羽毛）→（笔）train（拖裙）→（火车）plane（刨子）→（飞机）bulb（球茎）→（电灯泡）crane（鹤）→（起重机）b.generalmeaning—specificmeaninglight（光）→（灯）：turnonthelightgas（气体）→（煤气）：turnonthegasfire（火）→（客厅里的炉火）c.abstractmeaning—concretemeaningbeauty:Beautyisbutskindeep.美只是外表罢了。Intheeyesofthelover,hisbelovedisabeauty.success:Hardworkleadstosuccess.Heisagreatsuccess.failure:（同success）d.concretemeaning—abstractmeaninghead:具体“头”抽象“头脑”Useyourhead!eye:具体“眼睛”抽象“眼光，鉴赏力”Shehasaneyeforart.nerve:具体“神经”抽象“勇气，力量”Didhehavethenervetosaythat?e.literalmeaning—figurativemeaninggardener（园丁）→（教师）beast（野兽）→（凶残的人）flaw（裂缝）→（缺点）cool（凉的）→（冷淡的）Achilles’heel（阿基里斯的脚后跟）→（致命弱点）TheSwordofDamocles（达摩克利斯之剑）→（时刻存在的危险）crocodiletears（鳄鱼的眼泪）→（假慈悲）acid（酸性的，酸的）→（尖刻的）2.Homonymy（同形异义）(1).Definition:Homonymyiscommonlyusedtorefertothelinguisticphenomenonthatwordsareidenticalinpronunciation,spelling,orboth,butdifferentinmeaning.(2).TypesofHomonymy:a.perfecthomonyms:Wordsidenticalinsoundandspellingbutdifferentinmeaningarecalledperfecthomonyms.eg:lie（躺；说谎）still（静止的；仍然）right（正确的；右边的；权利）bear（熊；忍耐；出生）pupil（瞳孔；小学生）sound（声音；健全的；测探；海峡）b.homophones:Wordsidenticalinsoundbutdifferentinspellingandmeaningarecalledhomophones.eg:air（空气）—heir（后嗣，继承人）bear（熊；忍耐；出生)—bare（光秃的