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WORDMEANINGANDSEMANTICFEATURESChapterFive1Content•1.Anoverviewofwordmeaning•2.Conventionalityandmotivation•3.Typesofwordmeaning•4.Componentialanalysisandsemanticfeatures21.Anoverviewofwordmeaning•WordMeaning•1)Reference所指,referent(所指物)–Itindicateswhichthingsarebeingtalkedabout.Arbitrary,conventional(dog)•2)Concept:resultofhumancognition–Thesameconceptcanbeexpressedbymanywords(多)3meaning(concept)referent(thing)form(word:sound)(standsfor)BasedonOgdenandRichards(1923:99)Approachestomeaningstudy:aroughcheckconventionality/arbitrarinessormotivation?4Themeaningofcup:word—referent…concept?Themeaningofabachelor:word—referent…concept?52.Conventionalityandmotivation•Thedebateovertheconnectionbetweensoundandmeaning–Thenaturalistsmaintainthereisanatural/intrinsicconnectionbetweensoundandmeaning.–Theconventionalists,ontheotherhand,holdthattherelationsbetweensoundandmeaningareconventionalandarbitrary.Themeaningofawordisakindoflinguisticsocialcontract.6•Conventionality（约定俗成）–What’sinaname?Thatwecallarose.Byanyothernamewouldsmellassweet.--Shakespeare:RomeoandJuliet–Wordshavenomeaning,peoplehavemeaningforthem.--EricPartridge7ConventionalityMostEnglishwordsareconventional,arbitrarysymbols;thereisnointrinsicrelationbetweenthesound-symbolanditssense/meaning.•Conventionality:thearbitrarinessbetweenasoundanditsmeaning.•Mostwordsinanyhumanlanguageareconventional.e.g.EnglishhouseFrenchmansionChinesefangziRussiandomSpanishcasa8Motivation•Motivation:theconnectionbetweenword-symbolanditssense–ThegreatmajorityofEnglishwordsarenon-motivated,sincetheyareconventional,arbitrarysymbols.•However,thereisasmallgroupofwordsthatcanbedescribedasmotivated,thatis,adirectconnectionbetweenthesymbolanditssensecanbereadilyobserved.词的理据（motivation）指的是事物和现象获得名称的依据，说明词义与事物或现象的命名之间的关系。9•Motivationcanariseinthreemajorways–Phoneticmotivation–Morphologicalmotivation–Semanticmotivation10•Phoneticmotivation•Wordsmotivatedphoneticallyarecalledechoicwordsoronomatopoeicwords,whosepronunciationsuggeststhemeaning.•Theyshowacloserelationofsoundtosense,whereasnon-echoicwordsdonotshowanysuchrelationship.–bow-woworwoof-woof,miaow,baa-baamoo,roar,coo,hiss,hum,quack;阿嚏！布谷！boom,crack,clang,clash,bang,rumble11•Morphologicalmotivation•Whenawordismorphologicallymotivated,thereisadirectconnectionbetweentheformofthewordanditsmeaning.e.g.anticancer,kilogram,modernize.•Compoundwordsmaybemorphologicallymotivated,too.e.g.good-looking,headache,daydream12•Semanticmotivation•Motivationisbasedonsemanticfactors.Itisakindofmentalassociation.e.g.stonyheart--comparingtheheartwithastonethelegofatable--comparingthetable'slegwithoneofthelowerlimbsofahumanbeing.•Thefigurativemeaningcanbereadilyunderstoodbythosewhoknowtheliteralmeaning:–walk-inpatient门诊病人–wageceiling最高工资限额–cradle-to-graveprotection一生的保护133.TypesofwordmeaningConceptualmeaning(denotativemeaning)AssociativeMeaningSocial/stylisticmeaningCollocativemeaningAffectivemeaningConnotativemeaningGrammaticalMeaningLexicalMeaningWordMeaning143.1Grammaticalmeaning•Grammaticalmeaning(语法意义)referstothatpartofmeaningofthewordwhichindicatesgrammaticalconceptorrelationshipssuchasthewordclass,singularandpluralformsofnouns,tensemeaningofverbsandtheirinflectionalforms(forget,forgets,forgot,forgotten,forgetting).•Grammaticalmeaningofawordbecomeimportantonlywhenitisusedinactualcontext.e.g.15E.g.:Thedogischasingacat.•Differentwordsmayhavethesamegrammaticalmeaning:tables,men,oxen,potatoes(havingthesamepluralmeaning)•Thesamewordmayhavedifferentgrammaticalmeanings:forget,forgets,forgot,forgotten,forgetting163.2Lexicalmeaning–Lexicalmeaning(词汇意义)isthemeaningofanisolatedwordinadictionary.Thiscomponentofmeaningisidenticalinalltheformsoftheword.•E.g.‘go,goes,went,gone,going’possessdifferentgrammaticalmeaning.Buttheyhavethesamelexicalmeaningexpressingtheprocessofmovement.–Lexicalmeaningitselfhastwocomponents:conceptual(denotative)meaningandassociativemeaning.17Conceptualmeaning–Conceptualmeaning(概念意义)(alsoknownasdenotativemeaning)isthemeaninggiveninthedictionaryandformsthecoreofwordmeaning.Conceptualmeaningformsthebasisforcommunicationasthesamewordhasthesameconceptualmeaningtoallthespeakersofthesamelanguage.•Sun:aheavenlybodywhichgivesofflight,heat,andenergy•Mother:afemaleparent18Associativemeaning–Associativemeaning(关联意义)isthesecondarymeaningsupplementedtotheconceptualmeaning.Itdiffersfromtheconceptualmeaninginthatitisopen-endedandindeterminate(开放性和不确定性）.Itisinfluencedbysuchfactorsasculture,experience,religion,geographicalregion,classbackground,education,etc.–Associativemeaningcomprisesfourtypes:connotativemeaning,stylisticmeaning,affectivemeaning,andcollocativemeaning.19Associativemeaning•Connotativemeaning(内涵意义)–Incontrasttodenotativemeaning,connotativemeaningreferstotheovertonesorassociationswhichawordsuggestsorimplies.•Mother(afemaleparent)isoftenassociatedwith‘love’,‘care’,‘tenderness’,‘forgiving’,etc.•Home(adwellingplace)maysuggest‘family,warmth,safety,love,convenience’,etc.‘Eastorwest,homeisbest’.•Statesmanimplies‘loyalty,devotiontopublicwelfare’;politi