chapter2-words-and-characters

CONTENTMotivationofWordMeaningofWordsWordasaUnitMotivationaccountsfortherelationshipbetweenalinguisticsymbolanditsmeaning.理据可以解释语言符号和词语意义的关系。FOURTYPESOFMOTIVATIONPhonetic/OnomatopoeticmotivationMorphologicalmotivationSemanticmotivationEtymologicalmotivationPHONETICMOTIVATION拟声理据Englisharephonographiclanguage,therefore,onemayfindsomewordswhosephoneticformssuggesttheirmeaningsasthewordswerecreatedbyimitatingthenaturalsoundsornoises.英语是一种音系语言，因此，有些单词的语音形式暗示了它们的意思，这些单词是模仿自然的声音或噪音创造出来的。•Imitationofthesoundofanimal/nature:Ducksquack.(鸭子嘎嘎叫。)Henschuckle.(母鸡咯咯叫。)Rainpatters.(雨啪嗒啪嗒地下。)Bang(砰)Mew(喵)Conclusion:英语拟声词(Onomatopoeticwords)大多是动词性的，而汉语拟声词不是动词而是副词性的，作状语。MORPHOLOGICALMOTIVATION形态理据Englishwordshavestrongmorphologicalmotivationasmanygrammaticalmeaningsareexpressedthroughmorphologicalchanges.英语单词具有很强的形态理据，许多语法意义是通过形态变化来表达的。e.g.preach(v.)preacher(n.)book(sing.)books(pl.)Therearealsoalotofwordswhosesemanticstructuresareopaque.还有很多词的语义结构是不明显的。e.g.blackmarketillegalsellingandbuyingTheancientChinesewordsarelessmorphological,becauseofitsterseness.Usuallyonelettercanstandforagroupofthingsorpeople,suchas“鳏寡孤独”.HowevermodernChinesewordsaregainingstrongermorphologicalmotivations.e.g.wordheadslike老-:老虎，老师，老祖宗wordtailslike-儿:幼儿，少儿，花儿，果儿-子:孩子，胖子，竹子，句子semi-affixationlike-者:使者，记者，弱者，译者超-:超额，超生，超车Conclusion:英语中多数的单词有此特点，而现代汉语中也越来越明显。SEMANTICMOTIVATION语义理据Semanticmotivationexplainsthemeaningofawordgeneratedthroughassociationsbasedonitsconceptualmeaning.Itexplainstheconnectionbetweentheliteralsenseandthefigurativesenseoftheword.语义理据解释了一个词在概念意义上通过联想产生的意义。它解释了字面意义和比喻意义之间的联系。English:themouthofriver,theheadofthecane,thefootofthemountainMetaphorChinese:鹅卵石,冰糖,喇叭花,龙须菜,燕尾服English:Watt(creatorforthething),Champagne(placeforitproduce)MetonymyChinese:黔首,刘海Synecdochee.g.Hemanagedtoearnbread.Hyperbolee.g.千里眼,千层饼Conclusion:语义理据使英汉语言表达形式丰富多彩，生动形象，同时发展空间广阔。ETYMOLOGICALMOTIVATION词源理据Themeaningofmanywordsoftenrelatedtotheirorigin,thatis,thehistoryofthewordexplainsthemeaningoftheword.许多词语的意义往往与其起源有关，即词语的历史解释了词语的意义。English:Achilles'heel:Originally,Achilles'heelwashisonlyweaknessbecauseitwastheonlyplacewherehedidnotsoakindivinewater.Nowgenerallyreferstothefatalweakness.CryWolf:FromthestoryofWolfCominginAesop'sFables,peopleoftenuse“crywolf”torefertosendingfalsealarmsandspreadingfalsenewsChinese:公主:IntheWestZhouDynasty,theweddingofaprincesswasnotpresidedbytheemperorhimselfbutby三公(丞相，太尉，and御史大夫).丫头:Itisoriginallycalled鸦头.BeforetheperiodoftheFiveDynasties,girlsinpresent-dayJiangsuandZhejiangwouldcatchacrow(乌鸦)onNewYear’sEve,andtheneverydaycombherhairandwishitwouldbeasblackasthatofthecrow.WhatarethedifferencesbetweenEnglishcompoundwordsandChinesecompoundwords?Meaningofwords1.Thetypesofmeaning2.ThecharacteristicofmeaningAcordingtothelinguistG.Leechthewordmenaingcanbedividedintosevenmanings.Thereare1)Referetialmeaning概念意义2)Connotativemeaning内涵意义3)Socialmeaning社会意义4)Emotivemeaning情感意义5)Reflectivemeaning反映义6)Collocationmeaning搭配义7)Thematicmeaning主题义•1)Referetialmeaning(conceptualmeaning)概念意义•Itmeansthatexplainsomethingorsomeone'sconcept.•Suchas''desk'',Itreferetialmeaningisthekindoffurniturewhichwithfourwoodlegsuesdforputtingsomethingonit.•2)Connotativemeaning内涵意义•Thecommunicativevalueanexpressionhasbyvirtureofwhatitrefersto,overandaboveitspurelyconceptualcontent.•Forexample:Child,old(wornout),blue(downhearted),strong(heady),long(tiresome）......•3)Socialmeaning•Whatapieceoflanguageconveysaboutthesocialcircumstancesofitsuse.•反应出社会背景和个人特征的意义，如方言，礼貌语，俚语和黑话所表达的特殊附加意义。例如，英语中“马”这个意义可以用steed,horse,nag和gee-gee来表达，但这几个词虽然中心意义或者概念意义市一致的，但是他们的社会风格意义截然不同。steed常用语诗歌，horse是个一般的用词，nag是个俚语，而gee-gee则是典型的儿童用语。•4)Emotivemeaning•Reflectingthepersonalfeelingsofthespeaker,includinghisattitudetothelistener,orhisattitudetosomethingheistalkingabout.表达说话人感情和态度的一种附加意义，如汉语中的“干部”和“当官的”这两个词，其概念意义完全一样，但感情色彩不一样，前者是中性的，有时甚至还带有褒义，但后者显然带有一种贬义。•Consider:a.Whataslimgirlsheis!•b.Howthinthegirlis!•c.Thegirlissoskinny!•5)Reflectivemeaning反映义•Ariseincasesofmultipleconceptualmeaning,whenonesenseofawrdformspartofourresponsetoanothersense.Reflectivemeaningistheproductofpeople’srecognitionandimagination.Differentpeoplemayhavedifferentreflectivemeaningsaboutthesamewordbecauseofthedifferenceofage,occupation,intelligenceandculturalbackgrounds.•“Humanlanguageisatoolofsocialintercourse”.Whereas,peoplenowadaysprefertousecommunicationratherthanintercoursebecausethelattercaneasilyremindpeopleofsomethingaboutsex.•7)Thematicmeaning主题义•Whatiscommunicatedbythewayinwhichaspeakerorwriterorganizesthemessage,intermsofordering,focus,andemphasis.主题义是说话者或作者通过对信息的组织方式，如词序、焦点和强调等所传达的意义。例如，英语中的主动语态和被动语态所表达的意义就有差别：a.MrsBessieSmithdonatedthefirstprize.b.ThefirstprizewasdonatedbyMrsBessieSmith.一般情况下，a叙述的是动作的执行者，即MrsBessieSmith做了什么。b叙述的是动作的对象，即thefirstprize是怎么回事。•6)Collocativemeaning搭配义•Theassociationsawordacquiresonaccountofthemeaningsofwordswhichtendtooccurinitsenvironment.•由于某些词常常与某些词搭配，所形成的联想就称为搭配意义。这也是一种附加的意义。例如，英语中的pretty一般与girl，woman，flower，color等词搭配，所以如果与“男性”搭配，就会给人以“带有某种女性特点”的附加意义，这就是所谓的“搭配义”。•Thecharacteristi