词的意义

Lexicology (Lecture Four)

2011.10.13

Motivation

Motivation: the relation between the word symbol and the meaning it refers to. 用理据这个词表示语言符号和意义之间的联系。

1. Phonetic motivation 读音理据，拟声词

ding-dong, bark

Words motivated phonetically are called echoic or onomatopoeic words, whose pronunciation suggests the meaning.

2. Grammatical motivation (morphologic motivation) 语法理据

Morphologic motivation means that the meaning of some words can be inferred from the meaning of the affixes, roots, or other parts of the words.

teacher = teach (action) + -er (actor)

airmail = mail by air

3. semantic motivation 语义理据

It refers to the mental associations suggested by the conceptual meaning of a word. It explains the connection between the literal sense and figurative sense of the word.

有意义的引申，使它具有新的含义,由词的概念意义所暗指的联想意义，解释了词的表面意义和形象意义之间的联系。

e.g. bottleneck—瓶颈

引申到其他领域, administration, transportation, production

4. Etymologic motivation

The origins of words throw light on their meanings.

Pen: 为何用此词表示笔，因为原义是羽毛，在发明现代比之前，羽毛被普遍作为书写工具。

由专有名词转化而来的普通名词都可以从起源上解释它的含义。

triangle of significance

The complex and somewhat mysterious relationships between referent (object, etc. denoted by the word), concept and word are traditionally represented by the following triangle: (triangle of significance 词义三角)

词（符号）与它意义（概念），以及所指的事物之间的关系。

Meaning (concept)

Symbol (word)---------------------------------------referent (object)

The dotted line suggests that there is no immediate relation between word and referent: it is established only through the concept.

词义三角否定了单个词与具体事物之间的直接联系，认为这种联系只能通过人的大脑思维才能建立。

词只是符号，词义所对应的是人们主观意识中的概念，每一个词在人的头脑里存在着一个与之相联系的概念，并通过人的思维建立起词与意义的联系。

符号与指代物之间没有内在的必然联系，真正的联系存在于人的头脑之中。

On the other hand, there is a hypothesis that concept can only find their realization through words. It is only when we hear a spoken word or read a pointed word that the corresponding concept springs into mind.

只有在听到或看到某个单词的时候，我们才能在脑海中形成相应的概念，联系到该单词所指代的事物。

Seven types of meaning 词义的分类

British linguist G. Leech classified meaning into: conceptual, associative meaning. And associative meaning can be further classified into: connotative, social, affective, reflective, collocative and thematic meaning.

1.Conceptual meaning

conceptual meaning is the meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word

It is the essential and inextricable part of what language is, and is widely regarded as the central factor in verbal communication. It is also called logical, cognitive, or denotative meaning.

概念意义也被称为外延意义或认知意义，它是一个词的中心意思，意义比较稳定，人们对概念意义的理解不会因人而异。

2.connotative meaning

Connotative meaning is the communicative value that an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.

内涵意义是一个词或短语根据它的指称意义而具有的，超出概念意义以外的交际价值。

Compared with conceptual meaning, connotative meaning is peripheral, and relatively unstable, that is, it may vary according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual.

比较不稳定，常常随着文化和历史时期的变化而变化，并且因人而异，某些词语的内涵意义带有民族性特征。

She is a cat.

Conceptual meaning: a kind of animal.

Connotative meaning: a spiteful woman (witch)

3. Social meaning

It chiefly includes stylistic meaning of an utterance.

We can simplify the styles into three levels: formal, neutral, and informal

e.g. mother (formal), mom (colloquial), mama (child’s language)

dollar (neutral) buck (slang)

father, papa, old boy

4.affective meaning

The level of meaning that conveys the language user’s feelings, including his attitude or evaluation in shaping his use of language is called affective meaning or emotive

5. reflective meaning

Therefore, reflective meaning is the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meanings, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. It is the product of people’s recognition and imagination.

6. collocative meaning

collocative meaning is the associations a word gets because of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its linguistic context.

由一个词从与它相结合或组合的词的意义中所获得的各种联想构成的，它必须与别的意义搭配在一起才能产生意义。

7. thematic meaning

The meaning arising out of the way in which the writer or speaker organizes his message is called thematic meaning.

说话者或作者借助组织信息的方式（包括语序、强调手段、信息点安排等）来传达的一种意义。

Theory of Semantic Field

20世纪三十年代德国语言学家Trier(1931)正式提出了著名的“语义场理论（the Theory of Semantic Fields，又称：词汇场理论the Theory of Lexical Fields）”，

A semantic field is an area of meaning which can be delimited from others in a language. Thus we might talk about a semantic field of FOOD or CLOTHING or EMOTHIONS. Within CLOTHING, we find words for all kinds of garments.

Componential Analysis成分分析法

Componential analysis is composed of meaning components called semantic features. All lexical items can be analyzed into a set of semantic features or semantic components which may be universal. Plus and minus signs are used to indicate whether a semantic feature is present or absent in the meaning of a word. 通常用大

写字母书写，用“+”表示这些成分的在场（Presence），“-”表示不在场（Absence），并置于方括号中。这些成分才是语义的最基本要素。

如bachelor和spinster的语义成分分别为：

bachelor

[+HUMAN] [+MALE] [+ADULT] [-MARRIAGE]

spinster

[+HUMAN] [-MALE] [+ADULT] [-MARRIAGE]

In making componential analysis, it is important to focus on the defining features, i.e. features which can distinguish one word from another.