Dimensions of Word Meaning

Dimensions of Word MeaningNGUYEN QUANG NGOANIntroductionThe issue of defining and clearing the signifi brush offce of the linguistic process is by no means an easy talk. In otherwise enunciates, says ar names or lables for things. Besides, linguists also realize the need to refer what a word or reflection announces from what they can be mappingd to refer to, we will identify the difference amongst denotation and reference. There ar many antithetical ideas that the heart and soul of a word reflects reality or express human conceptualization of reality, as it were. However, we will discuss about dissimilar attempts designed to define probably unity of the most difficult issues of semantics - meat.ProblemsDepending on what it is understood by meaning, we can distinguish two main semantic theories the referential / denotational approach-meaning is the action of putting words into social intercourseship with the world the representational /conceptual approach-meaning is the notion, the concept or the mental image of the object or situation in reality as reflected in mans mind.The two introductory types of meaning were first mentioned by S. Stati in 1971- referential definitions which analyse meaning in terms of the relation symbol- object /referent conceptual definitions which regard the relation symbol- thought/reference.2.1 .Denotational /Referential Theories of Meaning.Before describing the characteristics of these theories, a clarification of the terms use is necessary. All languages altogetherow speakers to make out or model aspects of what they perceive. In semantics the action of picking out or identifying individuals/ locations with words is called referring/denoting. To some linguists the two terms, denote and refer ar synonymous. J. Saeed(1997 23) outpourings two modelings of decorous names whose corresponding referents ar easily recognizablee. g. I saw Michael Jackson on TV last night. We waste just flown back from Paris.The un derlined words refer to/denote the famous singer, respectively the capital of France, even if in some contexts they may be use to designate a person different from the singer, or a locality other than the capital of France.To John Lyons the terms denote and refer atomic number 18 not synonymous. The former is used to express the family linguistic expression- world, whereas the latter is used for the action of a speaker in picking out entities in the world. In the exampleA sparrow flew into the room.A sparrow and the room are NPs that refer to things in the world. room, sparrow denote classes of items. In conclusion, referring is what speakers do and denoting is a propertyof words. Denotation is a stable family relationship in a language, it doesnt depend on anyones use of the word unlike the action of referring.Returning to the problem of theories of meaning, they are called referential/ denotational when their basic premise is that we can give the meaning of words and sentences by showing how they relate to situations- proper names denote individuals, nouns denote entities or sets of individuals, verbs denote actions, adverbs denote properties of actions, adjectives denote properties of individuals-.In case of sentences, they denote situations and events. The difference in meaning between a sentence and its negative counter fall in arises from the fact that they describe two situationse. g. There is a book on the shelf. There isnt a book on the shelf.Referential theories consider meaning to be something outside the world itself, an extra-linguistic entity. This means reducing the linguistic sign, i. e. the word to its substantive aspect, be it phonic or graphic.The impossibility of equating meaning with the object denoted by a given word can be explained considering three major(ip) reasonsthe identity meaning-object would leave meaning to a large extent undefined because not all the characteristic traits of an object as an extra- linguistic reality are i dentical with the distinctive features of lexical meaningnot all words have a referent in the outside world there are non- referring expressions so, very, maybe, if, not, etc. referring expressions used genericallye. g. A murder is a serious felony. words like nouns, pronouns with variable reference depending on the contexte. g. The president decides on the foreign policy.She didnt k now what to say. words which have no corresponding object in the real world in general or at a certain momente. g. The unicorn is a mythical animal.She wants to make a cake this evening. different expressions/words that can be used for the same referent, the meaning reflecting the perspective from which the referent is viewede. g. The morning star is the same thing as the evening star.The president of the USA/ George Bush/ Barbara Bushs husband was to deliver a speech.Besides the referential differences between expressions, we can make useful distinctions among the things referred to by expressions-ref erent thing picked out by uttering the expression in a particular context extension of an expression = set of things which could possibly be the referent of that expression. In Lyons terminology the relationship between an expression and its extension is called denotation.(Saeed 1997 27)A distinction currently made by modern linguists is that between the denotation of a word and the connotations associated with it. For most linguists, denotation represents the cognitive or communicative aspect of meaning (Schaff 1965), while connotation stands for the unrestrained overtones a speaker usually associates with each individual use of a word. Denotative meaning accounts for the relationship between the linguistic sign and its denotatum. But one shouldnt equate denotation with the denotatum.What is the denotation of a word which has no denotatum.As far as the attitude of the speaker is concerned, denotation is regarded as neutral, since its function is precisely to convey the informati onal load carried by a word. The connotative aspects of meaning are highly subjective, springing from personal experiences, which a speaker has had of a given word and also from his/her attitude towards his/ her utterance and/ or towards the interlocutors (Leech, 1990 14). For example dwelling, preindication, piazza, abode, residence have the same denotation only when different connotations.Given their highly individual constitution, connotations seem to be unrepeatable but, on the other hand, in many instances, the social nature of individual experience makes some connotative shades of meaning shared by practically all the speakers of a language. It is very difficult to draw a hard line between denotation and connotation in meaning analysis, due(p) to the fact that elements of connotation are drawn into what is referred to as basic, denotative meaning. By taking into account connotative overtones of meaning, its analysis has been introduced a in the rawfangled dimension, the pragmatic one.talking about reference involves talking about nominals- names and noun phrases. They are labels for people, places, etc. Context is important in the use of names names are expressed in that they carry the speakers assumption that his/ her audience can identify the referent (Saeed, 1997 28).2.2.The Relationship Between Sense And ReferenceThe referent of an expression is often a thing or person in the world.The sense of an expression is not a thing at all it is an abstraction that can be socialize in the mind of a language users.Its difficult to say what sort of entity the sense of an expression it isit is useful to think of sense as that is a part of meaning of an expression that is left over when reference is factored out.Its much easier to say whether or not expressions have the same sense.Connotation and denotation revisitedWe have discussed the meaning of a word, it helps to know the difference between denotation and connotation. These two terms are easy to conf use because they describe related concepts. Moreover, both denotation and connotation stem from the Latin word.The connotation of a word is the additional meaning that the word has beyond its denotative meaning. It shows peoples emotion and/or attitudes towards what the word refers to.The Denotation of a word is the core, central or referential meaning of the world found in a dictionary. In English, a content word may have its denotation described in term of a set of semantic features that serve to identify the particular concept associated with the wordFor example, the words home and house have similar denotations or primary meanings a home is a shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household, and a house is a building in which people live. However, these terms carry different associations or secondary meanings, also known as connotations. Many people would agree that home connotes a sense of belonging and comfort, whereas house conveys little more than a str ucture.The connotation of a word depends on cultural context and personal associations, but the denotation of a word is its standardized meaning within the English language.The change and development of meaning3.1 .Change of meaningThe development of vocabulary is the first of all reflected in the development of semantic structure of the words new meaning of the words appear, some old meanings drop out of the language of coexist with the new ones. The first is extending the meanings of existing words or acquisition of new meaning by existing words based on the occurrence of a relationship between the old and new meaning.For example1. She turned a cold face to me2. My brother is a pig= Semantic extensionsOccurrence of a relationship between the old and new meaning3.2. Causes of semantic changeThe factors accounting for semantic changes may be subdivided into three main groupsa. Extra-linguistic causes various changes in the action of the speech community changes in economic and so cial structures changes in culture, knowledge, technology, arts changes of ideas, scientific concepts, way of life b. Linguistic factors Ellipsis a change of meaning when the meaning of a word-combination is given to only one word of this combinationFor example passing(a)daily happening every day a daily newspaperdaily a daily newspaper Discrimination of synonyms conflict of synonyms when a perfect synonym of a native word is borrowed from other language.For example tideOE tide 1)time 2)season 3)hour from French time, season, hourModern English tide regular rise and fall of the sea caused by the moonc. One more linguistic cause of semantic change is called fixed context. E.g. the word token brought into competition with the word sign and became restricted in use to a cast of set expressions, such as love token, token of respect etc. and also became specialized in meaning.3.3. Nature of semantic changea. Restriction of meaning (narrowing) restriction of the types or refere nts denoted by the word.It can be illustrated by the semantic development of the word hound which used to denote dog of any cover up but now denotes only a dog used in the chase. If the word with a new restricted meaning comes to be used in the specialized vocabulary of some limited group within the speech community it is usual to speak of the specialization of meaning.b. Extension of meaning (widening ) application of the word to wider variety of referentsIt may be illustrated by the word target which originally meant a small round shield but now means anything that is shoot at. If the word with extended meaning passed from the specialized vocabulary into common use, the result of the semantic change is described as generalization of meaning.The connotational meaning may be changed in two ways as followsAmelioration (elevation) of meaning implies the improvement of the connotational component of meaning, e.g. the word minister originally denoted a handmaiden but now a civil ser vant of higher rank, a person administrating a department of state.Deterioration (degradation) of the meaning implies the acquisition by the word of some derogatory emotive charge, e.g. the word boor was originally to denote a peasant and then acquired a derogatory connotational meaning and came to denote a clumsy or ill-bred fellow.Transference of meaning4.1. Definition of metaphorThe other perspective from which we can approach semantic change is the nature of the change or the connection between the new and the old meaning. We also call this feature a transfer. The meaning can be transferred from the original to the new position via three main types of associationMetaphor is the semantic change based on the association of similarity between referents the meaning is transferred on the basic of the fact that the two referents resemble on onother. The basic structure of the metaphor is very simple. There is a thing we are talking about and that to which we are comparing it.The tran sference may be based on similarity ofShape. E.g head of a cabbage, crane bulb, the teeth of a sawPosition. E.g the foot of visionMovement. E.g caterpillar of a tank.Function. E.g the key to the mysteryColour. E.g orange, rose.Size. E.g midget, elephantineThe names of the parts of human body are transferred to others objects ( the nose of a plane, the leg of the table)The names of animals are also often transferred to the human beings ( A cunning person is a fox, a spiteful person is a snake, a rude person is a bear, a hard-working person is a bee or a beaver, birds view, crocodile tears)Proper names transferred to common ones( a jealous person is called an Othello, an eloquent speaker is a Cicero.)4.1.2. The differences between similes and metaphorsBoth compare things that are essentially unlike.Metaphor implies the similarity hidden comparison ( no formal element of comparison)Simile expresses the comparison by the use of some word or phrase like, as, than, similar to, resemble s, seems.For exampleMy love is a rose - metaphorMy love is like a rose - comparison4.1.3.The classifications of metaphorLiving ( poetic, individual) when a word is used in unusual meaning and metaphor is feltE.g Peace is our fortress. Faded (trite) metaphor is one which befuddled its freshness because of long use and became habitualE.g Fruitful effort, golden youth, to fall in love deceased metaphor where metaphoric sense is not felt. Dead metaphor are words which lost their direct meaning and are used only figurativelyE.g To ponder originally meant to weigh, but it is used now only in the meaning to mediate, to consider thoughtfully4.2. Definition of metonymyMetonymy (contiguity of meaning) the name of an attribute of a thing is used instead of the thing itself. In other words, metonymy can be defined as the substitution of one word for another with which it is associated.For exampleHollywood is used as a metonym (an instance of metonymy) for American cinema, because of the f ame and cultural identity of Hollywood, as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars. Proper names as metonymy can be illustrated by read Shakspeare, hear to Mozart, it was a Waterloo Major cases of metonymyUse the name of container instead of the thing contained E.g to drink a glass, 2. Names of parts of human body may be used as symbolsE.g clever head, kind heart,3. The concrete is used instead of abstractE.g Let me give you a hand to go to bed4. The materials are used for the things is made of the materialsE.g glass5. The name of the author is used for his works.E.g Picasso, Ampere, Watts6. Part is used for the whole and vice versaE.g We all live under the same roof.She is wearing a fox.7. The instrument which the doer uses in performingE.g. she is a good piano,8. other typesE.g He always running after the skirt. ( a woman or girl)Other types of meaning tranfer areEponymy (functional change) common words are derived from proper nouns, e.g. sandwich, china, rugby, White House (American government).Personification assigning human qualities to things, e.g. the paper saysEuphemisms the need for a little expressive word, substitution of words which can be harmful for words with milder connotations, e.g. restroom (toilet), pass away (die), sleep with (have a sexual intercourse with) overstatement exaggeration of meaning, statement not to be taken literally, e.g. wait for ages, weight a ton, Ill kill him when I see himLitotes the opposite of hyperbole, the understatement which can be often ironical or moderating, e.g. It wasnt bad (in the sense of It was good), Shes not stupid (Shes rather smart)REFERENCESHoa Nguyen, (2004). Understanding English Semantics. Hanoi Nxb.HQG H Ni.Lyons, J (1968). Introdution to Theoretical Linguistics. London and New York CPULyons, J (1995). Linguistic Semantics An introduction. London CUP