2. Lexical meaning and its types through Referential and Functional approaches

Irina Vladimirovna Arnold: Semantics is the study of meanings dealing with the relationship between symbols (words, signs, etc.) and what they refer to (called 'referents') and of behaviour in reaction to non-verbal symbols and verbal symbols (words).

Semiotics is closely connected with semantics. Semiotics is the relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata, or meaning.

Sign is understood as a discrete unit of meaning in semiotics. Among the word's various characteristics, meaning is certainly the most important. There are two approaches in which the word-meaning can be observed.

Referential approach (structural)

Generally speaking, meaning can be more or less described as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated, in this way endowing the word with the ability of denoting real objects, qualities, actions and abstract notions. The complex and somewhat mysterious relationships between referent (object, etc. denoted by the word), concept and word are traditionally represented by the F. de Saussure's triangle. He considers meaning to be the relation between the object or notion named, and the name itself. The basis of his theory is the double nature (ideal and material) of the word.

Треугольник Соссюра: --signifier (word) – signifie (concept) -- thing (object)--

By the "signifier" here is meant the word; signifie is concept. According to F. de Saussure, only the relationship shown by a solid line concerns linguistics and the sign is not a unity of form and meaning as we understand it now, but only sound form.

His idea was adopted by Ogden and Richards. They called a sign a two-facet unit! And suggested the Ogden and Richards Triangular:

--Symbol – Reference – Referent --

A solid line between reference and referent shows that the relationship between them is linguistically relevant, that the nature of what is named influences the meaning. The dotted line suggests that there is no immediate relation between word and referent: it is established only through the concept.

The followers of them developed their idea, and present a basic, or semantic triangular:

- name – meaning – referent -

Where name is represented by meaning, Meaning is reflected in referent, and the referent is named by name!!!

in the scheme the word is represented only by the left-hand side of the diagram

does not show the actual process of reflection in our mind

describes only one meaning of a word and one form

The mechanism by which concepts are converted into words and the reverse process by which a heard or a printed word is converted into a kind of mental picture are not yet understood or described.

Семантическая трапеция - схематическое изображение соотношения компонентов слова: вершина трапеции - понятие и значение, а основание - предмет и фонетическая оболочка слова.

The lexical meaning of a word is the realization of a notion by means of a definite language system.

We should divide meaning and concept. Meaning:

1.Can have a particular individual referent

2. reveal the speaker's state of mind and his attitude

3. belonging to some specific stylistic level reflect personality of the speaker, his background and his relations with his audience

4. Grouped on linguistic basis

5. nationally determined and limited

While concept:

1. Refers to a class of referents

2. emotionally neutral as they are a category of thought

3. Do not

4. Grouped on logical basis

5. international

Functional approach.

The functional approach maintains that the meaning of a linguistic unit may be studied only through its relation to other linguistic-units and not through its relation to either concept or referent. Contextual analysis is based on the assumption that difference in meaning of language units is always indicated by a difference in environment.

In a very simplified form this view may be illustrated by the following: we know, for instance, that the meaning of the two words move and movement is different because they function in speech differently.

Bloomfield defines the meaning as the situation in which the word is uttered.

E. Nida: "it is from linguistic contexts that the meanings of a high proportion of lexical units in active or passive vocabularies are learned”.

Vinogradov’s classification Functional Types of Meaning:

1. Nominative (Basic, Free)

To carry = to support the weight of... and move from place to place

2. Nominative – Derivative:

Sweet = pleasant, attractive

S. face, S. Voice, S. singer

3. Collocationally Determined: To keep

to keep hens, pigs... (own/manage)

4. Colligationally: keep doing smth. = continue

5. Phraseologically Bound: Love

I’d love to...

Context is a minimal stretch of speech and the conditions necessary and sufficient to reveal in which of its individual meanings the word in question is used.

Antrushina said that context is a powerful preventative against any misunderstanding of meanings.

Context Amosova: A combination of an indicator or an indicating minimum (lexical and grammatical elements) and the dependent, that is the word, the meaning of which is to be realized in a given utterance.

Types of context: