43 . Denotational Component of Lex.M.

Lex. M is not homogenous and may be analyzed as including D. and Ccs. 1 of the function of Ws is to denote things, concepts and so on. Users of a language can’t have any knowledge or thought of the objects or phenomena of the real world around them unless this knowledge is ultimately embodied in Ws which have essentially the same M for all the speakers of that language. The reflection of the objective features of the referent in LM is called its DC. This is the DC of the LM that makes communication possible. There is no doubt that a physicist knows more about the action than a singer, doer or that an arctic explorer possesses a much deeper knowledge of what arctic ice is like than a man who has never been in the North. Nevertheless, they use the Ws atom, arctic and understand each other.

Thus, the В aspect of LM expresses the notional content of a W

The componential structure of DC

The DC representing the notion in IM can’t but correlate with its structure. In the latter distinction is made in basic and derived features of the object. Basic properties serve as foundation for the generalization of the objects in the notion derived properties are determined by the basic ones and probable characterize the object with a higher or lower degree of certainty. They may reflect essent. properties of objects; form, function, purpose.

39.Semasiology

By definition Lexicology deals with wordsword-forming morphemes (derivational affixes) and word-groups or phrases. All these linguistic units may be said to have meaning of some kind: they are all significant and therefore must be investigated both as to form and meaning. The branch of lexicology that is devoted to the study of meaning is known as Semasiology.2

The name comes from the Greek semasia ‘signification’ (from sema ‘sign’ and semantikos ‘significant’). As semasiology deals not with every kind of linguistic meaning but with lexical meaning only, it may be regarded as a branch of lexicology.

Words, however, play such part of the structure of language that when we speak of semasiology without any qualification, we usually refer to the study of word-meaning proper, although it is in fact very common to explore the semantics of other elements, such as suffixes, prefixes, etc.

Meaning is one of the most controversial terms in the theory of language. At first sight the understanding of this term seems to present no difficulty at all — it is freely used in teaching, interpreting and translation. The scientific definition of meaning however just as the definition of some other basic linguistic terms, such as word.sentence, etc., has been the issue of interminable discussions.

Though semasiology deals with LM, only it does’n t mean that the semiseologist need not pay attention to gram.meaning.

On the contrary, grammatical meaning must be taken into consideration in so far as it bears a specific influence upon lexical meaning.this influence is manytold.at this stage it will suffice to point out that a certain basic component of the word-meaning when one identifies the word diachronically i.e. states to what gram.word class belongs. It treated diachronically, semaciology, stadies the change in meaning which words undergo. Descriptive synchronic approach demands a study not of individual words but of semantic structures typical of the language.

The main objects of semasiological study are as follows: semantic development of words, its causes and classification, relevant distinctive features and types of lexical meaning, polysemy and semantic structure of word, semantic groupings and connections in the vocabulary system, i.e. synonyms, antonyms, etc.

40. The notion of meaning. Semantic triangle.

A word is a two-facet unit, the smallest entity of nomination and a component of a sentence as the basic communicative unit, is valued especially for its plain of context, i.e. lexical meaning. Within language matter LM is a variant of language meaning as such coexisting with grammatical meaning.

Language meaning as the plain of content of language as a whole may be regarded as valuable and indispensable information (knowledge) about reality which is capable of reproducing the world in people’s minds) ensuring, thinking and communication at large.

In the history of linguistic language meaning has been a speaking problem and a lot of definitions, theories, conceptions of this phenomenon have been advanced. Realistically, it may be defined as the carrier of information about reality which is assigned to special material forms realized through words and nationally specific.

In the 30-s of 20century the American linguists Ondon and Richards put forward their own conception of language meaning, represented graphically, as a triangle, in which they attended to put together the 3 inseparable, and interconnected and interdependent units of reality out of which meaning comes out.(Basically it is materialistic and dialectical too)

The semantic triangle starts with the idea of the object of reality proper (concrete or abstract)-a referent.

The upper point of the angle is notion (the image of the object, the mental picture of object).

Since, language is both idealand material (as it is expressed in sounds and letters) the ultimate point is the plain of expression.

The idea of interpretation of the nature of language meaning is that it doesn’t coincide with any of its point. It is smth principally different to any though objectively connected with all the three in their own ways. Most closely LM is connected with a notion. It is based on it, determined by it and depends on it, can’t exist without it.

Notion is a mental logical category, category of thinking which makes it universal, common to all nations. Notion is considered to be a common property of mankind to describe the picture of the world.(понятийная картина мира). But as coming from it and all at a time different to it the common notional picture of reality is represented by national languages in their individual ways.

The language meaning is stated to be somewhere in between the notion and the sound form.

58. Regular polysemy.

If we bare in mind the materialistic origin of P. the possibility to mute dif. meanings thanks to actual similarities between objects suggests the idea that there exist certain typical relationship which reflect the natural connections between real things whose names are grouped within P. What we observed in P. confirms this hypothesis. This kind of lexical generalization which is manifest in the identity of lexico-semantical variants of different words is called regular lex. polysemy. A type is the only possible way to express all that is recurrent as R.Pinks between objects of reality perceived by the mind. The tendency to typify is one of the most powerful in lang. cause generalization is its basic property. Lang. as a tool of thinking is subordinated to its laws, generalization being one of the most principles forms.

41.Lexical and grammatical meaning.

It is more or less universally recognized that word-meaning is not homogeneous but is made up of various components the combination and the interrelation of which determine to a great extent the inner facet of the word. These components are usually described as types of meaning.

Grammatical meaning may be defined as the component of meaning recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of different words as e.g. the tense meaning in the word-forms of verbs (asked, thought) or the case meaning in the word-forms of various nouns (girl’s, boy’s).

In modern linguistic science it is commonly held that some elements of grammatical meaning can be identified by the position of the linguistic unit in relation to other linguistic units, i.e. by its distribution. Word-forms speaks, reads, speaks have one the same GM as they can all be found in identical distribution (only after the pronouns he, she, it and before adverbs well, badly, today).

It follows that a certain component of the meaning of a word is described when you identify it as a part of speech, since different parts of speech are distributionally different. The grammatical aspect of the part-of-speech meaning is conveyed as a rule by individual sets of word-forms, i.e. if we describe the word as a noun we mean to say that it is bound to possess a set of forms expressing the GM of singularity, plurality and so on.

Lexical meaning.Comparing word-forms of one and the same word we observe that besides GM,there is another component of meaning to be found in them. Unlike the GM this component is identical in all the forms of the word. The word forms go, goes, went, going, gone possess different GM-s of tense, person and so on, but in each of these forms we find one and the same semantic component, denoting the process of movement. This is the LM of the word which may be described as the component of meaning proper to the word as a linguistic unit, i.e. recurrent in all the forms of this word and in all the possible distributions of these forms.

The difference between the lexical and the grammatical components of meaning is not to be sought in the difference of the concepts underlying the two types of meaning, but rather in the way they are conveyed.(The concept of relation may be expressed by the LM of the word relation and also by any of the prepositions : in, on, behind (the book is on,in,behind the table).

It follows that by LM we designate the meaning proper to the given linguistic unit in all its forms and distributions, while by the GM we designate the meaning proper to sets of word-forms common to all words of a certain class. Both the GM and LM make up the word-meaning as neither can exist without the other. That can be observed in the semantic analysis of correlated words in different languages (сведения- information).

The interrelation of the LM and GM and the role played by each varies in different word-classes and even in different groups of words within one and the same class. In some parts of speech the prevailing component is the G. type of meaning.

42.Connection of meaning and notion.

The term notion is introduced into linguistics from logic and psychology. It denotes the reflection in the mind of real objects and phenomena in their essential features and relations. Each is characterized by its scope and content. The scope of the notion is determined by all the objects it refers to.Tne content of the notion is made up of all the features that distinguish it from other notions. The distinction between the scope and the content of a notion lies at the basis of such terms as the identifying (demonstrative) and significative function-denoting the objects covered by the scope of the notion expressed in the word, and the significative- the function of expressing the content of the respective notion.

The relationship between the linguistic lexical meaning and the logical notion deserves special attention not only because they are not to be confused but also because in comparing and contrasting them it is possible to achieve a better insight into the essence of both.

Opposition

1)the first essential point is that the relationship between notion and meaning varies. A word may have a notion for its referent.

The logical notion is the referent of LM quite often but not always, because there may be other referents such as the real objects.

2) Notions are always emotionally neutral as there are a category of thought. Language expresses all possible aspect of human consciousness. The meaning of many words not only conveys some reflection of objective reality but also the speaker’s state of mind and his attitude to what he is speaking about.

3) the absence not only of identity but even of regular one-to-one correspondence between meaning and notion is clearly seen in words belonging to some specific stylistic level.

4)the linguistic nature of LM has very important consequences. Expressing a notion a word does so in a way determined by the peculiarities of the lexical and grammatical systems of each particular language and by the various structural ties of the word in speech.

5)Notions are mostly international, meaning may be nationally determined and limited.

Summing up: the LM of the word is the realization or naming of a notion, emotion or object, by means of a definite language system subject to the influence of grammer and vocabularly peculiarities of that language.

Differences of Notion and Meaning:

1)Language specifies the types of reflected objects as units, members, part of speech whereas notions don’t. Notions are dead mirrors, reflection of reality, reflecton of reality, but LM-s serve to express the speaker’s emotions and evaluation.

2)Language meanings are grouped into polysemantic structures in which they depend on one ahother through some association.

Satisfy taste, meet demands, needs

Случай-incident, accident, case.

44. Connotational comp. of LM

Lex.M. is not homogenous and presents a synthesis of denot. and connot-l components. Denot-n reproduces reality by correlating with a notion, while con-n expresses the speaker’s attitude to the object named. Con-n conveys addit-l information in the process of communication. Con-n includes

1. Emotive charge (daddy as compared to father)

2. St. reference whose function is to indicate situational restrictions on the use of, the M which are fully summed up in the st. class-n of voc-ry( father-parent-chum-friend)

3. Expressiveness ( adore as compared to love)

4. Evaluation which may be positive or negative(clique – a small group of people who seem unfriendly to other people compared to group-a set of people)

Thus, the tradit-l theory holds that the CC is a blend of L mutually supporting units.

At present another point of view of the origin of con-n has been argued emotion is its central part producing evaluation and being graded as to its intensity, emotion is both evaluative and expressive.

45 . The notion of a seme. Its types

All the types of objective properties find their Lang counterparts in Wms as basic, derived and potential semes.

A seme is a meaningful unit of Lang, which correlates with a notion and serves as a part of LM. According to their dif. Sem. Role in M they make up a hierarchy to give priority to basic semes as possessing the strongest differentiating force (book basic seme – a number of sheets of paper, ascend together in a cover with a printed text, derived author message standard print small-sized, hand-cover, right-angled form)

This class-n (basic, derived or potential) concerns the complex sememic structure of LM of separate W. These semes are isolated within 1 Lex. M by referring it to the referent to judge the value of the features of the object: which are basically important and indispensable for its functioning which are subordinate to them and derived from them and which are supposed to belong to the obj.

Besides, the substantive class-n of semes made the criterion of their status in LM, they may be estimated in terms of their common as to group of Ws in voc system. In other Ws they occur in large number of LM.

According to this class-n semes may be categorical (present in large groups of Ws: thinness, size, color, form) and differential (peculiar to single Ws: spinster, bachelor).

Most scholars agree that the LM of a W presents a hierarchy of semes of several types and levels of abstraction.

1. An archseme (a lex-gram marker, a part of speech)

2. A classseme (a seme-marker of a lex. group of Ws)

3. A dif. Seme (a distinguisher)

4. A potential seme

46. Causes of development of vocabulary: linguistic, extralinguistic.

Vocabulary is the most flexible part of language and it’s precisely its semantic aspect that responds most readily to every change in the human activity. The causes of semantic changes may be grouped under 2 main factors:

1) Linguistic

2) Extralinguistic

The 1st one deals with changes due to the constant independence of voc.units in language and speech such as differentiation between synonyms, changes taken place in connection with ellipsis and with fixed contexts, change resulting from ambiguity in certain context. Semantic change due to differentiation of synonyms is a change (time and tide used to be synonyms, then tide took on its more limited application to the periodically shifting waters and time along is used in the general sense). Another factor – fixed context (token: when brought into competition with the loan word sign, it became restricted in use to a number of set expressions, such as love token, token of respect and so became specialized in meaning)

No systematic treatment has so far been offered for the syntagmatic semantic changes depending on the context. But such cases do exist! One of these is ellipsis. The qualifying words of a frequent phrase may be omitted (propose comes to be used to propose marriage, to be expecting for = to be expecting a baby) or vice-versa (minerals for mineral water). Moreover as there are many words with transitive and intransitive variants naming cause and result, starve came to mean "to cause, to perish with hunger". English has a great variety of these regular coincidences of different aspects, alongside with cause and result, we could consider the coincidence of subjective and objective, active and passive aspects, especially frequent in adj. (curious - 1. strange , 2. inquisitive; hateful – exciting hatred, full of hatred)

The extralinguistic causes are determined by social nature of the language: they are connected with the development of the human mind as it moulds reality to conform to its need. Languages are powerfully affected by social, political, economical, cultural and technique changes. Social factors can influence even structural features of linguistic units, terms of science. The history of the social, economic and political life of people, the process of cultural and scientific development bring changes in notions and thus influence the semantic aspect of words.