Main types of Word meaning.doc

Main types of Word meaningLeech used to divide meaning into seven types:conceptual meaning connotative affectiveassociative meaning reflected social collocativeThematic meaningConceptual MeaningConceptual Meaning (sometimes called denotative or cognitive meaning) is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic communication.Conceptual meaning is the same meaning for all speakers of a given language. For example, “book” can be understood by anyone who is engaged in any profession. So conceptual meaning is called the dictionary meaning or literal meaning of a word.Associative Meaning: In the United Nations, the non-English-speaking countries often refer to the Security council as “the highest organ”，but “the highest organ” often has the sexual associations in the mind of the native speakers:“mans genital organ”. Some Vips sometimes call “the Security Council” “this awesome organ”, （含有“不文之物”之意）,or “August Body”.From Japan: Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts. You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.From Mexico: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.From Rome: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time!From Zurich: Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedrooms, it suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.From Copenhagen: We take your bags and send them in all directions.From the most distinguished tobacco house in the world. (from an advertisement for Dunhills)“house” might be considered by the uninitiated an unremarkable alternative for firm or manufacturers; but its associations are with gentlemanly businesses carried on by long-established family firms.Cigarettes by John Player, England.It is not so much the choice of words as the syntactic construction ( that of by connecting two noun phrases) that suggests exclusiveness.This construction usually indicates some kind of artistic activity:Landscape gardening by X; Floral arrangements by Y;Costumes by ZFrom the most distinguished tobacco house in the world.Cigarettes by John Player, England. So here there is an effort to dignify the somewhat tarnished image of cigarette-makers and -marketers with overtones of quality and distinction.A BBC programme on 11 February 1969 reported a proposal for establishing a new category of ordained priest, who would do full-time work in a factory or office in addition to his pastoral duties. When the question arose of what this new type of cleric would be called, the BBC interviewer made three suggestions: auxiliary priests, part-time priests, and worker priests.For reasons not difficult to appreciate, all of these were rejected: auxiliary priests and part-time priests sound too much like second-rate assistants, whereas worker priests seems to allege that other priests do not work.Thus the arrival at a satisfactory title was a matter of discarding titles with unfortunate associations.A conceptual explanation can also be given, e.g. part-time priest is theologically inaccurate because a priest is a priest all the time, even when working in a factory; worker priest is pleonastic in as much as all priests have work to do. Thus an issue of associations of “the right image” can easily be turned into an argument about dictionary meanings.connotative affectiveassociative meaning reflected social collocativeConnotative Meaning:Connotative meaning is the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content.If the word woman is defined conceptually by three feature (+human, -male, +adult), then the three properties human, adult, and female must provide a criterion of the correct use of that word. But there is a multitude of additional, non-criterial properties that we have learnt to expect a referent of woman to possess. They include not only physical characteristics (biped, having womb), but also psychological and social properties (gregarious, subject to maternal instinct), and may extend to features which are merely typical rather than invariable concomitants of womanhood (capable of speech, experienced in cookery, skirt-or-dress-wearing). Still further, connotative meaning can embrace the putative(推定的)properties of the referent, due to the viewpoint adopted by an individual, or a group of people or a whole society. So in the past woman has been burdened with such attributes (frail, prone to tears, cowardly, emotional, irrational, inconstant) as the dominant male has been pleased to impose on her, as well as with more becoming qualities such as gentle, compassionate, sensitive, hard-working. Obviously, connotations are apt to vary from age to age and from society to society. Connotations will vary, to some extent, from individual to individual within the same speech community. In talking about connotation, one is in fact talking about the real world experience one associates with an expression when one uses or hears it. Connotations are relatively unstable: that is, they vary considerably, according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual.Connotative meaning is indeterminate and open-ended in a sense in which conceptual meaning is not. Connotative meaning is open-ended in the same way as our knowledge and beliefs about the universe are open-ended; Social meaning is that which a piece of language conveys about the social circumstances of its use. In part, we decode the social meaning of a text through our recognition of different dimensions and levels of style within the same language.We recognize some words or pronunciations as being dialectal, i.e. as telling us something of the geographical or social origin of the speaker.Other features of language tell us something of the social relationship between the speaker and hearer; we have a scale of status usage, for example, descending from formal and literary English at one end to colloquial, familiar, and eventually slang English at the other.Variation according to:Dialect (the language of geographical region or of a social class)Time (the language of the eighteenth century, etc.)Province (language of law, of science, of advertising, etc.)Status (polite, colloquial, slang, etc. )Singularity (the style of Dickens, of Hemingway, etc.)Variation according to Dialect: 不同的词汇表示同种语义： British EnglishSingapore EnglishMajority GroundHit BoxHoliday OffSwitch off CloseTurn on OpenChaffing dish SteamboatStamp ChopDecorator ContractorPorridge: Singapore English: A bowl of plain or savoury rice gruel, which can be cooked with small pieces of meat or fishBritish English: a thick, sticky food made from oats cooked in water or milk, or to which sugar is addedMutton chopSingapore English: Chopped-up lumps of meat with no boneBritish English: Pieces of bone with meat attachedducks eggSingapore English: zero mark for an academic workBritish English: the egg laid by ducksButlerSingapore English: Stewards or stewardessesBritish English: a male housekeeperInterchangeSingapore English: bus terminalsBritish English: a junction where a motorway meets a main road, etc.仅在新加坡使用的词汇与表达法，但还未被上层语言所接受，例如：Singapore English MeaningsSayang a mixed feeling of pity, love, regret for sth. precious that is losttambyoffice attendant; office boykaypohgreedy; interfering in others affairskayu stupid; dullkiasua feeling of fearing failure on inferiority to othersAksy AffectedAng-moh red-hair; a person of European ancestryBoleh tahan tolerably goodchap chye a mixture of everything新加坡英语的典型特征之一表现在对 “ la ”的使用上。(1) 表达一种“显而易见”的事实，例如： No need to count la. There are 30 students la.(2) 表达一种委婉的建议，例如： You tell him la! Im so scared of him.(3) 在作出某种解释时，用于缓和语气，避免粗鲁，例如： I was absent, because I was ill la.le (1) 表示说话人不赞成某件事情的发生,例如: You cant walk there, very far le.Hoh (1)把直陈语气转为疑问句式，例如： This is not true, hoh? (2)蕴有一种“劝说”的话语功能，例如： You wait for me here, hoh.感叹词 (1) Ay yaaah! 常在说话人生气时使用，例如： Ay yaaah! You made the same mistake again! (2) Ay yor! 常用来表示“痛苦”、“惊讶”等，例如： Ay yor! How can you do such a foolish thing ? (3) Ayyer! 常用于对不愉快的事或不是预料中的行为所作的感叹，例如： Ayyer! What a mess! (4) Che! 常用于对不愉快事情的发生表示“恼怒”或“遗憾”，例如： Che! Dont interrupt me ! (5) allamah常用来表示说话人对自己的言语、行为错误等的不满，例如： Allamah! I forgot to shut the door!Variation according to:Time (the language of the eighteenth century, etc.)In Shakespeares Hamlet:jump justcensure opinionvulgar commonfond stupidpregnant meaningfulgossip female friendsStructures:OSVSaxons the victory won.Him man not gave.SOV:He him sawVSOThen sent they home a messengerThen sent the king the dish.Negation form:I deny it not.Forbid him not.I love thee notHe saw you not.Words lost:In Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet:beseem be suitablewot knowgyve fetterWords that only preserved in poetry, etc.The boy is fair, of female favour.(W. Shakespeared: As you like it)favour: looks, contenance.P.112What is freedom? Ye can tellThat which slavery is, too well.Ye : youIts deuced kind of you.Deuced: extremelyMore examples:ere (before); oft(often); albeit (although) thither( there) theretofore (up to that time)save (except) perchance ( perhaps)Province (language of law, of science, of advertising, etc.)in the field of language of law: General Specialist theft larceny beat assault burning arson crime felony(language of science) General Specialist hole orifice/cavity speed velocity force intensity(language of advertising)account：雇佣广告公司为其商品等作广告的公司和人。ad：指报刊或杂志上的印刷性广告以区别于广播、电视广告。campaign：指形式不同，内容相似的某一商品的系列广告。CPM：指某一广告在某一媒介上传播至每一千人或一千户家庭，刊登广告人所花的费用。Creative：指从事广告的实际制作，如：Creative DepartmentDirect Mail：指包广告直接投递给潜在的消费者。Editorial Matter： 对报刊、杂志中非广告性内容的总称。Flier：单页广告。GRP ：是“Gross Rating Point”的缩略语，也用于估量广告中的商品潜在消费者的单位。一个GRP等于潜在消费者的百分之一。Heavy:广告业中经验丰富，具有成就，身价很高的人。Live Tag：常常位于事先垆埴好的某一广播、电视商业广告之后，为广告产品的总结性言语。Make Good：广告免费重播。由于机械故障或操作失误导致某一广告传送受阻，以此作为对客户的补偿orange Goods：具有中等利润的商品。Problem-solution：一种广告形式。首先提出一个问题，然后推出某一商品作为解决途径。Puffery：夸张式的商业广告。Red Goods：利润虽然小，但是十分畅销的商品。Slice of Life：非常现实，具有生活气息的商业广告。Spot：广播、电视为媒介的广告。Talent：指制作商业广告中演员、歌手、舞蹈人员、播音员、模特的总称。Up-Cutting：剪切广播或电视节目的一部分内容以便有更多的时间进行广告宣传。Yellow Goods：利润高的耐用品。Variation according to Status: (polite, colloquial, slang, etc. )Variation according to Singularity: (the style of Dickens, of Hemingway, etc.)Buffon, a French writer and naturalist of the 18th century once said: Style, it is the man himself.Jane Austen saw life in a clear, dry light. She was not without deep human sympathies, but she had a quick eye for vanity, selfishness and vulgarity and she perceived the frequent incongruities between the way people talked and the realities of a situation.Her style is quiet and level. She never exaggerates, she never, as it were, raises her voice to shout or scream. She is neither pompous, nor sentimental, nor flippant, but always gravely polite, and her writing contains a delicate but sharp edged irony.Here is a very different way of writing. Charles Dickens is describing Stone Lodge, the home of Mr. Gradgrind, in Hard Times:To his matter-of-fact home, which was called Stone Lodge, Mr gradgrind directed his steps.A very regular feature on the face of the country, Stone Lodge was. Not the least disguise toned down or shaded off that uncompromising fact in the landscape. A great square house, with a heavy portico darkening the principal windows, as its masters heavy brows overshadowed his eyes. A calculated, cast up balanced, and proved house. Six windows on this side of the door six on that side; a total of twelve in this wing, a total of twelve in the other wing; four-and twenty carried over to the back wings. A lawn and garden and an infant avenue, all ruled straight like a botanical account-book. Mr. Gradgrind and Stone lodge suggest hardness, cold fact, the absence of tenderness and grace. The description of the house reinforces this point. Notice that the regularity and strict arithmetical proportions of the house are not just mentioned once but repeated again and again.A calculated, cast up balanced, and proved house. Six windows on this side of the door six on that side; a total of twelve in this wing, a total of twelve in the other wing; four-and twenty carried over to the back wingsDickenss criticism of “the Gradgrind philosophy”, of the utilitarian attitude to life that took account only of facts and statistics and disregarded human feelings, is direct and forceful. Detail is heaped upon detail to create a suitable house for Mr. Gradgrind, a house that hardly resembles an actual house.Steed (poetic) domicile (very formal, official)Horse (general) residence (formal)Nag (slang) abode (poetic)Gee-gee (baby language) home (general)Cast (literary, biblical) diminutive (very formal)Throw (general) tiny (colloquial)Chuck (casual, slang) wee (colloquial, dialectal)1)They chucked a stone at the cops, and then did a bunk with the loot. 2)After casting a stone at the police, they absconded with the money.Affective meaning is largely a parasitic category in the sense that to express our emotions we rely upon the mediation of other categories of meaning:conceptual, connotative, or stylistic. little Smallfamous notoriousslim/slender skinnydetermined pigheadedFastidious, fussy, particularcritical fault-finding picky fad, vogue, stylecunning, artful, slyclique, gang, groupencourage instigate promoteAffective Meaning can depend on the context:He is bright and ambitious.Knowledge of inequality has stimulated envy, ambition and greed.Someone who is addressed: You are a vicious tyrant and a villainous reprobate, and I hate you for it! is left in little doubt as to the feelings of the speaker towards him.Hayakawa S.I.(1978) 在他所著的 “Language in Thought and Action”一书中描述了这样一个故事：一位著名的黑人社会学家外出旅行受到了一对白人夫妇的热情款待，为他提供食宿等便利条件。 见Geoffrey Leech的著作Semantics: the study of meaning. 1981. Second Edition. Penguin Books.P44.“Whos insulting you, son?” said the man.“You are, sir-that name youre always calling me.”“What name?”“Uhyou know.”“I aint callin you no names, son.”“ I mean your calling me nigger.”“Well, whats insultin about that? You are a nigger, aint you?”可是这对白人夫妇总是称他为 “nigger”，使得这位黑人在感激这对夫妇的同时，又因被称为“nigger”内心又受到了伤害，因此在无法忍受的情况下，终于鼓足勇气要求白人夫妇不要使用“nigger”这一带有侮辱含义的词。下面是他们之间的部分对话：Emotional expression through style comes about, for instance, when we adopt an impolite tone to express displeasure, or when we adopt a casual tone to express friendliness. On the other hand, there are elements of language (chiefly interjections, like Aha! and Yippee!) whose chief functions to express emotion. When we use these, we communicate feelings and attitudes without the mediation of any other kind of semantic function.Reflected meaning is the meaning, which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense.In a church service, the synonymous expressions The Comforter and The Holy Ghost, both refer to the Third Person of the Trinity, but the reactions to these terms can be conditioned by the everyday non-religious meanings of comfort and ghost. The Comforter sounds warm and “comforting (although in the religious context, it means “the strengthener or supporter , while The Holy Ghost sounds awesome.More examples: Since their popularization in senses connected with the physiology of sex, it has become increasingly difficult to use terms like intercourse, ejaculation, and erection in innocent senses without conjuring up their sexual associations. This process of taboo contamination has accounted in the past for the dying-out of the non-taboo sense of a word: Bloomfield explained the replacement of cock in its farmyard sense by rooster as due to the influence of the taboo use of the former word, and one wonders if intercourse is now following a similar path.Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment. Pretty and handsome share common ground in the meaning good-looking, but may be distinguished by the range of nouns with which they are