11.Types-of-Word-Meaning

(Supplementarymaterial)TypesofWordMeaning词义类型Wordmeaningisacompositeconsistingofdifferentcomponents,whichareknowninfamiliartermsasdifferenttypesofmeaning.1.GrammaticalMeaningandLexicalMeaningGrammaticalmeaningreferstothepartofthemeaningofthewordthatindicatesgrammaticalconceptorrelationshipssuchaspartofspeechofwords(nouns,verbs,adjectives,adverbs),singularandpluralmeaningofnouns,tensemeaningofverbsandtheirinflectionalparadigm(forget,forgets,forgot,forgotten,forgetting).Unlikelexicalmeaning,differentlexemesorlexicalitems,whichhavedifferentlexicalmeanings,mayhavethesamegrammaticalmeaning,e.g.tables,men,oxen,potatoes(havingthepluralmeaning)andtaught,worked,forgave(havingthesametensemeaning).Ontheotherhand,oneandthesamelexememayhavedifferentgrammaticalmeaningasshowninforget,forgets,forgot,forgotten,forgetting.Functionalwords,thoughhavinglittlelexicalmeaning,possessstronggrammaticalmeaningwhereascontentwordshavebothmeaningsandtheirlexicalmeaningsareprominent.2.DenotativeMeaning外延意义andAssociativeMeaning关联意义Denotativemeaning(alsoknownascognitive,conceptual,ordesignativemeaning)ismeaninggiveninthedictionaryandformsthecoreofwordmeaning.Associativemeaningisthesecondarymeaningsupplementedtothedenotativemeaning.Itdiffersfromthedenotativemeaninginthatitisopen-endedandindeterminate,liabletotheinfluenceofsuchfactorsasculture,experience,religion,geographicalregion,classbackground,education,etc..Itcanbeclassifiedintofourcategories:connotative,stylistic,affective,andcollocative.1)ConnotativeMeaningOppositetothedenotativemeaning,connotativemeaningreferstotheovertonesorassociationssuggestedbythedenotativemeaning,traditionallyknownasconnotations.Itisnotanessentialpartofthewordmeaning,butsocialandculturalvaluesthatmightoccurinthemindofparticularusersofthelanguage.Mother(afemaleparent)---love,care,tenderness,protection,forgiveness,etc..Theseconnotationsarenotgiveninthedictionary,butassociatedwiththewordinactualcontexttoparticularreadersorspeakers.2)StylisticMeaningApartfromtheirdenotativemeanings,manywordshavestylisticfeatures,whichmakethemappropriatefordifferentstyles.Thesedistinctivefeaturesformthestylisticmeaningofwords.Insomedictionaries,thesestylisticfeaturesareclearlymarkedasformal,informal,literary,archaic,slangandsoon.Thestylisticdifferentiationisespeciallytrueofsynonyms.Itisobservedthattherearefewwordsthathaveboththesamedenotativemeaningandthestylisticmeaning.(p118)3)AffectiveMeaningAffectivemeaningexpressesthespeaker'sattitudetowardsthepersonorthinginquestion.Thismeaningcanbeovertlyandexplicitlyconveyedsimplybythechoiceoftherightwordsasmanyhaveemotivecontentinthemselves.e.g.vicious,villainous,tyrant,love,hate,anger,grief,pleasure.Interjectionsaregenerallyexpressionsofemotionssuchasoh,dearme,alas,hurrah.Wordsthathaveemotivevaluesmayfallintotwocategories:appreciativeorpejorative.Wordsofpositiveovertonesareusedtoshowappreciationortheattitudeofapprovalsuchasfamous,determined,slim/slender,black;thoseofnegativeconnotationsimplydisapproval,contemptorcriticism,e.g.notorious,pigheaded,skinny,nigger.Inmanycases,theappreciativeorpejorativemeaningsofthewordsarebroughtoutonlybythespeakersincontext.(1)Heisbrightandambitious.(2)Heisgreedyandambitious.(3)Onewhoisfilledwithambitionusuallyworkshard.4)CollocativeMeaningAsLeechdefines,collocativemeaningconsistsoftheassociationsawordacquiresonaccountofthemeaningsofwordswhichtendtooccurinitsenvironment.Inotherwords,itisthatpartofthewordmeaningsuggestedbythewordswithwhichitco-occurs.Itisnoticeablethatcollocativemeaningoverlapswithconnotativeandaffectivemeaningbecauseinasensebothconnotativeandaffectivemeaningsarerevealedbyvirtueofcollocationsorcontextuality.AsNidanotes,onecanoftentellwhatworkapersonhasbeendoingbythekindsofstainsonclothing,soawordinparticularcontextsislikelytoacquireassociativemeaningsreflectingsuchusage.Greenisakindofcolorbutitsmeaningisobviouslyaffectedwhenitoccursinsuchphrasesasgreenonthejob,greenfruit,greenwithenvy,green-eyedmonster妒忌.WordmeaninggrammaticallexicaldenotativeassociativeconnotativestylisticaffectivecollocativeExercises:Allthewordstalkative,articulate,gossip,garrulous,rambling,fluent,candescribeaperson'sabilityofspeech.Whatimpressiondoyouobtainofthepersonwiththeuseofeachofthewords?Key:talkative---implyingafondnessfortalkingfrequentlyandatlengtharticulate---expressingoneselfeasilyandclearly,positivegossip---indulginginidletalksorrumorsaboutothers,negativegarrulous---fmlhabituallytalkingtoomuch絮叨，喋喋不休rambling---talkingaimlesslywithoutconnectionofideas,negativefluent---speakingeasily,smoothlyandexpressly,positiveChapter6SemanticClassificationofWords词的语义分类P332Semanticclassificationofwordsmeansthatvocabularyunitsareclassifiedonthebasisofvariousmeaningrelationsbetweenwordsontheparadigmaticaxis.HyponymyHyponymyreferstotherelationshipofinclusion,i.e.themeaningofaspecificwordisincludedinthatofanothergeneralword.Thegenerallexicalitemiscalledthesuperordinateortheupperterm,andthespecificitemthehyponymorthelowerterm.(P333)P130ExerciseIThestatusofbei