词汇学 教案 Chapter 57.docx

词汇学 教案 Chapter 57.docx

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词汇学教案Chapter57

Chapter5WordMeaningandComponentialAnalysis

5.1WordMeaning

1.Whatis‘wordmeaning’?

Wordmeaningcanbedefinedasareciprocalrelationbetweennameandmeaning.

‘Meaning’iswhattheformstandsfor.

Eg:

desk:

somethingyousitatandyoudoyourwork

Therearetwoaspectstothemeaningofaword:

denotationandconnotation.Theprocessbywhichthewordreferstothereferentiscalled"denotation".Forexample,thedenotationof"dog"is"caninequadruped".Thedenotativemeaningofawordusuallyreferstothedictionarydefinitionofaword.Asopposedtodenotation,connotationreferstotheemotionalaspectofaword.Forexample,theconnotationof"dog"mightinclude"friend","helper","competition",etc.

2.Whatisreference?

Itistherelationshipbetweenlanguageandtheworld.Bymeansofreference,aspeakerindicateswhichthingsintheworld（includingpersons）arebeingtalkedabout.Inotherwords,onlywhenaconnectionhasbeenestablishedbetweenthelinguisticsignandareferent,i.e.,anobject,aphenomenon,aperson,etc.doesthesignbecomemeaningful.

Thereferenceofawordtoathingoutsidethelanguageisarbitraryandconventional.

3.Whatisconcept?

Itisthegeneralideaormeaningwhichisassociatewithawordorsymbolinaperson’smind.

What’stherelationshipbetweenmeaningandconcept?

1）Theyarebothrelateddirectlytoreferentsandarenotionsofthewordsbutbelongtodifferentcategories.

2）Concept,whichisbeyondlanguage,istheresultofhumancognition,reflectingtheobjectiveworldinthehumanmind.Conceptisuniversaltoallmenalikeregardlessofculture,race,andlanguageandsoon.

3）Butmeaningbelongstolanguage,soisrestrictedtolanguageuse.Aconceptcanhaveasmanyreferringexpressionsastherearelanguagesintheworld.Eveninthesamelanguage,thesameconceptcanbeexpressedindifferentwords.

Meaningiscloselyrelatedtoaconcept,buttheyarenotidentical.Aconceptisthebaseofthemeaningofaword.Awordisusedtolabelaconcept.Itactsasthesymbolforthatconcept.Theconceptisabstractedfromtheperson,thing,relationship,idea,event,andsoon,thatwearethinkingabout.Wecallthisthereferent.Thewordlabelstheconcept,whichisabstractedfromthereferent;theworddenotesthereferent,butdoesnotlabelit.Thisapproachtomeaningcanbediagrammedasfollows:

word-concept–referent

Theformulashowsthatthewordreferstothereferentthroughaconcept.

Aconceptisanabstractionfromthingsofthesamekind.

4.Whatissense?

Thesenseofanexpressionisitsplaceinasystemofsemanticrelationshipswithotherexpressionsinthelanguage.

What’sthedifferencebetweenreferenceandsense?

1）Sensedenotestherelationshipsinsidethelanguage.

2）Everywordthathasmeaninghassensebutnoteverywordhasreference.

5.2Motivation

1.Whatismotivation?

Motivationdealswiththeconnectionbetweennameandsense   

2.Typesofmotivation

A.OnomatopoeicMotivation

Itmeanstheimitationofsoundsbysounds.OnomatopoeiaisderivedfromGreekonomatopoeia"word-making":

onoma,-matos"name"+poieo"make".Variousothertermshavebeensuggested,suchasechoism（Jespersen）and"phonaestheticfunction"（Firth）.Onomatopoeicmotivationmeansdefiningtheprincipleofmotivationbysound.Thesoundsofsuchwordsascuckoo,ding-dong,swish,buzz,seemtobeappropriatetotheirsenses.Forexamples:

p101

Butithastobepointedoutthatonomatopoeicwordsconstituteonlyasmallpartofthevocabulary.Theformsofwordsnormallyhaveonlyaconventionalrelationshipwithwhattheyreferto.AccordingtoStephenUllmann,onomatopoeicformationcanbedividedintoprimaryonomatopoeiaandsecondaryonomatopoeia.

B.Morphologicalmotivation

Wordswhichwereformedbymeansofmorphologicalstructurebelongtothecategoryofmotivationbymorphology.

C.SemanticMotivation

Semanticmotivationmeansthatmotivationisbasedonsemanticfactors.Itisakindofmentalassociation.Whenwespeakofthebonnetorthehoodofacar,ofacoatofpaint,orofpotatoescookedintheirjackets,theseexpressionsaremotivatedbythesimilaritybetweenthegarmentsandtheobjectsreferredto.Inthesameway,whenwesaytheclothfortheclergy,silkforaQ.C.,or"townandgown"for"townanduniversity",thereissemanticmotivationduetothefactthatthegarmentsinquestionarecloselyassociatedwiththepersonstheydesignate.Bothtypesofexpressionarefigurative:

theformeraremetaphorical,basedonsomesimilaritybetweenthetwoelements,thelatteraremetonymic,foundedonsomeexternalconnection.

    1）Metaphor

    Metaphorisafigureofspeechcontaininganimpliedcomparison,inwhichawordorphraseordinarilyandprimarilyusedofonethingisappliedtoanother,asin"Hehasaheartofstone.","Thecurtainofnighthasfallen."

2）Metonymy

Metonymyisthedeviceinwhichwenamesomethingbyoneofitsattributes,asincrownforking,theturfforhorse-racing,theWhiteHouseforthePresident.

3）Synecdoche

Synecdochemeansusingapartforawhole,anindividualforaclass,amaterialforathingorthereverseofanyofthese-forexample,breadforfood,thearmyforasoldier,copperforpenny.

D.Etymologicalmotivation

Etymologicalmotivationdenotesthattheoriginsofwordsoftenthrowlightontheirmeanings.

E.g.:

Penoriginallyrefersto‘aheavyquillorfeather’.Todaythewritingtoolisstill“pen”,butameaningisnotexactlythesameaswhatitusedtomean.

5.3Motivationandculturalbackground

Wordsthatepitomizesculturalhistoryarecalledculturally-boundwordsorallusivewords.Aculturally-boundwordcondensesafundofmeaningsintoashorterterm."Quixotic",forexample,isanepitomeofagreatbookbyCervantes.ThewordderivedfromDonQuixote,theheroofthesatiricalromance,hascometomean"extravagantlychivalrousorromanticallyidealistic;visionary;impracticalorimpracticable".AnotherexampleistheFaustianspirit:

thatheaven-storming,adventurousthirstfortheinfinitewhichledFausttosellhissoultothedevilinreturnforuniversalknowledgeandexperience.

    Thespiritualhistorynotmerelyofadecade,butofawholeepochmaybesummedupinanallusiveword.Sometimesagreatpoet,adramatistoranovelistgivesanametothespiritofanage-asGoethedidwithFaust,ShakespearewithHamlet.Evenapoet'sownnamemaycometoexpressaqualityandtemperforwhichwehavenoothersingleword.VirgilianPity,forexample,carriesawealthofmeaning:

poignant,sensitivesadnessoverthetragedyimplicitinmosthumanlife;thefeelingofregretovervanishedbeautyandthedoomvisitedongreat-heartedcourageinthefaceofmaligndestiny.

    Culturally-boundwordspresentachallengetoanyonewholikestobringhistoryupintothevividpresent.

5.4Typesofmeaning

Wordmeaningismadeupofvariouscomponentswhichareinterrelatedandinterdependent.Thesecomponentsarecommonlydescribedastypesofmeaning.

TypesofMeaning:

GrammaticalMeaning&LexicalMeaning

LexicalMeaning:

ConceptualMeaning&AssociativeMeaning

AssociativeMeaning:

ConnotativeMeaning&StylisticMeaning&AffectiveMeaning&CollocativeMeaning

1.GrammaticalMeaning&LexicalMeaning

1）Grammaticalmeaningindicatesgrammaticalconceptorrelationshipssuchaspartofspeechofwords,singularandpluralmeaningofnouns,tensemeaningofverbsandtheirinflectionalparadigm.

2）Lexicalmeaningisthemeaningofanisolatedwordinadictionary.Thiscomponentofmeaningisidenticalinalltheformsoftheword.

2.ConceptualMeaning&AssociativeMeaning

1）Conceptualmeaningismeaninggiveninthedictionaryandformsthecoreofwordmeaning.

2）Associativemeaningisthesecondarymeaningsupplementedtotheconceptualmeaning.Itdiffersfromtheconceptualmeaninginthatitisopen-endedandindeterminate,liabletotheinfluenceofsuchfactorsasculture,experience,religion,etc.

a.ConnotativeMeaning

Itreferstotheovertonesorassociationssuggestedbytheconceptualmeaning.Whatconnotationsdoyouthink“home”,and“mother”mighthave?

b.StylisticMeaning

Insomedictionaries,thesestylisticfeaturesareclearlymarkedas‘formal,informal,literary,archaic,slang’andsoon.

c.AffectiveMeaning

Affectivemeaningexpressesthespeaker’sattitudetowardsthepersonorthinginquestion.Wordsthathaveemotivevaluesmayfallintotwocategories:

appreciativeandpejorative/derogative.Wordsofpositiveovertonesareusedtoshowappreciationortheattitudeofapproval;thoseofnegativeconnotationsimplydisapproval,contemptorcriticism.

d.CollocativeMeaning

Itisthatpartofthewordmeaningsuggestedbythewordswithwhichitco-occurs.Prettyandhandsomesharecommongroundinthemeaning"good-looking",butmaybedistinguishedbytherangeofnounswithwhichtheyarelikelytoco-occur.

5.5ComponentialAnalysis

1.Whatiscomponentialanalysis?

Theanalysisofwordmeanings/componentialanalysisisoftenseenasaprocessofbreakingdownthesenseofawordintoitsminimalcomponents,whichareknownassemanticfeaturesorsensecomponents.Componentialanalysisisonthebasisofsemanticcontrast.Thelinguisticmeaningofawordisthesetofabstractedcharacteristicsnecessarytodistinguishthecategorywhichthewordnamesfromallothercategories.Theseabstractedcharacteristicsareknownassemanticfeatures.Semanticfeaturesareusedtodescribesemanticuniversalsthatmaycharacterizealllanguages.

Semanticfeaturesareestablishedonthebasisofbinaryopposition..Eg:

+ADULT（adult）,-ADULT（young）.

Sensecomponents