Does every word have a meaning

1. The object of semasiology.
   Two approaches to the study of meaning.

2. Types of meaning.

3. Meaning and motivation.

3.1.
The branch of lexicology which studies meaning is called
«semasiology«.
Sometimes the term «semantics»
is used as a synonym to semasiology, but it is ambiguous as it can
stand as well for (1)
the expressive aspect of language in general and (2)
the meaning of one particular word.

Meaning
is certainly the most important property of the word but what is
«meaning»?

Meaning
is one of the most controversial terms in lexicology. At present
there is no generally accepted definition of meaning. Prof.
Smirnitsky defines meaning as «a certain reflection in the mind
of objects, phenomena or relations that makes part of the linguistic
sign, its so-called inner facet, whereas the sound form functions as
its outer facet». Generally speaking, meaning can be described
as a component of the word through which a concept is communicated,
enabling the word to denote objects in the real world.

There are
two
approaches
to the study of meaning: the
referential approach
and the
functional approach.
The former tries to define meaning in terms of relations between the
word (sound form), concept (notion, thought) and referent (object
which the word denotes). They are closely connected and the
relationship between them is represented by «the semiotic
triangle» ( = the basic triangle) of Ogden and Richards (in the
book «The Meaning of Meaning» (1923) by O.K. Ogden and I.A.
Richards).

concept

symbol
referent

(sound form)

This view denies a direct link
between words and things, arguing that the relationship can be made
only through the use of our minds. Meaning is related to a sound
form, concept and referent but not identical with them: meaning is a
linguistic phenomenon while neither concept nor referent is.

The
main criticism of this approach is the difficulty of identifying
«concepts»: they are mental phenomena and purely
subjective, existing
in the minds of individuals. The strongest point of this approach is
that it connects meaning and the process of nomination.

The functional approach to
meaning is less concerned with what meaning is than with how it
works. It is argued, to say that «words have meanings»
means only that they are used in a certain way in a sentence. There
is no meaning beyond that. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), in
particular, stressed the importance of this approach in his dictum:
«The meaning of the word is its use in the language». So
meaning is studied by making detailed analyses of the way words are
used in contexts, through their relations to other words in speech,
and not through their relations to concepts or referents.

Actually,
the functional approach is basically confined to the analysis of
sameness or difference of meaning. For example, we can say that in
«take
the bottle»
and «take
to the
bottle»
take
has different meaning as it is used differently, but it does not
explain what the meaning of the verb is. So the functional approach
should
be used not as the theoretical basis for the study of meaning, but
only as complementary to the referential approach.

3.2.
Word meaning is made up of different components, commonly known
as types
of meaning.
The two main types of meaning are grammatical
meaning and
lexical meaning.

Grammatical
meaning
belongs to sets of word-forms and is common to
all words of the given part of speech,

e.g.
girls,
boys, classes, children, mice
express the meaning of
«plurality».

Lexical
meaning
belongs to an individual word in all its forms. It
comprises several components. The two main ones are the
denotational
component and
the connotational component.

The
denotational (
=
denotative)
component,
also called «referential
meaning» or «cognitive meaning», expresses the
conceptual (notional)
content of a word; broadly, it is some information, or knowledge,
of the real-world object that the word denotes.
Basically, this is the component that makes communication possible.

e.g.
notorious
«widely-known»,
celebrated «known
widely».

The
connotational (connotative) component
expresses the attitude of
the speaker to what he is saying, to the object denoted by the word.
This component consists of emotive
connotation and
evaluative connotation.

1) Emotive
connotation
( = «affective meaning», or an emotive charge),

e.g.
In «a
single tree»
single states that there is only one tree,
but
«a
lonely tree»
besides giving the same information, also renders
(conveys) the feeling of sadness.

We
shouldn’t confuse emotive connotations and emotive denotative
meanings
in which some emotion is named, e.g. horror,
love, fear, etc.

2) Evaluative
connotation
labels
the referent as «good» or «bad»,

e.g.
notorious
has a negative evaluative connotation, while
celebrated
a positive one. Cf.: a
notorious criminal/liar/ coward,
etc.
and a
celebrated singer/ scholar/ artist, etc.

It
should be noted that emotive and evaluative connotations are not
individual, they are common to all speakers of the language. But
emotive implications are individual (or common to a group of
speakers),
subjective, depend on personal experience.

e.g.
The word «hospital»
may evoke all kinds of emotions in
different
people (an
architect, a doctor, an invalid, etc.)

Stylistic
connotation,
or stylistic reference, another component of word meaning, stands
somewhat apart from emotive and evaluative connotations. Indeed, it
does not characterize a referent, but rather states how a word should
be used by referring it to a certain functional style of the language
peculiar to a specific sphere of communication. It shows in what
social context, in what communicative situations the word can be
used.

Stylistically,
words can be roughly classified into literary,
or formal
(e.g.
commence, discharge, parent),
neutral
(e.g.
father, begin, dismiss)
and non-literary,
or informal
(e.g.
dad, sack, set off).

3.3.
The term «motivation»
is used to denote the relationship between the
form of the word, i.e. its sound form, morphemic composition and
structural pattern, and its meaning.

There
are three
main types of motivation:
phonetic,
morphological
and
semantic.

1)
Phonetic
motivation
is a direct connection between the sound form
of a word and its meaning. There are two types of phonetic
motivation: sound
imitation and
sound symbolism.

a) Sound
imitation, or
onomatopoeia:
phonetically motivated words are
a direct imitation of the sounds they denote (or the sounds produced
by actions or objects they denote),

e.g.
buzz,
swish, bang, thud, cuckoo.

b) Sound
symbolism.
It’s argued by some linguists that the sounds that make up a word may
reflect or symbolise the properties of the object which the word
refers
to, i.e. they may suggest size, shape, speed, colour, etc.

e.g.
back
vowels
suggest big size, heavy weight, dark colour, front
vowels
suggest lightness, smallness, etc.

Many
words beginning with sl-
are slippery in some way: slide,
slip, slither, sludge,
etc.
or pejorative: slut,
slattern, sly, sloppy, slovenly;
words that end in -ump
almost
all refer to some kind of roundish mass: plump,
chump,
rump, hump, stump.

Certainly, not every word with
these phonetic characteristics will have the meaning suggested. This
is, perhaps, one of the reasons why sound symbolism is not
universally recognized in linguistics.

2) Morphological
motivation
is
a direct connection between the lexical meaning of the component
morphemes, the pattern of their arrangement and the meaning of the
word.

Morphologically motivated
words are those whose meaning is determined by the meaning of their
components,

e.g.
re-write
«write
again»,
ex-wife «former
wife».

The degree
of morphological motivation may be different. Words may be
fully
motivated
(then they are transparent), partially
motivated
and
non-motivated
(idiomatic, or opaque).

a)
If the meaning of the word is determined by the meaning of the
components
and the structural pattern, it is fully
motivated:
e.g. hatless.

b)
If the connection between the morphemic composition of a word and
its meaning is arbitrary, the word is non-motivated,
e.g. buttercup
«yellow-flowered plant».

c)
In hammer
-er
shows that it is an instrument, but what is «hamming«?
«Ham»
has no lexical meaning in this word, thus the word is partially
motivated.
Cf. also cranberry.

Motivation may be lost in the
course of time,

e.g.
in OE wīfman
was
motivated morphologically: wīf
+ man «wife
of a man»; now it is opaque;
its motivation is said to be faded (woman).

3) Semantic
motivation
is based on co-existence of direct and figurative
meanings of the same word,

e.g.
butterfly
–
1) insect; 2) showy and
frivolous person.( = metaphorical extension of the direct meaning).

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This is a deeply philosophical question about the ontology of words. Specifically, it is a question about the individuation conditions of words. This question, sadly, has no answer given that we use the word «word» very inconsistently (see below).

Many syntacticians prefer to talk about lexical items rather than words, given the nebulousness of the concept word. Lexical items (on at least one use of the term) are individuated by syntactic category (among other things).

Thus, cook (qua noun) is taken to be a distinct lexical item from cook (qua verb).

Drastically different (and etymologically unrelated) meaning is also a criterion for distinctness of lexical items. For example, bank (qua riverside) is taken to be a distinct lexical item from bank (qua financial institution), since these two uses have radically different meanings and etymologies.

The problem with discussing the individuation conditions of words themselves is that English speakers’ use of the word «word» is very inconsistent. In different contexts, we use the word «word» to pick out different things, with different individuation conditions. Sometimes we use «word» to refer to phonic-graphic types (that is, general arrangements of sounds and/or letters), sometimes to tokens (that is, particular utterances or inscriptions of these types), sometimes to phonic-graphic types plus meanings, sometimes to phonic-graphic types plus meanings and syntactic categories, and so on. This context-sensitivity of the word «word» is discussed by at least a few of the philosophers who have thought about the ontology of words.

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If you are interested in pursuing the (relatively small) literature on the ontology/metaphysics of words, here are a few good papers:

Alward, Peter. “Between the Lines of Age: Reflections on the Metaphysics of Words.” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 86 (2005): 172-187.

Bromberger, Sylvan. “What Are Words? Comments on Kaplan (1990), on Hawthorne and Lepore, and on the Issue.” Journal of Philosophy 108, no. 9 (2011): 486-503.

Cappelen, Herman. “Intentions in Words.” Nous 33, no. 1 (1999): 92-102.

Hawthorne, John and Ernest Lepore. “On Words.” Journal of Philosophy 108, no. 9 (2011): 447-485.

Kaplan, David. “Words.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes 64 (1990): 93-119.

Kaplan, David. “Words on Words.” Journal of Philosophy 108, no. 9 (2011): 504-529.

McCulloch, Gregory. “Making Sense of Words.” Analysis 51, no. 2 (1991): 73-79.

Stainton, Robert. “Meaning and Reference: Some Chomskyan Themes.” In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language, edited by E. Lepore and B. C. Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Wetzel, Linda. «On Types and Words.» Journal of Philosophical Research 27 (2002):239-265.

Wetzel, Linda. Types and Tokens: On Abstract Objects. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press (2009)

Words, phrases, and expressions can have different meanings in different contexts. The study of these different meanings is known as semantics. This branch of study examines four qualities of word meaning – denotative, figurative, metaphorical, and connotative – which will be described below.

Denotation – The definition of a word that we find in the dictionary, its literal or direct meaning, is known as its denotative meaning. Have a look at the following words, listed with their denotative meanings:

• bat : (noun) a small mammal with wings that sleeps during the day
• snake : (noun) a long, scaly reptile without legs that sometimes carries venom
• slim : (adj) slender or thin

Figurative meaning – When words are used metaphorically as “figures of speech,” they have figurative meaning. Figures of speech are widely used in English. Take a look at the following examples of figurative meaning:

• I told you a million times to stop doing that! (to tell many times)
• I’m so hungry I could eat a cow. (to be very hungry)
• That cost me an arm and a leg! (to be very expensive)
• He was as brave as a lion. (to be very brave)
• Sitting through that class was like watching paint dry. (class was very boring and slow)

Words with Multiple Meanings

How many times have you opened a dictionary to look up a word, and discovered that the word has only one meaning listed beside it? Essentially never, right? Almost every word in the English language has multiple meanings and may function as multiple parts of speech.

For example:

rose

• It’s time to prune the rose bush. (adjective)
• I gave the dancer a rose. (noun)
• I rose from the bench and walked home. (verb)

part

• I like to part my hair neatly. (verb)
• She only read one part of the book. (noun)
• My mom is Kenyan, so I am part Kenyan. (adjective)

Words with multiple meanings often fall into one of the two categories:

• Homonyms – Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings.
• Homographs – Words with the same spelling, but different pronunciation and different meanings.

Take a look at the lists of homonyms and homographs below.

Homonyms

crane:

• Cranes are beautiful birds. (noun – bird)
• The crane was used to lift the steel bars to the top of the building. (noun – machine)
• She had to crane her neck to see the movie. (verb – stretch out)

date:

• Dried dates are one of the most delicious snacks. (noun – fruit)
• Diego went out on a date last Saturday. (noun – social appointment)
• What date is Thanksgiving this year? (noun – day of the month)

engaged:

• My brother got engaged to his girlfriend this weekend. (adjective – agree to marry)
• The teacher chose very engaging topics to keep the students interested. (adjective – appealing)

leaves:

• The leaves change colors in autumn. (noun – from trees)
• My dad eats cereal every day before he leaves for work. (verb – present)

point:

• The knife has a sharp point. (noun – tip of an object)
• Can you point to the person you saw stealing? (verb – hand gesture)

right:

• You were right about the weather; it’s been pouring rain all day. (adjective – correct)
• Take a right at the next traffic light. (adjective – direction)

Homographs

read:

• I read books before I go to sleep. (present tense)
• He read a book last night before he went to sleep. (past tense)

minute:

• Our problems seem minute compared to those who face war and uncertainty on a daily basis. (adjective – small)
• Stir for a minute and then turn the heat down on the stove. (noun – 60 seconds)

learned:

• We learned how to use the present perfect continuous in class last week. (verb – past)
• My teacher is a very learned individual who went to Oxford. (adjective – educated)

does:

• He does his homework in the morning before school starts. (verb – present)
• The hunters were chasing does in the forest. (noun – female deer)

wind:

• The wind blew all the chairs over in the backyard. (noun – moving air)
• Make sure you wind up the clock after you put the turkey in the oven. (verb – present)

Connotations

Connotations are the feelings, associations, and ideas that certain words invoke beyond their literal or primary definition. These are often culturally based.

Connotations can be negative, positive, or neutral. For example:

• childish: The way he acted at dinner was childish and silly.
• woman: I know that woman over by the bar.
• stunning: The dress that she wore to the dinner party was stunning.

The first example, “childish,” has a negative connotation which implies that the person in question acted immaturely. Saying that an adult is acting “childishly” is not a compliment, but is rather insulting, connoting a lack of maturity, responsibility, and wisdom. If an adult is described as “childlike,” however, the connotation is positive.

The second example, “woman,” has a neutral connotation, implying nothing more than the fact that the person in question is female. The word does not imply that she is intelligent, unintelligent, good-hearted, mean-spirited, or anything else. In effect, neutral connotations are better thought of as not having connotation so much as simple, literal meaning.

The last example, “stunning,” has a positive connotation, implying that the dress is beautiful or gorgeous, which can only be interpreted as complimentary.

Here are some more examples of negative, positive, and neutral connotations:

• cheap – (negative) a person who does not like to spend money.
• thrifty – (positive) a person who is careful with money.
• young – (neutral) a person who is of a young age.
• youthful – (positive) a person who may not be young, but has all the good qualities of youth.
• childish – (negative) a person who behaves like a child in a negative way.
• thin – (neutral) a body size that is the opposite of fat.
• slim – (positive) a body size which is thin and also healthy and elegant.
• skinny – (negative) a body size which is so thin as to appear unhealthy.
• inactive – (neutral) doing nothing.
• laid-back – (positive) to have a relaxed attitude.
• lazy – (negative) avoiding work and effort

False Friends

False friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages that look or sound alike but have significantly different meanings. These types of words present a problem for native speakers of Romance (Latin-based) languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese.

There are numerous false friends which are broken into three wide-ranging categories:

1. Words with a common root but which have evolved different meanings over time:

actuel (French for “current“) – actual (English for “true“)

1. Words that appear similar but are entirely unrelated to each other:

pain (French for “bread“) – pain (English for “physical suffering“)

1. Words with a common root, but alternate meanings :

porc (French for “pig” and “pig meat”) – pork (English for only “pig meat”)

These similarities result in students using words they assume to be the similar to words in their native language, but which might be quite different. This leads to errors in speaking and writing, and confusion in listening and reading.

Take a look at some common “false friend” confusions by Spanish, French, and Finnish EFL students:

1. asistir (Spanish for “to attend/be present“) – assist (English for “to help“)
2. avertissement (French for “warning/caution“) – advertisement (English for “public announcement“)
3. harmonikka (Finnish for “accordion“) – harmonica (English for “harmonica“)