From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A semantic feature is a component of the concept associated with a lexical item (‘female’ + ‘performer’ = ‘actress’). More generally, it can also be a component of the concept associated with any grammatical unit, whether composed or not (‘female’ + ‘performer’ = ‘the female performer’ or ‘the actress’). [1]
An individual semantic feature constitutes one component of a word’s intention, which is the inherent sense or concept evoked.[2]
Linguistic meaning of a word is proposed to arise from contrasts and significant differences with other words.
Semantic features enable linguistics to explain how words that share certain features may be members of the same semantic domain.
Correspondingly, the contrast in meanings of words is explained by diverging semantic features.
For example, father and son share the common components of «human», «kinship», «male» and are thus part of a semantic domain of male family relations.
They differ in terms of «generation» and «adulthood», which is what gives each its individual meaning.[3]
Theoretical context[edit]
The analysis of semantic features is utilized in the field of linguistic semantics, more specifically the subfields of lexical semantics,[4] and lexicology.[5]
One aim of these subfields is to explain the meaning of a word in terms of their relationships with other words.[6]
In order to accomplish this aim, one approach is to analyze the internal semantic structure of a word as composed of a number of distinct and minimal components of meaning.[7]
This approach is called componential analysis, also known as semantic decomposition.[8]
Semantic decomposition allows any given lexical item to be defined based on minimal elements of meaning, which are called semantic features.
The term semantic feature is usually used interchangeably with the term semantic component.[9]
Additionally, semantic features/semantic components are also often referred to as semantic properties.[10]
The theory of componential analysis and semantic features is not the only approach to analyzing the semantic structure of words.
An alternative direction of research that contrasts with componential analysis is prototype semantics.[9]
Notation[edit]
The semantic features of a word can be notated using a binary feature notation common to the framework of componential analysis.[11]
A semantic property is specified in square brackets and a plus or minus sign indicates the existence or non-existence of that property.[12]
- cat is
- [+animate],
- [+domesticated],
- [+feline]
- puma is
- [+animate],
- [−domesticated],
- [+feline]
- dog is
- [+animate],
- [+domesticated],
- [−feline]
- wolf is
- [+animate],
- [−domesticated]
- [−feline]
Intersecting semantic classes share the same features.
Some features need not be specifically mentioned as their presence or absence is obvious from another feature.
This is a redundancy rule.
References[edit]
- ^ Fromkin, Victoria; Rodman, Robert; Hyams, Nina (2014). «Semantics: The Meanings of Language». An Introduction to Language (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. p. 578. ISBN 978-1-133-31068-6.
- ^ O’Grady et al. (2010), p. 619.
- ^ Nida, Eugene A. (1979). Componential analysis of meaning : an introduction to semantic structures (2nd ed.). The Hague: Mouton. pp. 32–33. ISBN 90-279-7927-8.
- ^ Palmer (1981), pp. 67–114.
- ^ Bussmann 1996.
- ^ Palmer (1981), p. 83.
- ^ Palmer (1981), p. 108.
- ^ O’Grady et al. (2010), p. 210.
- ^ a b Lipka (1990), p. 98.
- ^ Palmer (1981), pp. 191, 198, 200.
- ^ Bussmann (1996), p. 219.
- ^ Lipka (1990), p. 108.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bussmann, Hadumod (1996). Trauth, Gregory; Kazzazi, Kerstin (eds.). Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics. Translated by Trauth, Gregory; Kazzazi, Kerstin (2nd completely revised ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02225-8.
- Lipka, Leonhard (1990). An outline of English lexicology : lexical structure, word semantics, and word-formation. Forschung & Studium Anglistik (2nd ed.). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 3-484-41003-5. ISSN 0178-7861.
- O’Grady, William; Archibald, John; Aronoff, Mark; Rees-Miller, Janie (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. ISBN 978-0-312-55528-3.
- Palmer, Frank R. (1981). Semantics (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 0-521-28376-0.
Definition
The meaning of each word in a language is formed of a set of abstract characteristics known as semantic features (also known as Semantic Properties, Sense Components, Semantic Markers, Semantic Components), which acts as the determinant for distinguishing one word from another. The method by which the meaning of a word is analyzed into a set of semantic features is called the Semantic Feature Analysis (also called the Contrast Analysis, the Componential Analysis).
Theoretical Assumptions
The theoretical assumptions underlying this approach are as follows:
- The total meaning of a word can be analyzed in terms of a number of distinct elements or semantic features.
- One kind of word can be distinguished from another by extracting the main features.
Discussion
In the Semantic Feature Analysis, a word is analyzed in terms of a number of components of meaning. That is, during such analysis, the word is broken down into meaningful components which form the total sum of the meaning in a word. These components are not part of the vocabulary itself; the theoreticians postulated them in order to facilitate the description of the semantic relationship between the words of a given language. They could be considered as semantic universals as they may possess the same characteristics in all languages.
The Semantic Feature Analysis is capable of determining the presence or absence of semantic features. For example, by finding out the right semantic property of a word the learner is able to choose the appropriate noun for using it as the subject of a verb:
The above sentence is syntactically sound unless we judge it in terms of meaning. From the semantic point of view, the sentence is quite nonsensical, because, here the noun “television” has been inappropriately used as the subject of the verb “killed”. That means the noun “television” does have the right property to enable it to kill a person. Therefore, although the sentence is structurally correct, it is odd due to its meaninglessness.
Objective/Purpose
The main objective of the Semantic Feature Analysis is to guide the students to analyze the meanings of selected vocabulary items from a topic which they are familiar with. It also aims to show the learners how words are both similar and different, thereby emphasizing the uniqueness of each word in the language.
Procedure/Strategy
The Semantic Feature Analysis employs a chart to identify the basic features shared by key vocabulary words in a sentence or topic of discussion. By analyzing such a chart the learner is able to detect connections, make predictions and master important concepts. He will be also able to realize things that he doesn’t know yet, so he will know what additional research he need to do. The Semantic Analysis is prepared by observing the following steps:
- The teacher first chooses a topic to be studied.
- He then draws a chart.
- In the left column of the chart, the teacher puts some key vocabulary items related to the topic. During the selection of key vocabulary words the teacher tries not to list any words which the students already might know.
- Then across the top row of the chart, the teacher lists a set of meaningful features that some of the vocabulary items might have.
- After that, the teacher asks the students to put a “+” (plus) sign in cells in which a given vocabulary word possesses an appropriate feature, and a “-” (minus) sign where it doesn’t. The following is an example of the chart for the Semantic Feature Analysis:
|
The television killed the man |
||||
| Features/Property/Components of Words ↓ | ||||
| Key Vocabulary ↓ |
animate |
human |
male |
adult |
| television |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| man |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| woman |
+ |
+ |
— |
+ |
| boy |
+ |
+ |
+ |
— |
| girl |
+ |
+ |
— |
— |
From the above chart, we can guess that the word “television” in English involves the features (-animate, -human, -male, -adult). Therefore, it is obvious that the word “television” cannot be related to a living entity.
Advantages
- The Semantic Feature Analysis helps to develop the learner’s ability of comprehension and vocabulary skills.
- Such an analysis creates ample scope for the learners to examine the related features to distinguish one word from another.
- The Semantic Feature Analysis helps the learner to understand the conceptual meaning (also known as denotative meaning) of words, which is the meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word-meaning.
- The Semantic Feature Analysis increases the learner’s ability to choose the right word in the right place.
- The Semantic Feature Analysis provides opportunity for the teacher to know the learners’ knowledge about the topic of discussion; therefore, it allows the teacher to mould his instruction accordingly.
Disadvantages
- The Semantic Feature Analysis is incapable of explaining the connotative or figurative meaning of words.
- Although The Semantic Feature Analysis is capable of describing of words that share certain fairly obvious semantic properties, it fails to analyze all vocabulary items of the language.
- The Semantic Feature Analysis is Limited in focus and mechanical in style.
References
“Componential analysis.”
Wikipedia
. 2013. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 November 2013
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Componential_analysis>.
“Semantic Feature Analysis.”
AdLit.org
. 2013. WETA Washington, D.C. 10 November 2013
< http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22731/>.
“Semantic Feature Analysis.”
Reading Rockets
. 2013. WETA Washington, D.C. 10 November 2013
< http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/semantic_feature_analysis/>.
“Semantic Feature Analysis.”
Edweb
. 2013. San Diego State University. 10 November 2013
< http://edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/guides/SFA.html>.
“The Theory of Componential Analysis in Semantics.”
Neo English System
. 2013.
Neo English System. 10 November 2013
< http://neoenglishsystem.blogspot.com/2010/12/theory-of-componential-analysis-in.html>.
Yule, George.
The Study of Language
. 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 1996. 115-116.
- Размер: 241.5 Кб
- Количество слайдов: 21
The semantic structure of word and its analysis Lecture
§ 1. Componential Analysis the meaning of every lexeme can be analyzed in terms of a set of more general semantic components or semantic features ( semes ), some or all of which will be common to several different lexemes in the vocabulary Make logical pairs of words so that each pair has smth in common with the rest: man, woman, boy, girl, bull, cow man : : woman = boy : : girl = bull : : cow (sex — male : : female) man : : boy = woman : : girl (age — adult : : non-adult) man : : bull = woman : : cow (human : : animal) The sense of man on the basis of these oppositions might be held to combine the concepts male, adult, and human
Thus, meaning may be regarded as semantic oppositions because the word’s meaning is reduced to its contrastive elements. The segmentation is continued as far as we can have markers needed for a group of words , and stops when a unique feature is reached (like classification of species in biology). A spinster — noun, count noun, human, adult, female, who has never married
§ 2. Polysemy and Semantic structure of the word The word is a structured set of interrelated lexical variants realized in different contexts and thought of as a group because manifested with one form and have a common semantic component. Polysemy is the ability of a word to possess several meanings (or lexico-semantic variants — LSV ). All lexico-semantic variants of a word taken together form its semantic structure or semantic paradigm. Some LSV are lexico-grammatical variants of a word, i. e. they belong to different lexico-grammatical groups of the same part of speech. Ex. run is intransitive in / ran home, but transitive in / run this office. Some of the variants demand an object naming some vehicle as in to run a car off the road ( go or take off course ), and so on.
The semantic structure of the word ““ youth” Includes three lexico-grammatical variants: 1) an abstract uncountable noun, as in the friends of one’s youth It includes two LSV recognized due to the lexical peculiarities of distribution : a) the state of being young b) the time of being young In “ to feel that one’s youth has gone” they are blended together because both the time and the state can be meant 2) a countable personal noun ‘a young man’ (plural youths) 3) a collective noun ‘young men and women’ having only singular form
Types of LSV as elements of a word’s semantic structure 1. Direct (nominates the referent in isolation, i. e. in one word sentences ex. fire-screen ) vs. figurative (the object named is characterized through its similarity with another object ex. smoke screen ) 2. Concrete vs. abstract ( screen actor, screen version ) 3. main/primary (the highest frequency) vs. secondary 4. Central vs. peripheral ( derived; ex. screen as ‘a silver-colored sheet on which pictures are shown ‘) 5. Narrow vs. extended (due to the scope of corresponding concept) 6. General vs. special/particular (terminological) 7. present-day vs. obsolete 8. stylistically neutral vs. stylistically coloured
Contexual meaning 9. language meaning vs. speech meaning (contextual/implicational) Contextual/implicational is the communicative value of a word based on latent possibilities which are not realized in a particular LSV but able to create new derived meanings; the information implied by virtue of what the speakers know about the referent Ex. A wolf is known to be greedy and cruel but the denotative meaning of this word does not necessarily include these features ( He is a wolf = a cruel greedy person ) Ex. Some men have acted courage who had it not; but no man can act wit (=pretend + irony because of unusual LG meaning of transitivity and the lexical meaning of objects to this verb) Ex. bomb implies great power the new colloquial meanings ‘great success ‘ and ‘great failure ‘
§ 3. Semantic change: ways of semantic structure development The semantic structure of a word is a flexible category, it changes with the development of the language. radiation and chain-development # 1 # 2 # 3 # 4 # 1 # 2 # 4 # 3 # 5 the split of polysemy; homonyms
3. 1. Classification of semantic changes A) based on associations of similarity or of contiguity : linguistic metaphor & metonymy Metaphor is a transfer of the name of one object onto another on the basis of comparison. It can be based on different types of similarity: similarity of shape: head of a cabbage, the teeth of a saw similarity of function: head of the school, the key to a mystery similarity of position: foot of a page/of a mountain, the leg of a chair or table similarity of behaviour: bookworm
Metonymy is a transfer of the meaning on the basis of contiguity ( closeness or contact ). Wall Street is in a panic The White House isn’t saying anything the crown for ‘monarchy‘ hand for ‘handwriting‘ diesel engine — a type of compression ignition engine invented by a German mechanical engineer Rudolf Diesel I want to have a word with you (part for the whole)
B) identified on the basis of comparing logical notions: specialization & generalisation Specialization — the content of the notion is being enriched, as it includes a greater number of relevant features by which the notion is characterized but the word can name fewer objects (fewer referents). Ex. Originally meat meant any kind of food. In the course of time the word meat was specialized in its meaning and nowadays it means « the flesh of an animal » . Fowl originally meant any kind of a bird; now it means home birds. OE deor ‘ — wild beast’ Mod. E ‘deer‘ — wild ruminant of a particular species’ Sometimes a word passes from a general sphere to some special area of communication. case is specialized in its meaning when used in law or in medicine.
Generalization (reverse to specialization) is the way of transforming the meaning when a word acquires a broader meaning. Due to the change of use: to serve was a clerical term, now it is used in everyday speech To arrive was a nautical term, which meant to reach the land by water. Now it means to reach the place of destination in any way: by land, by water, by air. The transfer from a concrete meaning to an abstract one: Journey was borrowed from French with the meaning one day trip , now it means a trip of any duration. Fly originally meant ‘to move through the air with wings ‘; now it denotes any kind of movement in the air or outer space
C) Changes depending on the social attitude to the object named and change of emotional tone: amelioration & pejoration Words change semantic structure because their referents come up or down the social scale Pejoration (degradation) is the way of transforming the meaning when the meaning becomes worse: villain originally meant working on a villa. Then it acquired the meaning of scoundrel. Churl means ‘an ill-mannered and surly fellow, a boor ‘ ceorl of the 13 th century denoted the lowest rank of a freeman, later — a serf clown — the original meaning was also ‘peasant’ or ‘farmer’.
Amelioration ( elevation) is the way of transforming the meaning when it becomes better in the cause of time: knight meant a boy , then became a servant , at last it acquired a meaning о f a noble man. OE cwen ‘a woman’ Mod. E queen noble as ‘ possessing high ideals or excellent moral character ’ from ‘belonging to the nobility’
3. 2. Causes of semantic changes A) linguistic 1) Differentiation of synonyms is a gradual change observed in the course of language history, sometimes involving the semantic assimilation of loan words Ex. time and tide used to be synonyms. Then tide took on its more limited application to the shifting waters , and time alone is used in the general sense. The word beast was borrowed from French into Middle English. Before it appeared the general word for animal was deer which after the word beast was introduced became narrowed to its present meaning ‘a hoofed animal of which the males have antlers’
2) changes taking place in connection with ellipsis and with fixed contexts The qualifying words of a frequent phrase get omitted, what’s left acquiring the meaning of the whole: sale comes to be used for cut-price sale propose for propose marriage be expecting for be expecting a baby summit for summit meeting 3) changes resulting from ambiguity in certain contexts One can be doubtful about a doubtful question, in a healthy climate children are healthy
B) The extralinguistic causes are determined by the social nature of the language 1) the development of the notion expressed and the thing named The word space meant ‘extent of time or distance’. Alongside this meaning a new meaning developed ‘the limitless and indefinitely great expanse in which all material objects are located’ 2) the appearance of new notions and things The word bikini as ‘a very scanty two-piece bathing suit worn by women ’, is named after Bikini atoll in the Western Pacific because it appeared at the time when the atomic bomb tests by the US in the Bikini atoll were fresh in everybody’s memory. The associative field is emotional referring to the «atomic» shock the first bikinis produced.
Practical task # 4 1. Guess whether words below are homonyms (different words accidentally having one form) or LSV of one word a) 26 letters of the ABC vs. to receive letters regularly b) To be a foot long vs. at the foot of the mountain c) A hand of the clock vs. to hold a pen in one’s hand
2. Match types of LSV on the right to the meanings of the word on the left as compared to the 1 st one (more than one characteristic is possible) Clock 1. a freestanding device that measures and records time 2. a ny measuring instrument with a dial or a digital display, especially the odometer ( records the distance traveled ) 3. an electronic circuit that generates pulses at a constant rate in order to synchronize the internal operations in a computer 4. the fluffy white seed head of a dandelion (одуванчик) a) Special b) Figurative c) Peripheral d) Extended e) Secondary
3. Define the type of semantic change in the semantic structure of the word a) “ case” from ‘circumstances in which a person or a thing is’ to ‘a patient’, ‘an illness’ (in medicine) b) “ cat” from ‘ a small domesticated mammal that has soft fur, sharp claws, pointed ears, and, usually, a long furry tail ’ to ‘ a spiteful or malicious woman ’ c) “ iron” from ‘ a heavy, magnetic, silvery white metallic element ( Symbol Fe ) to ‘ a small electrical appliance with a flat metal base that is heated and used to press clothes ’
Chair 1. 1. a seat with a back support, usually for one person 2. 2. somebody presiding over something such as a committee, board, or meeting 3. 3. somebody who holds an endowed professorship at a university 4. 4. the ranked position of a musician in an orchestra 5. 5. a device to keep reinforcing rods in place during the pouring of concrete
In learning language, people sometimes find new word
that has similar meaning with other. But, they often confuse when use it in
their daily life. The context of the words is different, but it looks same
because people don’t know it features deeply.
To know the idea or the features of the words is
important to people, especially they who learn a new language. Although a new
word has a synonym or other words has meaning that similar with it, they can’t
used in a same situation. Some words have deep meaning with others although it
looks same. When people write a scientific paper for newspaper or study, they
can’t use word like in their daily life. They need word that has deeply content
to represent what they want to say in their paper. That’s why to know other
features of the words is important.
One way to know a content or other meaning of a word
is by analyze the semantic features. Semantic features sometimes mentioned as
semantic properties. There are some definition of semantic features / semantic
properties :
Semantic properties mean the pieces
of information of the word upon which speakers of the language agree. The
meaning of all the «content words» and some of the «function
words» can at least partially be specified by such properties.
Semantic properties or meaning properties are those
aspects of a linguistic unit, such as a morpheme, word, or sentences, that
contribute to the meaning of that unit.
Semantic features is more basic
concepts/ideas that cannot be “defined” any further; primitive semantic
elements.
Semantic features is one of a set
of abstract elements, used systematically in various combinations to define
individuals meanings or a set of meanings.
From definitions above, we conclude
that semantic features is a set of some linguistic unit to define individuals
meanings.
Semantic features sometimes used
to describe the semantic components of a word, such as man assuming that
the referent is human, male, and adult, or female being a common
component of girl, woman, and actress. In this sense,
semantic properties are used to define the semantic field of a word or set of
words.
We can
observe the semantic features by take an example, The assassin was stopped
before he got to Mr. Adam. If the word assassin is in people mental
dictionary, people know that it was some person who was prevented from murdering
some important person named Adam. People knowledge of the meaning
of assassin tells them that it was not an animal that tried to kill the man
that Adam was not likely to be a little old man who owned a tobacco
shop. In other words, people knowledge of the meaning of assassin includes
knowing that the individual to whom the word refers is human, is a murderer,
and is a killer of important people. These pieces of information, then, are
some of semantic properties of the word upon which speakers of the language
agree. The meaning of all nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs─the ‘content
words’─and even some of the ‘function words’ such as with, or over can at least
partially be specified by such properties.
The same
semantic property may be part of the meaning of many different words. ‘Female’
is a semantic property that helps to define :
tigress
hen actress maiden
doe
mare debutante widow
ewe
vixen
girl woman
The words in the last two columns
are also distinguished by the semantic property ‘human’ which is also found in
:
Doctor,
dean, professor, bachelor, parent, baby, child
The last two of these words are also
specified as ‘young’. That is, part of the meaning of the word baby and child
is that they are ‘human’ and ‘young’.
The
meanings of words have other properties. The word father has the properties
‘male’ and ‘adult’, as do man and bachelor; but father also has the property
‘parent’, which distinguishes it from the other two words.
Mare, in
addition to ‘female’ and ‘animal’, must also denote a property of ‘horseness’.
Words have general semantic properties such as ‘human’ or ‘parent’, as well as
more specific properties that give the word its particular meaning.
The same
semantic property may occur in words of different categories. ‘Female’ is part
of the meaning of the noun mother, of the verb breast-feed, and of the
adjective pregnant. ‘Cause’ is a verbal property of darken, kill, beautify, and
so on.
darken
cause to become dark
kill
cause to day
beautify
cause to become beautiful
Other semantic properties that help
account for the meaning of verbs are as follows:
Semantic Property
Verbs having it
motion
bring, fall, plod, walk, run…
contact
hit, kiss, touch…
creation
build, imagine, make…
sense
see, hear, feel…
For the
most part no two words have exactly the same meaning. Additional semantic
properties make for finer and finer distinctions in meaning. Plod is
distinguished from walk by the property ‘slow’, and stalk from plod by the
property such as ‘purposeful’.
We can then use this idea to describe part of the meaning of words as
having either plus (+) or minus (-) that particular feature. The feature that
the noun boy has is ‘+ animate’ (= denotes an animate being) and the
feature that the noun hamburger has is ‘- animate’ (= denotes an
inanimate being).
The above example is an
illustration of a procedure for analyzing meaning in terms of semantic
features. Features such as ‘+ animate, — animate’, ‘+ human, — human’, ‘+
female, — female’ for example, can be treated as the basic elements involved in
differentiating the meaning of each word in a language from every other word.
If we had to provide the
crucial distinguishing features of the meaning of a set of English words such
as table, horse, boy, man, girl, woman,
we could begin with the following diagram.
|
Table |
Horse |
Boy |
Man |
Girl |
Woman |
|
|
Animate |
— |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
Human |
— |
— |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
Female |
— |
— |
— |
— |
+ |
+ |
|
Adult |
— |
+ |
— |
+ |
— |
+ |
From a feature analysis like this, we can say that at least part of the
meaning of the word girl in English involves the elements [+human,
+female, -adult].
We can also characterize the feature that is crucially required in a
noun in order for it to appear as the subject of a particular verb,
supplementing the syntactic analysis along with semantic features.
The ___________________is reading the newspaper.
N [+ human]
This approach gives us the ability to predict which nouns make this
sentence semantically odd.
Some examples would be table, horse and hamburger,
because none of them have the required feature [+ human].
The approach just outlined is a start on analyzing the conceptual
components of word meaning, but it is not without problems.
For many words in a language it may not be easy to come up with neat
components of meaning. If we try to think of the components or features, we
would use to differentiate the nouns advice, threat and warning,
for example, we would not be very successful.
The branch of Lexicology,
which is devoted to the study of meaning, is called Semantics. All
the linguists usually describe 2 types of meaning. The gram.
meaning is clearly seen in identical sets of individual forms pf
different words: girls, tables, lakes, plates – the gram. meaning
is plurality. Worked, played, finished– the gram. meaning of past
tense. In the processes of communication in a sentence a word has
several gram. meanings (the girls dresses are beautiful).. Lex.
meaning is not connected with changes of gram. forms of one & the
same word. It remains stable & unchanged in a sentence a word is
used in one of its lex. meanings. So, lex. Meaning is proper to a
word as a lang-e unit in all its forms & distributions
(go-went-gone).
The words ‘go’, ‘goes’,
‘went’, ‘going’, ‘gone’ have different gram. meaning but
one & the same semantic component denoting the process of moving.
lex. meaning has a rather
complicated structure & consists of several components. Most of
the linguists distinguish between 3 main components of lex. meaning.
They are:
the denotative component as
the segment of the extra-linguistic world expressed in a word; the
significative component as a typical notion or concept, a complex of
features, characteristic of an object; (denotate); the relations of
these 3 components (denotate, significate & a word) can be
roughly illustrated by the famous semantic triangle of Ogden &
Richards.
Significate (=notion)
Word denotate (=object)
There is a direct relation
between a word & a significate on the one side & a
significate & a denotate on the other side. But there is no
immediate relation between a word & a denotate. It is established
only through the significate.
connotative component or
connotation: connotation is defined as an additional information to a
word. Depicting an attitude of a person to an object.
emotional coloring: well-known
(стил. нейтрально), famous (использ. в хорошем
смысле), notorious (в плохом смысле).
Stylistic reference:
stylistically words can be divided into: Literary (‘bookish’):
general & special (terms (are associated with a definite branch
of science: influenza) & archaisms);Neutral (can be employed in
all styles of the lang-e & in all … of human
activity);Colloquial: general & special. Special
–> archaisms:
nay=no, warrior=soldier, welkin=sky.
Special: Slang (a sleeper–курс
лекций, dirt=money);Jargonizes: heavy cream=толстушка,
acid=drugs, cold turkey=голая правда; Vulgarisms: damn,
hell, son of bitch.
the semantic structure of a
word: Most of words convey several notions & thus have several
meanings. They are called polysemantic words. Monosemantic words,
i.e. words having only one meaning are comparatively few in number.
They are mainly scientific terms & alike.
Smirnitsky was the first who
defined a unit of a word that possesses its own sound form & a
lex. meaning. & which was called a lex. semantic variant (LSV).
Vinogradov was the first to
speak about the semantic structure of a word as an interrelated &
interdependent unity of LSV
Different LSV may be clealy
seen in a context: in different collocations (combinations): to
stand –> straight, heat;
in different syntactical
positions: to stand for (символ-ть), to stand out (выдел-ся);
in their phras. peculiarities:
to stand on end = стоять дыбом.
The meanings in a semantic
structure of a word are not equal in their importance. Traditionally
the basic meaning & the miner meanings are distinguished.
Basic meaning is kind of a
center of a word round which all other miner meanings are organized.
Курелович, Шмелев
& others defined basic meaning as one that is never depends on
the context. They say, that is basic meaning that first occurs in our
heads with the first mentioning of the word. (hard-has 12-st meaning,
but the main is твердый, жесткий; table – has 15
meanings, blind – 8 meanings).
Minor meaning strongly depend
on the context they are sintagmatically depended. & this context
or correlations don’t make it possible to interpret this or that as
a basic one (hard work).
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