What is a sentence with the word meaning in it - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

In semantics and pragmatics, meaning is the message conveyed by words, sentences, and symbols in a context. Also called lexical meaning or semantic meaning.

In The Evolution of Language (2010), W. Tecumseh Fitch points out that semantics is «the branch of language study that consistently rubs shoulders with philosophy. This is because the study of meaning raises a host of deep problems that are the traditional stomping grounds for philosophers.»

Here are more examples of meaning from other writers on the subject:

Word Meanings

«Word meanings are like stretchy pullovers, whose outline contour is visible, but whose detailed shape varies with use: ‘The proper meaning of a word . . . is never something upon which the word sits like a gull on a stone; it is something over which the word hovers like a gull over a ship’s stern,’ noted one literary critic [Robin George Collingwood].»
(Jean Aitchison, The Language Web: The Power and Problem of Words. Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Meaning in Sentences

«It may justly be urged that, properly speaking, what alone has meaning is a sentence. Of course, we can speak quite properly of, for example, ‘looking up the meaning of a word’ in a dictionary. Nevertheless, it appears that the sense in which a word or phrase ‘has a meaning’ is derivative from the sense in which a sentence ‘has a meaning’: to say a word or phrase ‘has a meaning’ is to say that there are sentences in which it occurs which ‘have meanings’; and to know the meaning which the word or phrase has, is to know the meanings of sentences in which it occurs. All the dictionary can do when we ‘look up the meaning of a word’ is to suggest aids to the understanding of sentences in which it occurs. Hence it appears correct to say that what ‘has meaning’ in the primary sense is the sentence.» (John L. Austin, «The Meaning of a Word.» Philosophical Papers, 3rd ed., edited by J. O. Urmson and G. J. Warnock. Oxford University Press, 1990)

Different Kinds of Meaning for Different Kinds of Words

«There can’t be a single answer to the question ‘Are meanings in the world or in the head?’ because the division of labor between sense and reference is very different for different kinds of words. With a word like this or that, the sense by itself is useless in picking out the referent; it all depends on what is in the environs at the time and place that a person utters it. . . . Linguists call them deictic terms . . .. Other examples are here, there, you, me, now, and then. «At the other extreme are words that refer to whatever we say they mean when we stipulate their meanings in a system of rules. At least in theory, you don’t have to go out into the world with your eyes peeled to know what a touchdown is, or a member of parliament, or a dollar, or an American citizen, or GO in Monopoly, because their meaning is laid down exactly by the rules and regulations of a game or system. These are sometimes called nominal kinds—kinds of things that are picked out only by how we decide to name them.» (Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought. Viking, 2007)

Two Types of Meaning: Semantic and Pragmatic

«It has been generally assumed that we have to understand two types of meaning to understand what the speaker means by uttering a sentence. . . . A sentence expresses a more or less complete propositional content, which is semantic meaning, and extra pragmatic meaning comes from a particular context in which the sentence is uttered.» (Etsuko Oishi, «Semantic Meaning and Four Types of Speech Act.» Perspectives on Dialogue in the New Millennium, ed. P. Kühnlein et al. John Benjamins, 2003)

Pronunciation: ME-ning

Etymology

From the Old English, «to tell of»

Источник

The object of semasiology.
Two approaches to the study of meaning.
Types of meaning.
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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Описание презентации по отдельным слайдам:

1 слайд

Word Meaning
Lecture # 6
Grigoryeva M.
2 слайд

Word Meaning

Approaches to word meaning

Meaning and Notion (понятие)

Types of word meaning

Types of morpheme meaning

Motivation
3 слайд

Each word has two aspects:

the outer aspect
( its sound form)
cat

the inner aspect
(its meaning)
long-legged, fury animal with sharp teeth
and claws
4 слайд

Sound and meaning do not always constitute a constant unit even in the same language

EX a temple

a part of a human head
a large church
5 слайд

Semantics (Semasiology)
Is a branch of lexicology which studies the
meaning of words and word equivalents
6 слайд

Approaches to Word Meaning
The Referential (analytical) approach

The Functional (contextual) approach

Operational (information-oriented) approach
7 слайд

The Referential (analytical) approach
formulates the essence of meaning by establishing the interdependence between words and things or concepts they denote

distinguishes between three components closely connected with meaning:
the sound-form of the linguistic sign,
the concept
the actual referent
8 слайд

Basic Triangle
concept (thought, reference) – the thought of the object that singles out its essential features
referent – object denoted by the word, part of reality
sound-form (symbol, sign) – linguistic sign
concept – flower

sound-form referent
[rәuz]
9 слайд

In what way does meaning correlate with
each element of the triangle ?

In what relation does meaning stand to
each of them?
10 слайд

Meaning and Sound-form
are not identical
different
EX. dove — [dΛv] English sound-forms
[golub’] Russian BUT
[taube] German
the same meaning
11 слайд

Meaning and Sound-form
nearly identical sound-forms have different meanings in different languages
EX. [kot] Russian – a male cat
[kot] English – a small bed for a child

identical sound-forms have different meanings (‘homonyms)
EX. knight [nait]
night [nait]
12 слайд

Meaning and Sound-form
even considerable changes in sound-form do not affect the meaning

EX Old English lufian [luvian] – love [l Λ v]
13 слайд

Meaning and Concept
concept is a category of human cognition

concept is abstract and reflects the most common and typical features of different objects and phenomena in the world

meanings of words are different in different languages
14 слайд

Meaning and Concept
identical concepts may have different semantic structures in different languages

EX. concept “a building for human habitation” –
English Russian
HOUSE ДОМ

+ in Russian ДОМ
“fixed residence of family or household”
In English HOME
15 слайд

Meaning and Referent

one and the same object (referent) may be denoted by more than one word of a different meaning
cat
pussy
animal
tiger
16 слайд

Meaning
is not identical with any of the three points of the triangle –
the sound form,
the concept
the referent

BUT
is closely connected with them.
17 слайд

Functional Approach
studies the functions of a word in speech
meaning of a word is studied through relations of it with other linguistic units
EX. to move (we move, move a chair)
movement (movement of smth, slow movement)

The distriution ( the position of the word in relation to
others) of the verb to move and a noun movement is
different as they belong to different classes of words and
their meanings are different
18 слайд

Operational approach
is centered on defining meaning through its role in
the process of communication

EX John came at 6
Beside the direct meaning the sentence may imply that:
He was late
He failed to keep his promise
He was punctual as usual
He came but he didn’t want to

The implication depends on the concrete situation
19 слайд

Lexical Meaning and Notion
Notion denotes the reflection in the mind of real objects

Notion is a unit of thinking
Lexical meaning is the realization of a notion by means of a definite language system
Word is a language unit
20 слайд

Lexical Meaning and Notion
Notions are international especially with the nations of the same cultural level

Meanings are nationally limited

EX GO (E) —- ИДТИ(R)
“To move”
BUT !!!
To GO by bus (E)
ЕХАТЬ (R)

EX Man -мужчина, человек
Она – хороший человек (R)
She is a good person (E)
21 слайд

Types of Meaning
Types of meaning

grammatical
meaning

lexico-grammatical
meaning
lexical meaning
denotational
connotational
22 слайд

Grammatical Meaning
component of meaning recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of different words

EX. girls, winters, toys, tables –
grammatical meaning of plurality

asked, thought, walked –
meaning of past tense
23 слайд

Lexico-grammatical meaning
(part –of- speech meaning)
is revealed in the classification of lexical items into:
major word classes (N, V, Adj, Adv)
minor ones (artc, prep, conj)

words of one lexico-grammatical class have the same paradigm
24 слайд

Lexical Meaning
is the meaning proper to the given linguistic unit in all its forms and distributions

EX . Go – goes — went
lexical meaning – process of movement
25 слайд

PRACTICE
Group the words into 3 column according to the grammatical, lexical or part-of –speech meaning
Boy’s, nearest, at, beautiful,
think, man, drift, wrote,
tremendous, ship’s, the most beautiful,
table, near, for, went, friend’s,
handsome, thinking, boy,
nearer, thought, boys,
lamp, go, during.
26 слайд

Grammatical
The case of nouns: boy’s, ship’s, friend’s
The degree of comparison of adj: nearest, the most beautiful
The tense of verbs: wrote, went, thought

Lexical
Think, thinking, thought
Went, go
Boy’s, boy, boys
Nearest, near, nearer
At, for, during (“time”)
Beautiful, the most beautiful

Part-of-speech
Nouns—verbs—adj—-prep
27 слайд

Aspects of Lexical meaning
The denotational aspect

The connotational aspect

The pragmatic aspect
28 слайд

Denotational Meaning
“denote” – to be a sign of, stand as a symbol for”

establishes the correlation between the name and the object
makes communication possible

EX booklet
“a small thin book that gives info about smth”
29 слайд

PRACTICE
Explain denotational meaning

A lion-hunter
To have a heart like a lion
To feel like a lion
To roar like a lion
To be thrown to the lions
The lion’s share
To put your head in lion’s mouth
30 слайд

PRACTICE

A lion-hunter
A host that seeks out celebrities to impress guests
To have a heart like a lion
To have great courage
To feel like a lion
To be in the best of health
To roar like a lion
To shout very loudly
To be thrown to the lions
To be criticized strongly or treated badly
The lion’s share
Much more than one’s share
To put your head in lion’s mouth
31 слайд

Connotational Meaning
reflects the attitude of the speaker towards what he speaks about
it is optional – a word either has it or not

Connotation gives additional information and includes:
The emotive charge EX Daddy (for father)
Intensity EX to adore (for to love)
Imagery EX to wade through a book
“ to walk with an effort”
32 слайд

PRACTICE
Give possible interpretation of the sentences

She failed to buy it and felt a strange pang.
Don’t be afraid of that woman! It’s just barking!
He got up from his chair moving slowly, like an old man.
The girl went to her father and pulled his sleeve.
He was longing to begin to be generous.
She was a woman with shiny red hands and work-swollen finger knuckles.
33 слайд

PRACTICE
Give possible interpretation of the sentences
She failed to buy it and felt a strange pang.
(pain—dissatisfaction that makes her suffer)
Don’t be afraid of that woman! It’s just barking!
(make loud sharp sound—-the behavior that implies that the person is frightened)
He got up from his chair moving slowly, like an old man.
(to go at slow speed—was suffering or was ill)
The girl went to her father and pulled his sleeve.
(to move smth towards oneself— to try to attract smb’s attention)
He was longing to begin to be generous.
(to start doing— hadn’t been generous before)
She was a woman with shiny red hands and work-swollen finger knuckles.
(colour— a labourer involved into physical work ,constant contact with water)
34 слайд

The pragmatic aspect of lexical meaning

the situation in which the word is uttered,
the social circumstances (formal, informal, etc.),
social relationships between the interlocutors (polite, rough, etc.),
the type and purpose of communication (poetic, official, etc.)

EX horse (neutral)
steed (poetic)
nag (slang)
gee-gee (baby language)
35 слайд

PRACTICE
State what image underline the meaning

I heard what she said but it didn’t sink into my mind.
You should be ashamed of yourself, crawling to the director like that.
They seized on the idea.
Bill, chasing some skirt again?
I saw him dive into a small pub.
Why are you trying to pin the blame on me?
He only married her for her dough.
36 слайд

PRACTICE
State what image underline the meaning
I heard what she said but it didn’t sink into my mind.
(to understand completely)
You should be ashamed of yourself, crawling to the director like that.
(to behave humbly in order to win favour)
They seized on the idea.
(to be eager to take and use)
Bill, chasing some skirt again?
(a girl)
I saw him dive into a small pub.
(to enter suddenly)
Why are you trying to pin the blame on me?
(to blame smb unfairly)
He only married her for her dough.
(money)
37 слайд

Types of Morpheme Meaning
lexical
differential
functional
distributional
38 слайд

Lexical Meaning in Morphemes
root-morphemes that are homonymous to words possess lexical meaning
EX. boy – boyhood – boyish

affixes have lexical meaning of a more generalized character
EX. –er “agent, doer of an action”
39 слайд

Lexical Meaning in Morphemes
has denotational and connotational components
EX. –ly, -like, -ish –
denotational meaning of similiarity
womanly , womanish

connotational component –
-ly (positive evaluation), -ish (deragotary) женственный — женоподобный
40 слайд

Differential Meaning
a semantic component that serves to distinguish one word from all others containing identical morphemes

EX. cranberry, blackberry, gooseberry
41 слайд

Functional Meaning
found only in derivational affixes
a semantic component which serves to
refer the word to the certain part of speech

EX. just, adj. – justice, n.
42 слайд

Distributional Meaning
the meaning of the order and the arrangement of morphemes making up the word
found in words containing more than one morpheme
different arrangement of the same morphemes would make the word meaningless
EX. sing- + -er =singer,
-er + sing- = ?
43 слайд

Motivation
denotes the relationship between the phonetic or morphemic composition and structural pattern of the word on the one hand, and its meaning on the other

can be phonetical
morphological
semantic
44 слайд

Phonetical Motivation
when there is a certain similarity between the sounds that make up the word and those produced by animals, objects, etc.

EX. sizzle, boom, splash, cuckoo
45 слайд

Morphological Motivation
when there is a direct connection between the structure of a word and its meaning
EX. finger-ring – ring-finger,

A direct connection between the lexical meaning of the component morphemes
EX think –rethink “thinking again”
46 слайд

Semantic Motivation
based on co-existence of direct and figurative meanings of the same word

EX a watchdog –
”a dog kept for watching property”

a watchdog –
“a watchful human guardian” (semantic motivation)
48 слайд

Analyze the meaning of the words.
Define the type of motivation
a) morphologically motivated
b) semantically motivated

Driver
Leg
Horse
Wall
Hand-made
Careless
piggish
49 слайд

Analyze the meaning of the words.
Define the type of motivation
a) morphologically motivated
b) semantically motivated
Driver
Someone who drives a vehicle
morphologically motivated
Leg
The part of a piece of furniture such as a table
semantically motivated
Horse
A piece of equipment shaped like a box, used in gymnastics
semantically motivated
50 слайд

Wall
Emotions or behavior preventing people from feeling close
semantically motivated
Hand-made
Made by hand, not machine
morphologically motivated
Careless
Not taking enough care
morphologically motivated
Piggish
Selfish
semantically motivated
51 слайд

I heard what she said but it didn’t sink in my mind
“do down to the bottom”
‘to be accepted by mind” semantic motivation

Why are you trying to pin the blame on me?
“fasten smth somewhere using a pin” –
”to blame smb” semantic motivation

I was following the man when he dived into a pub.
“jump into deep water” –
”to enter into suddenly” semantic motivation

You should be ashamed of yourself, crawling to the director like that
“to move along on hands and knees close to the ground” –
“to behave very humbly in order to win favor” semantic motivation

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What is a word?
Rules/Conditions for word
- Rule 1: Every word should have some potential pause in between the speech and space should be given in between while writing.
- Rule 2: Every word in English grammar must contain at least one root word.
- Rule 3: Every word you want to use should have some meaning.
More examples of Word
Quiz Time! (Test your knowledge here)
- #1. Is cat a word? State true or false.
- #2. A group of words can make a ___________.
- #3. A word is a _____________.
- #4. The word is the largest unit in the language. Is it true or false?
- #5. The meaning of words can be studied with ___________.
- #6. A root word is a word that _____________.
- #7. A word can be ____________.
- #8. Morphology is a branch of ___________.
- #9. A word is usually a speech sound or mixture of it. Is it true or false?
- #10. The structure of words can be studied with ___________.
Results
Summary: (What is a word?)

According to traditional grammar, a word is defined as, “the basic unit of language”. The word is usually a speech sound or mixture of sounds which is represented in speaking and writing.

Few examples of words are fan, cat, building, scooter, kite, gun, jug, pen, dog, chair, tree, football, sky, etc.

You can also define it as, “a letter or group/set of letters which has some meaning”. So, therefore the words are classified according to their meaning and action.

It works as a symbol to represent/refer to something/someone in the language.

The group of words makes a sentence. These sentences contain different types of functions (of the words) in it.

The structure (formation) of words can be studied with Morphology which is usually a branch (part) of linguistics.

The meaning of words can be studied with Lexical semantics which is also a branch (part) of linguistics.

Also Read: What is a Sentence in English Grammar? | Best Guide for 2021

The word can be used in many ways. Few of them are mentioned below.

Noun (rabbit, ring, pencil, US, etc)
Pronoun (he, she, it, we, they, etc)
Adjective (big, small, fast, slow, etc)
Verb (jumping, singing, dancing, etc)
Adverb (slowly, fastly, smoothly, etc)
Preposition (in, on, into, for, under, etc)
Conjunction (and, or, but, etc)

Subject (in the sentences)
Verb and many more!

Now, let us understand the basic rules of the words.

Rules/Conditions for word

There are some set of rules (criteria) in the English Language which describes the basic necessity of becoming a proper word.

Rule 1: Every word should have some potential pause in between the speech and space should be given in between while writing.

For example, consider the two words like “football” and “match” which are two different words. So, if you want to use them in a sentence, you need to give a pause in between the words for pronouncing.

It cannot be like “Iwanttowatchafootballmatch” which is very difficult to read (without spaces).

But, if you give pause between the words while reading like, “I”, “want”, “to”, “watch”, “a”, “football”, “match”.

Example Sentence: I want to watch a football match.

We can observe that the above sentence can be read more conveniently and it is the only correct way to read, speak and write.

Incorrect: Iwanttowatchafootballmatch.
Correct: I want to watch a football match.

So, always remember that pauses and spaces should be there in between the words.

Rule 2: Every word in English grammar must contain at least one root word.

The root word is a basic word which has meaning in it. But if we further break down the words, then it can’t be a word anymore and it also doesn’t have any meaning in it.

So, let us consider the above example which is “football”. If we break this word further, (such as “foot” + “ball”), we can observe that it has some meaning (even after breaking down).

Now if we further break down the above two words (“foot” + “ball”) like “fo” + “ot” and “ba” + “ll”, then we can observe that the words which are divided have no meaning to it.

So, always you need to remember that the word should have atleast one root word.

Rule 3: Every word you want to use should have some meaning.

Yes, you heard it right!

We know that there are many words in the English Language. If you have any doubt or don’t know the meaning of it, then you can check in the dictionary.

But there are also words which are not defined in the English Language. Many words don’t have any meaning.

So, you need to use only the words which have some meaning in it.

For example, consider the words “Nuculer” and “lakkanah” are not defined in English Language and doesn’t have any meaning.

Always remember that not every word in the language have some meaning to it.

Also Read: 12 Rules of Grammar | (Grammar Basic Rules with examples)

More examples of Word

Words List	Words List
apple	ice
aeroplane	jam
bat	king
biscuit	life
cap	mango
doll	nest
eagle	orange
fish	pride
grapes	raincoat
happy	sad

Quiz Time! (Test your knowledge here)

#1. A word can be ____________.

all of the above

a noun

an adjective

a verb

Answer: A word can be a noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc.

#2. A root word is a word that _____________.

none

can be divided further

cannot be divided further

both

Answer: A root word is a word that cannot be divided further.

#3. A group of words can make a ___________.

none

sentence

letters

words

Answer: A group of words can make a sentence.

#4. Morphology is a branch of ___________.

none

Linguistics

Phonology

Semantics

Answer: Morphology is a branch of Linguistics.

#5. The meaning of words can be studied with ___________.

none

both

Morphology

Lexical semantics

Answer: The meaning of the words can be studied with Lexical semantics.

#6. The word is the largest unit in the language. Is it true or false?

#7. Is cat a word? State true or false.

Answer: “Cat” is a word.

#8. A word is a _____________.

group of paragraphs

group of letters

group of sentences

All of the above

Answer: A word is a group of letters which delivers a message or an idea.

#9. A word is usually a speech sound or mixture of it. Is it true or false?

#10. The structure of words can be studied with ___________.

Morphology

both

Lexical semantics

none

Answer: The structure of words can be studied with Morphology.

Results

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Summary: (What is a word?)

(What is a word?)

Generally, the word is the basic and smallest unit in the language.
It is categorised based on its meaning.
Morphology is the study of Words structure (formation) and Lexical semantics is the study of meanings of the words. These both belong to a branch of Linguistics.
A word should have at least one root and meaning to it.

Also Read: What is Grammar? | (Grammar definition, types & examples) | Best Guide 2021

If you are interested to learn more, then you can refer wikipedia from here.

I hope that you understood the topic “What is a word?”. If you still have any doubts, then comment down below and we will respond as soon as possible. Thank You.

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Meaning is an important part of the language. We can use language for the motive of communication and meaning plays a very important role in language communication.

The meaning has been defined variously. But the most common definition is that which holds between the word and the referent or things. There are various types of meaning. The famous scholar Geoffrey Leech has given Seven types of meaning or Semantic. They are—

Seven types of Meaning

1. Conceptual meaning
2. Connotative meaning
3. Stylistic meaning
4. Affective meaning
5. Reflective meaning
6. Collocative meaning
7. Thematic meaning

1. Conceptual Meaning

Conceptual which means abstract meaning that is additionally famous is the denotative or psychological feature which means is widely assumed to be the central consider communication. We can also call the conceptual Meaning as literal or dictionary meaning.

Also known as “denotative” or cognitive” meaning. This type of meaning can be explained by breaking the world into different semantic constituents. Conceptual meaning is also called logical or cognitive meaning.

The example of the conceptual Meaning is that.
Boy: = +HUMAN+MALE-ADULT
girl: = +HUMAN-MALE-ADULT

2. Connotative meaning

Connotative is kind of associated meaning. Certain characteristics or features are associated with a particular world. Connotative meaning includes not only physical characteristics but also psychological, historical and social properties.

For example, the word women mean gregarious, emotional, sensitive etc. The other example is that rose. The conceptual meaning of the word rose is a flower but its connotative meaning is freshness. Similarly, the connotative meaning of the word “night” is “Evil”, “lamb” refers to innocence, while “beauty” is the connotative meaning of “moon”.

3. Collocative Meaning

Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquire on account of the meaning of words. Which tend to occur in its environment. It is created with the collocative of one word with the other.

In Collocative Meaning, a particular word goes with another particular word. Linguistic communication conspicuously includes the communication of something through association with words which tend to occur in the context of another word.

For example:
i. Boy collocates with handsome
ii. Girl collocates with pretty
iii. Road collocates with long

4.Stylistic meaning

Stylistic meaning is that meaning is created specifically by the use of language. When we say the same thing in different ways the stylistic meaning is created. stylistic meaning results from a “style”. Hockett defines “Style” beautifully saying, “two utterance in the same language which convey approximately the same meaning but which are different in their linguistic structure can be said to differ in style.”

For example, “he died” “he expired” “he left for heavenly aboard” in these sentence the same meaning has been expressed in different styles.

5. Reflective meaning

Reflective meaning is the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning. It is what is communicated through association with another sense of the same expression. It occurs when one sense of word forms part of our response to another sense.

The example of reflected meaning is a synonymous expression of “The Comforter and “The Holy Ghost” both referring to the Third person of the Trinity, one may find one’s reactions to these terms conditioned by the everyday non-religious meanings of “The Comforting” and “Ghost”. “The Comforter” sounds warm and ‘“Comforting’”, while ‘the Holy Ghost’ sounds awesome.

Also Read: The Scope of Semantics
Also Read: Semantics Feature Analysis

6. Affective Meaning

Affective meaning is largely a parasite category in the sense that to express our emotions we rely upon the mediation of the other categories of meaning-conceptual, connotative or stylistic. Emotional expressions through style come about, for instance, when we adopt an impolite tone to express friendliness.

On the other hand, there are elements of language whose chief function is to express emotion. When we use these, we communicate feelings and attitudes without the mediation if any other kind of semantic function.

Affective meaning is often explicit conveyed through the conceptual or connotative content of the words used. Affective meaning is largely a parasite category in the sense that to express our emotions. We rely upon the mediation of other categories of meaning conceptual, connotative or stylistic. Hence, factors such as intonation and voice timbre also play an important role.

7. Thematic meaning

The final of meaning is the thematic meaning. Thematic meaning is mainly a matter of selection between alternative grammatical constructions. In thematic meaning, the theme remains the same, but the order of two sentences many changes. Thematic meaning is mainly a matter of choice between alternative grammatical construction.

Let’s talk about it

The organization of the message or information in terms of order and emphasis has an unavoidable role in linguistic communication. Therefore, what is communicated by the way in which the speaker organizes the message in terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis can be substantiated as a sort of meaning labelled “thematic meaning”.

For example, it is often felt that an active sentence, such as “Mr John donated the first prize has a different meaning from its passive equivalent” The first was donated by Mr John, although in conceptual content they appear to be identical. So change of voice also comes under the thematic meaning.

The two sentences certainly have different communicative values in that they are indicative of different contexts. The active sentence seems to answer an inherent question “What did Mr John donate?, whereas the passive equivalent seems to answer the implicit question Who donated the first prize? That is, the active sentence suggests that we know” Mr John, but the passive sentence does not.

Thematic meaning is mainly a matter of selection between alternative grammatical constructions. But the kind of contrast by ordering and emphasis illustrated by the active and passive sentences above can also be contrived by lexical means, for example, by substituting “belongs to” owns in:

1. My father owns the largest mobile-shop in New York.
2. The largest mobile-shop in New York belongs to my brother.

In other cases, it is stress and intonation rather than grammatical construction that highlight information in a specific part of a sentence or utterance.

Examples of Semantics

1. A toy block could be called a block, a cube, a toy.

2. A child could be called a child, kid, boy, girl, son, daughter.

Geoffrey Leech’s Seven Types of Semantics in Brief

👉Conceptual meaning = Logical, cognitive, or denotative content.

👉Connotative meaning = What is communicated by virtue of what language refers to.

👉Stylistic/Social meaning = What is communicated of the social circumstances of language use.

👉Affective meaning = What is communicated of the feeling and attitudes of the speaker/writer.

👉Reflected meaning = What is communicated through association with another sense of the same expression.

👉Collocative meaning = What is communicated through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word.

👉Thematic meaning =What is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order and emphasis.

TOP QUESTIONS

Q. What are the three types of meaning?

Answer: Three types of meaning are-

1. Grammatical meaning

2. Referential meaning and

3. Connotative (i.e., emotive or associative) meaning.

Q. What are the two types of meaning of terms?

Answer: There are two types of meaning-

1. Conceptual meaning and

2. Associative meaning.

Q.What are the seven types of meaning?

Answer: There are seven types of meaning

1. Conceptual meaning
2. Connotative meaning
3. Stylistic meaning
4. Affective meaning
5. Reflective meaning
6. Collocative meaning
7. Thematic meaning

Q. What are the kinds of Meaning?

Answer: There are seven kinds of meaning

1. Conceptual meaning
2. Connotative meaning
3. Stylistic meaning
4. Affective meaning
5. Reflective meaning
6. Collocative meaning
7. Thematic meaning

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