What lexical meanings of a word can you name

I.
In the general framework of lexical meaning two components (aspects)
can be singled out: denotation and connotation. The two components
are closely connected with the process of naming (nomination).

The
denotational
meaning (denotation)
is the component of the lexical meaning signifying or identifying the
notion or the object and reflecting some essential features of the
notion named. The denotational meaning makes the communication
possible, as it is essentially the same meaning for all speakers of
the language.

The
connotational meaning (connotation)
is
complementary meaning which is added to the word denotational meaning
and which serves to express all sorts of evaluative, emotional,
expressive, imagery and pragmatic overtones. Connotation includes:

1. the
   emotive charge:
   daddy
   – father;
   thick – stout (полный,
   тучный)
   –
   buxom (упитаннный,
   пухлый)
   – fat – obese – plump,
   face – snout (рыло),
   muzzle (морда);

2. evaluation
   (positive
   or negative): clique
   (a
   small group of people who seem unfriendly to other people)
   – group (a
   set of people),
   new – modern – newfangled (disapproving
   excessively modern);
   

However,
evaluation can enter denotation. The word friend
meaning ‘ally’ is featured by positive rational evaluation:
friend
– “a country that has a good
relationship with another country”. In this case evaluation makes
the part of denotation, has the marker good
in the dictionary definition, and bases on the integral features of
the referent.

1. expressiveness
   (intensity):
   to
   love – to adore;
   magnificent – gorgeous – splendid – superb;
   

2. imagery
   – I heard
   what she said,
   but it didn’t sink
   into
   my mind until much later;
   a 15% tariff on bearing
   import (from
   to
   bear “to
   sell shares in expectation of a drop in price, in order to make a
   profit by buying them back again after a short time);

3. stylistic
   value
   – to
   start – to begin – to commence;
   beholder (archaic,
   literary)
   – spectator;
   colloquial vocabulary
   – cut it out,
   to be kidding,
   hi,
   stuff;
   special
   literary vocabulary (bookish words):
   cordial,
   fraternal,
   anticipate,
   aid,
   sanguinary,
   celestial;

4. cultural
   information
   – black
   cat,
   green eyes (cf.
   green-eyed monster).
   

The
Russian word combination черная
кошка
denotes
a black cat as well as the English one.
However,
a black cat is believed to bring bad luck and disaster according to
some Russian superstition, that’s why
it has negative connotation. The English culture relates black cats
to luck, unexpected happiness, so a Russian is often surprised to see
a black cat wishing “Good Luck” on English postcards. As for
green
eyes,
they are associated with jealousy after Iago’s words: “It
is the
green-eyed
monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (Othello,
II,
i. 165).

II.
According
to the way of nomination
meanings are divided into direct
(primary,
proper meaning)
and
indirect (figurative,
transferred,
secondary,
derived).

Direct
meaning
is the meaning which characterizes the referent without the help of a
context, in isolation (to
query
= ‘to ask a question’).

Indirect
meaning
is the meaning formed from the direct meaning according to the models
of semantic derivation (metaphor, metonymy). It is realized only in
definite contexts: to
query the bill
= ‘to express one’s doubts about the charge’; a good head
for figures / per head
(metonymy).

In
their turn direct meanings are divided into extended
(general)
and
narrow (special).

General
meaning is
the meaning correlating to generic concept:
ship = ‘a vessel’.

Narrow
meaning
is the meaning correlating to specific concept: ship
= ‘nautical a large sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged
masts’.

According
to connection with referents
direct
meanings are divided into
concrete
and
abstract.

Concrete
meanings
indicate at a referent:
tongue
(the
body organ of taste).

Abstract
meanings
indicate at quality features in the abstract from referents: tongue
(speech).

III.
According
to frequency
meanings are divided into
main
(primary,
central)
and
secondary
(peripheric).

Main
meaning
is
the meaning which possesses the highest frequency at the present
stage of vocabulary development. For the noun table
the first meaning is the main one: ‘a
piece of furniture’ – 52%;
‘an
orderly arrangement of facts’ (table of contents) – 35%, other
meanings –
13%
of the uses of this word.

Secondary
meanings
are less frequent.

IV.
According
to their genetic characteristic
(in diachrony)
meanings are divided into
etymological,
original,
archaic,
obsolete and
present-day.

Etymological
meaning is
the earliest known meaning. Today the noun urchin
means “a mischievous roguish child, esp. one who is young, small,
or raggedly dressed”, but its etymological meaning is ‘a
hedgehog’.

Archaic
meaning is
the meaning superseded at present by a newer one but still remaining
in certain collocations. The archaic meaning of the adjective brave
is “fine, excellent, admirable”. Its use is limited to some
phrases among which is a
brave new world.
Another example is the quick
and the dead or
Time
and tide wait for no man (≈ время
не ждёт).

Obsolete
meaning is
the meaning which went out of use. The obsolete meaning of the verb
taste
is “to examine by touch, to feel; to test or try”.

Original
meaning is
a meaning serving as basis for the derived ones. The original meaning
if the word land
is “soil, hard territory”, as opposed to water.

Present-day
meaning is
a meaning which is most frequent in the present-day language: quick
= “lasting a comparatively short time; brief”.

V.
According
to the style and sphere of language
in
which they may occur
meanings are divided into stylistically
neutral and
stylistically coloured.

Neutral
meanings are
found in the words of general use: to
begin,
father.

Stylistically
coloured meanings
mark a certain style, and
in their turn are divided into
bookish and
colloquial,
for example,
dad
is a colloquial word and to commence
is a literary word. Bookish meanings can be poetical, scientific or
learned, literary. Colloquial meanings can be literary colloquial,
familiar colloquial, slang.

VI.
According
to realization
of meaning in language
system meanings are divided into dictionary
and
speech.

Dictionary
meanings
are registered in dictionaries, they are most frequent ones.

Speech
meanings
are revealed in speech, they are seldom found in dictionaries.

According
to their combinability language
meanings are divided into and free
(context-independent)
and
bound
(context-dependent).

Free
meanings
are
realized in free word combinations and associated with the given
lingual sign: to
settle (урегулировать),
small (маленький).

Bound
meanings
depend on the grammatical form or lexical components of the
word-combination they enter: to
meet smb’s demand/ requirement,
to settle the bill/ debt (платить);
small
passions (мелочный),
small trickery (мелкий),
small cold (слабый),
small wind (тихий),
small (слабый)
current.

Speech
meanings are also divided into usual
and
occasional (nonce
words).

Usual
meanings intersect
dictionary meanings.

Occasional
meanings
occur in words invented and used for a particular occasion.
Consider the following: “Ellen relaxed her
about-to-push hand
and looked at him” (I. Levin)
or “Germany is the world’s largest goods exporter after China
despite high labour costs and a strongish
euro” (Economist
25/10/2010).

Meanings are analysed with the
help of componential analysis.

Componential
analysis
is the investigation method which proceeds from the assumption that
word meaning can be decomposed into elementary semantic components,
or semantic features/ semes.

Seme
is the smallest unit of meaning. For instance, the meaning of the
word boy
can
be represented with the help of the following semes: ‘human’,
‘male’, ‘non-adult’. Wife
can be analyzed into the following semes ‘human’, ‘female’,
‘adult’, ‘married’.

Componential analysis bases
itself on differential oppositions like the below ones.

man
:
woman = boy :
girl = bull :
cow – sex

man
:
boy = woman :
girl = cow :
calf – age

man
:
bull = woman :
cow = girl :
calf – human / non-human beings

Differential oppositions can
be easily applied to such clear-cut semantic groups as terms of
kinship or words denoting colours, but they are hard to distinguish
for other classes of words. It’s a certain limitation of the
method.

There
exist different models of componential analysis. One of them is
showed in Table 2. It consists in forcing all features into a binary
pattern, when two opposing sides to a single feature are represented
as ‘plus’ (if the feature is present in the meaning of the word)
and ‘minus’ (if the feature in question is absent).

Table
2.

Semantic features Words	with a back	raised above ground	for one person	to sit on	with arms	of solid material
chair	+	+	+	+	–	+
armchair	+	+	+	+	+	+
stool	–	+	+	+	–	+
sofa	+	+	–	+	+	+
pouffe	–	+	+	+	–	–

The
next model of componential analysis suggests that meanings are
analysed in terms of semantic markers and distinguishers.

Semantic
marker (integral
seme)
is a semantic feature which the word has in common with other lexical
items. Semantic markers reflect systemic
relations between the word and the rest of the vocabulary.

Semantic
distinguisher
(differential
seme)
is a semantic feature which differentiates the word from all other
words or which differentiates individual meanings of a polysemantic
word. Distinguishers reflect what is idiosyncratic about the word.

For
example, the semantics of the word bachelor
can be represented with the help of the following markers (they are
enclosed in round brackets) and distinguishers (they are enclosed in
square brackets):

1) (human) (male) [one who has
never been married];

2) (human) (male) [young
knight serving under the standard of another knight];

3) (human) [one who has the
first or lowest academic degree];

4) (animal) (male) [young fur
seal without a mate in the breeding season].

Acquiring
this specific information about the word meanings is the main aim of
the analysis under consideration. This information is of much value
when the translator chooses the appropriate synonym. Compare all
shades of meanings of the verbs of motion, showed in Table 3.

Table 3.

Synonyms	Common feature	Differential feature	Translation
stroll	“to walk”	“unhurriedly, leisurely”	прогуливаться (медленно и праздно)
stagger	“to walk”	“unsteadily”	идти шатаясь
pace	“to walk”	“with slow regular steps”	шагать
roam	“to walk”	“without a definite aim”	бродить
saunter	“to walk”	“in a leisurely way”	прогуливаться (медленно, неторопливо)

So, the semantic distinguisher
differentiates between the meanings of different words.

Besides,
awareness of the integral seme promotes translation of the unknown
meanings of the polysemantic word. In fact, derived meanings have
common integral semes with the main meaning. Translate the following
figurative meanings of the word sharp
considering its direct meaning, that is
“having a very thin edge or point that can cut things easily [≠
blunt]”:

sharp
voice,
sound,
intake of breath

sharp
feelings,
pain,

sharp
flavour,
taste,
cheddar cheese

sharp
mind,
intelligence

a
sharp suit,
clothes

a
sharp nose,
features

a
sharp increase in prices,
fall in unemployment.

All
the meanings are united or bound by the integral seme deep
(cutting)
of
the direct meaning, that is knife
– with a fine cutting edge,
not blunt.

Semes
can be explicit
and
implicit
(potential).
The explicit seme in the verb to
woo is
‘try to gain the love of (a woman), especially with a view to
marriage’,
and the implicit
seme in the phrase to
woo Japanese palates
[customers] is
‘seek
the favor, support, or custom of somebody’.

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Style study

Stylistic differentiation of
the vocabulary

Lexicalstylisticdevices

Syntactical level

Lexico-syntactical stylistic devices.

Types of narration

Functional Styles

Vocabulary is a very important part of language science. She learns words and their meanings. It’s no secret: the richer the language reserve of a person, the more beautiful and imaginative is his speech. Most new words can be gleaned from reading. Often it happens that a new word is found in a book or magazine, in this case a dictionary of lexical meanings will help, and it is also called an explanatory one. The most common — issued by VI Dalem and SI Ozhegov. It is they who are trusted by the modern science of language.

Vocabulary wealth of the Russian language

Language, including Russian, is a phenomenondeveloping. There are new cultures, inventions of science and technology, one civilization replaces another. Of course, all this is reflected in the language. Some words appear, some disappear. It is the vocabulary that reacts vividly to these changes. All this is the wealth of the language. K. Paustovsky gave a very colorful explanation of the totality of words, saying that each surrounding phenomenon or object has a corresponding «good» word, and even not one.

Scientists have proved that for one to understandit is enough for another person to have 4-5 thousand words in stock, but this is not enough for a beautiful, imaginative speech. The Russian language is one of the most beautiful, therefore it is necessary to use its wealth. And the knowledge of individual words with their interpretations is not enough (for this you can simply learn the dictionary of lexical meanings). It is much more important to know related words, their figurative meaning, to understand and use antonyms, to use homonymous units.

Lexical meaning of a word

The word is the most important unit of any language. It is from them that the combinations and subsequently the sentences that people communicate with each other are made up. How to distinguish one word from another? With the help of phonetic design. Also, lexical meaning will help in this. This separates the words. They can denote, for example, objects, people or living beings (table, teacher, wolf); natural phenomena (wind, frost), actions (run, watch), signs (beautiful, pink).

Over the course of centuries, words can change their lexical meaning. Take for example the word garden. Until the twentieth century, this word also denoted the garden. In modern times the same lexical meaning has changed: garden now it’s a fenced place where vegetables are grown.

There are words in which lexical meaning is a certain image that is easy to imagine and portray: tree, cupboard, flower. In others, it is very abstract: love, grammar, music. The lexical meaning of the Russian language is generalized in explanatory dictionaries. There are several ways of interpreting words with the same meaning. For example, the way is the road. Some dictionaries offer a detailed explanation: way — a certain place in the space through which they move.

Why you need to know the lexical meaning

It is very important to know the lexical meaning — this will save you from some spelling mistakes. For example:

• Trying on wedding dresses is a tedious but pleasant process.
• It was always good to reconcile the enemies.

In the first example, the word «try on» is used in the sense of «fitting», so at the root it is necessary to write e. The second sentence deals with peace, so the letter and fundamentally.

Lexical meaning differs not only words, but also morphemes. So, the prefix at— is used when it comes to incompleteness of action, close proximity, approaching or joining; pre— in cases where the highest degree of something (amusing — very funny, but: to push in (attach), sit down (incompleteness), seaside (close to the sea).

There are also roots with different lexical meanings. These are such as —poppy— / —wet-; —equal— / —flat-. If the word means immersion in a liquid, it should be written —poppy— (dunk cookies in milk), another matter is the meaning of «skipping, absorbing liquid», in this case it is necessary to write —wet— (the feet got wet). Root —equal— should be written when it comes to equality (the equation); —flat— is used in the sense of something smooth, smooth (to straighten a bang).

Unambiguous and polysemantic words

The wealth of the words of the Russian language is made up of those units that have several or only one lexical meaning. These are single-valued and polysemantic words. The former have only one interpretation: birch, scalpel, Moscow, pizza. As can be seen from the examples, to the group of single-valuedwords include their own names, newly emerged or foreign words, also narrowly focused. These are all kinds of terms, the names of professions, the names of animals.

Much more in the language of many-valued words, that isthose that have several meanings. As a rule, interpretations unfold around a certain sign or meaning. The fact that the word is multi-valued will be explained by an explanatory dictionary. The values ​​of such tokens are listed below the digits. For an example, let’s look at the word «earth». He has several interpretations:

1. One of the planets of the solar system.
2. Susha is an opposition to the concepts of «water» and «heaven.»
3. The soil is a fertile layer that allows cultivating all kinds of crops.
4. A territory belonging to someone.
5. For some countries — a federative unit.

The direct and portable meaning of a word

All multi-valued words can containdirect or portable interpretation. If the task «Explain the lexical meaning of words» occurs, you need to look at the explanatory dictionary. There next to the value will be indicated whether it is direct or portable. The first is basic; the second was formed on the basis of the basic principle of similarity.

For example, consider the word «hat». The first, its main value is a headdress with fields of small size. On the basis of similarity, a figurative interpretation was formed: the upper part of an object, enlarged and flat, a mushroom or nail head.

It is portable values ​​that give speech a special imagery, on their basis created such trails as a metaphor (hidden comparison: sheaf of hair), metonymy (contiguity of signs: silver plate) and the synecdoche (a part is used instead of the whole: the peasant was actually a slave).

Sometimes there are cases when the language appearsonly a portable value, and to perform a task, such as «Define the lexical meaning of words,» you will need not only an explanatory, but also an etymological dictionary. For example, it was with the adjective «red». Its direct meaning is «beautiful» preserved only in the ancient toponyms («Red Square») or folklore (proverbs).

Homonyms

The meanings of words can be compared,to be contrasted. Studying such relations the program for 5-6 class. The lexical meaning of homonyms, synonyms and antonyms is very interesting. Consider all these kinds of words.

Homonyms are those words that are identical in pronunciation or spelling, but their meaning is completely different. So, words carnations (flowers) and carnations (pointed rods for bonding materials) are equally written and pronounced differently. Another example: spit — type of hairdo, and spit — agricultural implements. They can be homonymous and grammatical. So, in the phrases «flood the stove» and «bake pies». Word bake is a noun in the first case andverb in the second. Do not confuse the concept of homonymy and polysemy. The former does not imply any similarity between concepts, whereas the second is based on the principle of the similarity of a feature.

Synonyms

Synonyms — words with identical lexicalvalue. For example, the words «friend, friend, comrade, shirt-guy» have the value of a close, trusted person. However, synonyms still differ in shades of meaning. Friend, for example, denotes a particularly close person.

Synonyms have different stylistic colors. So, shirt-guy is used in colloquial speech. As a rule, synonyms are words of one part of speech, however they can be stable combinations. Knowledge of the phenomenon of synonymy helps to avoid spelling errors. So, to find out the correct spelling of a particle not with nouns or adjectives, it is necessary to follow the algorithm: «Define the lexical meaning and try to find a synonym without not: the enemy is the enemy«.

Antonyms

Antonyms are words that differ in terms of lexical meaning: friend is an enemy; to go-to run; deep — shallow; up down. As we see, the phenomenon of antonymy is characteristic forany parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. The use of such words gives speech a special expressiveness, helps to convey to the listener or reader especially important thoughts, so very often the opposite in meaning words are found in folk sayings — proverbs. For example, «Softly steklet, but hard to sleep.» In this case, «soft — hard» — antonyms.

As you can see, the Russian language is very diverse,therefore the topic of the interpretation of words has been studied for several years. In addition, she was taken to the main school exams, where, for example, the task «Explain the lexical meaning of words» or «Choose a synonym / antonym / homonym for a word» occurs, etc.