Word meaning and their use in sentence

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

2. Types of meaning.

3. Meaning and motivation.

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

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

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

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

concept

symbol
referent

(sound form)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Motivation may be lost in the
course of time,

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

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

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

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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

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  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?

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  10 слайд

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

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  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]

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  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]

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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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One of the best and most efficient ways to
learn new words quickly and build up your vocabulary is to see how they are used in a sentence.

Learning words by seeing how they are used in a sentence is called
learning vocabulary in context. It is considered much more efficient than just memorizing the word and its meanings. It’s also much more interesting. 

When you learn vocabulary in context, you look at the word and its meaning, then read or hear a sentence that uses that word. This helps you internalize the meaning of the word and can also help you see how to use that word to make your own sentences. So, you are not just improving your vocabulary, you are also
picking up grammar tips as well. 

In this post, we’re going to show you 50 words with their meanings and sentences. We’re also going to provide you

with a PDF file of the words and their meanings and the example sentences at the end of this post.

1. Accommodate

Meaning: 

This is a verb that means that you gave consideration to someone. It’s often used to say that you agreed to a request.

Sentence:

The shopkeeper accommodated Jack’s request to buy a toothbrush, even if he was already closing up.

2. Advantageous

Meaning:

This is an adjective that means that you gave or were given an advantage. It is
a synonym for favorable.

Sentence:

They specifically looked for a hostel near the train station as it would be advantageous for their travel plans.

3. Absolve

Meaning:

This verb is used to say that you have forgiven someone or decided that they are not guilty

Sentence:

After listening to their story, the policeman absolved them and turned their attention to the truck driver.

4. Antidote

Meaning:

An antidote is a noun that means something that will relieve or counteract the negative effects of something. It’s commonly used to talk about a cure for poison.

Sentence: 

A stroll in the sunny park was the perfect antidote to Mark’s bad mood.

5. Boredom

Meaning: 

You can use this noun to say that you, or someone else, are very disinterested in what is happening or about the current state of affairs. Most of the time, people who are suffering from boredom need to try something new.

Sentence:

Boredom drove me to finally pursue my dream of
learning Russian.

6. Broach

Meaning: 

You can
use this verb if you want to say that someone introduced a topic into the conversation.

Sentence:

The teacher broached the subject about different
swear words in Chinese.

7. Clannish

Meaning: 

This adjective is used to describe a group of people who are very close and as such rather closed off or standoffish towards others.

Sentence:

Their clannish behavior makes it hard to approach them to ask for help.

8. Competence

Meaning:

This noun is used to indicate that someone is considered capable of
doing a good job.

Sentence:

Fred’s competence as an engineer led to his being entrusted with several projects for the organization.

9. Compassion

Meaning:

This is a noun that is used to describe acting with kindness or pity.

Sentence:

Show some compassion for those left homeless by the fire and donate some clothes you no longer use.

10. Consider 

Meaning: 

This is a verb that means to think carefully about a decision you need to make.

Sentence:

Before deciding what language to learn, you need to consider what language is
important for your career.

11. Cull

Meaning:

This is a noun that means to reduce the population of a group of animals by killing a select few.

Sentence:

The farmer will cull sickly chickens in the hope of saving the flock.

12. Dauntless

Meaning:

This adjective is used to describe a person or a person’s actions that are considered bold or brave. It also implies that they are persistent in the face of danger or people advising them to change their minds.

Sentence:

The most famous explorers in history needed to be dauntless in the face of the unknown.

13. Dreary

Meaning: 

The adjective is used to describe a situation or a person that is gloomy or cheerless.

Sentence:

Dark clouds and the hint of rain cast a dreary light over the beach.

14. Evident

Meaning:

This adjective is used to say that something is clear, easily seen, or understood.

Sentence:

Bert’s eagerness to learn is evident in the way he keeps asking for
new lists of idioms and their meanings.

15. Flurry

Meaning: 

This noun is a synonym for the commotion. It means that a lot of activity is taking place.

Sentence:

The news that their mother was on the way home caused a flurry of activity as the children put away their toys.

16. Fickle

Meaning:

You can use this adjective to indicate that someone changes their mind often.

Sentence:

Mark was very fickle when we were younger; he first wanted to be a doctor, then an actor, before he decided to just go to culinary school.

17. Fictitious

Meaning:

This word is an adjective that describes something that is imaginary. A character in a fiction book is fictitious.

Sentence:

I know he is a fictitious character, but I would love to find my own Mr. Darcy.

18. Irate

Meaning:

You use this adjective when you want to say that someone is angry and irritated.

Sentence:

Polly was irate that John and his friends insisted on playing loud music as she tried to study.

19. Gambol

Meaning: 

You can use this verb if you want to say that someone or something is running and jumping around in a playful manner.

Sentence:

Watching the children gambol with their new puppy really lifted my spirits.

20. Grotesque

Meaning: 

You can use this adjective to say that you think something is very ugly and odd-looking. 

Sentence:

The gargoyles on medieval cathedrals were deliberately carved to be as grotesque as possible.

21. Jubilant

Meaning: 

This adjective is used to imply that someone is extremely, visibly happy about something.

Sentence:

Henry and Paul were so jubilant over their football team winning they were dancing in the street.

22. Justifiable

Meaning: 

When you use this adjective, you are saying that someone’s actions were reasonable or acceptable.

Sentence:

Given the fact that she needed to take her cat to the vet this morning, it was justifiable that Karen was later to our lunch.

23. Laud

Meaning: 

This is a verb that means that someone is praising someone else in a public setting.

Sentence:

The mayor lauded the efforts of the city’s firemen in quickly putting out the blaze.

24. Laconic

Meaning:

This is an adjective that means brief. It’s usually meant to describe a short answer to a question. A laconic person is someone who can be referred to by
the idiom “man of few words”.

Sentence:

The always laconic Pedro just said “yes” to the proposal.

25. Mammoth

Meaning:

This adjective is used to describe something that is very, very big. Synonyms for this word are huge and enormous.

Sentence: 

The huge burger also came with a mammoth heap of fries.

26. Meddlesome

Meaning:

This adjective is used to describe behavior that is considered interfering or intrusive. The English idiom “stick their nose in” describes a meddlesome person.

Sentence: 

The problem with a small town is the many meddlesome neighbors.

27. Misstep

Meaning:

People use this verb when they want to say someone misjudged the situation and did the wrong thing.

Sentence:

Mary made a misstep when she mentioned the professor’s ex-wife.

28. Obtuse

Meaning: 

This adjective is basically a synonym for stupid. Someone who is obtuse doesn’t seem to comprehend what is happening around them.

Sentence:

Bobby is so obtuse he didn’t understand that Fred was making fun of him.

29. Officious

Meaning: 

This is an adjective that is used to describe someone who is overeager and offering unwanted help.

Sentence:

Allan and Betty just wanted to browse, but the officious salesperson trailing them around made them uncomfortable.

30. Opulence

Meaning:

This is a noun that denotes a show of wealth or abundance.

Sentence:

The opulence of the grand hotel had them staring around in awe.

31. Overt

Meaning:

This adjective is used to say that something is obvious. It is a synonym for apparent.

Sentence:

There were no overt signs that Zoe had heard Dan and Ben talking about her.

32. Pallid

Meaning: 

This adjective is used to describe someone who is pale and white. It’s usually meant to say that someone looks unhealthy.

Sentence:

After coming home from the hospital, friends were concerned about how pallid John still looked.

33. Paragon

Meaning: 

A paragon is someone who is considered a perfect example. This noun is a synonym for model.

Sentences:

Superheroes were originally meant to be paragons of humanity.

34. Pariah

Meaning: 

This is a noun that is used to describe someone who is a social outcast or who is being shunned by the majority of their social group.

Sentence:

After Ben was caught trying to pass off Mandy’s work as his own, he became the office pariah.

35. Perfunctory

Meaning:

This adjective is used to describe how someone performs a dull and routine task. Someone performs their duty perfunctory if they do it and do it properly but have little interest in it.  

Sentence:

Alice was a perfunctory employee; she accomplished her tasks and went home.

36. Precocious

Meaning:

This adjective is usually used when describing children. It means that someone displays behavior that is advanced for their age.

Sentence: 

Sally was always precocious; she was reading Shakespeare by age seven.

37. Propensity

Meaning: 

This is a noun that is used to say that someone has a natural inclination or preference for something.

Sentence:

While Sam is very smart, he has a propensity to be dismissive of others’ opinions.

38. Quandary

Meaning:

This is a noun that means a difficult situation or decision.

Sentence:

 Having to decide between his job and an
opportunity to study abroad had Harry in a quandary.

39. Querulous

Meaning: 

This is an adjective that is used to describe someone who is fretful or has a habit of whining or complaining.

Sentence:

While Mindy loved working at the nursing home, Mr. Santos strained her patients with his querulous questions about meals.

40. Ransack

Meaning: 

When you use the verb ransack you are saying that someone was searching for something so frantically, that they made a huge mess.

Sentence:

I ransacked my room looking for my phone and it turned out to be behind the sofa cushions. 

41. Rebuke

Meaning:

This is a verb that means to scold or criticize someone.

Sentence:

Seeing how hurt Peter was at Alice’s words, Lucy rebuked her friend.

42. Revelry 

Meaning:

This is a noun to denote a feeling of festivity or celebration.

Sentence: 

The revelry of the town festival is something you don’t want to miss.

43. Rift

Meaning: 

A rift is a division or a gap. You can use this noun to say that two people disagreed about something and it ruined their relationship.

Sentence:

The rift between Tom and Nick happened when they found themselves competing for the same job.

44. Simpleton

Meaning:

This noun is used for someone who is not very bright or who has a low mental capacity.

Sentence:

He’s a simpleton and doesn’t really understand why people laugh at him.

45. Spurious

Meaning:

The use of this adjective implies that something is false or counterfeit.

Sentence:

Politicians make a lot of spurious promises during the campaign trail.

46. Strain

Meaning:

When someone or something is under strain, they cannot meet the demands of the situation. This noun means that the resources available are just barely meeting the need or are on the verge of running out.

Sentence:

Between losing her job and her mortgage, having to pay for car repairs really strained Jenny’s budget.

47. Teem

Meaning:

You can use this verb to say that something is full or overflowing.

Sentence: 

The bar was teeming with language learners hoping to practice their conversational skills.

48. Tout

Meaning: 

This verb means that someone is praising or promoting a person or a product.

Sentence:

Much of my makeup collection consists of products touted by my favorite beauty bloggers.

49. Tranquil

Meaning: 

This is an adjective that is used to describe someone who is at peace or to say that the mood is peaceful.

Sentence:

The tranquil mood of the quiet beach was just what I needed to destress after a tough week.

50. Unscathed

Meaning:

This adjective describes someone or something that was untouched or unhurt by a bad situation like an accident.

Sentence: 

While Kyle had a small cut on his forehead, Lindsey was unscathed by the accident.

Conclusion

Here is a PDF of these 50 words with meaning and sentences that you can download, print, and study at your leisure.

If you really want to learn how to use these words in daily conversation, however, we suggest you take this list and go through the words with an online native English language speaking tutor. 

A good tutor can provide you with other examples of how to use these words properly and help you work on your pronunciation and accent. 

Word Meaning Lecture # 6 Grigoryeva M.

Word Meaning Approaches to word meaning Meaning and Notion (понятие) Types of word meaning Types of morpheme meaning Motivation

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

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

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

Approaches to Word Meaning The Referential (analytical) approach The Functional (contextual) approach Operational (information-oriented) approach

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

Basic Triangle concept – flower 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 sound-form [rәuz] referent

In what way does meaning correlate with each element of the triangle ? • In what relation does meaning stand to each of them? •

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

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]

Meaning and Sound-form even considerable changes in sound-form do not affect the meaning EX Old English lufian [luvian] – love [l Λ v]

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Lexical Meaning and Notion denotes the Lexical meaning is reflection in the realization of a mind of real objects notion by means of a definite language system Notion is a unit of Word is a language thinking unit

Lexical Meaning and Notions are Meanings are internationally limited especially with the nations of the same EX GO (E) —- ИДТИ(R) cultural level “To move” BUT !!! To GO by bus (E) ЕХАТЬ (R) EX Man -мужчина, человек Она – хороший человек (R) She is a good person (E)

Types of Meaning Types grammatical meaning of meaning lexico-grammatical meaning lexical meaning denotational connotational

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

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

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

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.

• Grammatical 1. The case of nouns: boy’s, ship’s, friend’s 2. The degree of comparison of adj: nearest, the most beautiful 3. The tense of verbs: wrote, went, thought • Lexical 1. Think, thinking, thought 2. Went, go 3. Boy’s, boys 4. Nearest, nearer 5. At, for, during (“time”) 6. Beautiful, the most beautiful • Part-of-speech Nouns—verbs—adj—-prep

Aspects of Lexical meaning The denotational aspect The connotational aspect The pragmatic aspect

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”

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

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

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”

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 workswollen finger knuckles.

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)

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)

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.

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)

Types of Morpheme Meaning lexical differential functional distributional

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”

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

Differential Meaning a semantic component that serves to distinguish one word from all others containing identical morphemes EX. cranberry, blackberry, gooseberry

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.

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- = ?

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

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

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”

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)

• PRACTICE

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

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

• 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

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