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Word Meaning
Lecture # 6
Grigoryeva M. -
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Word Meaning
Approaches to word meaning
Meaning and Notion (понятие)
Types of word meaning
Types of morpheme meaning
Motivation
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3 слайд
Each word has two aspects:
the outer aspect
( its sound form)
catthe inner aspect
(its meaning)
long-legged, fury animal with sharp teeth
and claws -
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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 -
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Semantics (Semasiology)
Is a branch of lexicology which studies the
meaning of words and word equivalents -
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Approaches to Word Meaning
The Referential (analytical) approachThe Functional (contextual) approach
Operational (information-oriented) approach
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The Referential (analytical) approach
formulates the essence of meaning by establishing the interdependence between words and things or concepts they denotedistinguishes between three components closely connected with meaning:
the sound-form of the linguistic sign,
the concept
the actual referent -
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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 – flowersound-form referent
[rәuz] -
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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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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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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 childidentical sound-forms have different meanings (‘homonyms)
EX. knight [nait]
night [nait] -
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Meaning and Sound-form
even considerable changes in sound-form do not affect the meaningEX Old English lufian [luvian] – love [l Λ v]
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Meaning and Concept
concept is a category of human cognitionconcept 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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Meaning and Concept
identical concepts may have different semantic structures in different languagesEX. 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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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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Meaning
is not identical with any of the three points of the triangle –
the sound form,
the concept
the referentBUT
is closely connected with them. -
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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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Operational approach
is centered on defining meaning through its role in
the process of communicationEX 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 toThe implication depends on the concrete situation
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Lexical Meaning and Notion
Notion denotes the reflection in the mind of real objectsNotion 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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Lexical Meaning and Notion
Notions are international especially with the nations of the same cultural levelMeanings 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) -
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Types of Meaning
Types of meaninggrammatical
meaninglexico-grammatical
meaning
lexical meaning
denotational
connotational -
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Grammatical Meaning
component of meaning recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of different wordsEX. girls, winters, toys, tables –
grammatical meaning of pluralityasked, thought, walked –
meaning of past tense -
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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
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Lexical Meaning
is the meaning proper to the given linguistic unit in all its forms and distributionsEX . Go – goes — went
lexical meaning – process of movement -
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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. -
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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, thoughtLexical
Think, thinking, thought
Went, go
Boy’s, boy, boys
Nearest, near, nearer
At, for, during (“time”)
Beautiful, the most beautifulPart-of-speech
Nouns—verbs—adj—-prep -
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Aspects of Lexical meaning
The denotational aspectThe connotational aspect
The pragmatic aspect
-
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Denotational Meaning
“denote” – to be a sign of, stand as a symbol for”establishes the correlation between the name and the object
makes communication possibleEX booklet
“a small thin book that gives info about smth” -
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PRACTICE
Explain denotational meaningA 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 -
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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 -
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Connotational Meaning
reflects the attitude of the speaker towards what he speaks about
it is optional – a word either has it or notConnotation 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” -
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PRACTICE
Give possible interpretation of the sentencesShe 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. -
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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) -
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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) -
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PRACTICE
State what image underline the meaningI 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. -
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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) -
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Types of Morpheme Meaning
lexical
differential
functional
distributional -
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Lexical Meaning in Morphemes
root-morphemes that are homonymous to words possess lexical meaning
EX. boy – boyhood – boyishaffixes have lexical meaning of a more generalized character
EX. –er “agent, doer of an action” -
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Lexical Meaning in Morphemes
has denotational and connotational components
EX. –ly, -like, -ish –
denotational meaning of similiarity
womanly , womanishconnotational component –
-ly (positive evaluation), -ish (deragotary) женственный — женоподобный -
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Differential Meaning
a semantic component that serves to distinguish one word from all others containing identical morphemesEX. cranberry, blackberry, gooseberry
-
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Functional Meaning
found only in derivational affixes
a semantic component which serves to
refer the word to the certain part of speechEX. just, adj. – justice, n.
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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- = ? -
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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 othercan be phonetical
morphological
semantic -
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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
-
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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” -
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Semantic Motivation
based on co-existence of direct and figurative meanings of the same wordEX a watchdog –
”a dog kept for watching property”a watchdog –
“a watchful human guardian” (semantic motivation) -
-
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Analyze the meaning of the words.
Define the type of motivation
a) morphologically motivated
b) semantically motivatedDriver
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 -
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I heard what she said but it didn’t sink in my mind
“do down to the bottom”
‘to be accepted by mind” semantic motivationWhy are you trying to pin the blame on me?
“fasten smth somewhere using a pin” –
”to blame smb” semantic motivationI was following the man when he dived into a pub.
“jump into deep water” –
”to enter into suddenly” semantic motivationYou 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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Would you like this sound words list as a free PDF poster with pictures? Click here to get it.
We hear different sounds all the time. But how do we actually say them as words?
There are many different words for sounds. Let’s look at 42 sound words in English (plus some useful idioms with sound words).
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1. Sounds of things hitting things
Thud
The sound of something heavy falling and hitting the ground.
I don’t know why she’s dropping a brick from a high chair.
But it does make a fun sound.
Whack
The sound of a short, heavy hit.
This can also be used as a verb:
“She whacked him in the head with the pillow.”
Slap
The sound of someone hitting something (or someone) with an open hand.
You’ll hear this word a lot in idioms:
A slap in the face is used when someone has done something bad to you (given you something you don’t want or not given you something that you do want, for example), usually unfairly.
“I did all of the work for the project and then Sam gets the promotion — not fair. What a slap in the face!”
A slap on the wrist is when someone gets punished — but very, very lightly. Much less than they deserve:
“You heard about Hexon Oil? They polluted every lake in the country and only got a $2000 fine. It was barely a slap on the wrist, really.”
A slap-up meal is basically a massive meal — the kind of meal you have when you really don’t want to think about your weight or your health. Just enjoy it!
“I’ve sold the house! I’m taking you all out for a slap-up meal at Mrs Miggins’ pie shop!”
A slapdash job or slapdash work is work done really badly. I remember waiting in a cafe at Sofia airport, and these Austrian guys found it quite funny that there was just one plug socket in the whole cafe. And it was halfway up the wall. The designer definitely did a slapdash job:
“Don’t get that builder. He did such a slapdash job on our house that the roof fell in.”
Knock
OK, so “knock” is the sound that you make when you arrive at your friend’s house and hit their door with your hand.
There’s also the phrase “don’t knock it.”
It basically means “don’t criticise it.”
“Banana and crisp sandwiches are actually really good! Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!”
Rattle
Stay away! It’s a rattlesnake. And it’s rattling its tail.
As a verb, “rattle” can also mean “disturb.”
Think about classic action heroes.
They can fall out of planes, jump off the edges of mountains, survive car crashes, helicopter crashes and bike crashes; they can be forced to swim underwater for five minutes and then run 200 metres over burning coals.
And after that, they’re just fine, right?
That’s because nothing rattles them. Nothing!
Splat
The sound of something wet hitting something else.
Like when you throw eggs or rotten tomatoes at the visiting politician.
Or a water balloon at your friend.
Clunk
This is one of those words that sounds like it sounds, if you know what I mean.
It’s a heavy, dull sound.
Clang
A noisy, metallic sound.
Clink
This is like clang’s baby brother.
It’s a small, sharp sound — usually made when metal or glass touches something.
Patter
A light tapping sound.
We usually use it to describe rain:
“I love sleeping through storms, don’t you! The patter of rain on the roof and knowing you’re safe and sound in bed.”
When I was a kid (and for too long afterwards — she still does this when I visit) my mother would greet me when I came downstairs in the morning with:
“You’re awake! I thought I heard the patter of tiny feet!”
“Mum — I’m 37 years old.”
Clatter
Clang is noisy and unpleasant, right?
Now imagine lots of clangs. That’s clatter.
Smash
The sound of something breaking into a million pieces. Usually violently.
“Smashing” can also mean “excellent”:
“She did such a smashing job that we hired her full time.”
Slam
We usually use this to describe closing a door very loudly.
But we can use it for other similar situations.
You can slam the phone down (if you’re using a non-mobile phone, like the retro kid you are).
You can also slam a glass on the table. (Think tequila shots.)
If someone slams the door in your face, they basically decide not to help you or give you information that you need.
“I called the helpline about it, but they refused to help. Completely slammed the door in my face.”
You can also just “slam” something. It means “give a very, very negative review.”
“The New York Times completely slammed his new book. But I thought it was pretty good.”
2. Mechanical sounds
Honk
When I lived in Istanbul, I would play a game.
I would try to count to five without hearing a single car honk its horn.
I never got past three seconds.
Also — it was a terrible game. But I was bored.
Whir
A continuous sound — usually quiet, often calming.
Tick
We almost always think of clocks and watches when we hear the word “tick.”
It’s that tiny, short sound.
So it wouldn’t surprise you to hear that we can use the phrase “time is ticking” to mean “hurry up!”
“Let’s get started! Time’s ticking.”
If you’re a bit angry (not furious — just a bit), then you can say that you’re “ticked off.”
“To be honest, I’m a bit ticked off. I didn’t expect you to tell everyone about what I told you. It was private.”
“In a tick” can also mean “in a minute,” “in a second,” “in a moment” or just “soon.”
“Take a seat. I’ll be with you in a tick.”
Click
A small, sharp sound.
Think about a light switch.
Or this annoying guy and his annoying pen.
When you click with someone, you immediately get on well. You start talking and it feels as if you’ve always been friends.
“I’ve been friends with Gudrun for 20 years. We clicked as soon as we met.”
Bang
A loud noise! Usually sudden.
This is most closely associated with guns. But the building site next to my house also produces a lot of bangs.
If you go out with a bang, you finish or leave something in a super-dramatic way.
“Wow! His last day of work and he throws coffee in the boss’s face! Talk about going out with a bang!”
When someone bangs on about something, they talk for ages about it while successfully boring the life out of whoever has the bad luck to listen to them.
“If you could just stop banging on about your new computer for a minute, I’d like to talk to you about what happened last weekend.”
Buzz
The sound of something vibrating.
When we talk about the buzz of a place, we’re talking about that special energy it has.
Some cities (like Vienna) have a real buzz, while some cities (like Swindon) don’t.
“What I miss about Istanbul most is the buzz. And the food. But mostly the buzz.”
You can also buzz someone in when you’re at home, and someone wants to get into the building. It saves you from having to walk all the way downstairs to let them in.
“Hey! I’m outside your flat now. Can you buzz me in?”
Finally, you can give someone a buzz. It just means “give them a quick call.”
“Let’s have that drink on Friday. Just give me a buzz, and I’ll let you know where I am.”
3. Electronic sounds
Ping
This is the sound of a very small bell.
Think of a typewriter or a hotel reception desk.
Blip
A ping will last for a long time (piiiinnnggggg). But a blip is very, very short.
Think of a radar in those films with too many submarines in.
Beep
A blip sounds quite nice, but a beep can get very annoying very quickly.
I don’t know how people working as supermarket cashiers don’t go crazy. Do they still hear the beeps when they go to sleep at night?
4. Organic sounds
Snap
A sudden breaking sound — think of the sound of wood breaking.
I guess because it’s quite an unpredictable sound, we can also use “snap” as a verb to mean “suddenly get angry.” When you snap, it’s probably a result of lots of things building up.
“It was when her kid put his school tie in the toaster that she finally snapped.”
It also has a second meaning.
Have you ever tried to talk to someone, and instead of saying “Hi!” or “Good to see you!” or “Nice hair,” they just angrily shout at you — completely unpredictable and sudden?
Then they snapped at you.
“I wouldn’t talk to him right now, if I were you. I just asked him if he was OK, and he snapped at me.”
You can also just say “snap” when someone else has something that you have. It could be a plan, an interest, or something physical, like a T-shirt.
“No way! Snap! I’ve got the exact same phone.”
Finally, there’s a snap election.
It’s a general election that the prime minister or president suddenly announces — usually because they think they’ll win. All of a sudden, we’re voting. Again!
“She said she wouldn’t call a snap election. Then she did.”
Crack
It’s like a loud snap.
If you want to celebrate, you can do so in style — by cracking open a bottle of champagne:
“You got the job?! Awesome — let’s crack open a bottle, yeah?”
If you drink too much of it, you might find EVERYTHING funny and just crack up all the time. It means suddenly start laughing. A lot. Until your face hurts.
“I told him my idea, and he just cracked up. I didn’t think it was that funny.”
Crackle
Lots of small cracks.
Fire and fireworks crackle. And not much else.
Pop
A tiny, little, mini explosion sound.
Because it’s such a short sound, we use it in phrasal verbs to describe something quick.
You can pop out (go outside — but only for a bit):
“I’m just popping out for some fresh air. See you in a few minutes.”
Or you can pop in somewhere (visit — but only for a bit):
“When you’re in town, why not pop in for a coffee?”
Sizzle
The sound of food cooking.
Rustle
There are basically only two things that rustle.
Leaves (especially dry, autumn leaves) and paper.
To rustle something up means to make a quick meal — like a sandwich or some toast.
“You haven’t eaten? Give me two minutes — I’ll rustle something up.”
Rumble
A continuous, deep sound.
Think of thunder.
Or your stomach when you’re really hungry.
5. Water sounds
Fizz
That nice sound of bubbles popping. Think about sparkling water or champagne.
Squelch
You just need to say this word to understand what it means.
Go on, say it. Feels good, doesn’t it?
It’s basically the sound of walking in mud.
Gurgle
This is the sound of bubbles being created.
Imagine lying down in the green grass next to a beautiful stream.
What can you hear?
The gurgle of the stream of course.
And the lion. Look out for the lion.
Glug
If gurgle is a series of sounds, then glug is a single one of those sounds.
Think of how you sound when you’re drinking water quickly.
Drip
“Drip” looks like “drop,” right?
Well, “drip” is the sound that a drop makes when it hits something.
Splash
The sound of something hitting water (or any liquid).
Think of the sound of kids in the bath.
Or the sound at the end of a water slide.
If you feel like spending a little more money than you should, then you splash out.
“Yeah, it’s a bit pricey. But it’s my birthday. I’m gonna splash out.”
Trickle
This is the sound of liquid flowing very slowly.
Squeal
Don’t step on the rat’s tail. He’ll squeal really loudly.
Also, it’s not nice. Leave the rat alone, you monster.
Squeak
A squeak is a small, high-pitched sound.
Think of the sound of a mouse.
Or an old bed.
Or a door that needs oil.
I once had a pair of shoes that squeaked a lot.
You can also use the phrase “a squeak out of someone” to describe any sound coming out of their mouth at all. It’s usually used in the negative.
“Right. He’s coming. I don’t want to hear a squeak out of either of you until he’s gone. I’ll do the talking.”
Hiss
OK. Repeat after me:
“Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.”
Good — you’ve just made a hiss.
Swish
This is another word that sounds like it sounds. (These words are called onomatopoeia, by the way.)
It’s a bit like a mixture between a hiss and a rustle.
Creak
When you open that old, heavy wooden door.
Or decide to take your kids to a playground that was built in the ‘50s.
Then expect to hear a lot of loud, high-pitched sounds of wood and metal rubbing together.
A lot of creaks.
Scrape
The sound of something hard or sharp rubbing against something else.
We use this a lot as a verb.
You might have to scrape ice off your car on winter mornings.
Or scrape the pancake off the pan after you’ve burned it.
Or scrape chewing gum off the table. Seriously, why do people do that?
There’s also the idiom “to scrape the bottom of the barrel.”
We use it when we’ve almost completely run out of options, and all we have are the worst choices.
“Is this the best we can do? We’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. I mean some of them don’t even have faces.”
Congratulations! You now know 42 sound words in English (plus some new idioms).
So let’s practice:
- Have you splashed out on something recently (like a slap-up meal or clothes)?
- What ticks you off the most?
- Can you remember cracking up over something that wasn’t funny? What was it?
Answer in the comments!
Did you like this post? Then be awesome and share by clicking the blue button below.
-
What are the three aspects of lexical meaning?
-
Give example of denotational aspect.
-
What is connotational aspect? What are its elements? Give examples.
-
What is pragmatic aspect? What are its elements? Give examples
Word-Meaning and Motivation
I.V. Arnold, The English Word, §2.3. Phonetic, Morphological
and Semantic Motivation of Words [pp. 33-36]
Types
of motivation
The term motivation is
used to denote the relationship existing between the phonemic or
morphemic composition and structural pattern of the word on the one
hand, and its meaning on the other. There are three main types of
motivation: phonetical motivation, morphological
motivation, and semantic motivation.
Phonetical
motivation: connection between sound-form and meaning
Phonetical
motivation in Russian and English
When there is a certain
similarity between the sounds that make lip the word and those
referred to by the sense, the motivation is phonetical.
Examples are: bang, buzz, cuckoo, giggle, gurgle, hiss, purr,
whistle, etc. Here the sounds of a word are imitative of sounds
in nature because what is referred to is a sound or at least,
produces a characteristic sound (cuckoo). Although
there exists a certain arbitrary element in the resulting phonemic
shape of the word, one can see that this type of motivation is
determined by the phonological system of each language as shown by
the difference of echo-words for the same concept in different
languages. St. Ullmann stresses that phonetic motivation is not a
perfect replica of any acoustic structure but only a rough
approximation. This accounts for the variability of echo-words
within one language and between different languages. Cf. cuckoo
(Engl), Kuckuck (Germ), кукушка
(Russ). Within the English vocabulary there are different words, all
sound imitative, meaning ‘quick, foolish, indistinct talk’:
babble, chatter, gabble, prattle. In this last group echoic
creations combine phonological and morphological motivation because
they contain verbal suffixes -le and -er forming
frequentative verbs. We see therefore that one word may combine
different types of motivation.
Words denoting noises produced
by animals are mostly sound imitative. In English they are
motivated only phonetically so that nouns and verbs are exactly the
same. In Russian the motivation combines phonetical and morphological
motivation. The Russian words блеять
v and блеяние
n are equally represented in English by bleat. Cf. also: purr
(of a cat), moo (of a cow), crow (of a cock), bark
(of a dog), neigh (of a horse) and their Russian equivalents.
Morphological
motivation
The morphological
motivation may be quite regular. Thus, the prefix ex-
means ‘former’ when added to human nouns: ex-filmstar,
ex-president, ex-wife. Alongside with these cases there is a more
general use of ex-: in borrowed words it is unstressed and
motivation is faded (expect, export, etc.).
The derived word re-think
is motivated inasmuch as its morphological structure suggests
the idea of thinking again. Re- is one of the most common
prefixes of the English language, it means ‘again’ and ‘back’ and
is added to verbal stems or abstract deverbal noun stems, as in
rebuild, reclaim, resell, resettlement. Here again these
newer formations should be compared with older borrowings from Latin
and French where re- is now unstressed, and the motivation
faded. Compare re-cover ‘cover again’ and recover
‘get better’. In short: morphological motivation is especially
obvious in newly coined words, or at least words created in the
present century. C f. detainee, manoeuvrable,
prefabricated, racialist, self-propelling, vitaminize,
etc. In older words, root words and morphemes motivation is
established etymologically, if at all.
From the examples given above
it is clear that motivation is the way in which a given meaning is
represented in the word. It reflects the type of nomination process
chosen by the creator of the new word. Some scholars of the past
used to call the phenomenon the inner word form.
Irregularities
of morphological motivation
In deciding whether a word of
long standing in the language is morphologically motivated
according to present-day patterns or not, one should be very careful.
Similarity in sound form does not always correspond to
similarity in morphological pattern. Agential suffix -er is
affixable to any verb, so that V+-er means ‘one who V-s’ or
‘something that V-s’: writer, receiver, bomber, rocker, knocker.
Yet, although the verb numb exists in English, number
is not ‘one who numbs’ but is derived from OFr nombre borrowed
into English and completely assimilated.
The cases of regular
morphological motivation outnumber irregularities, and yet one
must remember the principle of «fuzzy sets» in coming
across the word smoker with its variants: ‘one who smokes
tobacco’ and ‘a railway car in which passengers may smoke’.
Semantic
motivation
Many writers nowadays instead
of the term morphological motivation, or parallel to it,
introduce the term word-building meaning. In what follows
the term will be avoided because actually it is not meaning that is
dealt with in this concept, but the form of presentation.
The third type of motivation
is called semantic motivation. It is based on the
co-existence of direct and figurative meanings of the same word
within the same synchronous system. Mouth continues to denote
a part of the human face, and at the same time it can metaphorically
apply to any opening or outlet: the mouth of a river, of a cave,
of a furnace. Jacket is a short coat and also a protective cover
for a book, a phonograph record or an electric wire. Ermine is
not only the name of a small animal, but also of its fur, and the
office and rank of an English judge because in England ermine was
worn by judges in court. In their direct meaning neither mouth
nor ermine is motivated.
Motivation
in compounds
As to compounds, their
motivation is morphological if the meaning of the whole is based
on the direct meaning of the components, and semantic if the
combination of components is used figuratively. Thus, eyewash ‘a
lotion for the eyes’ or headache ‘pain in the head’, or
watchdog ‘a dog kept for watching property’ are all
morphologically motivated. If, on the other hand, they are used
metaphorically as ‘something said or deceive a person so that he
thinks that what he sees is good, though in fact it is not’,
‘anything or anyone very annoying’ and ‘a watchful human guardian’,
respectively, then the motivation is semantic. Compare also
heart-breaking, time-server, lick-spittle, sky-jack v.
An interesting example of
complex morpho-semantic motivation passing through several
stages in its history is the word teenager ‘a person in his or
her teens’. The motivation may be historically traced as follows:
the inflected form of the numeral ten produced the suffix
-teen. The suffix later produces a stem with a metonymical
meaning (semantic motivation), receives the plural ending -s,
and then produces a new noun teens ‘the years of a person’s
life of which the numbers end in -teen, namely from 13 In 19′.
In combination with age or aged the adjectives teen-age
and teen-aged are coined, as in teen-age boy, teen-age
fashions. A morphologically motivated noun teenager is
then formed with the help of the suffix -er which is often
added to compounds or noun phrases producing personal names according
to the pattern ‘one connected with…’
The pattern is frequent
enough. One must keep in mind, however, that not all words with a
similar morphemic composition will have the same derivational history
and denote human beings. E. g. first-nighter and
honeymooner are personal nouns, but two-seater is ‘a car
or an aeroplane seating two persons’,
back-hander is ‘a back-hand stroke in tennis’ and three-decker
‘a sandwich made of three pieces of bread with two layers of
filling’.
Non-motivated
words
When the connection between
the meaning of the word and its form is conventional that is there is
no perceptible reason for the word having this particular phonemic
and morphemic composition, the word is said to be non-motivated
for the present stage of language development.
Motivation
and diachrony
Faded
motivation
Every vocabulary is in a state
of constant development. Words that seem non-motivated at present may
have lost their motivation. The verb earn does not suggest at
present any necessary connection with agriculture. The
connection of form and meaning seems purely conventional.
Historical analysis shows, however, that it is derived from OE
(ʒe-)earnian ‘to harvest’. In Modern English this connection
no longer exists and earn is now a non-motivated word. Complex
morphological structures tend to unite and become indivisible units,
as St. Ullmann demonstrates tracing the history of not which
is a reduced form of nought
from OE nowiht <no-wiht ‘nothing’.
When some people recognize the
motivation, whereas others do not, motivation is said to be faded.
Folk
etymology
Sometimes in an attempt to
find motivation for a borrowed word the speakers change its form so
as to give it a connection with some well-known word. These cases of
mistaken motivation received the name of folk etymology. The
phenomenon is not very frequent. Two examples will suffice: A
nightmare is not ‘a she-horse that appears at night’ but ‘a
terrifying dream personified in folklore as a female monster’. (OE
mara ‘an evil spirit’.) The international radio-telephone signal
may-day corresponding to the telegraphic SOS used by aeroplanes
and ships in distress has nothing to do with the First of May but is
a phonetic rendering of French m’aidez ‘help me’.
Sound
symbolism
Some linguists consider one
more type of motivation closely akin to the imitative forms, namely
sound symbolism. Some words are supposed to illustrate the
meaning more immediately than do ordinary words. As the same
combinations of sounds are used in many semantically similar words,
they become more closely associated with the meaning. Examples are:
flap, flip, flop, flitter, flimmer,
flicker, flutter, flash, flush, flare; glare, glitter, glow, gloat,
glimmer; sleet, slime, slush, where fl- is associated with
quick movement, gl- with light and fire, sl- with mud.
This sound symbolism
phenomenon is not studied enough so far, so that it is difficult to
say to what extent it is valid. There are, for example, many
English words, containing the initial fl- but not associated
with quick or any other movement: flat, floor, flour, flower.
There is also nothing muddy in the referents of sleep or
slender.
To sum up this discussion of
motivation: there are processes in the vocabulary that compel us to
modify the Saussurian principle according to which linguistic units
are independent of the substance in which they are realized and their
associations is a matter of arbitrary convention. It is already not
true for phonetic motivation and only partly true for all other
types. In the process of vocabulary development, and we witness
everyday its intensity, a speaker of a language creates new words and
is understood because the vocabulary system possesses established
associations of form and meaning.
R.S. Ginzburg, A Course in Modern English Lexicology, §17.
Morphological Motivation, §18. Phonetical Motivation, §19. Semantic
Motivation [pp. 25-27]
[…] there are cases when we
can observe a direct connection between the structural pattern of the
word and its meaning. This relationship between morphemic structure
and meaning is termed morphological motivation.
Morphological
motivation and its main criterion
The main criterion in
morphological motivation is the relationship between morphemes. Hence
all one-morpheme words, e.g. sing, tell, eat,
are by definition non-motivated. In words composed of more than one
morpheme the carrier of the word-meaning is the combined meaning of
the component morphemes and the meaning of the structural pattern of
the word. This can be illustrated by the semantic analysis of
different words composed of phonemically identical morphemes with
identical lexical meaning. The words finger-ring and
ring-finger, e.g., contain two morphemes, the combined lexical
meaning of which is the same; the difference in the meaning of these
words can be accounted for by the difference in the arrangement of
the component morphemes.
If we can observe a direct
connection between the structural pattern of the word and its
meaning, we say that this word is motivated. Consequently words such
as singer, rewrite, eatable, etc., are described
as motivated. If the connection between the structure of the lexical
unit and its meaning is completely arbitrary and conventional, we
speak of non-motivated or idiomatic words, e.g. matter,
repeat.
Relativeness
of morphological motivation
It should be noted in passing
that morphological motivation is «relative», i.e. the
degree of motivation may be different. Between the extremes of
complete motivation and lack of motivation, there exist various
grades of partial motivation. The word endless, e.g., is
completely motivated as both the lexical meaning of the component
morphemes and the meaning of the pattern is perfectly transparent.
The word cranberry is only partially motivated because of the
absence of the lexical meaning in the morpheme cran-.
Motivation
and diachrony
One more point should be noted
in connection with the problem in question. A synchronic approach to
morphological motivation presupposes historical changeability of
structural patterns and the ensuing degree of motivation. Some
English place-names may serve as an illustration. Such place-names as
Newtowns and Wildwoods are lexically and structurally
motivated and may be easily analysed into
component morphemes. Other place-names, e.g. Essex, Norfolk,
Sutton, are non-motivated. To the average English speaker
these names are non-analysable lexical
units like sing or tell. However, upon examination the
student of language history will perceive their components to be
East+ Saxon, North+Folk and South+Town which
shows that in earlier days they were just as completely motivated as
Newtowns or Wildwoods are in Modern English.
Phonetic
motivation
Motivation is usually thought
of as proceeding from form or structure to meaning. Morphological
motivation as discussed above implies a direct connection between the
morphological structure of the word and its meaning. Some linguists,
however, argue that words can be motivated in more than one way and
suggest another type of motivation which may be described as a
direct connection between the phonetical structure of the word and
its meaning. It is argued that speech sounds may suggest spatial and
visual dimensions, shape, size, etc. Experiments carried out by a
group of linguists showed that back open vowels are suggestive of big
size, heavy weight, dark colour, etc. The
experiments were repeated many times and the results were always the
same. Native speakers of English were asked to listen to pairs of
antonyms from an unfamiliar (or non-existent) language unrelated to
English, e.g. ching—chung and then to
try to find the English equivalents, e.g. light—heavy,
(big—small, etc.), which foreign word translates which
English word. About 90 per cent of English speakers felt that
ching is the equivalent of the English light
(small) and chung of its antonym heavy
(large).
It is also pointed out that
this type of phonetical motivation may be observed in the phonemic
structure of some newly coined words. For example, the small
transmitter that specializes in high frequencies is called ‘a
tweeter’, the transmitter for low frequences
‘a woofer’.
Sound
symbolism
Another type of phonetical
motivation is represented by such words as swish, sizzle,
boom, splash, etc. These words may be defined as
phonetically motivated because the soundclusters [swɪʃ, sɪzl,
bum, splæʃ] are a direct imitation of the sounds these words
denote. It is also suggested that sounds themselves may be
emotionally expressive which accounts for the phonetical motivation
in certain words. Initial [f] and [p], e.g., are felt as expressing
scorn, contempt, disapproval or disgust which can be illustrated by
the words pooh! fie! fiddle-sticks, flim-flam and the
like. The sound-cluster [iŋ] is imitative of sound or swift movement
as can be seen in words ring, sing, swings fling, etc.
Thus, phonetically such words may be considered motivated.
Semantic
motivation
This hypothesis seems to
require verification. This of course is not to deny that there are
some words which involve phonetical symbolism: these are the
onomatopoeic, imitative or echoic words such as the English cuckoo,
splash and whisper. And even these are not
completely motivated but seem to be conventional to quite a large
extent (cf. кукареку
and cock-a-doodle-doo). In any case words like these
constitute only a small and untypical minority in the language. As to
symbolic value of certain sounds, this too is disproved by the fact
that identical sounds and sound- clusters may be found in words of
widely different meaning, e.g. initial [p] and [f], are found in
words expressing contempt and disapproval (fie, pooh) and also
in such words as plough, fine, and others. The
sound-cluster [iŋ] which is supposed to be imitative of sound or
swift movement (ring, swing) is also observed in
semantically different words, e.g. thing, king,
and others.
The term motivation is
also used by a number of linguists to denote the relationship between
the central and the coexisting meaning or meanings of a word which
are understood as a metaphorical extension of the central meaning.
Metaphorical extension may be viewed as generalization of the
denotational meaning of a word permitting it to include new referents
which are in some way like the original class of referents.
Similarity of various aspects and/or functions of different classes
of referents may account for the semantic motivation of a number of
minor meanings. For example, a woman who has given birth is called
a mother; by extension, any act that gives birth is
associated with being a mother, e.g. in Necessity is the
mother of invention. The same principle can be observed in
other meanings: a mother looks after a child, so that we can say She
became a mother to her orphan nephew, or Romulus and Remus
were supposedly mothered by a wolf. Cf. also mother country,
a mother’s mark (=a birthmark), mother tongue,
etc. Such metaphoric extension may be observed in the so-called
trite metaphors, such as burn with anger, break smb’s
heart, jump at a chance, etc.
If metaphorical extension is
observed in the relationship of the central and a minor word
meaning it is often observed in the relationship between its
synonymic or antonymic meanings. Thus, a few years ago the phrases a
meeting at the summit, a summit meeting
appeared in the newspapers.
Cartoonists portrayed the
participants of such summit meetings sitting on mountain tops. Now
when lesser diplomats confer the talks are called foothill
meetings. In this way both summit and its antonym
foothill undergo the process of metaphorical
extension.
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Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language. A language’s sound system is made up of a set of phonemes which are used according to phonological rules.
In this article, we’ll look at:
- What phonology is
- Phonological awareness
- Phonemes
- Dialect and accent
- Phonotactics
- Phonology in the English language and
- Examples of phonology in linguistics
- Assimilation, dissimilation, insertion, and deletion
Phonology meaning
Phonology describes sound contrasts which create differences in meaning within a language. Phonological systems are made up of phonemes (we’ll come back to phonemes in a bit), and each language has its own phonological system. This means that the study of phonology is language-specific.
- For example, the phoneme /ɛ/ is different from the phoneme /i:/, so if we use the word set [sɛt] instead of seat [si:t], the meaning of the word will change.
Note: slash marks are used to indicate a phoneme /t/ (an abstract segment i.e. the representation of the sound), as opposed to the square brackets [t], used to indicate a phone (a physical segment i.e. the actual sound produced).
Phonological awareness
Phonological awareness is the ability to be aware of, identify and manipulate phonological units (phonemes) in elements of spoken language such as syllables and words.
Phonological awareness comes from the analysis of the following language elements:
- Phonemes
- Dialects and accents
- Phonotactics
Phonemes
A phoneme is the smallest unit of meaningful sound. Phonemes are the basic phonological units and form the building blocks of speech sounds. Phonemes are single sounds represented by a single written symbol.
Symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are used to represent phonemes. The IPA is a system of symbols where each possible speech sound has a representative written symbol.
Minimal pairs
In Phonology, you can use minimal pairs to distinguish phonemes from each other.
A minimal pair is when two words have different meanings but only one sound (or phonemic) difference.
An example of minimal pairs in phonology would be:
- mire /maɪə/ and mile /maɪl/.
- bad /bæd/ and bed /bɛd/.
- crowd /kraʊd/ and cloud /klaʊd/.
- rock /rɒk/ and lock /lɒk/.
As you can see, these words are very similar, but each pair contains one phonemic difference which creates different meanings.
The rules for identifying minimal pairs are:
-
The words in the pair must have the same number of sounds.
-
Two or more words in the pairs must be identical in every sound except for one.
-
In each word, the sounds must be in the same position.
-
The words must have different meanings.
Dialects and accents of English
People can pronounce sounds in different ways. This can depend on multiple factors, for example:
- Social class
- Ethnic group
- Speech or voice disorders
- Education
- Geographical area
Accent and dialect are a result of all these factors.
Dialects are variations of the same language spoken by people in particular areas or social groups. Dialects differ in pronunciation, grammatical patterns, and vocabulary. It is important to remember that whilst these factors impact speech, people can have different dialects and speak the same language.
-
For example, Scottish, Irish, Yorkshire, Cockney, Welsh English, may all be said to be dialects of the UK English language.
-
Regional dialects may differ in their pronunciation or use particular grammatical patterns or vocabulary. For example, the British English dialect does not pronounce the /r/ in words like ‘car’ [ka:] whereas the American English dialect often pronounces the /r/. This is called rhoticity.
Accents have developed because of regional phonological differences. Sometimes accents are based on the pronunciation of words by non-native speakers. A foreign accent is marked by the phonology of other languages.
Examples of phonological differences are:
- The word potato: — In British English it is pronounced po-tayh-to [pəˈteɪtəʊ].- In American English it is pronounced po-tay-to [pəˈteɪˌtoʊ].
- The word laughter:- In British English it is pronounced la-fte [ˈlɑːftə].- In American English it is pronounced la-fter [ˈlæftər].
- The word banana:- In British English it is pronounced be-na-na [bəˈnɑːnə].- In American English it is pronounced be-nah-na [bəˈnænə].
Phonotactics
One of the branches of phonology is phonotactics.
Phonotactics is the study of the rules governing the possible phoneme sequences in a language.
— Oxford English Dictionary
Within phonotactics, we can look at syllables. A syllable is a phonological unit that involves one or more phonemes. Syllables can show us how phonemes appear in particular sequences.
Each syllable has:
- a nucleus — always a vowel,
- an onset and a coda — usually consonants.
Let’s have a look at an example of a syllable study in phonology:
In the word cat /kaet/, /k/ is the onset, /ae/ is the nucleus and /t/ is the coda.
These are the rules concerning phoneme sequences in syllables:
- The nucleus of a syllable is essential for the word and is the vowel in the middle of the syllable.
- The onset is not always present but you can find it before the nucleus if it is.
- The coda is also not always present but you can find it after the nucleus if it is.
These phonotactic rules are specific to the English language as phonology is language-specific. Other languages will have different phonotactic rules.
Phonology in the English language
As we’ve said, each language has its own phonology. That is, its own set of phonemes. These phoneme sets are often shown through phonemic charts.
A phonemic chart for a language contains all of the phonemes that exist in that language. It is much more specific than the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) chart which includes all possible speech sounds across all languages.
Phonological rules
Each language’s phonological system contains rules which govern the pronunciation of phonemes.
Phonological rules are related to the spoken or written principles which control the changes of sounds during speech.
These describe the process of articulation (how a speaker produces speech sounds stored in the brain). Phonological rules help us understand which sounds change, what they change to, and where the change happens.
Examples of phonological rules can be divided into four types: assimilation, dissimilation, insertion, and deletion.
Examples of phonology in linguistics
We’ll now look at the phonological rules: assimilation, dissimilation, insertion and deletion. Examples of these phonological rules occurring in the English language are given below. Pay attention to the examples with ‘/’ and ‘[‘ that are used in studying phonology.
Assimilation
Assimilation is the process of changing one feature of a sound to make it similar to another.
This rule can be applied to the English plural system:
- The -s can change from voiced to voiceless depending on whether the preceding consonant is voiced or unvoiced.
So, the English plural -s can be pronounced in different ways depending on the word it is part of, for example:
- In the word snakes, the letter ‘s’ is pronounced /s/.
- In the word baths, the letter ‘s’ is pronounced /z/.
- In the word dresses, the letter ‘s’ is pronounced /ɪz/.
Dissimilation
Dissimilation is the process of changing one feature of a sound to make it different.
This type of rule makes two sounds more distinguishable. It can help non-native speakers to pronounce words.
- The pronunciation of the word chimney [ˈʧɪmni] as chimley [ˈʧɪmli], with the change of [n] to an [l].
Insertion
Insertion is the process of adding an extra sound between two others.
For example, we usually insert a voiceless stop between a nasal and a voiceless fricative to make it easier for English speakers to pronounce a word.
-
In the word strength /strɛŋθ/, we add the sound ‘k’ and it becomes /strɛŋkθ/.
-
In the word hamster /hæmstə/, we add the sound ‘p’ and it becomes /hæmpstə/.
Deletion
Deletion is the process of not pronouncing a sound (consonant, vowel, or whole syllable) present in a word or phrase, to make it easier to say.
For example:
In the phrase “you and me” [ju: ənd mi:] it is possible not to say the sound /d/.
- You and me [ju:ənmi:].
This also occurs in some words:
- /h/ in him [ɪm].
- /f/ in fifth [fɪθ].
Phonology — Key takeaways
-
Phonology is the study of the “sound system” of language. It refers to the phonemes used in a language and how these are organised.
-
A phoneme is the smallest meaningful unit of sound.
-
Dialects are variations of language associated with a geographic area and social class. Accents feature regional phonological or phonetic differences.
-
Phonotactics studies the constraining rules of phoneme combinations.
-
Each language has a phonological system (set of phonemes) which can be shown in a phonemic chart.
-
Phonological rules (assimilation, dissimilation, insertion and deletion) help us understand which sounds change, what they change to, and where the change happens.
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