语言学第五章

Chapter Five Meaning(semantics)

What is Semantics?

Semantics is the study of meaning.

More specifically, it is the study of the meaning of linguistic units, words and sentences.

I didn’t mean to hurt you.

He never says what he means.

Fame and fortune mean nothing.

What’s the meaning of the word “cut”?

Life without faith has no meaning.

the meaning of girl

+ human + female + young + unmarried

semantic features

Boys and girls! My little girl is very lovely.

1. Meanings of meaning

Ogden & Richards The Meaning of Meaning Leech

Semantics

7 types of meaning Leech

conceptual meaning概念意义associative meaning联想意义thematic meaning主位意义Conceptual meaning概念意义also denotative [di'nəutətiv] (外延), concerned with the relationship between a word and the thing it refers to.概念意义是对客观对象本质特征的反映，一般在词典中固定下来

An instrument made of plastic or metal used for writing with ink pen

father 1、male parent 父亲2、ancestors 祖先3、founder or first leader 创始者倡导者Stepmother: A woman who has married their father after the death or divorce of their mother. (wife of one's father by a later marriage )

Associative meaning 联想

The total of all the meanings a person thinks of when he comes across the word. Connotative meaning 内涵意义Social meaning 社会意义Affective meaning 感情意义Reflected meaning 反射意义Collocative meaning 搭配意义

Connotative meaning ['kɔnəuteitiv] 内涵意义

What is communicated by virtue of what language refers to. It shows the communicative value. 通过语言所传达的意义

曹教授：有些人我看是有意的给三峡泼点脏水，有意的妖魔化三峡。

denotation:不干净的水connotation:某些人有意的抹黑三峡，片面的强调三峡的弊端

It shows additional meaning, including emotive, social and psychological properties.

eg: father: strong will, strength.

stepmother: vicious, evil

However, it is unstable. It varies from person to person, from culture to culture.

Social meaning社会意义

The social circumstances of language use, chiefly including stylistic meaning. It is the formality of the expression.

所传达的关于语言使用的社会环境的意义。

mother—mom—mama tooth—dental Are you nuts? 油煎豆腐VS 金镶玉板

Affective meaning情感意义

Also emotive meaning, concerned with the feelings and attitudes of the speaker/writer.

所传达的关于说话人的态度，情感方面的意义。

politician—statesman senior—old person—fossil slender—thin—skinny

Jane is an angel of a girl The man is an ass.

I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voice a little.

Shut up！

Reflected meaning反射意义

one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. (one expression, two or more meanings)

通过同一种表达方式的其他意思所传递的意义。(言语的多义性，意义的模糊性)

red light green/yellow light in traffic

warns of danger, danger signal 危险信号

legal area for whoring

红灯区，花街柳巷

主持人针对有人在网上说《美国国家地理杂志》介绍了说中国三峡大坝导致地球自转轴偏离了将近一英尺问曹博士：到底三峡蓄水会影响地轴的转动吗？

曹博士：呵呵，这个说法我觉得还是很新奇。比较含蓄，礼貌荒谬，无稽之谈，毫无理论依据

Collocative meaning 搭配意义

the association a word gets because of the meanings of words, which tend to occur in its environment. 通过词语的常用搭配意义而传递的含义

pretty + girl/lady

handsome + boy/man

fast

fast reading: quickly movingfast friendship: firmly fixedfast road: capable of high speed

a period of fasting: abstaining food

指责，控告指责，控告

Thematic meaning 主位意义

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

通过顺序和重音这种组织信息的方式所传达的意义。

The first prize was won by John.

John won the first prize.Tomorrow I plan to go out.I plan to go out tomorrow.

Questions related

1. c meaning is concerned with the relationship between a word and the

thing it refers to.

A. Connotative

B. Affective

C. Denotative

D. Social

2. We use the word mother in formal English and mom in colloquial English, this

refers to the b meaning of language.

A. connotative

B. social

C. affective D reflected