The meaning of the word

Distributional meaning is the meaning of the order and arrangement of morphemes making up the word. It is found in all words containing more than one morpheme. The word singer, e.g., is composed of two morphemes sing- and -er both of which possess the denotational meaning and namely ‘to make musical sounds’ (sing-) and ‘the doer of the action’ (-er). There is one more element of meaning, however, that enables us to understand the word and that is the pattern of arrangement of the component morphemes. A different arrangement of the same morphemes, e.g. *ersing, would make the word meaningless.

 

 

 

.2.4. Conclusion on the chapter 2

Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning, distribution and (in many cases) origin are called homonyms. The most widely accepted classification is that recognising homonyms proper, homophones and homographs.

Homographs аrе words different in sound and in meaning but accidentally identical in spelling.

The synonyms are words only similar but not identical in meaning. The basis of a synonymic opposition is formed by the first of the above named components, the denotational component.  In words lexical meaning in morphemes may also be analysed into denotational and connotational components. The connotational component of meaning may be found not only in root-morphemes but in affixational morphemes.

Differential meaning is the semantic component that serves to distinguish one word from all others containing identical morphemes. We should remember, that in words consisting of two or more morphemes, one of the constituent morphemes always has differential meaning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.3. Conclusions

The branch of linguistics concerned with the meaning of words and word equivalents is called semasioligy. The main objects of semasiological study semantic development of words, its causes and classification, relevant distinctive features and types of lexical meaning. The word combines in its semantic structure two meanings – lexical and grammatical. The grammatical meaning is more abstract and more generalised than the lexical meaning. The lexico-grammatical meaning is the common denominator of all the meanings  of  words.

The interrelation of these two types of meaning may be different in different groups of words. Lexical meaning is viewed as possessing denotational and connotational components. The denotational component is actually what makes communication possible. The connotational component comprises the stylistic reference and the emotive charge proper to the word as a linguistic unit in the given language system. It is suggested that in addition to lexical meaning morphemes may contain specific types of meaning: differential, functional and distributional.

Summing up, the notion and the meaning, we can say that the lexical meaning of the word may be defined as the realisation or naming of a notion, emotion or object by means of a definite language system subject to the influence of grammar and vocabulary peculiarities of that language. All the specific features that distinguish the lexical meaning from the notion are due to its linguistic nature. Expressing the notion is one of the word’s functions but not the only one, as there are words that do not name any notion; their meaning is constituted by other functions. The development of the lexical meaning is influenced by the whole complicated network of ties and relations between the words

Every lexico-grammatical group of words or class is characterised by its own lexico-grammatical meaning, forming, as it were, the common denominator of all the meanings of the words which belong to this group.The problem is not new nowadays. The definition of lexical meaning has been attempted more than once in accordance with the main principles of different linguistic schools.

.4. Bibliography

 

1. Атрушина Г. Б., Афанасьева О. В., Морозова Н. Н. Лексикология английского языка: Учеб. пособие для студентов. — М.: Дрофа, 1999. — 288с.
2. Виноградов В.В. Лексикология и лексикография: Избранные труды. М., 1977.
3. Звягинцев В.А. Семасиология. – M.: 1957, с. 350.
4. Медникова Э. М. Значение слова и методы его описания. М., 1974.
5. Смирницкий А. И. Лексикология английского языка. М., 1956,
6. Chapman R. “Linguistics and literture”, 1973.
7. Galperin I.R. Stylistics. - M..: 1971, 367 p.
8. Gardiner A.H. The Definition of the Word and the Sentence // The British Journal of Psychology. 1922. XII. P. 355
9. Lyons, John. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1969.
10. Каушанская Л.В. Грамматика английского языка.: Учебник для студ. пед.институтов.- 4-е издание.- Л.: Просвещение,1973.- 319с.
11. Раевская Н.М.. Теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка.: Для студентов факультетов романо-германской филологии университетов и педагогических институтов иностранных языков (на английском языке).-К.: Высшая школа,1976.- 383с.
12. Arnold I.V.  Lexicogy of the modern English . M. 1986.
13. David Samuels. The agenda of ambiguity in expressive culture.- University of Massachusetts, Amherst
14. Ginsburg R.S., Khidekel S.S., Knyazeva G.Y., Sankin A.A. A Course in Modern English Lexicology. M., 1966.
15. Jespersen O. Growth and Structure of the English Language. Oxford. 1935.

16. Volkova L.M. Theoretical Grammar of English, 1983

 

.5. Appendix

№1:

 

№2.

This diagram doesn’t restrict the sense- name connection to one-to-one relationship

“light” The following relationship can be observed:

1. Homonymic relationship 
Adj. Light (bright) is a homonym of light (not heavy)

2.     Sense assosiation. 
The noun “light”is assosiated with sunlight, brightness, etc.

3.Formal and semantic relationship. 
The noun  ”light” has a direct formal and semantic relationship with – the adj. “light” 
                  -the verb “light” 
       and     -the verb “lighten” 
                  -the noun “lightning” 
                       (formal and semantic)   (homonymic)

The description doesn’t take into account the variety of context.

№3.

Difference and Identity in Words
A Different lexical meaning			A Nearly same lexical meaning
В Different grammatical meaning	Partial Homonymy		Patterned Homonymy			D Same basic form
	light, -s  n light, -er, -est a  flat, -s n flat, -er, -est a	For  prp for cj	before prp  before adv before cj		eye, -s n eye, -s, -ed, -ing v
	Might  n may—might v				thought n thought v (Past Indefinite Tense of think)	D Different basic form
В Same grammatical meaning	axis, axes  n axe — axes n  bat—butted v butt—butted v				Synonyms
	lie—lay—lain V lie — lied — lied v	Full Homonymy spring, -s n spring, - s n spring, -s n	Polysemy Variants of the same polysemantic word			D Same basic form
	С Different paradigm	С Same paradigm or no changes		С Different paradigm