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1、Chapter IV. word meaning,Main contents/focus: 1.Views on word meaning 2.motivation aims of learning word meaning 1.facilitate the understanding of English word meaning 2.have a cognitive understanding of English word meaning,Views on word meaning 1.the referential theory指称论 Plato meaning object /beh
2、avior /quality stone/stand/grey Words are symbol /name of the objective world.,The referential theory regards the action of putting words into relationship with the world is meaning. The basic premise is that we can give the meaning of words and sentences by showing how they relate to situations.,Re
3、ferential theory,The referential theory,linguistic expressions,things & situations,A direct relationship between expressions (words, sentences) and things in the world. This is a realist view.,Problems of reference as a theory of Meaning: 1. On the reference theory of meaning, the lexeme has as many
4、 different meanings as it has different referents. 2. It is easy to understand for nouns referring to discrete, concrete things. (What about “generosity”, “sweet”, “of”?) 3. A single referent may often be referred to by a variety of different expressions. the teacher, my neighbor, Alices husband (th
5、e same person) the morning star vs. the evening star,the morning star vs. the evening star,different sense: 清晨出来的星星,different sense: 傍晚出来的星星,the same referent,Do we have a “mental picture” of things? But not everybody has the same picture So how do we understand each other?,dog,Whats your picture of
6、 DOG?,?,dog,3. Behaviorist Theory 行为反应说 主要观点: 意义是某话语产生的刺激, 或对某话语的反应, 或者 是刺激和反应的结合。 思想源头或代表人物: 美国语言学家布龙菲尔德 语言论(Bloomfield 1933),S r s R S: actual stimulus / speakers situation r: linguistic response s: linguistic stimulus R: actual response / hearers response,S r s R Jack and Jill are walking on a tr
7、ail. Jill is hungry and sees apples on a tree. (S) She says to Jack, “I like to eat an apple.” (r) Hearing the words, (s) Jack climbs on the tree and gets down an apple for her. (R),Bloomfield 认为: 意义是说话人发出语言形式时所处的情景和这个形式在听话人那儿引起的反应。 (Bloomfield 1933; 张志毅 2001:144),Another way out of the circle is to
8、 identify meanings with concepts. The representational approach argues that our ability to talk about the world depends on our mental models of it. The emphasis is on the way that our reports about reality are influenced by the conceptual structures conventionalized in our language.,Representational
9、 approach (表征法),semantic triangle 语义三角 proposed by Ogden / Richards The meaning of meaning 1923 (The relation between a word and a thing it refers to is not direct. It is mediated by concept.),The representational theory,mental model of the world,things & situations,linguistic expressions,The relati
10、onship between expressions (words, sentences) and things in the world is mediated by the mind. This is a cognitivist view.,Semantic triangle,THOUGHT,SYMBOL,REFERENT,Thought: a product of processes in the mind or brain. Symbol: linguistic elements Referent: things, events or situations in the world t
11、he language is about.,Semantic triangle,There is no causal relation between symbol and referent: this is the reason that different languages use entirely different words for the same thing.,Semantic triangle,THOUGHT,SYMBOL,REFERENT AS REPRESENTEDTO THE THOUGHT OF SPEAKER,produce,selects,Semantic tri
12、angle,The sentence “the dogs bark” has a particular situation as its referent. The dogs also have referents: the actual dogs being spoken about. Note that sb who hears this sentence does not necessarily know what the exact referents of the noun are. The referents we can know are ones which are perce
13、ived by our senses or imagined in our minds: ones for which we have mental representations.,4.the contextual theory语境论 meaning / context Malinowski I dont like her. She is tall and thin and moves like a crane. I like her. She is tall and thin and moves like a crane.,5.the phonetic theory语音论 sound /m
14、eaning related chip/little/mini-/bit /booklet /i/=little/small sn- unpleasant sound,* Meaning of a word is open. Meaning is given by people . Meaning is unclear.,2.motivation(理据） It deals with the connection between name (word symbol) and sense. Some words are motivated.,Types of motivation,1)phonet
15、ic motivation (onomatopoetic, echoic) 2) semantic motivation 3)morphologic motivation 4) motivation and cultural background,1) phonetic motivation (onomatopoeaic,echoic),Word motivated phonetically, whose pronunciation suggests meaning. a.primary onomatopoea(基本拟声） Ducks quack. Frogs croak. Horses ne
16、igh.,b. secondary onomatopoea (次要拟声） sound symbolism语音象征 gr- groan grouse grunt -ump bump clump dump -url /-irl curl swirl,2)semantic motivation(语义理据）,根据原有意义推断其新意义(Figurative meaning can be readily understood by those who know the literal meaning.) Figurative usage provides the semantic motivation （
17、umbrella- 雨伞保护伞),I love potatoes cooked in their jackets. a. metaphor Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. The boy wolfed down the food .,b. metonymy( 借代，换称）,* Name sth. by one of its attributes The pen is mightier than the sword. (工具代动作） He has the best stable in the
18、town. (容器代内容） I am not going to let my heart rule my head.(身体器官代功能） I hate that brass button.(事物特征代事物本身） Hollywood,3)morphologically motivated words -direct connection between the morphemic structure of the word and its meaning *derivation/compound worker-er (person) collapsecol(together)+lapse(fall
19、),4) motivation and cultural background -connection between meaning and culture the heel of Achilles Frankenstein Pygmalion 阿Q,The different lexicons standing for the same thing in different languages may derive from different motivations e.g. Chinese： 火车(理据：以火为动力) Japanese: 汽车(理据：以蒸汽为动力) English: t
20、rain(理据：一系列车厢),Questions: 1.why do many writers used onomatopoeic words in their writing? Give examples. 2. Are English letters symbolic? Give some examples. 3.Are the meanings of some words closely related with culture? Give some examples.,Componential Analysis & Semantic Field,. Componential Analy
21、sis 语义成分分析法 Componential Analysis is the process of breaking down the sense of a word into its minimal components and classify them to show their relationships. (Bolinger and Sear 1981: 114),What is Componential Analysis? word semantic components (semantic features as distinctive features),e.g. 试分析m
22、an, woman, boy, girl 的语义成分 Similarities：human Differences： of different ages of different sexes,From the Aspect of Distinctive Features,man + HUMAN + ADULT + MALE woman + HUMAN + ADULT MALE boy + HUMAN - ADULT + MALE girl + HUMAN - ADULT MALE ,The sexual dimension of the meaning of many lexical item
23、s is neutralized e.g. child + HUMAN ADULT OMALE cat - HUMAN + ADULT OMALE ,Its important to focus on the defining features, which can distinguish one word from another. e.g. horse cattle machine chair ANIMATE road house thought philosophy CONCRTE ,. Semantic Field 语义场,Semantic Field is a small syste
24、m which consists of the similar set of lexical items closely related in meaning, sharing some semantic components in common and the core of concept.,Classification of Semantic Field,Based on the semantic features in common and distinctive semantic features 同义场 近义场 类义场 颜色场 反义场 时间场 空间场 亲属场 食物场 关系场,英汉同一概念语义场比较,Lexical Gaps,The cultural content exclusive to a certain language may not be found in another To create new words or use the similar ones to represent e.g. bean curd; Tofu; pudding; to avoid “false friend” (see Pp104),Homework,Pp 105, 107 Exercise I & III,