Chapter 5 Semantics

Word Meaning
The Second Week

5.3.1 Sense and Reference

5.3.2 Seven types of meaning

Key points:
Sense

and reference
Seven types of meaning

Difficulties:
The

relation between sense

and reference
Conceptual meaning
Connotative meaning
Social meaning

Affective

meaning
Reflective meaning
Collocative meaning
Thematic meaning

Sense and reference

The Definition of sense

Sense refers to the inherent
meaning of the linguistic form; it
is concerned only with intralinguistic relations. It is the
collection of all the semantic
features of the linguistic form; it
is abstract and de-contextualized.

Samples:
Dog:

a domesticated canine mammal,

occurring in many breeds that show a
great variety in size and form
Desk: a piece of furniture with a flat
top and four legs, at which one reads
and writes
I: first person, indicating the speaker

The definition of reference:

Reference

means what a
linguistic form refers to in the
real, physical world; it deals with
the relationship between the
linguistic element and the nonlinguistic world of experience.

Samples:
I

am your linguistics teacher. I

refers to SYT.
The screen in the classroom is
not clear.

The relation between Sense and

Reference:
All

linguistic forms have sense, but

not reference.
The linguistic forms with the same
sense may have different references
in different situations.
Some linguistic forms with the same
reference might differ in sense.

Exercises:
Identify the nature of the bold words.
Boys are fewer than girls in our class.
Wu kanke is a girl. She is our monitor.
China will be the second airbus
producer in the world.
I went to Los Angeles by the airbus last
November.

Problem:
Problem:

whether language
determines the shape of the world
or vice versa is probably a
chicken and egg dilemma.
Which came into being first,
sense or reference?

5.3.2 Seven types of meaning

British

linguist G. Leech classified

meaning into: conceptual,
associative meaning.
Associative meaning into:
connotative, social, affective,
reflective, collocative and thematic
meaning.

5.3.2.1Conceptual meaning
It

is the essential and inextricable part

of what language is, and is widely
regarded as the central factor in
verbal communication. It is also
called logical, cognitive, or
denotative meaning.

Semantic features
Man:
Women:
Girl:
Boy:
Bull:

[+HUMAN+ADULT+MALE]
[+HUMAN+ADULT+FEMALE]
[+HUMAN-ADULT+FEMALE]
[+HUMAN ADULT+ MALE]
[-HUMAN +ADULT +MALE]

5.3.2.2 Connotative meaning

Connotative

meaning is the
communicative value that an
expression has by virtue of what it
refers to, over and above its purely
conceptual content. It can vary from
age to age, from society to society,
and from individual to individual.

Samples:
father---strength,

strong will,

tolerance
businessperson---wealth,
generosity
Internet cafe---uncleanliness,
unpleasant affairs

Differences between conceptual

and connotative meaning
Compared

with conceptual meaning,

connotative meaning is peripheral, and
relatively unstable, that is, it may vary
according to culture, historical period,
and the experience of the individual. In
addition, connotative meaning is
indeterminate and open-ended in a sense
in which conceptual meaning is not.

5.3.2.3 Social meaning

Social

meaning is the meaning

which an expression conveys about
the contexts or social
circumstances of its use. It chiefly
includes stylistic meaning of an
utterance. It is the formality of the
expression.

Samples:
mother

(formal), mom (colloquial),

mama (childs language)
dollar (neutral) buck (slang)
father, papa, old boy

5.3.2.4 Affective meaning

The

level of meaning that conveys the

language users feelings, including his
attitude or evaluation in shaping his
use of language is called affective
meaning or emotive meaning.
Ex. Politician---statesman

5.3.2.5 Reflective meaning

Therefore,

reflective meaning is the

meaning which arises in cases of
multiple conceptual meanings, when
one sense of a word forms part of our
response to another sense. It is the
product of peoples recognition and
imagination.

Samples:
He

took the drugs.

Enjoy yourself.

5.3.2.6 Collocative meaning

collocative

meaning is the
associations a word gets because
of the meanings of words which
tend to occur in its linguistic
context.

Samples:
fast

reading/friendship/color/road/car
have a fast; a period of fasting
Fast has such collocative meanings
as quick moving, capable of high
speed, firmly fixed, or abstaining
from food for a time.

5.3.2.7 Thematic meaning

The

meaning arising out of the

way in which the writer or
speaker organizes his message is
called thematic meaning.

Samples:
1.
2.

Tomorrow I plan to have an outing.

I plan to have an outing tomorrow.
S1seems to answer the question:
When will you have an outing?; S2
What will you do tomorrow?

Assignments:
I. Give definition to the following
terms:
1. sense
2. reference
3. conceptual meaning
4. connotative meaning

II. What connotations or connotative

meanings do you think the following
nouns have in English?
charity iron mole snow
street