NATURE AND TYPES OFNATURE AND TYPES OFLINGUISTIC MEANINGLINGUISTIC MEANING

COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION

Communication- intentional transfer of info.; primary function of languageMeaning includes choice: possibility of choice is a necessary condition of ymeaningfulness“communicative”- what has meaning for communicative - what has meaning for the sender“i f ti ” h t h i f th “informative”- what has meaning for the receiver

“information” can refer to:a) signal information:physical

h t i ti f th i l characteristics of the signal (acoustic and visual information)( )

b) semantic information:meaning f h i lof the signal

3 basic functions of language:1. descriptive- info. explicitly confirmed or denied confirmed or denied (referential/cognitive/propositional)2. social- maintaining social relationshipsp3. expressive- self-expression

NATURE OF MEANING

two-way approach to meaning: l. sign= language (form)+contentl. sign language (form)+contentthree-way approach to meaning: l. sign=language (form)+thought+reality( ) g y

Ogden & Richards: meaning is a process which goes on by the process which goes on by the interaction of the mental picture

ith litwith reality

WHAT IS MEANING AND HOW DOWE DEFINE IT?

General agreement: PROCESSSemantic tradition: promentalist and Semantic tradition: promentalist and antimentalist theories

ti t li t t ti t d antimentalist t.: negative towards REFERENCE (THOUGHT)-individual and unaccessibleO & R: ANALYTIC RIGOURO & R: ANALYTIC RIGOUR

no one definite answer to the question of meaning (both a ling. and psycho. problem)p )Meaning is limited by:

1 t li ti ( t l i )1. conceptualization (mental images)2. environment (e.g. Eskimos)( g )3. culture (e.g. Croatian and English

kinship terms)kinship terms)

O & R give a list of definitions of meaning- partial focusi i t a al tical igo insistence on analytical rigour: application of strict rules; looseness of meaning

ft thi l ti t d after this plea- negative stands towards mentalism

structuralism: l. as a set of STRICT rules; incapable of dealing with meaning“the problem of m. is that it will escape

g t it i ” (G S any cage you put it in” (G. Sampson: Making Sense, 1981)culmination of struct :L Bloomfield: culmination of struct.:L. Bloomfield: Language (1933) (“Meaning”): founding definitions on natural sciences

(e.g. meaning of ‘salt’: NaCl vs white powder you put in food; ‘love’ and ‘hate’)d th lt f ti (“Ci d ll f death penalty for semantics (“Cinderella of linguistics”)

TYPES OF LINGUISTIC MEANING:CONCEPTUAL/PRIMARY/BASIC VSSECONDARY TYPES

CONCEPTUAL M di i li l CONCEPTUAL M.: dictionary or literal m. of a word; core m.; relatively (not absolutely) constant & stableabsolutely) constant & stablechanges in time; differences between cult.

D J h ’ d d d fi iti e.g. Dr. Johnson’s and modern definition of c. meaning of ‘woman’

t i t fi d l h certain aspects are fixed: always human, adult, female (-male)

d ith t t lno secondary m. without conceptual

SECONDARY TYPES OF MEANING

1. STYLISTIC-what is comm.of the social circumstances of l.use;styl. ; yfeatures of wordsl use: formal neutral informal l.use: formal, neutral, informal (casual) in s.

e.g. horse/steed/nag/gee-geehome/residence/abode/domicilehome/residence/abode/domicilesmall/tiny/diminutive/weethrow/cast/chuck

2. AFFECTIVE- part of m. which ti d ttit d f l conveys emotions and attitudes of a l.

user; what is comm. of the feelings d i d f h k / i and attitudes of the speaker/writer;

basic facility: intonatione.g. You’re a viscious tyrant and I hate

you for it!yI’m terribly sorry to interupt you, but would you be so kind enough to lower would you be so kind enough to lower your voice?

3. REFLECTED- what is comm. through the association with another sense of the same expressionpe.g. taboo words-traditionally stigmatized (sex erection intercourse stigmatized (sex, erection, intercourse, the Holy Ghost)

When a word acquires taboo m.(powerful), primary m. gradually (p ), p y g ydisappears

4. COLLOCATIVE- what is comm. through the association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word; that part of the word m suggested by the part of the word m. suggested by the words that go before or come after it

i h i l l arises on the syntagmatic level e.g. Adj+Ng j

pretty+girl, woman, flower, garden...)pretty+boy (handsome)handsome+boy man overcoat vesselhandsome+boy, man, overcoat, vessel...)handsome+woman

N+VCows wandered across the fieldCows wandered across the field.)Cows strolled across the field.

always conceptual m.+secondary m.How do British define Americans?

born in USA (CM)born in USA (CM)brash, boastful, materialistic (SM)

How do Americans define Americans?born in USA (CM)born in USA (CM)generous, fair, busy (SM)

LINGUISTIC SIGN

Instead of relating things and words directly, we can relate them through the mediation of concepts of the pmind.

2 versions of this view:2 versions of this view:1. SIGN THEORY of Ferdinand de

Saussure2 SEMIOTIC TRIANGLE of O & R2. SEMIOTIC TRIANGLE of O & R

De Saussure’s l. sign= SIGNIFIER + SIGNIFIED (sound image+concept)image+concept)The two are linked by a ypsychological ‘associative’ bond

O & R triangle:SYMBOL- l. element (word, sentence)REFERENT object in the world of REFERENT-object in the world of

experienceTHOUGHT (REFERENCE)-mind

conceptpNo direct link between symbol (language) and referent (world) the (language) and referent (world), the link is via thought (reference; concepts i i d )

PROBLEMS WITH THIS INTERPRETATION

Wh t i d S ’ i ti b d O d What is de Saussure’s associative bond or Ogden & Richards’ link between symbol and concept?Naive and unsatisfactory view: the link is ypsychological (when we think of a name, we think of a concept and vice-versa)A more plausible view: we do not make this link A more plausible view: we do not make this link every time we use a word; the link is a permanent association stored in the mindN ith b t d if th t i Neither can be accepted: if there are concepts in the mind, they are accessible only to the individual, so we are left with subjective viewsFurthermore, meaning is not some entity that words ‘have’ in any literal sense of ‘having’(words have meanings ≠ people have legs).g ≠ p p g )

3 GROUPS OF APPROACHES TOMEANING

1. symbol (lexeme)- concentration on the

lexeme as a part of the system of l. signssigns

John Lyons: meanings are learnt viaconnection to the m. of other wordsBut, how do we learn the m. of basic But, how do we learn the m. of basic

words? l t de.g. scarlet-red

2. lexical concept (Fillmore, Lakoff, Wierzbicka)-meanings of words are learnt by means of their lexical learnt by means of their lexical concepts

d i l f th i t f l i l no denial of the importance of lexical interrelationships, but not enoughthe dominant view today

3. denotatum (referent)-( )Bloomfield explains the

i f th d ‘ lt’ b meaning of the word ‘salt’ by using the formula NaCl But using the formula NaCl. But, what about lexemes such as ‘love’?