How are the sound and meaning of words related?
How are the sound and meaning of words related?
Two ways: 1. Conventionality
(约定俗成) 2. Motivation
(有理可据)
Conventionality
E.g. a stony heart the leg of a table
What is the relationship between the sound-symbol and its sense?
1. Conventionality (约定俗成) Most words are conventional.
A. Grammatical meaning
2. inflectional paradigm seasons of a year
一年四季 the poles
南北两极 “I bought it,” said Becky, in a voice trembling with
emotion; “I went to see if I could be of any use to my kind friends. I have never parted with that picture--- I never will.” “是我把它买下的。那时候我去看了看到底有没有法子 帮帮我的好朋友们。我一直把这幅画好好藏着-----我 以后也要把它好好藏着。”
Conventional or arbitrary
Arbitrary: adj. decided by or based on
chance or personal opinion rather than facts or reason. Conventional or arbitrary: there is no intrinsic relation between the soundsymbol and its sense.
现代英语词汇学概论
Lexicology
Chapter 5
Word meaning and Semantic Features
Chapter 5
5.1 Conventionality and Motivation 5.2 Main Types of Word Meaning 5.3 Componential Analysis and
E.g. woof-woof
the woof-woof of a dog miaow
the miaow of a cat roar
the roar of a lion bang
the bang of a door
Morphological motivation: there is a direct connection between the morphemic structure of the word and its meaning.
Being a child, he can’t understand what he just said. He never dreams of being a superstar.
____ in an atmosphere of simple living was what her parents wished for. A. The girl to be educated C. The girl educated B. The girl’s being educated D. The girl was educated
Motivation
Motivation: there is the connection between word-symbol and its sense
Phonetic motivation Morphological motivation Semantic motivation
Phonetic motivation: pronunciation suggests the meaning, including echoic words or onomatopoeic words
B. Lexical meaning 1. denotative meaning 2. connotative meaningห้องสมุดไป่ตู้3. social or stylistic meaning 4. affective meaning
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A. Grammatical meaning
1. word-class: The word-class determines the position that a word normally occupies in a sentence e.g.
E.g. anticancer kilogram good-looking daydream
Semantic motivation: The figurative meaning can be understood by those who know the literal meaning.
2. Motivation (有理可据)
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5.2 Types of Word Meaning
Types of Word Meaning: A. Grammatical meaning B. Lexical meaning
Types of Word Meaning
A. Grammatical meaning 1. word-class 2. inflectional paradigm
Semantic Features
5.1 The relationship between the sound-symbol and its sense
Questions: 1. What is the relationship between the
sound-symbol and its sense?