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Chapter 5 Word meaning and semantic feature
. Conventionalityand Motivation: ()@ --- A. Conventionality: It refers that words are conventional, arbitrary symbols; that is,there is no intrinsic() relation between the sound symbol and its sense. here is no way to e!"lain why this or that sound-symbol has this or that meanin# beyond the fact that the "eo"le of a #iven community have a#reed to use one to desi#nate the other.$or instance,the %n#lish call what Chinese call &fan#'i( in &house(,the $rench call it &Maison( and the )ussian &dom(.All these symbols are totally different from one another,yet they all si#nify the same thin#. *. Motivation: It refers to the connection between word-symbol and its sense. hou#h the #reat ma+ority of %n#lish words are conventional and arbitrary symbols, there is a #rou" of words that can be described as motivated, that is there is a ,direct connection between the symbol and its sense. $or e!am"le, onomato"oeic words such as &roar(, &ban#( and &clash(,derived words and com"ound words such as &readable(, &-il#ram( and &daydream(, etc. A. "honetic motivation: .ords motivated "honetically are called echoic words or onomato"oeic words, whose "ronunciation su##ests the meanin#. b. Mor"holo#ical motivation: Most of the derivational affi!es have a s"ecific meanin#,when added to a base, they derive a new word. .e say the word is mor"holo#ically motivated, for a direct connection can be observed between the mor"hemic structure of the word and its meanin#. c. /emantic motivation: It refers to motivation base on semantic factors. It is a -ind of mental association. Main ty"es of word meanin# 0 A 1rammatical meanin#: 1rammatical meanin# is indis"ensable in determinin# the "osition a word occu"ies in a sentence. a. word-class: when a dictionary lists the function of a word,the definition does at least two thin#s: it describes the word2s le!cal meanin# and also #ives what is traditionally -nown as the "art of s"eech of the word,which modern lin#uists call the wors-class.the word-class is essential , for when we use a word in a sentence, we have to ta-e into consideration two factors: its s"ecific le!ical meanin# and the "osition it normally occu"ies in a sentence, which is determinded by the word-class to which the word belon#s. *. 3e!ical meanin#: which is different from #rammatical meanin# is two res"ects: first the le!ical meanin# of a word is the same in all the forms of one and the same word while the #rammatical meanin# varies from one word-form to another, second,every word has a different le!ical meanin#, whereas the #rammatical meanin# is the same in identical sets of individual forms of different meanin#.

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1. 2. How are the sound and meaning of most words related? Give examples to illustrate your point? hat do we mean by phoneti! motivation
4honetic56nomato"oeic motivation: Indicates the relatinshi" between sound and meanin# of word.Its sound su##ests its meanin#. e.#. , cuckoo,squeak,quack,etc.@ "in#-"an#

". $. %.

#uote a short poem or a passage tha shows the literary effe!t of onomatopoei! words what is meant by grammati!al meaning? Grammati!al meaning:refer to that part of the meaning of the word whi!h indi!ates grammati!al !on!ept or relationships& su!h as part of spee!h of words& singular and plural meanings of nouns& tense meaning of verbs and their infle!tional forms.
It consists of word-class and inflectional "aradi#m() 0).ord-class: It describe the words le!icolo#ical meanin# and also #ives what is traditonally -nown as the "art of s"eech of the word. e.#. modern will be mar-ed as a noun. 7)Inflectional "aradi#m:It refers to the#rammatical forms ()of a word which a""ear the different forms when used in actual s"eech. e.g. cat-cats; to walk,walks etc.

8.

.hat is the difference between #rammatical meanin# ()and le!ical meanin#()9

'exi!al meaning (( is !onstant in all the words within or without !ontext related to the notion that the word !onveys. )t has two !omponents !on!eptual meaning
1* :enotative meanin#()5 Conce"tual meanin#():

2* asso!iative meaning.+* 'exi!al meaning and grammati!al meaning ma,e up the word(meaning. Grammati!al meaning surfa!es only in use. -on!eptual meaning +denotative meaning* . the meaning given in the di!tionary and forms the !ore of word(meaning. )t is !onstant and relative stable. -on!eptual meaning forms the basis for !ommuni!ation. e.g. /he sun rises in the 0ast. the 1sun2 3sso!iative meaning . the se!ondary meaning supplemented to the !on!eptual meaning. )t is open(ended and indeterminate 4. hy should we give primary importations to !on!eptual/denotative meaning of word? -on!eptual meaning +denotative meaning* . the meaning given in the di!tionary and forms the !ore of word(meaning. )t is !onstant and relative stable. -on!eptual meaning forms the basis for !ommuni!ation.((( give three or five words whi!h have !onnotation varying from one spee!h !ommunity to another spee!h !ommnunity &or from era to era
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5.

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Connotative meanin#(): refers to the emotional association which a word or "hrase su#ests in one;s mind;it is the su""lementary value which is added to the "urely denotative meanin# of a word@ %!"lain the followin# terms with e!am"le <. /emantic feature he analysis of word meanin# is often seen as a "rocess of brea-in# down the sense of word into its minimal com"onents, which are -nown as semantic feature or sense com"onents 16. Com"onential Analysis()".0=8: It refers to the analysis of brea-in# down the conce"tual meanin# into its minimal distinctive com"onents which are -nown as semantic features.

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