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Seminar 3. Components of The Word Meaning. Componential Analysis Discussion Topics

This document discusses the components of word meaning, including denotation, connotation, and pragmatics. It addresses componential analysis, which breaks down words into their semantic features. The pragmatic aspect conveys information about the communication situation, including the relationship between participants, social aspects, tone of discussion, and level of formality. Exercises are provided to analyze words based on connotation, perform componential analyses of terms, and compare semantic structures across languages.

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181 views3 pages

Seminar 3. Components of The Word Meaning. Componential Analysis Discussion Topics

This document discusses the components of word meaning, including denotation, connotation, and pragmatics. It addresses componential analysis, which breaks down words into their semantic features. The pragmatic aspect conveys information about the communication situation, including the relationship between participants, social aspects, tone of discussion, and level of formality. Exercises are provided to analyze words based on connotation, perform componential analyses of terms, and compare semantic structures across languages.

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Надія Лупій
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Seminar 3. Components of the word meaning.

Componential analysis

Discussion topics

1. Denotation, connotation and markedness


2. Componential analysis
3. Lexical, grammatical and part-of-speech
4. The pragmatic aspect is the part of lexical meaning that conveys information on the
situation of communication. Like the connotational aspect, the pragmatic aspect falls into
four closely linked together subsections.
• information on the "time and space" relationship of the participants.
Some information which specifies different parameters of communication may be conveyed not
only with the help of grammatical means (tense forms, personal pronouns, etc.), but through the
meaning of the word. For instance, the words come and go can indicate the location of the
Speaker who is usually taken as the zero point in the description of the situation of
communication.
• information on the participants and the given language community.
Thus, the language used may be indicative of the social status of a person, his education,
profession or occupation, etc. The pragmatic aspect of the word may also convey information
about the social system of the given language community, its ideology, religion, system of
norms and customs;
• information on the tenor of discourse.
The tenors of discourse reflect how the addresser (the speaker or the writer) interacts with the
addressee (the listener or the reader). Tenors are based on social or family roles of the
participants of communication. A mother will talk in a different way (a) with her small child
and (b) about her children.
• information on the register of communication.
Three main types of the situations of communication are usually singled out: formal, neutral and
informal. Practically every word in the language is register- oriented. Thus, the pragmatic aspect
of meaning refers words like cordial, fraternal, anticipate, aid, celestial to the formal register
while units like cut it out, to be kidding, hi, stuff are to be used in the informal register.

Exercises

1) Sometimes synonyms can have either positive or negative connotations, as shown by the
first set below. Try to complete the other examples.

Save money – provident – stingy


Reserved - self-contained - playing one's cards close to one's chest
Levelheaded – well-balanced - self-controlled
Curious – inquisitive - nosy parker
Lagging – slow - sluggish
Laugh – smile – sneer
Talk – speak – chatter
Old – antique – obsolete
Young – childish - immature

2) Provide examples of Connotatively marked lexemes in English and Ukrainian:


 stylistically marked: smell, aroma (poetic), to begin – to commerce (formal), запах –
аромат, розмовляти - теревенити
 affectively or emotionally marked: розмовляти – теревенити, daddy – father,
дівчина - дівчинонька
 regional or dialectal: тайстра (торба), легінь (парубок), pavement (sidewalk),
baggage (luggage)
 archaic or neologistic: десниця (права рука), блог, agone (ago), chillax (chill and
relax)
 sociolinguistic variation

3) Propose a componential analysis of nouns indicating means of transport (some


suggestions: bike, car, train, pram, skateboard, rollerblades, plane, helicopter, boat,
dinghy, ferry, truck). What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of analysis?

4) Carry out componential analysis of the following words and provide their Ukrainian
equivalents:
surprise, astonish, amaze, astound
to stare - витріщатися
to glare, to gaze, to glance, to peer
Positivity
surprise
astonish
amaze
astound

5) Carry out componential analysis of the Ukrainian and English kinship terms. Reveal the
lack of one-to-one correspondence.

6) Analyze similarities and differences in the semantic structures of Ukrainian word ‘земля’
and the English word ‘land’.
References
 Lipka L. An outline of English lexicology: lexical structure, word semantics, and word-
formation - Niemeyer, 1992.
 LYONS, J. 1995. Linguistic Semantics. An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
 Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка/Ирина
Владимировна Арнольд.–М.: Высш.шк., 1986.–254с.
 Гинзбург Р. З. Лексикология английского языка. — М.: Высш. шк., 1979. — 271 с.
 Зыкова И.В. Практический курс английской лексикологии. A Practical Course in
English Lexicology. – М. : Академия, 2006. — 288 с.

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