2015-09-06
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WORD SEMANTICS
- The concept and definition of meaning
The word defined
The word in different languages
Characteristics of words
- Word meaning
Word as a linguistic sign
Denotation and reference
Denotation vs. connotation
Inherent and adherent connotation
Pragmatic meaning
- Polysemy
The notion of polysemy
Ways to have multiple senses of a word
Results of semantic change
Polysemy in dictionaries
Problems inherent in the concept of polysemy
Analyzing meaning
- Homonymy
Homonyms defined
Types of homonyms
Homonym clashes
Polysemy vs. homonymy
The Concept and Definition of Meaning
The Word Defined
One cannot get on with other issues in lexicology without answering the question ‘What exactly do we mean by the term ‘word’? To demonstrate that it is by no means easy to give a satisfactory, least of all definitive, answer to this question, let us consider the entry on word in the second, 1989 edition of OED, which displays its senses under the three headings used in 1927 by C. T. Onions:
(1) Speech, utterance, verbal expression, divided into eleven sense groups: speech, talk, utterance; a speech, an utterance; speech as distinct from writing; verbal expression as contrasted with thought; contention, altercation; a report, news, rumor; an order, request; a promise, undertaking; a declaration, assertion; an utterance in the form of a phrase or sentence, a saying or proverb; a divine communication, scripture, and Christ.
(2) An element of speech, a single twelfth sense initially defined as: ‘a combination of vocal sounds, or one such sound, used in a language to express an idea (e.g. to denote a thing, attribute, or relation), and constituting a minimal element of speech having a meaning as such’. This technical definition is followed by the seven sense groups: a name, title, idea, term; engraved or printed marks on surfaces; in contrast with the thing or idea signified; the right word for the right thing; a telegraphic message; a mathematical sequence; a string of bits in a computer.
(3) Phrases, a heterogeneous collection of such usages as take a person at his word, in so many words, word of honor, and by word of mouth.
These three headings go to show that identifying what word is not a simple question to answer, since one inevitably encounters a number of difficulties when attempting a definition of the term ‘word’. The technical definition is listed twelfth in OED, since the dictionary was compiled on historical principles, but more contemporary dictionaries tend to place their technical sense first. Thus the 1985 edition of American Heritage Dictionary, for example, defines word as ‘a sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or of a combination of morphemes’. The number of senses that word has come to traditionally be used in has led to a range of other, more technical terms (lexeme, lexical unit etc.), which are devoid of other, non-technical sense and, therefore, make sense delimitation easier.
