Scandinavian-English doublets

Doublets borrowed from different dialects of French.

Franco-French doublets

Latino-French doublets.

ETYMOLOGICAL DOUBLETS

Sometimes a word is borrowed twice from the same language. As the result, we have two different words with different spellings and meanings but historically they come back to one and the same word. Such words are called etymological doublets. In English there are some groups of them:

Latin English from Latin English from French

uncia inch ounce

moneta mint money

camera camera chamber

Norman Paris

canal channel

captain chieftain

catch chaise

Scandinavian English

skirt shirt

scabby shabby

There are also etymological doublets which were borrowed from the same language during different historical periods, such as French doublets: gentil - любезный, благородный, etymological doublets are: gentle - мягкий, вежливый and genteel - благородный. From the French word gallant etymological doublets are: ‘gallant - храбрый and ga’llant - галантный, внимательный.

Sometimes etymological doublets are the result of borrowing different grammatical forms of the same word, e.g. the Comparative degree of Latin «super» was «superior» which was borrowed into English with the meaning «high in some quality or rank». The Superlative degree (Latin «supremus»)in English «supreme» with the meaning «outstanding», «prominent». So «superior» and «supreme» are etymological doublets.

2. Meaning of a word: reference, communication, cognition. Classification of word meaning: grammatical meaning and lexical meaning. Semantic triangle. The lexical meaning versus notion. The denotational and connotational components of the lexical meaning. Functional and non-functional (evaluative, emotive, intensifying, image-bearing/motivation) stylistic meaning.

Semaciology is the branch of lexical dealing with the meaning of words.

The meaning of a word is not as simple as we think. It can be defined at least in three ways.

Definition 1:

The meaning of a word is what is referred or denoted to by using the word.

Perhaps the first function of a word is to pick up something or somebody to talk about. When you use the word, for instance, "chair", you are going to talk about a particular chair or a class of things termed "chair". The relationship between the word "chair" and the thing that you can sit on is conventionally termed "reference", so Definition 1 can be called a definition of meaning in terms of reference. In reading this definition, we need to understand the difference between the two verbs "refer" and "denote", by "refer" we are talking about a particular thing while by "denote", we are talking about a class of things. Put it the other way, when we use a word, we can talk about a particular thing, the chair in my study room, for instance, or we can talk about a class of things, the chair but not the table or any other things, for instance.

Definition 2:

Meaning of a word is what is communicated by using the word.

According to this definition, the meaning of a word is what has been conveyed by using the very word. Usually, the meaning of a word is constant. The word "good" means good in most cases. But in a particular context, the same word "good" can be used to mean something opposite. For example, "Good, good, I will give you a lesson one day" The meaning of the word "good" has been altered to a certain degree in a given context. Therefore, we need to understand that the meaning of a word can only be determined accurately in communication only. That is the key point of this definition. In a sense accordingly, this is definition of word meaning in terms of communication.

Definition 3:

Meaning of a word is what is acquired or activated in the speaker/hearer’s mind by using the word.

The meaning of a word is sometimes determined by personal experiences. The word "home", to most of us, has usually a good sense and whenever it is mentioned, we miss our family members, parents or children. But to some people who once suffered from family life, this word, though associated with an ideal life, can only arouse bad feels. The more important thing is that a good communication depends heavily on a shared experience and feeling which are all associated to the same word. Thus, the mental content associated with a word is the real meaning of the word. This is a definition of word meaning in terms of cognition.

To sum up, the complete meaning of a word can only be described from various angles, at least in terms of reference, communication and cognition.