現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)詞匯學(xué)語(yǔ)義特征

1、Modern English Lexicology,,Unit 4詞的語(yǔ)義特征,,,apple,banana,potato,fruit,vegetable,Health food,,,,,Concept, categorization, subcategorization,(王寅)范疇化是一種基于體驗(yàn)，以主客體互動(dòng)為出發(fā)點(diǎn)，對(duì)外界事物進(jìn)行主觀概括和類(lèi)屬劃分的心智過(guò)程，是一種賦予世界以一定結(jié)構(gòu)，并使其從無(wú)序轉(zhuǎn)向有序的理性活動(dòng)，也是人

2、類(lèi)認(rèn)識(shí)世界的一個(gè)重要手段。范疇化是人類(lèi)認(rèn)識(shí)世界的一種基本認(rèn)知方式。 對(duì)比和概括是范疇化過(guò)程的兩個(gè)主要手段(有一定先天成分)。范疇化具有體驗(yàn)性，規(guī)則性，無(wú)意識(shí)性，創(chuàng)造力，想象力等特征。,第四章：詞的語(yǔ)義特征,語(yǔ)義特征（semantic features）是對(duì)人類(lèi)抽象活動(dòng)的一種概括。，屬于元語(yǔ)言（metalanguage ）。用來(lái)描寫(xiě)任何語(yǔ)言的語(yǔ)義。 如：具有語(yǔ)義特征A，記作[+A]；不具有語(yǔ)特征A，記作[-A]。“The anal

3、ysis of word meaning is often seen as a process of breaking down the sense of a word into its minimal components”(Leech 1981:84)The meaning of words are made up of combinations of their sense components.Minimal distinc

4、tive feature or properties. What make up the sense of word and in turn define the word.,A very simple example of this is provided by the words man, woman, boy, girl, and other, related words in English.,,These words all

5、 belong to the semantic field ‘the human race’, and the relation between them may be appropriately represented by a two-dimensional ‘field diagram’:,,The dimensions of meaning themselves will be termed as semantic featu

6、res and components.,Another way to represent these senses is to write formulae in which the dimensions of meaning are expressed by feature symbols like HUMAN and ADULT. The meanings of the individual items can then be ex

7、pressed by combinations of these features:,,,These formulae are called the COMPONENTIAL DEFINITIONS of the items concerned: they can be regarded, in fact, as formulated dictionary definitions.,These formulae are called t

8、he COMPONENTIAL DEFINITIONS of the items concerned: they can be regarded, in fact, as formulated dictionary definitions. The term COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS has often been used for the method of analysis illustrated here, th

9、at of reducing a word’s meaning to its ultimate contrastive elements. It bears some resemblance to the mathematical process of factorizing a number, e.g. 10=1×2×5.,,The meaning of words is not an un-analyzable

10、whole. There are smaller than the meaning or word. Word is regarded as a complex of different semantic features and components. Componential analysis refers to an approach by linguists to describe meaning of words and

11、phrases. A process aiming at breaking down the meaning of a word into minimal distinctive features or properties. The analyzing process of word meaning by breaking down the sense of word into its minimal components, o

12、r sense components.,,,A particular characteristic of componential analysis is that it attempts as far as possible to treat components in terms of binary opposites, (one particular feature in a c

13、ontrasting pair)e.g. [±MALE] and [±FEMALE].,6. subtle / delicate A. There is a very subtle difference between “citizen rights” and “human rights”. B. This is a delicate situation. We

14、 must handle it with great care. C. She looked very delicate, but she was very energetic and had a strong will.Delicate: 需要謹(jǐn)慎處理和對(duì)待 becoming ill easily; not strong 容易生病的; 不強(qiáng)壯的Subtle: 有洞察、領(lǐng)悟事物細(xì)微差別和微妙關(guān)系的能力 not easy

15、 to detect or describe; fine; delicate /organized in a clever and complex way巧妙的/able to see and describe fine and delicate differences; sensitive 敏銳的,6. subtle / delicate A. There is a very subtle difference between

16、“citizen rights” and “human rights”. B.This is a delicate situation. We must handle it with great care. C.She looked very delicate, but she was very energetic and had a strong will.,Subtle: adj. a. not easy to

17、notice, understand, or explain difficult to understand 難理解→微妙的 e.g. subtle differences in meaning b. clever in arrangement, esp. so as to deceive people 精妙的 e.g. a subtle plan c. very clever

18、 in noticing and understanding e.g. a subtle mind,Delicate: adj. a. needing careful handling, esp. because easily broken or damaged e.g. Be careful with those wine glasses they’re very delicate. b

19、. needing careful treatment in order to avoid failure or trouble e.g. a delicate situation The negotiations are at a very delicate stage. c. easily made ill e.g. a delicate child d. fine

20、ly made in a way that shows great skill e.g a delicate piece of workmanship e. (of a taste, smell, etc.) pleasing but not strong and perhaps not easy to recognize. e.g. a delicate flavour / smell,Subtl

21、e : [-understandable]Delicate : [+breakable],第四章：詞的語(yǔ)義特征,描述如下：,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,+,-,+,+,-,-,-,-,+,-,+,+,+,+,+,-,+,+,+,+,-,-,+,+,-,+,+,-,-,+,+,+,+,+,+,,,,Componential analysis enables us to have an exact knowle

22、dge of the conceptual meaning of words. Two words are synonymous if they contain all the same sense components, e.g. both father and male parent can be given the same definition [+HUMAN +ADULT +MALE +MARRIED] even though

23、 they clearly differ in connotation, the one (Which one? And what exactly?) having connotative meaning, the other evoking no association.,,Semantic features usually used to distinguish nouns include [±ANIMATE], [

24、77;MALE], [±VEGETABLE], [±ADULT], [±ABSTRACT], [±COUNTALBE], etc.Semantic features to distinguish verbs include [±DYNAMIC], [±STATIVE], [±CAUSATIVE], [±VOLITIVE], [±COMPLETIV

25、E] [±DURATIVE], etc.,,Five types of dynamic verb: ★ Activity verb: Abandon, ask, call, help, learn, listen, look at, play, say, work, write ★ Process verb: Change, deteriorate, grow, mature, slow down, widen

26、 ★ Sense verb: ache, feel, hurt, itch ★ Transitional verb: arrive, die, fall, land, leave, lose ★ Momentary verb: hit, jump, kick, knock, nod, tap,,Two types of stative verb: ★ Sense and cognition verb: abhor

27、 (痛恨），adore（崇拜），astonish, believe, desire, detest（厭惡）, feel, hate, like , love, realize, recall, know ★ Relational verb: Apply to (everyone), be, belong to, concern, consist of, contain, cost, depend on, deserve equal

28、, seem, belong to , consist of,,Kill=[cause]X[die]Ydie=[cause]X[die]XThe flowers have died. The frost killed the flowers.Look=[see]X[+volitive]See =[see]X[-volitive]John was looking intently at the pictures on the

29、wall and didn’t see him. My dog was walking .I was walking my dog.,Dynamic vs. stative,How to distinguish dynamic and stative verbs? Consider learn and know. 1. Be able to be used in progressive aspect or not?

30、 (1) He is learning English. (dynamic) (2) * He is knowing English. (stative) 2. Be able to be used in pseudo-cleft sentence or not? (3) What I did was to learn English. (dynamic) (4) * What I

31、 did was to know English. (stative),,3. Be able to be used in embedded sentence or not? (5) I persuade her to learn English. (dynamic) (6) * I persuade her to know English. (stative)4. Be able to be used in imp

32、erative sentence or not?Kick the ball! * Own the house .,Dynamic adjectives can be used in imperative sentences and progressive aspects and embedded sentences. Consider: (1) a. Be careful. (dynamic)

33、 b. * Be tall. (stative) (2) a. He is being cruel. (dynamic) b. * He is being clever. (stative) (3) a. I told the girl to be honest. b. * I told the girl to be short.,,,,A knowledg

34、e of the semantic features of words helps us to choose the right word or collocation. Some words require a human subject while some do not. For example, verbs of perception and cognition usually take a human subject as i

35、n ‘John forgave your rudeness’, but a tree or a door cannot forgive unless used metaphorically. Question: Now could you express such semantic feature of forgive? [+HUMAN SUBJECT -],Advantages of CA,1.Componential

36、0;analysis helps to characterize sense relations (such as synonymy, antonymy, polysemy, and hyponymy) and therefore enables us to 

37、;have an exact knowledge of the conceptual meaning of words. For example, 1)father/ male parent -( synonyms in denotation,  containin

38、g all the same sense components) [Human + Adult + Male + Married + Older generation] Cf. He was a father to thes

39、e poor children. The wish is father to the thought. (愿望是思想之父。),,,2)“shū” (叔), “jiù”(舅) and “uncle” “shū” [+ Human + Male

40、60;+ Older generation + Different lineality + Paternal side + Junior to father]  “jiù”[+ Human + Male + Older gene

41、ration + Different lineality + Maternal side + Junior  senior to father]“uncle” [+Human + Male + Older generation + Dif

42、ferent lineality + Maternal or paternal side + Junior or senior to father]3) man (as a polysemant) A.[Human + Adult + 

43、;Male] (as in “I have always regarded him as a man of integrity.”) B.[Human + Adult ± Male] (as in “All men&#

44、160;must die.”) C.[Human] (as in “Man must change in a changing world.”),,,2.Componential analysis helps in word choice and collo

45、cation. e.g. cost[+ Inanimate subject]; spend[+Animate subject] look[+Volitive  adverb];    see[- Volitive adverb] elapse[+Subject refe

46、rring to time]  (e.g. A month / week elapsed.  *A bicycle elapsed.) frighten[+ Animate object] (e.g. Tom frightenedme.

47、60; *Tom frightened the lamp.),,,admire[+ Animate subject] (e.g. Olga admires the teacher. *Virtue admires Olga.) stick[+ Momentary] (e.g.&#

48、160;He put the key in his pocket. He stuck the key in his pocket. *He stuck the key slowly / carefully in his pocket.)

49、 In dictionaries like Longman codes are supplied to show usage based on semantic analysis. e.g. [usu. sing.], [usu. in 

50、;negatives], [no pass.], [not in progressive forms], [A], [F], [after n.], [no comp.], etc.,,Some disadvantages of CA,Componential ana

51、lysis works well with groups of words that share certain fairly obvious semantic properties, but it is impossible to extend&#

52、160;componential analysis to the entire vocabulary for the following reasons. 1)Not all words can be analyzed on the basis o

53、f semantic opposition. e.g.  friendship, love, kindness, beauty, happiness, hostility, etc. — [+Abstract] only? window, door, cloud

54、, mountain, home, etc. — [+Physical object]?,,2) Sense components are not enough to define a word. e.g.  man [Human +

55、60;Adult + Male] — biologically Cf.  man (as in “Be a man!”)? man (to a kid: with beard, a coarse voice, in&

56、#160;pants, etc.)?,3) Some rules have exceptions. e.g. angry [+ Animate]     ? an angry scene (acceptable) sleepless [

57、+Animate]     ? a sleepless night (acceptable)    impossible [+With inanimate noun]  ? You’re the most imposs

58、ible person I’ve ever met,,,,The chief drawback of componential analysis is the impossibility of making a list of the infinite number of semantic features. On the basis of semantic oppositionNot fit

59、 into such sets of contrasts, Kindness, window, cloud. [abstract],[physical objects]The analysis of word meaning into its sense components is not enough. Be a man!Many words often used figuratively without observing

60、 the normal “usage rules”.Threaten one’s enemy. Threaten one’s security.,,4) Incapable of analyzing the various associative meaning of words e.g. threaten [+

61、Animate object]  They did so only to threaten their enemy. (acceptable)          ? What you’ve don

62、e has threatened my security. (figurative)   comb [+Hair]  He rarely combs his air.         ? 

63、They combed the island for signs of a shipwreck. (figurative),,Main types of Word meaning,One difficulty in the study of meaning is that the word meaning itself has different

64、meanings. It is often accepted that word meaning can be classified into the following types:Grammatical meaningLexical meaningDenotative meaningAssociativemeaningContextual meaning,1) Grammatical meaning,Grammatical

65、 meaning is the component of meaning identical in individual forms of different words. For instance, the tense meaning in the word forms of verbs ( worked, studied, taught, etc), or the plural meaning ( girl, girls, chil

66、d, children, etc ).Word classInflectional paradigm,2) Lexical meaning:,Lexical meaning is the meaning of an isolated word in a dictionary. This component of meaning is identical in all the forms of the word. For exampl

67、e, The word-forms : go, goes, went, gone, going, possesses different grammatical meanings of tenses, persons, and so on. In each of these forms we find the same lexical meaning expressing the process of movement.Denotat

68、ive meaning Associative meaning,A denotative meaning: the conceptual meaning . The central factor in linguistic communication.The referential meaning given in the dictionary,denotative meaning is the same meaning for a

69、ll speakers of a given language. That is to say, it is the extensional meaning of a word. The word book, for example, can be understood by anyone who is engaged in any profession. So denotative meaning is called the dict

70、ionary meaning.,Associative meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented to the conceptual meaning. It differs from conceptual meaning in that it is open-ended and indeterminate, liable to influence of such factors as c

71、ulture, experience and religion. Reflected meaning. First, reflected meaning is the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. On

72、hearing, in a church service, the synonymous expressions The comforter and The Holy Ghost, both referring to the third person of the Trinity, we may have different reactions to these terms. The comforter sounds warm and

73、comforting, while the holy ghost sounds awesome.,B. Associative meaning/Reflected Meaning,In a church service, the synonymous expressions The Comforter and The Holy Ghost, both refer to the Third Person of the Trinity,

74、but the reactions to these terms can be conditioned by the everyday non-religious meanings of comfort and ghost.,a connotative meaning: the emotional association which a word or a phrases suggests in one mind.,Connotati

75、ve meaning is the intentional meaning which a word suggests or implies. It includes the stylistic reference and the emotive charge proper to the word. Wine glasses, goblets are similarly shaped like drinking vessels, but

76、 the words do not mean the same thing. The speaker uses one word rather than the other to give additional, connotational meaning. In a simpler example, march, stagger, stroll, bounce. Each of these words contains the con

77、tent of walk. But the connotative meaning adds extra meaning,I don’t want my daughter to marry a Red.African countries are going red. You must be green to believe that. The passengers turned green with sea-sickness.

78、He was in the blues because of his failure in the exam. I always suspected he was yellow/yellow-bellied.,Associative meaning of “Woman” If the word woman is defined conceptually by three feature (+human, -male, +adu

79、lt), then the three properties "human", "adult', and "female " must provide a criterion of the correct use of that word.,But there is a multitude of additional, non-criterial properties that

80、we have learnt to expect a referent of woman to possess.,They include not only physical characteristics (biped, having womb), but also psychological and social properties (gregarious, subject to maternal instinct), and