Pr1 Semasiology - Types of Word Meaning

SEMASIOLOGY
LECTURE 1
Plan
1. Approaches to Analyzing Meaning.

a) Referential Approach to Meaning;
b) Functional Approach to Meaning;
c) Operational Approach to Meaning.
2. Types of Meaning of Words.
3. Two Approaches to the Content Facet Units.
SEMASIOLOGY –
an area of Lexicology that is devoted to the study of meaning.
There is no universally accepted definition of

meaning.
Three main categories of definitions of meaning
may be referred to:
- Referential (analytical) approach;
- Functional (contextual) approach;
- Operational (information-oriented) approach.
1.1. Referential Approach
3 components connected with meaning:
1. The sound-form of the linguistic sign;
2. The concept underlying the sound-form;
3. The referent – the part of aspect of reality to which the
linguistic sign refers.
The referential model of meaning – basic triangle
concept
 sound-form referent
In what way does the meaning correlate with each element of
the triangle and in what relation does it stand to each other?
1. The sound-form of the word [fWtri:] is not identical

with the meaning of the word fir-tree,
because sound-forms of words in different
languages are different,
but express the same meaning:
e.g. English fir-tree [fWtri:], Russian ёлка [‘jOlkq].
2. The meaning of the word is closely connected with the
underlying concept, but it is not identical with it.
Concept is the thought of an object.
The meanings of words are different in different
languages.
concept ‘activity that involves ‘work that you do to

physical or mental earn money’
language effort’
English work job
Russian работа работа

3. One object can be denoted by some words
of different meanings:
In speech the referent of can
be denoted by the word
cat, animal, pussy, Jerry, pet, etc.
All these words have the same referent, but
different meanings.
There are words that have distinct meaning
but do not refer to any existing thing
 mermaid – an
imaginary sea creature
that has the upper
body of a woman and
a fish’s tail;
 angel – a spirit that in

some religions is
believed to live in
heaven with God;
The meaning is not to be identical with any of the three
points of the triangle (sound-form – concept – referent),
but is closely connected with them
The referential definitions of meaning are usually criticized on
the ground that:
1. They cannot be applied to sentences;
2. They cannot account for certain semantic additions
emerging in the process of communication;
3. They fail to account for the fact that one word may denote
different objects and phenomena (polysemy) while one and
the same object may be denoted by different words
(synonymy).
1.2. Functional Approach
Principle: The meaning of a linguistic unit can be studied
only through its relation to other linguistic units.
It is based on analysis of various contexts.
Arrive at, in / early, late, sudden arrival of, etc.
Movement can be followed by a noun (to move a table)
and preceded by a pronoun (he moves).
Movement maybe followed by a preposition (movement of
a plane) and preceded by an adjective (quick
movement).
They occupy different positions in relation to other words.
The functions of the verb to take in different linguistic
contexts are different: take in, take off, take out,
take down, etc.
Distribution of the word – the position of a word in relation to
other words.
Context – the minimum stretch of speech necessary and
sufficient to determine which of the possible meanings of a
polysemantic word is used.
The functional approach
is described as contextual as it is based on the
analysis of various contexts.
In the functional approach which is typical of

structural linguistics semantic investigation is
confined to the analysis of the difference or
sameness of meaning. Meaning is
understood as the function of a linguistic unit.
1.3. Operational Approach
Principle: defining meaning through its role in the process of
communication.
Thus this approach studies words in action and is

more interested in how meaning works than in what
it is.
It refers to communicative aspect of the language
when the object of study was shifted to relations
between the language we use and the situations
within which it is used, thus exploring the capacity
of human beings to use the language appropriately.
Ann arrived at 6 o’clock.
It may imply: Ann was some hours late or
Failed to keep her promise or
She was punctual as usual.
The implication depends on the concrete situation of
communication.
Meaning – the direct information conveyed by the units
consisting the sentence;
Sense – the information added to the extralinguistic situation.
II. Types of word meaning
Word-meaning is not homogeneous.
Word-meaning is made up of various components
– types of meanings.
The main types of meaning:
1) the grammatical meaning;’
2) the lexical meaning;
3) part-of-speech meaning. It is based on the
interaction of the major types and is called the
part of speech (lexico-grammatical) meaning
1. The grammatical meaning – an expression of
relationship between words in speech.
G.m. is the component of meaning recurrent in
identical sets of individual forms of words:
the tense meaning: went, played, saw, broke, spent..
the case meaning: boy’s, children’s, brother’s…
the meaning of plurality: toys, books, joys, girls…
2. The lexical meaning – the meaning proper to the given
linguistic unit in all its forms and distributions:
go, goes, went, gone, going –
the same semantic component ‘the process of movement’,
but different grammatical meanings (tense, person,
number).
The lexical and grammatical meaning cannot exist without
each other.
сведения – plural
information – singular
are not semantically identical.
3. The part-of-speech meaning expresses the reference to a
certain class of words.
Major word-classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs;
Minor word-classes: articles, prepositions, conjunctions…
All members of a major word-class share a
distinguishing semantic component as a lexical one of a
part-of-speech meaning: nouns have the meaning of
thingness or substantiality, though they possess different
grammatical meanings of number and case.
The grammatical aspect of part-of-speech
meaning is conveyed as a rule by a set of forms: number
table-tables and case boy – boy’s.
III. Two Approaches to the Content Facet Units
1. Semasiological – starts with the name (form) and

consists in considering different meanings of the
word, determining interrelations between them, as
well as discovering semantic relations between
different words.
2. Onomasiological – starts from the object and consists
in analyzing different words correlated with it. This
approach helps to discover how meaning is formed,
considering its basic properties and peculiarities.
The semasiological approach (polysemy)
Name Object
The onomasiological approach (synonymy)

Semasiological Approach to Meaning (Polysemy)
LSV1 1.
colour;
LSV2 2. not ready to be eaten;
word LSV3 green 3. not experienced;
LSV4 4.
made of green leaves of
vegetables green salad

Onomasiological Approach to Meaning (Synonymy)
Word 1 1. sick
Word 2 2. unwell
Object Word 3 ILL 3. unhealthy
(idea) Word 4 4. ailing
Conclusion
The study of the semantic side of the word
may start with the name (word) or with
the object denoted.
The semasiological approach consists in
considering different meanings of the
word, while the onomasiological approach
consists in analyzing different words
correlated with the certain object or idea.
References:
1. Гинзбург Р.З. Лексикология
английского языка. М. Высшая школа,
1979. – С. 13-19.
2. Зыкова И.В. Практический курс
английской лексикологии. М.:
Академия, 2006. – С. 11-17.
3. Бабич Н.Г. Лексикология английского
языка. Екатеринбург-Москва. 2006. –
С. – 59-61.

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SEMASIOLOGY

1. Approaches to Analyzing Meaning.

There is no universally accepted definition of

1. The sound-form of the word [fWtri:] is not identical

concept ‘activity that involves ‘work that you do to

English work job

Russian работа работа

 angel – a spirit that in

In the functional approach which is typical of

Thus this approach studies words in action and is

1. Semasiological – starts with the name (form) and

The onomasiological approach (synonymy)

vegetables green salad

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