SEMASIOLOGY

1. ASPECTS OF LEXICAL MEANING

1. Denotational Aspect.
2. Connotational Aspect.
3. Pragmatic Aspect.

1. DENOTATIONAL ASPECT

In the general framework of lexical meaning several aspects can be singled

out. They are: the denotational aspect, the connotational aspect and the pragmatic
aspect.
The denotational aspect of lexical meaning is the part of lexical meaning
which establishes correlation between the name and the object, phenomenon,
process or characteristic feature of concrete reality (or thought as such), which is
denoted by the given word. The term ‘denotational’ is derived from the English
word to denote which means ‘be a sign of’ or ‘stand as a name or symbol for’. For
instance, the denotational meaning of booklet is ‘a small thin book that gives
information about something’.
It is through the denotational aspect of meaning that the bulk of information
is conveyed in the process of communication. The denotational aspect of lexical
meaning expresses the notional content of a word. The denotational aspect is the
component of the lexical meaning that makes communication possible.

2. CONNOTATIONAL ASPECT

The connotational aspect of lexical meaning is the part of meaning which

reflects the attitude of the speaker towards what he speaks about. Connotation
conveys additional information in the process of communication.
Connotation includes:
 – the emotive charge is one of the objective semantic features proper to
words as linguistic units that forms part of the connotational component
of meaning, for example, daddy as compared to father.
– evaluation, which may be positive or negative, for instance, clique (a
small group of people who seem unfriendly to other people) as compared
to group (a set of people);
– imagery, for example, to wade – to walk with an effort (through mud,
water or anything that makes progress difficult). The figurative use of
the word gives rise to another meaning, which is based on the same
image as the first – to wade through a book;
– intensity / expressiveness, for instance, to adore – to love;
The correlation of denotational and connotational components of some
words is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. The correlation of denotational and connotational components

Word+part of Denotational Connotational Type of connotation
speech component component

lonely, adj. alone, without melancholy, sad emotive connotation

company
notorious, adj. widely known for criminal act or bad evaluative
traits of character connotation, negative
celebrated, widely known for special evaluative
adj. achievement in connotation,
science, art, etc. positive
to glare, adj. to look 1. steadily, lastingly connotation of
duration
2. in anger, rage, etc emotive connotation;
connotation of cause
to glance, v. to look briefly, passingly connotation of
duration
to stare, v. to look steadily, lastingly in emotive connotation;
surprise, curiosity, etc. connotation of cause
to gaze, v. to look steadily, lastingly in emotive connotation
tenderness, admiration
to shiver, v. to tremble 1. lastingly connotation of
duration
 2. usu with the cold connotation of cause
to shudder, v. to tremble 1. briefly connotation of
duration
2.with horror, disgust, connotation of cause;
etc. emotive connotation

The above examples show how by singling out denotational and

connotational components we can get a sufficiently clear picture of what the word
really means. The schemes presenting the correlation of two components of the
words also show that a meaning can have two or more connotational components.
The given examples do not exhaust all the types of connotations but present
only a few: emotive, evaluative connotations, and also connotations of duration,
cause, etc.

3. PRAGMATIC ASPECT

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.

1) 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 example, 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.
The time element when related through the pragmatic aspect of meaning is
fixed indirectly. Indirect reference to time implies that the frequency of occurrence
of words may change with time and in extreme cases words may be out of use or
become obsolete. Thus, the word behold – ‘take notice, see (smth. unusual)’ as
well as the noun beholder – ‘spectator’ are out of use now but were widely used in
the 17th century.

2) Information on the participants and the given language community.

The language used may be indicative of the social status of a person, his education,
profession, etc. The pragmatic aspect of the word also may convey information
about the social system of the given language community, its ideology, religion,
system of norms and customs. Let us consider the following sentences:
a) They chucked a stone at the cops, and then did a bunk with the loot.
b) After casting a stone at the police, they absconded with the money.
Sentence A could be said by two criminals talking casually about the crime
afterwards. Sentence B might be said by the chief inspector in making his official
report.

3) 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 reader). Tenors are based on social or family role of the participants of
communication. There may be situation of a mother talking to her small child, or
about her children, or a teacher talking to students, or friends talking to each other.

4) Information on the register of communication. The conditions of

communication form another important group of factors. The register defines the
general type of the situation of communication grading the situations in formality.
Three main types of the situations of communication are usually singled out:
formal, neutral and informal. Thus, the pragmatic aspect of meaning refers words
like cordial, fraternal, anticipate, aid to formal register while units like cut it out,
to be kidding, stuff, hi are to be used in the informal register.
The structure of lexical meaning see in diagram 3.
 Diagram 3. Structure of the lexical meaning

LEXICAL MEANING

Denotational aspect Connotational aspect Pragmatic aspect

Emotive charge Evaluation

Expressiveness Imagery

Information on the ‘time and space’

Relationship of the participants

Information on the participants and

the given language community

Information on the tenor of discourse

Information on the register of communication

References:

1. Зыкова И.В. Практический курс английской лексикологии. М.:

Академия, 2006. – С.- 18-21.
2. Гинзбург Р.З. Лексикология английского языка. М.: Высшая школа,
1979. – С.- 20-22.
3. Бабич Н.Г. Лексикология английского языка. Екатеринбург-Москва.
2006. – С.- 61- 62.
4. Антрушина Г.Б., Афанасьева О.В., Морозова Н.Н. Лексикология
английского языка. М.; Дрофа, 2006. С. - 136-142.