LEECH'S SEVEN TYPES OF MEANING INTRODUCTION

Semantics in the broad sense of the term may be considered to study 'all that
is communicated by language, but some scholars would like to restrict
semantics to the study of logical or conceptual meaning i.e. only those
aspects of meaning which are logically acceptable leaving out deviation and
abnormalities. Geoffrey Leech (1981, Ch.2. p.9-23) in his book semantics
breaks down 'meaning' in its widest sense into seven different types giving
primary importance to logical or conceptual meaning.
The seven other types are (1) Logical or Conceptual meaning (2)
Connotative meaning, (3) Social meaning, (4) Affective meaning, (5)
Reflected meaning (6) Collocative meaning and (7) Thematic meaning
(Leech, 1981, p-23). Here Leech discusses meaning as a whole both
sentential meaning and word meaning.
CONCEPTUAL MEANING
What Leech calls as conceptual meaning is the same as what other scholars
call 'denotative', or 'designative' or 'cognitive' or 'descriptive' meaning. And
this meaning is assumed to be the central factor in linguistic communication.
Leech considers conceptual meaning as primary, because it is comparable in
organization and structure to the syntactic and phonological levels of
language.
The two structural principles that seem to be basis of all linguistic
patterning namely the principle of contrastiveness and the principle of
constituent structure are also the basis of conceptual meaning. Contrastive
features underlay classification of sounds in phonology. "For example, in
that any label we apply to a sound defines it positively, by what features it
possesses and also by implication negatively by what features it does not
possess (Leech,1981, p.9,10)".
The symbol of the English phoneme /b/ can be explained as consisting of a
bundle of contrastive features +bilabial, +voiced, +stop, -nasal these positive
combination of features differentiates this phoneme negatively from the
phoneme /p/ which has the features + bilabial, -voiced, + stop, -nasal. It is
assumed that the distinctive sounds or phonemes of a language are
identifiable in terms of binary or largely binary contrastive features.
Similarly, the conceptual meanings of a language can be studied in terms of
contrastive semantic features.
For example, the meaning of the English word woman can be specified as
consisting of the semantic features + HUMAN, -MALE, +ADULT. This
word is differentiated from the word man having the features +HUMAN,
+MALE, and +ADULT and the word boy having the features +HUMAN,
+MALE, and -ADULT. The second principle, that of constituent structure,
is the principle by which larger linguistic units are built up out of smaller
units. In other words, it is the principle by which a sentence can be analysed
into its constituent parts.
words and morphemes and at the level of phonology into constituent
phonemes (sound units), similarly semantic structure of sentences can also
be explained. The two principles of contrastiveness and constituent structure
represent the way language is organized. Contrastiveness is the paradigmatic
or selectional or 'choice' aspect of linguistic structure. Constitnent structure
is the syntagmatic or combinatory or 'chain' aspect of the linguistic structure.
Explaining these two aspects in all the levels of language organization called
phonological (sound structure), syntactic (sentence structure) semantic
(meaning) is the work of the linguists. This done by establishing, a‘
phonological representation', a‘ syntactic representation' and a 'semantic
representation' and the stages by which one level of representation can be
derived from another. At the level of semantic representation using abstract
symbols and contrastive features. This will help us what we need to know to
distinguish a meaning of a particular sentence from all other possible
sentence meaning in the language.
2.CONNOTATIVE MEANING
Leech calls connotative meaning is the communicative value an expression
has by virtue of what it refers to over and above its purely conceptual
contents. These are the features of the referent or denotatum or segment of
the real world which are not included in the conceptual meaning. Of the
different features of the referent few are contrastive or criterial features
which provide the basic criterion of the correct use of the word. For
example, the conceptual meaning of the English word 'woman' has the three
contrastive features (+ Human, - Male, +Adult). From this we infer that the
three properties 'human', 'adult', and 'female' must provide the criterion of
the correct use of that word. These contrastive features in real world terms
become attribute of the referent or denotatum. This means that all persons to
whom the word, 'woman' is used to refer to will have the properties 'human',
'adult', 'female'. But the referent of the word woman will have a large
number of additional non- criterial properties, which the users of the word
woman expect a referent of woman to possess.
Such properties include: physical characteristics (having two legs, having a
womb etc.,) psychological and sociological properties (having motherly
instinct, soft nature etc.,). Such properties constitute the connotative
meaning. As described above some of these properties are typical of a
woman. There are other assumed properties or attributed properties due to
the view point adopted by an individual or a group of people or a whole
society.
For example, woman may be considered to have the properties' weak', 'prone
to tears', 'emotional', etc., in addition to the positive qualities like 'gentle',
'compassionate', 'sensitive', etc. The connotative meaning of a word may
vary from individual to individual and from age to age (periods). For
example, 'not wearing trousers or wearing gown or skirt or saree (saree in
the Indian context) would have been the part of the connotative meaning of
woman a hundred years ago, which is not connotative in the modern times.
Leech's (1981) connotative meaning is concerned with the real world
experience one associates with a linguistic expression one uses or hears.
Connotative meaning is peripheral when compared with the conceptual
meaning. It is also relatively unstable as it varies according to culture,
historical periods and experience of the individual. Connotative meaning is
indeterminate and open ended. This is because this depends upon the
knowledge and beliefs of the speakers and may belong to any characteristics
of the referent, real or imaginary as identified by the speaker. But conceptual
meaning consists of a closed set of features which are finite in number.
SOCIAL & EFFECTIVE MEANING
3. Social Meaning
These two meanings are concerned with two aspects of communication
which are derived from the situation or environment in which an utterance or
sentence is produced in a language. Of these two, social meaning is that
information which a piece of language (i.e. a pronunciation variation, a
word, phrase, sentence, etc.,) conveys about the social circumstances of its
use.
Social meaning is understood through the recognition of different
dimensions and levels of style within the same language. Aspects of
language variation like social or regional dialect variation, style variation
like formal, informal, colloquial, slang etc., discussed as belonging to
connotation is treated here as social meaning.
Variation according to:
DIALECT (the language of a geographical region or of social class)
TIME (the language of the 18TH century, etc.)
PROVINC (Language of law, of science, of advertising, etc.)
STATUS (polite, colloquial, slang, etc., language)
MODALITY (language of memoranda, lectures, jokes, etc.)
SINGULARITY (the style of Dickins, of Hemingway etc.)
here Leech includes under social meaning variation in all the aspects of
language structure like pronunciation, intonation, sentence structure etc., as
revealing social meaning. It is not surprising perhaps, that we rarely find
words which have both the same conceptual meaning and the same stylistic
meaning. This observation has frequently led people to declare that ‘true
synonyms’ do not exist. If we understand synonymy as complete
equivalence of communicative effect, it is indeed hard to find an example
that will disprove this statement. There is much convenience in restricting
synonymy to equivalence of conceptual meaning which in turn can be
contrasted with respect to their varying stylistic overtones
Steed(poetic) cast(literary, biblical)
Horse(general) throw(general)
Nag (slang
Gee-gee (baby language chuck (casual, slang)
Under social meaning Leech (1981, p, 15) also includes" what has been
called the illocutionary force of an utterance: for example, whether it is to be
interpreted as request, an assertion, an apology, a threat etc.". In a social
situation a functional meaning of a sentence may differ from its conceptual
meaning due to its illocutionary force. For example, while eating at
restaurant, if one says. (1) I haven't got a knife this sentence which has a
form and meaning of an assertion, in social reality it has the force of a
request such as 'Please bring me a knife'
4. Affective meaning
Affective meaning is the aspect of meaning which “reflects personal feelings
of the speaker, including his attitude to the listener or his attitude to
something he is talking about" (Leech, 1981, p.15). Affective meaning can
be conveyed through the conceptual or contative content of the word used.
Leech includes as in the case of social meaning, not only differences in the
use of words or lexemes but also factors of intonation and voice-timber
referred to as tone of voice. When someone wants to ask a group of people
speaking loudly to be quiet, he can say either of the following two sentences.
(1) I am sorry to interrupt; would you be so kind as to lower you voice a
little?
Or (2) will you belt up.
Interestingly enough the two sentence above an be reserved into sarcasm &
playful remark respectively by the use of the right tone.
Affective meaning is largely parasitic category in the sense that to express
our emotions we rely upon the mediation of other categories of meaning
(connotative, Conceptual, stylistic). On the other hand, there are elements of
language (chiefly interjections, like Aha, yippee) whose chief function is to
express emotion.
5.REFLECTED MEANING
Reflected meaning is the meaning which arises in cases when a word has
multiple conceptual meaning or polysemous, when one sense of a word
forms part of our response (or reaction) to another sense.
On hearing, in a church service, the synonymous expressions The Comforter
and The Holy Ghost, both referring to the Third Person of the Trinity; Leech
describes his reaction to these two terms conditioned by everyday non-
religious meaning of comfort and ghost.
One sense of a word seems to ‘rub off’ on another sense in this way only
when it has dominant suggestive power either through relative frequency
and familiarity or through the strength of its association.
The case where reflected meaning intrudes through the sheer strength of
emotive suggestion is most strikingly illustrated by words whish have a
taboo meaning. Especially in some cases of a word with taboo meaning
people find it difficult use them even in the general meaning. The English
words cock, contact, and erection which have tabooed senses connected with
the physiology of sex are avoided by people even in their general sense. The
extreme case of this kind of reflected meaning, is completely replacing the
word cock by the word rooster in American English.
6.Collocative meaning
Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account
of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environments (Leech,
1981, p.17). The English words pretty and hand some having the common
meaning 'good- looking' differ by the range of nouns with which they co-
occur or collocate though in some cases they overlap.
Pretty (girl, boy, woman, flower, garden, colour, etc.)
Handsome (boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.)
Example of overlap may include handsome woman and pretty woman which
are both acceptable, though they suggest different kind of attractiveness.
(wander vs. stroll, tremble vs. quiver). Not all differences in potential co-
occurrence need to be as colloctive meaning: some may be due to stylistic
differences, others to conceptual differences. Last but not least, the
acceptability of (the donkey ate the hay as opposed to the donkey ate
silence) is a matter of compatibility on the level of conceptual semantics.
What Leech calls collocative meaning is the component range of application.
The collocative meaning is an idiosyncratic property of individual words.
28. ASSOCIATIVE MEANING • Of the six types of meaning - except the conceptual meaning the
other five i.e. connotative meaning, social meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning and
collocative meaning have something in common. These meanings have open ended and variable
character. They can be analyzed in terms of varying scales or range. They cannot be analyzed in
clear-cut either-this -or-that terms. • Therefore, Leech groups all these under the heading of
associative meaning (Leech,1981, p.18). While conceptual meaning is part of the 'common
system' of language shared by members of the speech community, associative meaning is less
stable and varies with the individual's experience.
7.THEMATIC MEANING
Thematic meaning is that "what is communicated by the way in which a
speaker or writer organizes the message, in terms of ordering, focus, and
emphasis" (Leech, 1981, p.19). For example, in English a sentence in the
active voice differs from its passive voice equivalent in thematic meaning
though both the sentences have same conceptual meaning, eg. Mr. Smith
donated the first prize vs. The first prize was donated by Mr. Smith. Of these
two sentences, the active sentence seems to be the answer for the implicit
question "What did Mr. Smith donate", while the passive sentence seem" to
answer the implicit question "who donated the first prize". The first sentense
in contrast to second suggests that we know Mr. Smith while the second
implies we do not know Mr. Smith but only that someone donated the first
prize.
Thematic meaning is mainly a matter of choice between alternative
grammatical constructions. E.g. A man is waiting in the hall vs There is a
man waiting in the hall.
Sometimes, difference in thematic meaning brought about by ordering and
emphasis can also be the result of substitution of words or lexemes. For
examples, this happens when English belongs to is substituted by owns. Eg.
My brother owns the largest hotel in the town vs The largest hotel in town
belongs to my brother.
The thematic meaning can also be expressed by means of stress and
intonation to highlight information in one part of a sentence. If the word
electric is given contrastive stress as in: Bill uses an electric razor vs the
kind of razor that Bill uses is an electric one
The effect is to focus attention on that word as containing new information,
against a background of what is assumed to be known (viz. Bill uses a
razor). This same kind of effect could have been equally achieved in English
by the different syntactic construction in the last sentence above.
32. DEMARCATION PROBLEM Leech who has classified meanings into seven types which are
discussed above, points out that sometimes there are problems in 'demarcating' or separating
one type of meaning from the others. An examination of the following sentences will make this
clear. English: (17) He stuck the key in his pocket (18) He put the key in his pocket 'He stuffed
the money in the shirt pocket'
. 1. CONCEPTUAL MEANING Logical, cognitive or denotative I content

2.CONNOTATIVE MEANING what is communicated by virtue of what language refers to .

3. SOCIAL MEANING what is communicated of the social circumstances of language use.

4. AFFECTIVE MEANING What is communicated of the feelings and attitudes of the speaker /
writer

5. REFLECTED MEANING What is communicated through association with another sense of the
same expression.

6. COLLOCATIVE MEANING What is communicated through association with words, which tend
to occur in the environment of another word.

THEMATIC MEANING What is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in
terms of order and emphasis. ASSOCIATIVEMEANING