Midterm

1.Two approaches to meaning: there are two approaches to meaning: the

referential approach and the functional approach.
Referential approach –which seems to formulate the essence of meaning by
esetablishing the interdependence between words and the things or consepts
they denote.
Functional approach- which studies the function of a word in speech.

2. The referential approach is the so-called triangle that consists of three

components: the sound-form of the linguistic sign, the concept underlying this
sound-form, and the actual referent.

3.Types of meaning: there are two types of meaning grammatical and lexical
meaning which can be found in word and word-forms.

4. Lexical meaning is not homogeneous, it can be: the denotational meaning is

the component of the lexical meaning which makes communication possible.
4. Lexical meaning is not homogeneous, it can be: …….
Lexical meaning is not homogenous it can be analysed as including
denotational and connotationalcomponents.

5. Connotational component is the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the
word.

6. Stylistically words are divided into several layers: literary, neutral and
colloquial layers.

7. The results of semantic change: Results of semantic change can be generally

observed in the changes of the denotational meaning of the word or in the
alteration of its connotational component.
7. The result of semantic change:
The result of semantic change is to find out what was changed, that is, we compare
the resultant and the original meanings and describe the difference between them
mainly in terms of the changes of the denotational components.
The results of semantic change may result in the pejorative or ameliorative
development of meaning.

8. Synchronically polysemy is: the coexistence of various meanings of the same

word at a certain historical period of the development of the English language.

9. Homonymy is: words which have the same sound-forms but different meanings
are homonyms.
Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different semantic
structure.
10. Classification of homonyms: homonyms can be classified into full and partial
homonyms. Homonyms may be classified also by the type of meaning into lexical,
lexico-grammatical, and grammatical homonyms.
Cases of full homonymy are generally observed in words belonging to the same
part of speech.
Partial homonymy is usually to be found in word-forms of different parts of speech.
Lexical homonyms differ in lexical meaning, lexico- grammatical in both lexical
and grammatical meanings, whereas grammatical homonyms are those that differ
in grammatical meaning only. Lexico-grammatical homonyms are not
homogeneous

11. Synonyms: synonyms are words different in sound-form but similar in their
denotational meaning or meanings.

12. Syntagmatic relations are: syntagmatic relations are the type of the
Intralinguistic relations which define the meaning of the word when it is used in
combination with other words in the flow of speech.

13. Antonyms: An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word.
 The term antоnуms is to be applied to words different in sound-form
characterised by different types of semantic contrast of the denotational meaning
and interchangeable at least in some contexts.
The definition of antonyms as words characterised by semantic polarity or
opposite meaning is open to criticism on the points discussed already in connection
with synonymy. It is also evident that the term opposite meaning is rather vague and
allows of essentially different interpretation in some contexts. It is more or less
universally recognised that among the cases that are traditionally described as
antonyms there are at least the following four groups.
1.Contradictories which represent the type of semantic relations that exist between
pairs like dead and alive, single and married, perfect and imperfect, etc.
2.Contraries differ from contradictories mainly because contradictories admit of no
possibility between them. One is either single or married, either dead or alive, etc.
3. Incompatibles. Semantic relations of incompatibility exist among the antonyms
with the common component of meaning and may be described as the reverse of
hyponymy, i.e. as the relations of exclusion but not of contradiction.

14. Classification of vocabulary items into lexico-semanticgroups. Hyponym

and Hyperonym: hyponym is the state or phenomenon that shows the relationship
between more general terms and the more specific instances of it.
Another approach to the classification of vocabulary items into lexico-semantic
groups is the study of hyponymic relations between words. By hyponymy is meant a
semantic relationship of inclusion. Thus, e.g., vehicle includes car, bus, taxi and so
on; oak implies tree;
horse entails animal; table entails furniture. Thus the hyponymic relationship may
be viewed as the hierarchical relationship between the meaning of the general and
the individual terms.
The general term (vehicle, tree, animal, etc.) is sometimes referred to as the
classifier and serves to describe the lexico-semantic groups, e.g. Lexico-semantic
groups of vehicles, movement, emotions, etc.

Another way to describe hyponymy is in terms of genus and differentia.

The more specific term is called the hyponym of the more general, and the more
general is called thehyperonym or the classifier.
It is noteworthy that the principle of such hierarchical classification is widely used
by scientists in various fields of research: botany, geology, etc. Hyponymic
classification may be viewed as objectively reflecting the structure of vocabulary and
is considered by many linguists as one of the most important principles for the
description of meaning.