THEORIES OF

MEANING
Presented By : Amna Batool, Laiba K. Khan,
Zainab Abid, Bisma Asif
 WHAT IS MEANING?

“Meaning is what one wishes to convey or intends

to convey when performing an oral action. It also
refers to what the speaker wants the audience to
understand.”

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 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
MEANING
As stated in Chambers Biographical Dictionary
1 (1990:202), Michael Bréal coined the term "semantics

2 The field of semantics has its origin from philosophy.

Alfred Korzybski was the first to begin studying

3 semantics

4 He included a label to identify the objects he talks about.

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 REFERENTIAL THEORY
" The meaning of any word or expression (symbol)
is the object or entity (referent) it refers to in the
real world."

Introduced by C.K. Odgen and

I.A Richards, Referential
Word or expression= symbol
theory of meaning stands as
Object or entity= referent
the earliest theory aimed to
explain meaning of meaning.
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 EXAMPLE
Chocolate: the brown sweet
Camera: picture taking object
Dog: animals with four legs, fur, and a
tail.

(The connection between the linguistic

unit or symbol is constructed through
reference.)
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 TYPES OF REFERENCE
Non-referring
There are words which can never
refer to an object: So, very, maybe, if,
not, all.
These words do not identify entities
in the real world but help the
meaning construction of a sentence
when used. These are called Non-
referring Items.
Referring
Nouns and noun phrases are
inherently referring expressions.
Example: That man walks slowly. The
noun, man, is a referring expression
used to identify an entity in the real
world.
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 REFERRING AND NON-
REFERRING EXPRESSIONS
Sometimes Referring expressions become Non-referring in a
sense they are nouns but don't pick out an entity from the
real world.
We performed a surgery today. (Referring)
Surgery is done in the critical care unit. (Non-referring)
I'm looking for a house
Referring: address
Non-referring: buy a house (nonspecific)
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 TYPES OF REFERENCE
Constant
Some expressions may have similar
or same referent despite different
utterances.
Example:
1) The Elizabeth tower London clock
tower Big Ben
2) New York City Big apple These
expressions have constant reference.
Variable
There are some words whose reference
is dependent on context.
She called me for dinner.
I messaged you about the party.
She, me, I, you require context to point
to a referent. Such expressions have
variable references.
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 TYPES OF REFERENCE
Referent Extension

The thing picked out by uttering Set of things which could possibly be
the expression in a particular the referent of the same expression

context.
He bought a bag

Bag: a single object

By extension: all sorts of bags

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PROBLEMS WITH THE THEORY

Many words have no meaning Many nominal expressions that are

because they do not refer to a real used, do not have referents that exists
world entity or have ever existed in the real world.

Example: so, not, very etc Example: Hades is the king of

Underworld Superman is my favorite
hero World War III might be about to
start

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PROBLEMS WITH THE THEORY
There is not always one-to-one correspondence between a linguistic
expression and the object/item we wish to identify with it. Same referent
can be identified in different ways.

Example:
i) Hitler committed suicide in 1945.
Referred by a name

ii) The ruler of Germany committed suicide in 1945.

Referred by a definite description
>While some expressions refer to the same individual, they differ in
meaning. 9
 CONCEPTUAL THOERY

“Conceptual theory is a framework within cognitive

linguistics that explores the relationship between
language and thought. It posits that language is deeply
intertwined with our conceptual understanding of the
world, and that linguistic structures reflect underlying
cognitive processes.”

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 BACKGROUND

First developed by Ray Jackendoff an american linguist

1 in 1976

It challenged traditional views of language as a

2 purely symbolic system detached from cognitive
processes.

Influential figures in the development of conceptual

3 theory also include George Lakoff and Eleanor 11
Rosch.
 KEY CONCEPTS
Mental Representation
Language involves the mental
representation of concepts, which are
constructed and manipulated in the
mind.
Example: When we think of the
concept of "dog," we form a mental
representation of it such as four legs,
fur, and barking.
Embodiment
Our bodily experiences and sensorimotor
processes shape our conceptualization and
expression of language.
Example: The concept of "up" is often
associated with positive attributes, such as
"feeling uplifted" or "rising to the occasion,"
while "down" is associated with negative
attributes, such as "feeling down" or
"falling down." This demonstrates how our
bodily experiences of verticality influence
our conceptualization of emotions.
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 KEY CONCEPTS
Conceptual Metaphor
Abstract concepts are understood
through metaphorical mappings onto
more concrete domains.
Example: The metaphor "time is
money" conceptualizes time as a
valuable resource that can be spent,
saved, or wasted. This metaphor
allows us to understand abstract
concepts like time in terms of more
concrete domains like money.
Image Schemas
Abstract conceptual structures derived
from bodily experiences and
interactions with the physical world.
Example: The image schema of
containment involves the spatial concept
of one object enclosing or containing
another. This schema underlies concepts
such as "in," "inside," "contain," and
"surround," and is used to conceptualize
abstract ideas like emotions (e.g.,13
"bottling up feelings").
RELATION WITH NOAM CHOMSKY
Both conceptual theory and Chomsky's theories emphasize
the significance of mental representation in language.

While Chomsky's Universal Grammar theory suggests that

all human languages share a common underlying structure,
conceptual theory focuses on the diversity of conceptual
metaphors across languages.

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 CRITICISM
Conceptual theory has faced criticism for oversimplifying
the complexity of language and cognition.
Some scholars argue that it neglects the role of syntax and
grammar in language structure, focusing too heavily on
conceptual aspects.
One of the weaknesses of this theory is its inability to fully
address how individuals can create conceptions of things
they have no prior knowledge of.

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 BEHAVIORIST THEORY

“The behavioristic theory of semantics is a perspective

within linguistics that focuses on the relationship
between language and behavior. It emphasizes
observable behaviors and actions as the basis for
understanding meaning in language.”

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 BACKGROUND

Based on the theory of operant conditioning given by the

1 American behavioral psychologist, Burrhus Fredric
Skinner in 1938.

The theory rejects the idea of mental representations

2 or abstract concepts as the basis for meaning.

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 KEY POINTS
Stimulus-response associations:
Meaning is established through the
association of linguistic stimuli
(words, phrases, sentences) with
observable responses or behaviors.
Conditioning:
The theory draws on principles of
conditioning, where linguistic stimuli
elicit certain responses based on
learned associations. Through repeated
exposure and reinforcement, these
associations become stronger and more
established.
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 KEY POINTS
Contextual cues:
The setting in which language is
used is vital for understanding its
meaning. Contextual cues offer
extra details that aid language
users in making sense of and
reacting to linguistic information.
Observable behaviors as evidence:
Observable behaviors serve as evidence
of understanding or comprehension.
Meaning is demonstrated through
actions and responses rather than
through internal mental processes.
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 AUDIO-LINGUALISM
Audio-lingualism is an approach to language learning that was
formulated in 1950-60s, inspired by the behaviorist theory of B. F.
Skinner.
The approach was widely focused on oral learning skills, such as
speaking and listening.
Conversational drills were conducted repeatedly for habit formation.
The approach revolved around quick adaptation, hence, correct
pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation were emphasized rather
meanings and translations
Error prevention and corrections were heavily emphasized
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 CRITICISM
Noam Chomsky rejected the behaviorist theory of language
learning.
According to him ‘’language is not a habit structure’’
Humans are born with Language Acquisition device (LAD)
which enables their mind for effortless language learning.
Chomsky rejected the limitedness of environmental Stimuli,
arguing upon the innate ability of human creativity and
cognitive productivity.

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 IDEATIONAL THEORY
According to John Locke
“Language is not handled
independently of thought Examples: Jimmy is my dog,
rather it is seen as a tool for and I have a formation of
the conveyance of ideas.” idea in my mind that all the
dogs similar to Jimmy are
According to Axtell alike. This is my formation
“The ideational theory of
of idea about dogs.
meaning asserts that a
word’s meaning is
determined by the idea that
is often associated with it. “ 22
 OBJECTIONS
Ambiguity and Vagueness:
One objection is that words often
have multiple meanings or are
vague in their application
Abstract Concepts:
The ideational theory struggles to
explain how abstract concepts,
such as justice or love, acquire
meaning.
Context Dependency:
Another objection is that the
meaning of a term can vary
depending on the context in
which it is used.
Non-Linguistic Communication:
The ideational theory focuses
primarily on linguistic
communication and fails to
address non-linguistic forms of
communication
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THANK YOU