Theories of Meaning

29 October 2020
Focus on three out of many other
problems in defining meaning

 (1) Meaning is partly subjective in nature

 (2) Result of a convention in a linguistic community

 (3) Meaning of words in isolation or based on the context of use?

(1) Meaning is partly subjective in nature

e.g. what does being ’pametan’ mean for you?

RMSH definition “

How is your definition of pametan expressed in English best?

smart, clever, intelligent ?
smart = having or showing a quick-witted intelligence
clever = quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas
intelligent = *having or showing intelligence, esp. of a high level
(1) continued

 Or wise =

having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment

responding sensibly or shrewdly to a particular situation
(1) cont.

 Task 1: Give your definition of skinny

(2) Result of a convention in a linguistic community

Maybe best illustrated today with neologisms

 e.g. microwave

„an electromagnetic wave used in radar, in communications, and for heating in

microwave ovens and in various industrial processes“

Noun. Short for a microwave oven

Verb. Cook (food) in a microwave oven
(2) cont.

 Task 2: Think of the time when the word (computer) mouse was invented and
came into wider use. You surely cannot remember that time but think of what
it may have been like at the time for

a) computer specialists
b) general public

 Task 3: Think of a word that has gone through a similar process in the past
five to ten years.
(3) Meaning of words in isolation or based on the
context of use?

 e.g. define heavy

Factors: our immediate association reflects our experience (including that

related to our profession and/or status) and knowledge, but also the frequency
of individual collocations

e.g. a health care worker is more likely to associate it with smoking habits than
with artillery
(3) continued

e.g. Heavy as in

 A heavy box?
 A heavy person?
 Heavy rain?
 A heavy heart?
 A heavy meal?
 Heavy artillery?
 A heavy head?
 A heavy smoker?
Theories of Meaning

 Saussire’s theory of the linguistic sign

The signifier
Linguistic sign
The signified

 Arbitrariness and conventionality of the linguistic sign

 Language as a system of signs
 Valeur of linguistic signs
Theories of Meaning (cont.)

 Ogden and Richards

N.B. The dotted line represents aribtrariness
Theories of Meaning (cont.)

 Ogden and Richards

„you see table and you utter table“

 Bloofmield – a biheviourist too

stimulus and response

N.B. origin of kangaroo

late 18th century: the name of a specific kind of kangaroo in an extinct Aboriginal
language of northern Queensland, Australia. vs. a myth of its origin
Theories of Meaning (cont.)

 Naming Theories (words refer or denote)

 Russel: object words and dictionary words (?)
 Kempson: to give the meaning of a word is to show what it denotes, e.g.

proper names denote individuals

common names denote sets of individuals
verbs denote actions
adjectives denote properties of individuals
adverbs denote properties of actions
Mental representation

OK with objects, e.g.

chair

but

Problems with abstract notions, e.g.

beauty, Paris, development, etc.

Prototype theory by E. Rosch

”We recognize members of a category by matching them with a prototype or

‘typical example’ of that category, e.g.

Trouts are more prototypic of ‘fish’ than eels

Sparrows are more prototypic of ‘bird’ than penguins

Task 4: Find more examples like the ones above

Modern Theory of Meaning

 It relies on the following four key elements

sense (MNE smisao)

denotation (MNE denotacija)
reference (MNE referencija)
association (MNE asocijacija)
Sense

 A set of distinctive features defining a class of extralinguistic entities

e.g. BREEZE [wind] [gentle]

GLARE [visually perceive] [with eyes wide open] [with anger]
STRIDE [move on your feet] [with long steps] [with decisive steps]
[in a specified direction]

A lexeme in isolation can only have a sense.

N.B. ’Distinctive features’ are also known are ’semes’, ’diagnostic features’, or
’components of meaning’
Sense (cont.)

Diagnostic features serve the following purposes:

 Identify the sense(s) of a lexeme
e.g. BREEZE [wind] [gentle]
 Compare & contrast lexemes with dissimilar lexemes
e.g. BREEZE [wind] [gentle]
PAT [touch] [gentle] [quick]
 Compare & contrast lexemes with similar lexemes
e.g. BREEZE [wind] [gentle]
STORM [wind] [strong]
Sense (cont.)

 Compare & contrast lexemes across languages

e.g. English: WIND, BREEZE, STORM, TEMPEST, GALE, TORNADO, MONSOON,

HAILSTORM, BLIZZARD, etc.

Montenegrin: VJETAR, POVJETARAC, SJEVERAC, BURA, OLUJA,

TORNADO, itd.
Reference

 Deals with the relationships between language and the world

e.g. This presentation will have more slides than I thought.

Where the lexeme PRESENTATION refers to the actual presentation in the extralinguisic world (i.e. in
real life) that I am now working on. However, not all reference is specific as in the above case. In the
following two sentences

The EFL learner makes errors in article use at almost all proficiency levels.
Mothers need much more support if they are to have a good work/family balance.

reference is generic.

 Lexemes have reference only when used (in an utterance or written text)
Denotation

 Deals with the relationships between language and a class of extralinguistic

entities

lexeme : a class of entities, not a specified entity

Association

 Deals with the register

 Set of additional distinctive features that restrict the reference

e.g. The company purchased a new firewall system.

The lexeme PURCHASE has an additional distinctive feature for register/style

[+formal], which distinguishes this lexeme from lexeme BUY, which is neutral , or
unmarked for register.The reference of PURCHASE is restricted in the sense that
the activity referred to with the lexeme PURCHASE is (usually) a business activity
or any other activity set in a formal communicative situation
Relationships are not always clear cut

 The same expression can be used to refer to different things

What would be the referent of the phrase the present US President used:
a) in 2007? b) in 1996?

 Two different expressions can have the same referent

The Morning Star & the Evening star both refer to the same planet, Venus.
or
John and the person in the corner both refer to John in a situation where a
person called John is standing in the corner.
Polisemy (multiple senses of lexemes)
 Few words share all of their senses with other words, but many words share at
least some senses with other words

e.g. deep
1)(of an emotion or feeling) intensely felt: deep disappointment
2) extending far down from the top or surface: a deep gorge
profound
1) (of a state, quality, or emotion) very great or intense: profound feelings of
disquiet
*profound gorge
N.B. Therefore, the lexemes deep and profound are interchangeable only in those
collocations where they are used in their shared sense. E.g. deep/profound
disappointment, deep/profound feelings BUT NOT deep/profound river