5.3   Types of Meaning

       Word meaning per se(本身) is not monogeneous（单一的） but a composite(复合体) consisting of different components, which are known in familiar terms as different types of meaning. These meanings are not found in every word, and in fact some words possess some of them, devoid(没有的；缺乏的) of others. Some types of meanings may appear more prominent in certain words than in others. Some meanings are constant, and others may be transient(暂时的), existing only in actual contexts. All these form part of the study of semantics and prove of paramount(最高的，首要的) importance in the use of words. This section will discuss in brief each type of meaning.

 

1. Grammatical Meaning and Lexical Meaning

    As mentioned earlier, grammatical meaning refers to that part of the meaning of the word which indicates grammatical concept or relationships such as part of speech of words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), singular and plural meaning of nouns, tense meaning of verbs and their inflectional paradigm(（名词、动词等的）词形变化) (forget, forgets , forgot, forgotten , forgetting). Grammatical meaning becomes transparent only when words are used in connected speech. For example, 'The dog is chasing a ball. ' The words dog and ball are nouns and both are singular used as subject and object in the sentence respectively; is chasing is the predicate verb(谓语动词), showing present continuous tense(现在进行时), and the and a are determiners(限定词，限定成分；决定因素), specifying definiteness and number. Unlike lexical meaning, different lexemes(词素) or lexical items(词项), which have different lexical meanings, may have the same grammatical meaning, e. g. tables, men, oxen, potatoes (having the same plural meaning) and taught, -worked, forgave (having the same tense meaning). On the other hand, one and the same lexeme may have different grammatical meaning as shown in forget, forgets, forgot, forgotten, forgetting. Functional words, though having little lexical meaning, possess strong grammatical meaning whereas content words have both meanings, and their lexical meanings are prominent.

Lexical meaning and grammatical meaning form the word meaning. As stated already, grammatical meaning surfaces(显现) only in use, but lexical meaning is constant in all the content words within or without context as it is related to the concept the word conveys. Therefore it remains the focus of semantic studies and naturally is our chief concern. Lexical meaning itself embraces(包括) two components: conceptual meaning and associative meaning.

 

2. Conceptual Meaning and Associative Meaning

    Conceptual meaning ( also known as cognitive（认知的）, denotative（外延的）, or designative（指称的） meaning) is meaning given in the dictionary and forms the core of word meaning. Being constant and relatively stable, conceptual meaning forms the basis for communication as the same word generally has the same conceptual meaning to all the speakers in the same speech community. Take 'The sun rises in the east'. The symbol sun here means 'a heavenly body which gives off light, heat, and energy', a concept which is unmistakable to anyone who speaks English.

Associative meaning is the secondary meaning supplemented(补充) to the conceptual meaning. It differs from the conceptual meaning in that it is open-ended and indeterminate, liable to the influence of such factors as culture, experience, religion, geographical region, class background, education, etc.. Nida in his Language, Culture, and Translating (1993) lists six sources of associative meanings, namely, 

(1) the persons who use such lexemes; 

(2) the settings in which such lexemes are generally employed; 

(3) the occurrence of such lexemes in prior texts (intertextuality(互文性)); 

(4) contamination(（词语的）感染错合；（文章的）混杂) from linguistic collocations; 

(5) contamination from homophones(同音词); 

(6) cultural values associated with the referents of the lexemes. 

These could be fused into four categories: connotative(内涵的), stylistic, affective(情感的), and collocative(搭配的) (Leech 1981).

 

1)  Connotative Meaning

    Opposite to the denotative meaning(外延意义), connotative meaning(内涵意义) refers to the overtones(附带意义) or associations suggested by the conceptual meaning, traditionally known as connotations. It is not an essential part of the word meaning, but social and cultural values that might occur in the mind of particular users of the language. For example, mother, denoting a 'female parent', is often associated with 'love', ^'care', 'tenderness', 'forgiving', etc. . These connotations are not given in the dictionary, but associated with the word n actual context to particular readers or speakers. Another example is home, whose conceptual meaning is 'a dwelling place'. When readers come across the term in actual reading, they may make out more than that. It may remind them of their 'family, friends, warmth, safety, love, convenience', etc. . These connotations are implied in he well-known sayings ' East or west, home is best' and ' There is no place like home'.

    Connotative meaning is peripheral(边缘的；不重要的) compared with conceptual meaning and denotations are relatively unstable, varying considerably according to culture, historical period, and the experience of the individual. Suppose a child is prejudiced against, often jeered(嘲笑) at, beaten or scolded at home, then home to him is nothing but a hell, naturally he unfavorable connotations, 'indifference', 'hatred', 'disgust' and so on. Even a phrase like son of a bitch which normally has an associative meaning of crude vulgarity(粗俗；粗野) may convey the connotation of 'friendly conviviality'(欢宴；宴饮交际) used between two close friends when they meet after some prolonged period of time as in 'And how are you doing, you old son of a bitch ?'. (Nida 1993:41)

 

2)  Stylistic Meaning

    Apart from their conceptual meanings, many words have stylistic features, which make them appropriate for different styles. These distinctive features form the stylistic meaning of words. In some dictionaries, these stylistic features are clearly marked as formal', 'informal', 'literary', 'archaic' (古体的，不通用的；过时的), 'slang' and so on. For instance, pregnant, expecting, knocking up, in the club, greggers, up the stick, up the spout(被典当掉；被毁灭；丧失掉；怀孕), glowing, etc. , all can have the same reference, but differ in their contextual appropriateness. Words such as facticity(确凿性), neoclassicism(新古典主义), plausibility(似真性), legitimacy(合法性) carry meanings of pedantry(卖弄学问；迂腐) and are appropriate for technical writing.  

    The stylistic differentiation(差异) is especially true of synonyms. It is observed that there are few words which have both the same conceptual meaning and the stylistic meaning. Martin Joos (1962) in his The Five Clocks suggests five degrees of formality: 'frozen'(冷冻体), 'formal'(正式体), 'consultative '(商洽体), 'casual'(随意体) and 'intimate '(亲密体). Accordingly, the synonyms charger(战马), steed(骏马), horse, nag(老马), plug(老而无用的马) can be labeled as 'frozen', 'formal', consultative', 'casual' and 'intimate' respectively. People generally do not go into such elaboration(详述). The normal terms used to classify styles are 'formal', 'neutral' or

informal'. In such terms charger and steed can be marked 'formal', nag and plug 'informal' and horse ' general' or ' neutral'. 

    3) Affective Meaning

    Affective meaning expresses the speaker's attitude towards the person or thing in question. This meaning can be overtly and explicitly conveyed simply by the choice of the right words as many have emotive content in themselves, e. g. vicious(恶毒的), villainous(罪恶的), tyrant(暴君), love, hate, anger, grief(悲痛), pleasure. Interjections(感叹词) are generally expressions of emotions such as oh , dear me, alas, hurrah.

    Words that have emotive values may fall into two categories: appreciative(褒义的) or pejorative. Words of positive overtones are used to show appreciation or the attitude of approval such as famous, determined, slim /slender, black; those of negative connotations imply disapproval, contempt(鄙视) or criticism, e.g. notorious(臭名昭著的), pigheaded(倔强的), skinny(皮包骨的), nigger.(黑鬼)

    Just like connotative meaning, affective meaning varies from individual to individual, from culture to culture, from generation to generation, from society to society. Words like revolution, freedom, democracy, imperialism may have quite different interpretations in different societies and sometimes these' emotive' overtones are more important in the words' use than the denotations (概念意义) (Jackson 1988). Another example is the word dog which may have quite different affective meanings in different societies. In most Western countries, dog is associated with 'loyalty', 'faithfulness', a close companion' and all positive qualities; whereas to Chinese, dog at its best is a useful animal. As a matter of fact, it generally takes on negative associations. If a person is compared to a dog, the speaker's attitude towards the person is no more than contemptuous'(鄙视的). In many cases, the appreciative or pejorative meaning of the words are brought out only by the speakers in context:

(1)   He is bright and ambitious.(有抱负的)

(2)  Knowledge of inequality has stimulated envy, ambition and greed.(野心)

(3)  The reactionary's chief ambition is to become the emperor.(野心)

(4)  One who is filled with ambition usually works hard.(抱负)

    In sentences (1) and (4), the italicized words are obviously used in good sense showing approval on the part of the speaker. In sentences (2) and (3), however, ambition undoubtedly conveys a pejorative overtone. Therefore, to a large extent the affective meaning of the word depends on the circumstances under which it is used.

 

    4) Collocative Meaning

    As Leech defines, 'collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment. ' In other words, it is that part of the word meaning suggested by the words with which it co-occurs. He illustrates the point by the synonyms of pretty and handsome. These two words share the conceptual meaning of 'good-looking ' , but are distinguished by the range of nouns they collocate with:

	girl	boy
	boy	man
	woman	car
	flower	woman
pretty	garden        handsome	overcoat
	color	airline
	village	typewriter
	etc.	etc.

 

    It may be noted that there is some overlap between the collocations of the two words, e. g. pretty woman and handsome woman. Though both are perfectly correct, yet they suggest a different kind of attractiveness. A pretty woman stresses the attractiveness of facial features while a handsome woman may not be facially beautiful yet is attractive in other respects: a slender figure, graceful posture and behaviour, etc. . The same is true of tremble and quiver, both meaning 'shake involuntarily', but people tremble with fear and quiver with excitement, showing different implications.

It is again noticeable that collocative meaning overlaps with connotative and affective meaning because in a sense both connotative and affective meanings are revealed by virtue of collocations or contextuality(互文性). As Nida notes, one can often tell what work a person has been doing by the kinds of stains on clothing, so a word in particular contexts is likely to acquire associative meanings reflecting such usage. Green is a kind color but its meaning is obviously affected when it occurs in such phrases as green on he job, green fruit, green with envy, green-eyed monster.