3. Semantic structure of English words. Semantic groupings in the vocabulary.

Lexical meaning—the component of m-ing expressing the content proper only to the given w & distinguishing it from other ws & recurrent in all its forms & distributions (Write, wrote, has written, am writing, have been writing—1 & the same semantic component “the process of making marks that represent letters/w-s by using a pen/pencil on paper”—seme.

Grammatical meaning—the component of the m-ing expressing the general, uniting individual forms of different ws in identical sets—variable(переменное), adding the lexical m-ing, complicating it; the component of the m-ing recurrent in identical sets of individual forms of different ws: the tense ming in the w-forms of verbs (asked, walked, prepared); the case ming in the w-forms of various nouns (girl’s, merchant’s, night’s).

The lexical ming—a complex structural formation. It includes denotational & connotational components.

The denotational comp.—that comp. of the lex. mean. ~ makes communication possible

It expresses the conceptional content of a w (speak—make use of a language in an ordinary, not a singing voice)

The connotational component—that comp. of the lex. mean. ~ expresses the emotive attitude of the subject of the speech towards the denotatum (обозначаемое). The emotive attitude includes the emotive charge & the stylistic value of the w-d.

The emotive charge—one of the objective semantic features proper to w-s as linguistic units. It comprises the emotional & evaluative comp-s. The emotional one expresses different emotions: gladness, sorrow, grief, admiration, tenderness—both positive & negative emotions (bosso, girlie).

The evaluative component expresses/ conveys the speaker’s attitude towards the referent, labeling it as good / bad: respect, scorn, irony, disrespect, hatred, disregard (пренебреж.) hovel—лачуга, хибара. It denotes “a small house/cottage” & besides implies that it is a miserable dwelling place, dirty, in bad repair & in general unpleasant to live in.

the stylistic reference & the emotive charge of a w are closely connected & to a certain degree interdependent. (It is one of the debatable problems in semasiology. Some linguists go so far as to claim that the stylistic reference of the w-d lies outside the scope of the meaning.) As a rule styl-ly coloured w-s are observed to possess a considerable emotive charge. The coll. w-s “daddy”, “mammy” are more emotional than the neutral “father”, “mother”

Polysemy The majority of English w-s—polysemantic.

hawk—1) ястреб, сокол; 2) хищник (о человеке); 3)амер. сторонник жёсткого курса (в политике)

to flash—1) сверкать, вспыхивать; давать отблески; 2) быстро промелькнуть, пронестись; 3) осенить, прийти в голову; 4) передавать по телеграфу, радио; 5) разг. выставлять себя на показ, красоваться, бахвалиться

(1) dominates over other m-gs, conveying the concept in the most general way, whereas m-gs (2)-(5) are associated with special circumstances, aspects & instances of the same phenomenon. (1)—the main m-g—the centre of the semantic structure of the w, as it covers & holds together the rest of the semantic structure; (2)-(5)—secondary m-gs—c.b. associated with one another, some of them exclusively through the (1).

The semantic structure—an organized set of recurrent variants & shades of m-g a given sound complex can assume in different contexts, together with their emotional colouring, stylistic peculiarities & other typical connotations if any.

But not in every w such a centre c.b. found. Some semantic structures are arranged on a different principal:

The centre of the semantic structure isn’t 1 of the mean-s but a certain component which c.b. easily singled out within each separate m-g. Each separate m-g is subject to further subdivision & possesses an inner structure of its own, which m.b. represented as sets of semantic components—semes (basic, elementary units of a sense).

flat(adj.)—1) плоский, ровный (even) 2) нерельефный, плоский 3) вялый, скучный, однообразный (monotonous) 4)скучный, унылый; безжизненный; неэнергичный, неостроумный, невразумительный 5) ком. неоживлённый, вялый (о рынке) (lifeless) 7) выдохшийся (о пиве) (get exhausted)

There is smth. that all these seemingly miscellaneous mings have in common—the implication of lacking: 1) deficiency of heights 2) def-y of relief 3) def-y of energy, variety 4) def-y of interest, energy, intellect 5) def-y of life, activity 7) def-y of quality

A polysemantic w-d m.b. represented as a hierarchically organized on the basis of the primary m-g structure of lexico-semantic variants(LSV). Radiation — 1 of the types of connections b/w them (LSV) — all the m-s are connected directly/immediately with the direct m-g(the m-g nominates the object without the help of context, in isolation) & are motivated with it:

Heart- a hollow muscular organ that receives blood from the veins & sends it out through the arteries.

It’s the centre of all the living beings.

This gave ground to transfer the w-d to express the idea “the central part, the core of a plant / vegetable”.

the heart of the cabbage, the heart of the apple;

later: the centre of the innermost part of a region

Concatenation — each following m-g is connected with the preceding one, not with the primary m-g:

Film тонкая кожа→тонкая плёнка→фото- и киноплёнка→кинофильм

Test глиняный сосуд, в кот испытывают некот кол-во металлов→испытание металлов →любое испытание

Semantic groupings

Synonymy Synonyms—w-s similar in general m-g but different in the shade of m-g, phonetical shape, connotation & collocation. They m.b. based on the common denotational component. Their stylistic reference & emotive charge m.b. different.

Classification of synonyms

I Absolute syn-s are very rare—coincide in their shades of meaning & in all their stylistic characteristics:

языкознание – языковедение semasiology – semantics fatherland – homeland spirant – fricative (in phonetics) functional affix – flexion - inflection

II Ideographic syn-s express the same idea but aren’t fully identical in their referential content:

loving – affectionate – devoted – fond

loving, devoted are used in the positive evaluation

affectionate, fond — neutral

loving describes the inner emotional state;

affectionate—a tender feeling, ~ m. b. displayed in caressing & other manifestations;

devoted manifests one’s faithfulness, readiness to spend time & effort to do smth.; sometimes it c.b. used in mockery;

III Stylistic syn-s—w-s denoting the same thing, having the same denotational component, but different in style:

Visage – face – muzzle – snout (рыло) –mug (lower than snout).

We m. use different w-s to express our attitude. A w-d m. possess both an additional implication & stylistic difference: To eat – to partake – to peck – to wolf — denotes “to take food”

to eat has a general meaning;

to partake means to take food in company with others — a literary w-d;

to peck suggests to take food in small quantities bit by bit —a colloquial w-d;

to wolf implies to eat greedily & voraciously — a vulgar w-d.

Among ideographic syn-s we distinguish:

1) very close in meaning: answer – reply;

2) differ in meaning considerably:

a) differ in the degree of a given quality: to look – to glance – to gaze – to stare – to peep; to want – to desire – to long for;

b) differ in the volume of concept: malady – illness – disease; journey – voyage – trip – travel.

One of the w-s in the synonymic group m. possess the m-gs of other members & it m.b. called a synonymic dominant — a w-d, ~ expresses the notion common to all syn-s in the most general way, & both stylistically & emotionally neutral, can stand for each member of the synonymic group.

Function of synonyms

~ to avoid repetition of one & the same w;

~ to express the idea more clearly, to precise the m-g;

~ expressive stylistic function

Homonymy Homonyms—identical in sound & spelling, or at least, in one of these aspects, but different in their m-g.

Groups of synonyms & antonyms are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose, whereas homonyms are accidental creations, therefore — purposeless.

The most widely accepted classification is that recognizing homonyms proper, homophones & homographs.

Hom-s proper — w-s identical in pronunciation & spelling:

fast — noun прост; fast — adj. quick

date — дата , date — финик, финиковая пальма

band — отряд, группа людей; оркестр, band — тесьма, лента, обруч, поясок

homophones — w-s of the same sound but of different spelling & meaning:

been & bean, I & eye, night & knight, air & heir (ч-л. второстепенное),

him & hymn, not & knot, rain & reign, bye – buy – by, write – rite – right,

isle & I’ll, deer & dear.

homographs — the same in spelling but different in sound:

to bow [bau] — поклониться-bow [bəu] — лук row [rəu] & row [rau]

lower [ləuə] & lower [lauə] (смотреть угрюмо, хмуриться) wind [i] & wind [waind]

A.I.Smirnitsky—classification: 2 large classes: 1) full hom-s & 2) partial hom-s.

Antonyms ~ w-s of the same category of speech which have contrasting m-gs: tall ≠ short, dead ≠ alive, over ≠ under.

A polysemantic w-d may have an ant-m (or several ant-s) for each of its m-gs:

a short story ≠ a long story; a short man ≠ a tall man; to be short with smb. ≠ to be civil with smb.; short memory ≠ good memory.

slow ≠ quick a slow learner ≠ an intelligent learner a slow film ≠ exciting, full of activity; a slow oven ≠ a hot oven.

~ According to their structural characteristics ant-s m.b. ↔ into:

1. derivational ant-s: known ≠ unknown, appear ≠ disappear, happiness ≠ unhappiness, useful ≠ useless (negative prefixes: dis-, il-/im-/ in-/ ir-, un);

2. absolute ant-s: slow ≠ fast, old ≠ young, love ≠ hate;

3. mixed ant-s: correct ≠ incorrect, wrong, kind ≠ unkind, wicked.

~ According to their meaning ant-s m.b. ↔ into:

1. contrary ant-s—w-s, referring to contrary notions, present extreme members of a regulated multitude & express contrary contrast(X—(≠)isn’t X, isn’t Y(≠)—Y): young—not young / not old “немолодой” / “нестарый”—old “старый”): big ≠ small, high ≠ low;

When a contrary ant-m negates some quality, it doesn’t imply the contrary quality. E.g.: Our house is not big. It doesn’t mean: Our house is small. This characteristic differs contrary ant-s from contradictory.

2. contradictory ant-s—w-s refer to contradictory notions (X—isn’t X); they have no the middle, intermediate link(звено): married ≠ single,

true ≠ false, agree ≠ disagree;

The negation of one member of the pair implies the assertion (утверждение) of the other, & the assertion of one member of the pair implies the negation of the other, i.e. they’re (incompatible) взаимоисключающие w-s.

3. conversional ant-s—w-s, denoting the same situation, appear as different names of one & the same action, relation: to buy ≠ to sell, to give ≠ to receive, husband ≠ wife, parent ≠ child, doctor ≠ patient;

4. векторно разнонаправленные ant-s—w-s expressing the contrast of differently directed actions, qualities etc.: summer ≠ winter, East ≠ West, know ≠ forget, to arrive ≠ to depart.