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Semantic marker is a semantic feature which the word has in common with other lexical items. Semantic markers reflect systemic relations between the word and the rest of the vocabulary.
Semantic distinguisher is a semantic feature which differentiates the word from all other words or which differentiates individual meanings of a polysemantic word. For example, the semantics of the word bachelor can be represented with the help of the following markers (they are enclosed in round brackets) and distinguishers (they are enclosed in square brackets):
bachelor, n
(human) (male) [one who has never been married];
(human) (male) [young knight serving under the standard of another knight];
(human) [one who has the first or lowest academic degree];
(animal) (male) [young fur seal without a mate in the breeding season].
Practical Assignment
Discuss the meaning of the words in bold type in connection with the problem ‘concept-meaning’.
A house in the country. A full house. Every word was heard in all parts of the house. White House. An ancient trading house in the city. A noisy cheerful house. To keep house. To bring down the house. To leave one's father's house. On the house.
White clouds. White hair. A white elephant. The white race. White magic. White meat. As white as snow. White wine. It's white of you. White lie.
Die of hunger. Die a violent death. Die in one's bed. The day is dying. Die to the world. I'm dying to know. His secret died with him. Die in harness. Die game. Never say die.
Group the following words into three columns in accordance with the sameness of their 1. grammatical; 2. lexical; 3. part-of-speech meaning.
Boy's, nearest, at, beautiful, think, man, drift, wrote, tremendous, ship's, the most beautiful, table, near, for, went, friend's, handsome, thinking, boy, nearer, thought, boys, lamp, go, during.
Identify the denotational and connotational aspects of lexical meaning of the given words. Analyze the similarity and difference between the components of the connotational aspect of lexical meaning in the given pairs of words.
Model: celebrated - notorious.
Words
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Denotational and connotational aspects
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Components of the connotational aspect of lexical meaning which specify the difference between the words
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celebrated
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widely known, admired and talked about by many people because of good qualities
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evaluation (positive)
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notorious
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widely known because of something bad, for example, for being criminal, violent, or immoral
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evaluation (negative)
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To deal with - to grapple with, sophisticated - hardened, adventure - ordeal, perfect - flawless, to glance - to glare, adulation - respect, ugly - repulsive, to murmur - to mutter.
Identify the denotative and connotative elements of the meanings in the following pairs of words.
To conceal - to disguise, to choose - to select, to draw - to paint, money - cash, photograph - picture, odd - queer.
Single out the denotative and connotative components of meanings of the synonyms in the examples given below.
a) At the little lady's command they all three smiled; b) George, on hearing the story grinned. 2. a) Forsyte - the best palate in London. The palate that in a sense had made his fortune - the fortunes of the celebrated tea men, Forsyte and Treffry...; b) June, of course, had not seen this, but, though not yet nineteen, she was notorious. 3. a) Noticing that they were no longer alone, he turned and again began examining the luster; b) June had gone. James had said he would be lonely. 4. a) The child was shivering with cold; b) The man shuddered with disgust. 5. a) I am surprised at you; b) He was astonished at the woman's determination. 6. a) It's impolite to stare at people like that; b) The little boys stood glaring at each other ready to start a fight; c) The lovers stood gazing into each other's eyes. 7. a) They produce great amounts of wine but this is not all they produce in that part; b) The story was fabricated from beginning to end. 8. a) On hearing from Bosinney that his limit of twelve thousand pounds would be exceeded by something like four hundred, he had grown white with anger; b) “It's a damned shame”, Andrew burst out, forgetting himself in a sudden rush of indignation. 9. a) He was an aged man, but not yet old; b) He was an elderly man at the time of his marriage. 10. The distance between the Earth and the Sun may be said to be immense; the distance between the poles is vast.
Discuss thefollowing groups of words from the point of view of their meanings (denotation) and stylistic connotations.
joke, jest, witticism, gag, wisecrack;
fat, stout, plump;
friend, crony, buddy, companion;
stubborn, mulish, obstinate;
abridge, shorten, epitomize;
lament, mourn, deplore, grieve for.
The verb 'to take' is highly polysemantic in Modern English. On which meanings of the verb are the following jokes based? Give your own examples to illustrate the other meanings of the word.
“Where have you been for the last four years?”
“At college taking medicine”.
“And did you finally get well?”
“Doctor, what should a woman take when she is run down?” “The license number, madam, the license number”.
Proctor (exceedingly angry): So, you confess that this unfortunate Freshman was carried to this frog pond and drenched. Now what part did you take in this disgraceful affair?
Sophomore (meekly): The right leg, sir.
purchase
move
become
(earn
takeout
find
ЬакёЪаск take
incur
filming
takeai
admit
obtain
receive
\cbntrad lead -4~-
apply—- utilize
charter lakerent -—hire
tram
/packexadfease
utilise I \
use employ
/A-study accept
containdhye proceeds^. \ .
yi^teturn \direct L payoff \\\ \/\\ \ issQeAW Л \
postulate necessitate
у invohaed
motion-picture photograph^3®
/ get hold of bring— -convey / seleglcupy pick out
choose /
cinematography5'--с°пс1ис1 act tfuidei“ \ lead
°
/ о !\ \\Q- \ ingest
° ° .. ? - submit
/\\ \ \ W<consume experience
\ / \ \ \ withd^sider
win
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Theme 13
SEMANTIC CHANGE
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