Types of meanings

Linguistics

1. Types of Meaning
(Semantics)
Introduction to Linguistics
Level-3

2. Introduction
ThereareseventypesofmeaninginSemanticsdefined
byGeoffreyLeechinhis‘Semantic-AStudyofmeaning’
(1974).

3. 1-Conceptual or Denotative Meaning
Conceptualmeaningisalsocalledlogicalorcognitivemeaning.
Itisthebasicpropositionalmeaningwhichcorrespondstothe
primarydictionarydefinition.
Itistheliteralmeaningofthewordindicatingtheideaor
concepttowhichitrefers.
Itistheessentialorcoremeaning.
E.g.Boy = + human + male -adult

4. 2. Connotative Meaning
Connotativemeaningissomethingthatgoesbeyondmere
referentofawordandhintsatitsattributesinthereal
world.
Thuspurelyconceptualcontentof‘woman’is+human+
female+adultbutthepsychosocialconnotationcouldbe
‘havingmaternalinstinct’ortypical(ratherthan
invariable)attributesofwomanhoodsuchas‘babbling’,’
experiencedincookery’,‘skirtordresswearing‘etc.

5. 3. Social Meaning
Themeaningconveyedbythepieceoflanguageaboutthesocial
contextofitsuseiscalledthesocialmeaning.
Example;Theword‘Home’canhavemanyusealsolikedomicile
(official),residence(formal)abode(poetic),home(ordinaryuse).

6. 4. Affective or Emotive Meaning
Itreferstoemotiveassociationoreffectsofwordsevoked
inthereaderlistener.Itiswhatisconveyedaboutthe
personalfeelingsorattitudetowardsthelistener.
Example:‘home’forasailor/soldierorexpatriateand
‘mother’foramotherlesschild.

7. 5. Reflected Meaning
Reflectedmeaningariseswhenawordhasmorethanone
conceptualmeaningormultipleconceptualmeaningsothere
isakindofambiguity.
Example;Theword‘gay’wasfrequentlyusedinthetimeof
WilliamWordsworthbutthewordnowisusedfor
‘homosexuality’.Thetermwasoriginallyusedtomean
"carefree","happy",or"brightandshowy".

8. 6. Collocative Meaning
Collocativemeaningistheassociatedmeaningofaword
acquiresinlinewiththemeaningofwordswhichtendto
co-occurwithit.
Example;Bothprettyandhandsomemeangood-looking
buttheydifferincollocativemeaning.
Prettyoftenco-occurswithgirl,woman,flower,skirt,etc.
Handsomeoftencollocateswithboy,man,car,overcoat,
etc.

9. 7. Thematic Meaning
Itreferstowhatiscommunicatedbythewayinwhicha
speakerorawriterorganizesthemessageintermsofordering
focusandemphasis.
Example;
1) Mrs. Smith donated the first prize.
2) The first prize was donated by Mrs. Smith.
Inthefirstsentence“whogaveawaytheprize“ismore
important,butinthesecondsentence“whatdidMrs.Smith
gaveisimportant”.Thusthechangeoffocuschangethe
meaningalso.