KINDS OF MEANINGS (SEMANTICS)

There are several ways in which meanings are classified. They are based on different points of view. In this book are going to be discussed two types of classifications.

1.      Based on the units of language that can carry meaning, meanings can be classified into there categories.

a.       The first is called word meaning that is meaning carried by a word. The branch of semantics that deals with the meaning of words is called lexical semantics. (Words are also called as lexicon or lexical items). Lexical semantics is concerned with the relationships among meanings of words.

E.g.     Human means people or person (in dictionary)

            God means the creator and ruler of the universe (in religions such as: Islam and Christianity).

b.      The second category is sentence meaning that is meaning carried by a sentence. The branch of semantics that deals with sentence meaning is called sentence semantics. Sentence semantics aims to uncover the basic relationship that exists between noun phrase and the verb of the sentence. The relationships are called semantic roles.

E.g.     The man opened the door. (the noun phrase ‘the man’ serves as an agent of the verb ‘opened’).

            The door opened easily. (the noun phrase ‘the door’ serves as a patience of the verb ‘opened’), etc.

c.       The third category is called utterance meaning that is the meaning of an utterance. The meaning of an untterance depends on the context of the utterance. Utterance meaning is studied in a branch of linguistics called pragmatics.

Pragmatics is not included in the study of semantics. Therefore semantics only deals with word meaning and sentence meaning.

E.g.     Some buildings collapsed because of being old. We heard that. (The word ‘that’ carries the meaning the previous utterance).

            The Global Crisis influenced to the economic condition in Indonesia. A lot of people are affected and businesses fail. The government realizes this.
(The word ‘this’ carries the meaning the previous utterances).

2.      The second category in which meanings are classified is based on the patterns or arrangements of linguistic units.

We often distinguish between lexical meanings, grammatical meanings and linguistic meanings.

a.       Lexical meanings are the meanings of the words themselves which are not related to other words in a grammatical construction. (as stated in dictionaries).

E.g.     “Leaf” means a part of a tree.

            “House” means a place where we live.

            “Seat” means a place where we sit., etc.

Lexical meaning can be classified into three kinds.

1)      The first is called denotational meaning or referential meaning that is the object, notion or state of affairs described by a word.

E.g.     “Flower” means a part of a tree.

            “Seat” means a place where we sit.

2)      The second is called connotational meaning. It includes social meaning and affective meaning. Social meaning is the level of meaning that depends on certain social characteristics of the speakers and the situation of the character of the language used. Affective meaning is the emotional connotation that is attached to words or utterances.

E.g.     “Flower” means the most beautiful girl. (social meaning)

            “Seat” means a political power. (social meaning)

            “Clever” means stupid, spoken in an angry manner. (affective meaning)

3)      The third is called metaphorical meaning. It deals with metaphors. They are words having non-literal meanings extended from the lexical ones.

E.g.     “Long-handed man” means someone who like stealing, not really a man with hands longer than normal people.

b.      Grammatical meanings generally refer to the relations between words and the things words denote. They also refer to the relationships of words in a phrase, a clause or a sentence.

E.g.     Look at the following two sentences.

            1. Tom leaves as soon as he finishes his breakfast.

            2. The leaves turn red in the autumn.

            “Leaves” means “goes” as it functions as a verb (sentence 1), but it means “parts of a tree” as it functions as a noun (sentence 2).

c.       The third is called linguistic meanings or total meanings that are the combination between lexical and grammatical meanings. Since words are context-based, the meaning of words or expression can not be separated from their contexts. That’s why linguistic meaning can also be called contextual meaning.

E.g.     “Dealova is a pretty girl.”

            (“Pretty” has a denotational meaning, that Dealova is really a pretty girl., “Pretty” means “beautiful” or “good looking”.)

            “Amar is really an understanding boy!”

            (Spoken in a high tone, “understanding” means the opposite of “understanding”, so it has a connotational meaning, since the meaning includes emotion.)

            “The riot was reported in the newspaper with screaming headlines.”

            “Your daughter is a playful little lamb, Mrs. Lisa.”

            (“Headlines do not scream and Mrs. Lisa’s daughter is a human child, not really a lamb”. So the expressions “screaming” and “lamb” are said to have metaphorical meaning.)

                                    Therefore, to understand the meaning of words we should not only look up in the dictionary, but also look at the contexts in which words are used, which are also related to speaker’s attitude or emotion. They are also related to the situation where and when the words are used by the speaker.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Sugianto. Semantics. Kediri: Nusantara University, 2014.

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