《英语词汇学》（英文版）Chapter 7 Conceptual Meaning

Conceptual Meaning

Conceptual Meaning

Conceptual meaning Conceptual Meaning (sometimes called " denotatiⅤe"or cognitive"meaning )is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic communication

Conceptual Meaning (sometimes called "denotative" or "cognitive" meaning) is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic communication. Conceptual Meaning

it has a complex and sophisticated organization f a kind which may be compared with, and cross-related to similar organization on the syntactic and phonological levels of language

it has a complex and sophisticated organization f a kind which may be compared with, and cross-related to, similar organization on the syntactic and phonological levels of language

There are two structural principles that seem to lie at the basis of all linguistic patterning: the principle- of contrastiveness and the principle of structure

There are two structural principles that seem to lie at the basis of all linguistic patterning: the principle of contrastiveness and the princ ip le of s tructure

The phonetic symbol /b/ may be explicated as representing a bundle of contrastive features [ +bilabial, +voice, +stop, -nasal

The phonetic symbol /b/ may be explicated as representing a bundle of contrastive features: [ +bilabial, +voice, +stop, -nasal]

In a similar way, the conceptual meanings of language can be studied in terms of contrastive features, so that (for example the meaning of the word woman could be specified as thuman, -male, +adult, a distinct from, say, boy, which could be defined" [+Human, +male adult

In a similar way, the conceptual meanings of a language can be studied in terms of contrastive features, so that (for example •)• the meaning of the word "woman" could be specified as [+human, -male, +adult], as distinct from, say, boy, which could be "defined" [+Human, +male, -adult]

The second principle, that of structure. is the principle by w hich l arge linguistic units are built up out of smaller units

The second principle, that of structure, is the princ iple by w h i c h l a r g e r linguistic units are b u i lt u p ou t o f s m a l l e r u n i t s

This aspect of the organization of language is o f ten given visual display in a tree-diagram

T h i s a s p e c t o f the organization o f l a n g u a g e i s o f t e n g i v e n visual display in •a tree-diagram:

The man hit the ball NP Det NP Det The man hit the ball

S NP VP Det N V NP Det N The man hit the ball The man hit the ball

Some of the simplest words harbor an amazingly explicit set of wayward traits. Digging them out, classifying them, and showing their relationships is termed componential analysis or feature analysis, and the traits themselves are semantic features, which supposedly do the same for meaning that distinctive features do for phonology

Some of the simplest words harbor an amazingly explicit set of wayward traits. Digging them out, classifying them, and showing their relationships is termed componential analysis or feature analysis, and the traits themselves are semantic features, which supposedly do the same for meaning that distinctive features do for phonology