Лекции по лексикологии английского языка. Гусева Г.В. - 8 стр.

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III. Types of Lexical Meaning

The content plane of words includes denotative and connotative meanings.

Denotative or referential meaning, the basic type of lexical meaning, is the

word‘s reference to the object. This reference may be individual (The dog is

trained) or general (It‘s not a dog). That is why denotative meaning is subdivided

into demonstrative and significative.

The type of denotative meaning varies in different groups of words.

The meaning of situational words is relative – it depends on the situation and

context: here, son, my, this, now.

Pronominal words do not name the referent, they only point to it: he, she,

they. Their meaning in isolation is very general: he – any male. but in speech their

reference is always individual: he – this particular male.

The referent of proper names is always an individual object or person. They

refer to each member of a particular class: London, Paris (cities), John, Bob (men).

Specific and generic terms differ in the size of the referent group: rose –

flower; flower – plant. General terms have a wider meaning and can substitute for

any specific term: dog – English bulldog, French poodle, cocker spaniel.

The referent of abstract words can be perceived by the mind and not by the

senses: miracle, polite, to manage.

Connotative meaning includes various additional meanings: emotional,

evaluative intensifying and expressive, e.g. hillock, to devour. As a rule,

connotation co-exists with denotation. However, sometimes it comes to the fore

and weakens the word‘s denotative meaning.

Words also may have a certain stylistic value. It means that they refer to this

or that situation or functional style: science, everyday life, business: get – obtain –

procure; child – kid – infant.