Unit4 _词义及词理据.ppt

Chapter IV. word meaning  Main contents/focus: 1.Views on word meaning 2.motivation aims of learning word meaning 1.facilitate the understanding of English word meaning 2.have a cognitive understanding of English word meaning Views on word meaning 1.the referential theory指称论 Plato meaning→ object /behavior /quality stone/stand/grey Words are symbol /name of the objective world. The referential theory the morning star vs. the evening star Do we have a “mental picture” of things? But not everybody has the same picture… So how do we understand each other? What’s your picture of DOG? semantic triangle 语义三角 proposed by Ogden / Richards The meaning of meaning 1923 (The relation between a word and a thing it refers to is not direct. It is mediated by concept.) The representational theory Semantic triangle Semantic triangle There is no causal relation between symbol and referent: this is the reason that different languages use entirely different words for the same thing. Semantic triangle Semantic triangle The sentence “the dogs bark” has a particular situation as its referent. The dogs also have referents: the actual dogs being spoken about. Note that sb who hears this sentence does not necessarily know what the exact referents of the noun are. The referents we can know are ones which are perceived by our senses or imagined in our minds: ones for which we have mental representations. 4.the contextual theory语境论 meaning / context Malinowski I don’t like her. She is tall and thin and moves like a crane. I like her. She is tall and thin and moves like a crane. 5.the phonetic theory语音论 sound /meaning related chip/little/mini-/bit /booklet /i/=little/small sn- unpleasant sound * Meaning of a word is open. Meaning is given by people . Meaning is unclear. 2.motivation(理据） It deals with the conne