6th week meaning and motivation.pptVIP

Meaning and Motivation Review: Sound and Meaning What is the relation between sound and meaning of a word? The relation between the meaning of a word and its sound is arbitrary or conventional. The majority of the words in the vocabulary of any language, including the English language, are conventional symbols. It is not possible to explain why this or that word has this or that sound, or why this or that word has this or that meaning. What is motivation? Motivation is the relationship between the structure of a word and its meaning. There are four motivation of word-structure in terms of meaning. That is to say, motivation can occur in four ways. 1st Onomatopoeic motivation : 1. Primary onomatopoeia: 基本拟声 2. Secondary onomatopoeia: 次要拟声 1. Primary onomatopoeia: 基本拟声 In modern English one may find some words whose phonetic forms suggest their meanings as the words were created by imitating the natural sounds or noises. Eg. Apes gibber bears growl Bulls bellow camel grunt Cats mew ducks quack Eagles scream flies buzz Frogs croak hens cluck Horses neigh mice squeak Pigeons yelp snakes hiss Secondary onomatopoeia: 次要拟声 it means that certain sounds and sound-sequences are associated with certain senses in an expressive relationship. In Bloomfield’s words, there is “ a system of initial and final root-forming morphemes, of vague signification”. With which the “ intense, symbolic connotation” of such terms is associated. For example, the sounds /sn/ may express three types of experiences: A: Breath –noise: 表呼吸声 sniff snuff, snore, snort B: Quick separation of movement: 表动作的迅速分离或移动 snip, snap, snatch, C: Creeping :爬行snake, snail, sneak FL－表示快速运动或移动。 FL－读音短促且具有爆破力，舌头在口腔中作向前的冲击动作。如：fly, flow, flash, flee, fling, flicker, flutter, flip, flush, flame, flap, flare, flounce, fleet, flick, flirt, flit MA－，MO－，MU－，ME－表示母亲，如：mater, mother, mama, mama, mamma,