Lecture-3

Meaning of Meaning
Ogden and Richards (1923)
&
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)
 Ogden & Richards’s Theory of Meaning

They wrote a book: Meaning of Meaning in 1923 in which they outlined 21 definitions of meaning.

Some of these definitions are:

(a ) Meaning is magic: i.e. it appears as something intrinsic (connected, integrated) to language itself.

(b) Meaning consists of the words comprising the entry in the dictionary.
The interesting thing about this is that the words used to describe the other words are in turn described by words.

(c) Meaning is what one wants to express, what he means in the carrying out of a linguistics act. It goes further to
mean What a speaker intends a listener to understand.

(d) Meaning is the place of something within a system. The meaning of a word is grasped in relation to its
surroundings. (Bank)

recognize meanings in terms of signs and symbols where signs are natural representations of something beyond
themselves, such as sound, whereas symbols are specialized types of signs, such as text.(Smoke…Sign),Written
a. Imagine you have a favorite storybook, like "Alice's b. Meaning is like a puzzle made of words, and it's
Adventures in Wonderland." In this book, there are many fascinating because the words used to explain
interesting characters and events. Now, think of the words other words are also explained by more words.
in the book as the building blocks of the story. For example, let's think about the word "dog" in
The magic of meaning is when these words come together the dictionary. It's described as a furry animal that
in a way that makes the story come alive in your mind. It's barks and often lives with people. But now, think
like the words themselves have a special power to create about the words used to describe "furry," "animal,"
pictures and feelings in your imagination. "bark," and "people" in the dictionary. Each of
For example, when you read the words "Alice fell down these words has its own set of words to explain
the rabbit hole," you can imagine Alice tumbling into a them.
mysterious world filled with strange creatures. The So, it's like a never-ending chain of words
meaning of those words is like a magic spell that transports explaining other words, and that's what makes
you into the story. understanding the meaning of words so interesting
and complex.
 Examples

C. For example, let's say someone says, "Can D. Imagine you have a special word like "bank." The
you pass the salt?" The meaning here is not meaning of this word is like its home within a bigger system
just about the words "pass the salt." It's also of words. You understand what "bank" means by looking at
about the person asking for the salt and the the words around it and how they all fit together.
person they're asking knowing that they want For instance, if we see the word "bank" in a sentence like "I
the salt. So, meaning is not only the words went to the bank to deposit money," its meaning is
but also the intention behind those words connected to the other words in the sentence. Here, "bank"
and what the listener gets from them. means a place where you put your money safely. So, the
meaning of "bank" is like its spot in the language puzzle,
and it becomes clearer when you see how it fits with other
words.
 The Semantic Triangle of Meaning

Ogden and Richards identified that understanding comes from within people rather than from the words
they just interpret. They set a model called ‘The Triangle of Meaning’ for a better understanding of how
language words and basically, it is a theory of signs. The triangle is meant to show the word’s relationship
between thoughts and things. (One word can have many meanings)/relationship b/w word and
meaning is arbitrary./No relation between meaning and a word./ Book

The Semantic Triangle of Meaning has three parts: Symbol, Reference (Thought), and Referent.
• A Symbol is an item used to represent other things, ideas, or events. (Sample/image/sketch)
• A Reference is the initial thought you have associated with a word. (Message)
• A Referent is the actual meaning of the words.
Examples

• What is the Sign?

………Smoke/there is
fire
 Semantic or Semiotic Triangle
Thought/Referents/ Prior Experience
Connotations

Dog
President
Thing/Object
Word/Symbols
being represented
/Sign/sound
 (Ferdinand de Saussure)

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was a Swiss professor of linguistics who changed the way language is understood.
He argued that meaning is created inside the language De Saussure in the relations of difference between its parts.

De Saussure’s concepts of meaning can be summarized as:

Semiotics: Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Ferdinand de Saussure defines
semiotics as ‘the study of the life of signs within society’. It is an investigation into how meaning is created and how
meaning is communicated. Its origins lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols create meaning.

10/7/2023
 Langue and Parole

Langue and Parole is a dichotomy where the French term langue stands for the system, conventions, and
rules that are adopted by a community to enable communication. Parole, on the other hand, refers to the
act of speech. To understand the concept of langue and parole, let us consider that you meet your friend
and want to greet her. This speech circuit will include the following steps as illustrated in the image below.
 Look at the following Steps

Step 1: In your brain, the impulse to greet your friend is created.

Step 2: Your brain will generate a sound image of “hi” which corresponds to the idea of greeting. This is a
completely psychological process.
Step 3: The brain will now send the sound image as an impulse to all the organs that contribute to speech such
as vocal cords, tongue, mouth, etc. This is entirely a physiological phenomenon.
Step 4: You say “hi” and the sound waves travel from your mouth to the ears of your friend. This is a physical
process.
Step 5: For your friend, the process will now be in reverse. The sound wave will now travel from the ear of your
friend to her brain. The brain will receive the sound image of “hi”. It will then form the psychological connection
between the acoustic image “hi” and the concept of greeting.
 Explanation

From the above example, we can easily separate the physical phenomenon of speech from the act of utterance or
phonation, and the psychological aspects of sound-image and the concept. We can also make the following significant
distinctions:
•Distinction between the outer part which includes the sound waves traveling from your mouth to your friend’s ears,
and the inner part which includes the creation and perception of the sound-image, concept/idea, etc.
•Active and passive sections. Everything from your brain to the ears of your friend is active. On the other hand,
everything related to the ears of your friend and his perception is passive.
Through language and Parole, Saussure separates language from the act of speaking. In doing so he separates:
•Social from Individual: The act of uttering the word “hi” is completely separate from the social connotation of
greeting.
•Essential from accessory or in some cases accidental.
Based on the above example, the societal conventions and grammatical rules that require you to say hi to your friend
constitute langue. The utterance of the word “hi” is parole.
 Synchrony and Diachrony

Sure, here are short definitions and examples for the terms "synchrony" and "diachrony" in
linguistics:

1. Synchrony:
Synchrony in linguistics refers to the study of a language at a specific point in time, focusing
on its structure and characteristics without considering its historical development. It analyses
language as it exists in a particular period, often to understand its current state.

Example: Analysing the grammar, vocabulary, and phonological rules of modern English as it
is spoken today without considering its historical evolution is an example of synchronic
linguistics.
 Synchrony and Diachrony

2. Diachrony:
Diachrony in linguistics refers to the study of language change and evolution over time.
It examines how a language has developed, evolved, and transformed throughout its
history by considering historical records and linguistic changes across different periods.

Example: Studying how Old English evolved into Middle English and then into Modern
English by tracing changes in grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics is an example of
diachronic linguistics.
 Summary

In summary, diachronic analysis would trace the historical changes in the word "table" over different time
periods, while synchronic analysis would describe its current usage and meaning in the present day.
 Types of meanings in Semantics

Within semantics, several distinct types of meanings are recognized, each contributing to our
understanding of how language conveys information and communicates ideas. Here are the key types of
meanings in semantics:

1. Lexical Meaning/Denotative meaning/Conceptual Meaning :

Lexical meaning, also known as referential meaning, pertains to the core, literal definition of a word
or expression. It represents the basic, dictionary-style definition that a word carries.

Example: The lexical meaning of "cat" refers to a small, domesticated feline mammal.
 Types of meanings in Semantics

2. Associative Meaning/Connotative Meaning

Associative meaning involves the connections or mental associations that people make between words or
concepts. These associations can be based on personal experiences, cultural context, or other factors.

Example: "Winter" may evoke associative meanings such as "cold," "snow," "holidays," and "cozy fires" for
different individuals.
Example: The word "home" may have connotations of warmth, comfort, and security, in addition to its lexical
meaning of a place where one lives.
Connotative meaning is the communicative value that an expression has by virtue of what it refers to, over and above
its purely conceptual content. It can vary from age to age, from society to society, and from individual to individual.
 Examples

• Father ---strength, strong will, tolerance

• businessperson---wealth, generosity
• Internet cafe---uncleanliness, unpleasant
affairs
 Types of meanings in Semantics

3. Social meaning is the meaning that an expression

conveys about the contexts or social circumstances of its
use. It chiefly includes the stylistic meaning of an utterance.
It is the formality of the expression.
 Examples

• mother (formal), mom (colloquial),

mama (child’s language)
• dollar (neutral) buck (slang)
• father, papa, old boy
 Types of meanings in Semantics

4. Affective Meaning: The level of meaning that conveys

the language user’s feelings, including his attitude or evaluation
in shaping his use of language is called affective meaning or
emotive meaning.
Example: .Politician---statesman
 Types of meanings in Semantics

5. Reflective Meaning is the meaning that arises in

cases of multiple conceptual meanings when one
sense of a word forms part of our response to
another sense. It is the product of people’s
recognition and imagination
He took the drugs.
Examples:
Enjoy yourself.
 Types of meanings in Semantics

6. Collocative Meaning is the associations a word gets because of the meanings

of words which tend to occur in its linguistic context.

Examples: fast reading/friendship/color/road/car

• have a fast; a period of fasting
• Fast has such collocative meanings as quick moving, capable of high speed, firmly
fixed, or abstaining from food for a time.
 Types of meanings in Semantics

Thematic s Meaning: The meaning arising out of the way in

which the writer or speaker organizes his message is called
Thematic Meaning.
Examples:
Tomorrow I plan to have an outing.
I plan to have an outing tomorrow.
seems to answer the question: When will you have an outing?; What will you do tomorrow?
Thank You