文档介绍：Chapter IV. word meaning
Main contents/focus:
on word meaning

aims of learning word meaning
the understanding of
English word meaning
a cognitive understanding of
English word meaning
Views on word meaning
referential theory指称论 Plato
meaning→ object /behavior /quality
stone/stand/grey

Words are symbol /name
of the objective world.
The referential theory regards the action of putting words into relationship with the world is meaning.
The basic premise is that we can give the meaning of words and sentences by showing how they relate to situations.
Referential theory
The referential theory
linguistic
expressions
things
&
situations
A direct relationship between expressions (words, sentences) and things in the world.
This is a realist view.
Problems of reference as a theory of Meaning:
1. On the reference theory of meaning, the lexeme has as many different meanings as it has different referents.
2. It is easy to understand for nouns referring to discrete, concrete things. (What about “generosity”, “sweet”, “of”?)
3. A single referent may often be referred to by a variety of different expressions.
the teacher, my neighbor, Alice’s husband
(the same person)
the morning star vs. the evening star
the morning star vs. the evening star
different sense:
清晨出来的星星
different sense:
傍晚出来的星星
the same referent
Do we have a “mental picture” of things?
But not everybody has the same picture…
So how do we understand each other?
dog
What’s your picture of DOG?
???
dog
3. Behaviorist Theory 行为反应说
主要观点: 意义是某话语产生的刺激,
或对某话语的反应, 或者
是刺激和反应的结合。
思想源头或代表人物:
美国语言学家布龙菲尔德
《语言论》(Bloomfield 1933)