Semantic meanings

4th semester
Seven types of meaning

 Meaning is an important part of the language.

 We can use language for the motive of
communication and meaning plays a very
important role in language communication.
 The meaning has been defined variously. But
the most common definition is that which
holds between the word and the referent or
things.
Cont….
 There are various types of meaning.
 The famous scholar Geoffrey Leech has given Seven types of
meaning or Semantic.
 They are--

1. Conceptual meaning
2. Connotative meaning
3. Stylistic meaning
4. Affective meaning
5. Reflective meaning
6. Collocative meaning
7. Thematic meaning
1.Conceptual/ denotative Meaning
 Conceptual meaning covers those basic, essential components of
meaning which are conveyed by the literal use of word.
 Example:needle- thin, sharp, steel instrument
 Conceptual meaning is also called logical or
cognitive meaning.
 It is the basic propositional meaning which
corresponds to the primary dictionary
definition
Cont…
 It is the essential or core meaning
 E.g.
 /P/ can be described as voiceless+ bilabial+ plosive
 Similarly
 BOY= human + male + adult
2- Connotative/ associative meaning


Connotative is kind of associated meaning.
 Certain characteristics or features are associated with a
particular world.
 Connotative meaning includes not only physical
characteristics but also psychological, historical and social
properties.

For example, the word women mean gregarious, emotional,

sensitive etc.
Cont….
 The other example is that rose. The conceptual meaning of
the word rose is a flower but its connotative meaning is
freshness.
 Similarly, the connotative meaning of the word “ night” is “
Evil”, “ lamb” refers to innocence.

 while “ beauty” is the connotative meaning of “ moon”.

3. Collocative Meaning
 Collocative meaning is the meaning which a word acquires in the
company of certain words.
 Words collocate or co-occur with certain words.
 Collocative meaning refers to associations of a word because of its
usual or habitual co-occurance with certain types of words.
 Pretty and handsome indicate good looking.
 For example:
i. Boy collocates with handsome
ii. Girl collocates with pretty
iii. Road collocates with long
4.Stylistic meaning
 Stylistic meaning is that meaning is created specifically by the use of
language.
 When we say the same thing in different ways
 the stylistic meaning is created.
 stylistic meaning results from a “style”.
 Hockett defines “ Style” beautifully saying, “ two utterance in the same
language which convey approximately the same meaning but which are
different in their linguistic structure can be said to differ in style.

For example, “he died” “he expired” “he left for heavenly aboard” in these
sentence the same meaning has been expressed in different styles.
5.Reflective meaning
 Reflected meaning arises when a word has more than one/
multiple conceptual meaning .
 E.g. chicken thighs are labeled as drumsticks in western
supermarket.
6. Affective/ emotive Meaning
 Affective meaning is concerned with the expression of
feelings and attitudes of speakers or writers.
 Affective meaning can not stand on its own.
 It depends on conceptual meaning, stylistic meaning, etc
 Jane is an angel of a girl.
 The man is a fox
7. Thematic meaning
 Thematic meaning is mainly a matter of selection between
alternative grammatical construction.
 In thematic meaning, the theme remains the same, but the
order of two sentences may changes.
 E.g. The young man donated the book voluntarily.
 The book was donated by a young man voluntarily.
Thank you