ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY

nadina visan
LECTURE 2: The Linguistic Sign (F. de Saussure) and derived models; Denotation vs.
Reference (Lyons); Dennotation vs. Connotation; Morpheme vs. Lexeme.
1. The Linguistic Sign and Derived Models
1.1.
The Linguistic Sign (Saussures model)
The distinction langue/parole: langue the linguistic system with its rules; parole the
realization and application of the lg system
Language = a structured system of signs
A linguistic sign = a mental unit, does not link a thing and a name, but a concept and a
phonic image
The phonic image = a mental impression of a sound
Concept (signified)
Sign
Phonic image (signifier)
This model is crosslinguistic characterizes all languages
Two principles: a) the arbitrariness of the sign
b) the linear character of the signifier
a)the arbitrariness of the sign there is no necessary connection between the signified and
the signifier, the association is purely conventional
counterarguments: phonaestemes, onomatopoeia, compounds
a modern science, called semiotics (study of signs), differentiates between simple signs
(which are arbitrary) = icons, and complex signs (which are non-arbitrary, hence
motivated) = symbols.
a new distinction between icons/symbols
b)the linearity of the signifier: the signifier is made up of a chain of temporally successive
elements (this ultimately corresponds to the syntagmatic dimension of the language)
Shortcomings of the model: it is a binary, mentalistic model of the sign; abstracted from
the users and the functions of the sign; the extralinguistic object denoted by the sign is not
included in this model.

1.2 The Ogden/Richards model: the semiotic triangle

thought or reference

Symbol (word)

(thing) referent

According to this figure, the word (symbol) symbolizes the thought/reference, while the
thought/reference refers to the referent (the object, thing in the real world). The figure also
indicates (by means of the dotted line) that there is no direct relationship between the
word and the extralinguistic thing (referent) denoted by it.
The relation between symbol (word) and the referent (thing) is mediated by thought
(reference). This is a mentalistic model, since thought is seen as an entity. Words, as
linguistic signs, are therefore indirectly related to extralinguistic referents.
Shortcoming of the model: the model still excludes the speaker and the hearer; it nonpragmatic.
1.3. Buhlers Organon Model
Buhlers theory follows Platos idea: language and its signs = a tool (organon)
1. the linguistic sign is a symptom, as an expression of the speaker (or writer)
2. because of its correlation with an extralinguistic referent, it is at the same time a
symbol: the representation of the referent is the symbol
3. in view of its relation to an addressee, whose behaviour it is meant to direct and
control, the sign is also a signal: the signal appeals to the hearer/reader.
2. The Meaning of the Linguistic Sign (Lyons, 1977)
Lyons makes a distinction between denotation and reference:
Denotation
The lexeme (a term coined by Lyons in analogy with morpheme) is an abstract linguistic
unit with different variants (e.g. lexeme write with variants wrote, written, writing, etc)
Denotation a relation which holds between a lexeme and a class of extralinguistic
objects

Lets say the class of linguistic object is represented by COW (a particular set that
contains various cow elements). The individual members of this class are called the
denotata.
The denotation of a lexeme is independent of the concrete circumstances of the utterance.
Compare, for instance: the class COW vs. the cow, Johns cow, those three cows over
there
COW includes all the elements stated above: the cow, Johns cow, those three cows over
there
Therefore the elements in the set establish a relation of reference with specific individuals
as referents.
Reference = the relation which holds between an expression and what that expression
stands for on particular occasions of its utterance
Consequently, we are dealing with two types of relations:
- denotation (between the lexeme and a class of objects, COW)
- reference (between an expression and a specific object) e.g. that cow
Another concept used by Lyons is sense = the place of the word in a system of
relationships which it contracts with other words in the vocabulary
While denotation and reference are relations between linguistic units and the extralinguistic
world, the concept sense denotes an relation that is internal to the linguistic system). Sense
varies function of the relation between the word and other various words within the linguistic
system.
E.g. consider the manner in which sense varies for the lexeme bull
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Beware of the bull.

I think the elephant is a bull.
Stop acting like a bull in a china shop.
Threre was a bull market on the stock exchange today.
Well done! Youve hit the bulls eye!
Dont give me all that bull.
Im afraid youll just have to take the bull by its horns.

[ bull market = one where prices rise fast because theres a lot of buying of shares in
anticipation of profits]
Exercise: Come up with a similar range of senses for the word cow
3. Denotation vs Connotation
Meaning appears as both denotative (the core meaning) and connotative (the associative
meaning); another way of putting it is to refer to the literal vs literary meaning of a
lexeme.
Illustration: consider the following paradigm in point of denotation and connotation

Domicile
Residence
Abode
Home
In point of denotation, there is a class of objects in the real world that include various
kinds of homes. We will use the notation HOME for this class.
In point of connotation, all the elements in this class, have extra shades of meaning:
Domicile legal term
Residence formal
Abode old, poetic
Home informal, or more general in meaning
Therefore, we can safely conclude that:
Denotative meaning refers to the relation between a linguistic sign and its denotata
Connotative meaning refers to the additional properties of the lexeme (as can be seen in
dictionaries, where there are dictionary labels providing this sort of information about
lexemes)
Q: why are there discrepancies between the information offered by various dictionaries?
A: there are no clear-cut boundariees between labels such as colloquial, casual, slang, etc.
=> the boundaries are fuzzy
The distinction marked/unmarked
In the paradigm above, we consider home as being the unmarked variant, whereas
domicile, residence and abode appear as marked, since they have an extra feature. This
distinction can be applied in all linguistic levels:
e.g. compare t/d in this pair, t is the unmarked variant of d, which is marked as voiced
compare lion/lioness in this pair, lion is the unmarked variant of lioness, which is
marked as [+female]
A possible system of connotations:
A. stylistic: e.g. edifice, swain, apothecary, baksheesh, buddy, bloke, bugger
B. expressive: e.g. niggard, bastard, bathroom, bugrake, dolly bird
C. regional: e.g. elevator, streetcar, truck, wee, bairn
stylistic: a) high (formal; literary or poetic; archaic; foreign)
b) low (colloquial, slang, vulgar)
expressive: derogatory; taboo; euphemistic; jocular; appreciative
Exercise: consider the following lexemes and try to associate them with one of the labels
above: powwow, bluestocking, elegant, governor, warden, cloakroom, restroom, spinster,
bachelorette, caravan.

4. Morpheme, word, lexeme

Morpheme = the smallest linguistic sign
An illustration of segmentation (morphological analysis):
e.g. farmers: FARM
-ER
-S
free
bound
bound
lexical
lexical
grammatical
morpheme
morpheme
morpheme
problem: took
How do we segment it?
Structuralist definition of morpheme:
- the smallest meaningful linguistic unit, i.e. the smallest linguistic sign
- consists of a class of variants (the allomorphs), which are either phonologically or
morphologically conditioned
- its an abstract unit of a linguistic system: took contains a past tense morpheme (a
replacive morph: [u] < [ei] like in took vs take); hit if past tense, it contains a zero
morpheme
The combination between : a) lexical and grammatical morphemes = inflection (studied
by morphology)
b) lexical and lexical morphemes = word-formation (studied
by derivational morphology)
the lexeme a lexical item
a. a complete sign on a particular linguistic level, namely the lexicon
b. a class of variants, i.e. word-forms
c. an abstract unit of the linguistic system
the lexeme is not the smallest unit, unlike the morpheme
lexemes can be a) simple b) complex (phrasal lexemes)
example 1: sing (word forms: sang, sung) simple lexeme vs. complex lexeme: singer
(word forms: singers, singers)
another example: put up with a discontinuous lexical item because it cant be
decomposed into meaningful lexical units, i.e. morphemes = its meaning is not provided
by the distinct meaning of put + up + with. Therefore put up with is made up of
formatives.
Pull smbs leg idiom; complex lexeme; also made up of formatives