Semantics Assignment

Well readers, I wanna share with you about definition of Denotation, connotation, and Implication in Semantics. Hopefully, this post helpful

Definition of Denotation

The denotation of a word is the actual definition of the word rather than the nuances of its meaning or the feelings it implies. The denotation of a word does not carry the associations, emotions, or attitudes that the word might have.

Function of Denotation

Readers are familiar with denotations of words but denotations are generally restricted meanings. Writers, therefore, deviate from the denotative meanings of words to create fresh ideas and images that add deeper levels of meanings to common and ordinary words. Readers find it convenient to grasp the connotative meanings of words because of the fact that they are familiar to their literal meanings.

Connotation Definition

Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings in addition to their literal meanings or denotations.

Function of Connotation

In literature, connotation paves way for creativity by using figures of speech like metaphor, simile, symbolism, personification etc. Had writers contented themselves with only the literal meanings, there would have been no way to compare abstract ideas to concrete concepts in order to give readers a better understanding .Therefore, connotative meanings of words allow writers to add to their works, dimensions which are broader, more vivid and fresher.

Definition Implication

An implication is something that is suggested, or happens, indirectly. When you left the gate open and the dog escaped, you were guilty by implication. Implication has many different senses: Usually used in the plural, implications are effects or consequences that may happen in the future. The statement “p implies q" means that if p is true, then q must also be true. The statement “p implies q" is also written “if p then q" or sometimes “q if p." Statement p is called the premise of the implication and qis called the conclusion.

Each of the following statements is an implication:

              (1)  If you score 85% or above in this class, then you will get an A

(2) If the U.S. discovers that the Taliban Government is in-volved in the terrorist   attack,then it will retaliate against Afghanistan 

 (3) My thumb will hurt if I hit it with a hammer

References : https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/implication
                    http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English_Literature/terms/denotation.htm

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For the last week, i was explain to you about  symbol and referent. well, for this moment  i will explain about euphemism in semantics. Lets check..

Euphemism

Euphemism is an idiomatic expression which loses its literal meanings and refers to something else in order to hide its unpleasantness. For example, “kick the bucket” is a euphemism that describes the death of a person. In addition, many organizations use the term “downsizing” for the distressing act of “firing” its employees.

Euphemism depends largely on the social context of the speakers and writers where they feel the need to replace certain words which may prove embarrassing for particular listeners or readers in a particular situation.

Techniques for Creating Euphemism

Euphemism masks a rude or impolite expression but conveys the concept clearly and politely. Several techniques are employed to create euphemism.

• It may be in the form of abbreviations e.g. B.O. (body odor), W.C. (toilet) etc.
• Foreign words may be used to replace an impolite expression e.g. faux (fake), or faux pas (foolish error) etc.
• Sometimes, they are abstractions e.g. before I go (before I die).
• They may also be indirect expressions replacing direct ones which may sound offensive e.g. rear-end, unmentionables etc.
• Using longer words or phrases can also mask unpleasant words e.g. flatulence for farting, perspiration for sweat, mentally challenged for stupid etc.
• Using technical terms may reduce the rudeness exhibited by words e.g. gluteus maximus.
• Deliberately mispronouncing an offensive word may reduce its severity e.g. darn, shoot etc.

Euphemism Examples in Everyday Life

Euphemism is frequently used in everyday life. Let us look at some common euphemism examples:

• You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).
• Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).
• He is always tired and emotional (drunk).
• We do not hire mentally challenged (stupid) people.
  

 

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Semantics Assignment

1.     Symbol

The present paper is the summary of my views on imaginative symbols in the aspects of their semantic structure and conceptual transpositions in them. As was defined in one of my earlier works, symbol is a multi-notion conventional sign which represents, apart from its inherent and immediate designatum, an essentially different, usually more abstract designatum, connected with the former by a logical link. (Shelestiuk 1997: 125)[i] In semantic terms, in symbols we deal with a hierarchy of meanings, where the direct meaning constitutes the first layer of sense and serves as a basis for the indirect (secondary) meaning - the second layer of sense, both of them united under the same designator (a name, a visual image, a significant object or person, etc.)

In (Shelestiuk 1997) I discussed the indispensable characteristics of symbols, which are, in fact, the complex structure of a symbol and the equally important status of meanings in it. Other important, if not indispensable, features of symbols are: imaginativeness; motivation; immanent polysemy; archetypal nature; integration into the structure of secondary semiotic systems and universality in various cultures. I will not dwell here on each of these features, but regard some of them as I outline the essentials of the theory of symbols.

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Later I came to the discovery of ‘illogical’ types of links between concepts in symbols, i. e. some conventional and accidental neuropsychic relations (see the part of this work concerning irrational symbols).

There may be more than one secondary concept associated with the immediate designatum in symbol. This feature is termed immanent polysemy in (Shelestiuk 1997); Philip Wheelwright (1968: 220) seems to mean the same when he speaks of ambiguity and vagueness of symbols. Immanent polysemy of a symbol means its innumerable implications: a cluster of conceptually disparate meanings related to a symbol (for example, fire – hearth and home; masculine principle; passion; the sun; purification); a circle of equonymous meanings (fire – purification – funeral pyre, purgatory, Gehenna); or a sense perspective - a chain of meanings, where, as the thought moves away from the direct meaning, links of abstract metaphors / metonymies may be followed by links of their concrete realization in other domains (fire - vigor - masculine principle - fertilization; fire – passion - heart; fire - the sun – God - spirit).

Among symbols I specify language and speech symbols. Language symbols are fixed in people’s mind as stable associative complexes, existing in the lexical meaning of a word as ‘a symbolic aura’, i. e. a number of semes of cultural-stereotype and archetypal or mythological character. Cultural-stereotype symbols are contemporary and comprehensible for all the representatives of a culture, with a transparent logical connection between a direct and a secondary meaning, the latter being easily deducible. Archetypal symbols, consistent with K. G. Jung’s archetypes, are symbols based on the most ancient or primary ideas of the ambient world. In archetypes the connection between the direct and secondary meaning is often darkened.

Examples of cultural stereotypes: e.g. rose – beauty, love; wall – obstacle, restriction of freedom, estrangement; mountain – spiritual elevation, also courage associated with overcoming difficulties; way – movement in time, progress, course of life. Examples of archetypes: the sky – father; the earth – mother; egg - primordial embryo, out of which the world developed; snake - god of the underground world, of the dead; bird – mediator between the earth and the heaven, this world and the other world; tree (of life), mountain (of life) – the world itself. For example symbol:

2. References

The reference of a word is the relation between the linguistic expression and the entity in the real world to which it refers. In contrast to reference, sense is defined as its relations to other expressions in the language system. Thus, there are words that have a sense, but no referents in the real world. Other words may differ in sense, but not necessarily in reference, and vice versa. The class of entities to which an expression can be applied is usually called its extension. Consequently, the referent of a word is always a member of the class of entities that constitutes its extension. The word's intension, on the other hand, is defined as the set of semantic properties which define it. The term denotation (that is also frequently used in the sense of an extensional reference) refers to the constant, abstract, and basic meaning of a linguistic expression. Secondary meanings or associations the expression evokes are called connotations. 

References:
http://www.ello.uos.de/field.php/Semantics/Referenceandsense


Shelestiuk, Helen V. Semantics of Symbol // Semiotica. Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies. Vol. 144-1/4, 2003. Pp. 233-259.

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