Types of meaning

• Geoffrey Leech (1974, 1981). Semantics: The

Study of Meaning. Seven types of meaning:

• Conceptual meaning
• Connotative meaning
• Social meaning
• Affective meaning
Associative
• Reflected meaning Meaning
• Collocative meaning
• Thematic meaning
1. Conceptual meaning
• Also called ‘denotative’ or ‘cognitive’
meaning.
• Refers to logical, cognitive or denotative
content.
• Concerned with the relationship between a
word and the thing it denotes, or refers to.
2. Connotative meaning
• The communicative value an expression has by
virtue of what it refers to, over and above its
purely conceptual content.
• A multitude of additional, non-criterial
properties, including not only physical
characteristics but also psychological and social
properties, as well as typical features.
• Involving the ‘real world’ experience one
associates with an expression when one uses
or hears it.
• Unstable: they vary considerably according to
culture, historical period, and the experience of
the individual.
• Any characteristic of the referent, identified
subjectively or objectively, may contribute to
the connotative meaning of the expression
which denotes it.
3. Social meaning
• What a piece of language conveys about the
social circumstances of its use.
• Dialect: the language of a geographical region
or of a social class.
• Time: the language of the 18th c., etc.
• Province: language of law, of science, of
advertising, etc.
• Status: polite, colloquial, slang, etc.
• Modality: language of memoranda, lectures,
jokes, etc.
• Singularity: the style of Dickens, etc.
• domicile: very formal, official
• residence: formal
• abode: poetic
• home: general

• steed: poetic
• horse: general
• nag: slang
• gee-gee: baby language
 The five clocks by Martin Joos

Frozen Formal Consultative Casual Intimate

Formal <------------------------------> Informal

4. Affective meaning
• Reflecting the personal feelings of the speaker,
including his attitude to the listener, or his
attitude to something he is talking about.
• You’re a vicious tyrant and a villainous
reprobate, and I hate you for it!
• I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if
you would be so kind as to lower your voices a
little. or
• Will you belt up.
 ‘Colorful’ meaning
• Commendatory • Derogatory
• tough-minded • ruthless
• resolute, firm • obstinate
• shrewd • sly, crafty
• childlike • childish
• wiseman • wiseguy
• man of usual talent • freak
• portly, stout, solid, plum • fleshy, fat, tubby
• slender, slim • lean, skinny, lanky, weedy,
scraggy
5. Reflected meaning
• Arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning,
when one sense of a word forms part of our
response to another sense.
• When you hear ‘click the mouse
twice’, you think of Gerry being
hit twice by Tom so you feel
excited.
• Many taboo terms are result of this.
6. Collocative meaning
• The associations a word acquires on
account of the meanings of words which
tend to occur in its environment.
• pretty: girl, boy, woman, flower, garden,
colour, village, etc.
• handsome: boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat,
airliner, typewriter, etc.
I got on horseback within ten minutes after I got your
letter. When I got to Canterbury I got a chaise for
town; but I got wet through, and have got such a cold
that I shall not get rid of in a hurry. I got to the
Treasury about noon, but first of all got shaved and
dressed. I soon got into the secret of getting a
memorial before the Board, but I could not get an
answer then; however, I got intelligence from a
messenger that I should get one next morning. As
soon as I got back to my inn, I got my supper, and
then got to bed. When I got up next morning, I got
my breakfast, and, having got dressed, I got out in
time to get an answer to my memorial. As soon as I
got it, I got into a chaise, and got back to Canterbury
by three, and got home for tea. I have got nothing for
you, and so adieu.
7. Thematic meaning
• What is communicated by the way in which a
speaker or writer organizes the message, in
terms of ordering, focus, and emphasis.
• Mrs Bessie Smith donated the first prize.
• The first prize was donated by Mrs Bessie Smith.
• They stopped at the end of the corridor.
• At the end of the corridor, they stopped.