Article determination.

Word meaning. Polysemy in English. Polysemy vs homonymy

Word meaning is one of the most controversial terms in the theory of language. There is no conclusive definition of the concept since it is ambiguous.

Basically, word meaning can be defined as the ability of the word to communicate the concept expressed by it and denote through this concept real objects, qualities, abstract notions and actions. Each word has 2 kinds of meaning: lex and gr. The lex mean-g expresses the quality of the word which belongs only to it and distinguishes it from other words. The gr mean-g is more generalized since it is represented by generalized features-gr categories.

Polysemysignifies plurality of meanings. On the one hand, p. is a disadvantage since it the result of lacking in words and in practice hinders effective communication. While, on the other hand, it is a great advantage, because the number and sound combinations of speech organs are limited, so each word becomes overloaded with meanings-polyfunctional.

Homonymsare words which are identical in pronunciation and spelling (or at least in 1 of these aspects) but different in meaning. Example: a rose –rose (past from rise).In contrast to polysemantic words homonyms do not appear in a language according to regular patterns but accidentally.

The Noun. The Case. The Article Determination.

The Category of Case of the Noun

The part of speech ‘the noun’ is discriminated on 3 criteria: semantic (the n. expresses substance or thingness, and possesses an unlimited substantivization force), formal (signs: suffixal system –or, -er, tion, -dom), functional features (subj, obj, attribute, adv modifier, predicative).

The category of case is the immanent morphological category of the noun manifested in the forms of noun declension and showing the relations of the nounal referent to other objects and phenomena.

In present English the noun has 2 cases: the Common Case and the Possessive Case (genitive of possessor: Victor’s bicycle; g. of integer (organic possession –cannot be separated): Victor’s voice; g. of agent/author: Mary’s composition; g. of destination: women’s footwear; g. of adverbial: yesterday’s newspaper; g. of quantity: 2 hours’ journey)

Article determination.

Article is a determining unit of specific nature accompanying the noun in communicative collocations. aThe problem in theoretical grammar is to determine whether the article is a purely auxiliary element of a special grammatical form of the noun or it is a determiner word of a more abstract meaning than other determiners of the noun. To solve this problem we shall speak about two types of evaluation of the article: semantic and situational. aAnother problem is the regulation of the usage.

Types:1) the definite article;

2) the indefinite article;

3) the meaningful absence of the article.

The definite article expresses the identification or individualization of the noun referent. Its use shows that the object is taken as a concrete noun. (Look at the apple-tree! – Look at this apple-tree).

The indefinite article represents the object as belonging to the class of similar objects. A book – any book, some book, one book, a certain book.

The absence of the article takes place before the uncountable nouns and sometimes before the countable nouns (when the noun is taken in its abstract sense: Man must protect nature).

3. Functions of intonation:aattitudinal f.- adds a specific kind of emotional or attitudinal colouring

aaccentual f. –helps mark certain syllables/words as prominent and therefore important in terms of information

agr f.– provides information on the gr structure (boundaries between clauses, statement/question distinction)

adiscourse f.-signals new vs given information, regulates the flow of communication.

apsychological f.- intonation segments speech into units that are easy to perform, process and memorize.

aindexical f.-along with other pronunciation features, intonation marks the speaker’s personal or social identity. E.g. someone speaking like a teacher, policeman, doctor, priest)

4. Language learning approaches:communicative, humanistic, behavioristic.

The main purpose of the communicative approach is to make the pupils actively use the foreign language as a means of communication. The students learn that the lang-e they are studying has practical applications. The methods: compiling dialogues and acting out role-play games based on true-to-life situations: in a café, shop, unfamiliar town. The teacher doesn’t correct al the errors because fluency is more important than accuracy (errors are natural during the process of communication).

The humanistic approach is student-centered, which means that students organize their learning process, while the teacher’s role is reduced to a minimum – he/she just supervises the process and interferes only in case of emergency). The aim: to inculcate basic human values, creation of low-stress atmosphere.

The behavioristic approach relies on the principle that language learning is a physical skill, and physical skills are based on habits. Thus, the prevalent methods are systematic practice of the language; drilling to the point of overlearning; ‘repeat-and-remember’; correction of all errors.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 865