In a word, its sound design, morphological structure and the meaning and meaning contained in it are distinguished.

The lexical meaning of a word is its content, i.e. the correlation between a sound complex and an object or phenomenon of reality, historically fixed in the minds of speakers, "formed according to the grammatical laws of a given language and is an element of the general semantic system of the dictionary."

The meaning of words does not reflect the entire totality of cognized signs, objects and phenomena, but only those of them that help to distinguish one object from another. So, if we say: this is a bird, then in this case we are only interested in the fact that we have before us a variety of flying vertebrates, the body of which is covered with feathers, and the front limbs are transformed into wings. These features make it possible to distinguish a bird from other animals, such as mammals.

In the process of joint labor activity, in their social practice, people cognize objects, qualities, phenomena; and certain signs of these objects, qualities or phenomena of reality serve as the basis for the meaning of the word. Therefore, for a correct understanding of the meaning of words, a broad acquaintance with the public sphere in which the word existed or exists is necessary. Consequently, extra-linguistic factors play an important role in the development of the meaning of a word.

Depending on what feature is the basis of the classification, four main types of lexical meanings of words can be distinguished in modern Russian.

1. By connection, correlation with the subject of reality, i.e. according to the method of naming, or nomination (lat. nominatio - name, name), direct, or basic, and figurative, or indirect meanings are distinguished.

A direct meaning is one that is directly related to an object or phenomenon, quality, action, etc. For example, the first two meanings of the word hand will be straight: "one of the two upper limbs of a person from the shoulder to the end of the fingers ..." and "... as a tool of activity, labor."

A figurative is such a meaning that arises not as a result of a direct correlation with an object, but through the transfer of a direct meaning to another object due to various associations. For example, the following meanings of the word hand will be figurative:

1) (singular only) manner of writing, handwriting; 2) (plural only) labor force;

3) (only plural) about a person, a person (... with a definition) as the owner, owner of something; 4) a symbol of power; 5) (only singular, colloquial) about an influential person who can protect, provide support; 6) (singular only) on the consent of someone to marriage, on the readiness to marry.

Connections of words that have a direct meaning are less dependent on the context and are conditioned by subject-logical relations, which are wide enough and relatively free. The figurative meaning is much more dependent on the context; it has a living or partially extinct imagery.

2. According to the degree of semantic motivation, meanings are divided into unmotivated (or non-derivative, idiomatic) and motivated (or derivative from the former). For example, the meaning of the word hand is unmotivated, and the meanings of the words hand, sleeve, etc. are already motivated by semantic and derivational connections with the word hand.

3. According to the degree of lexical compatibility, meanings are divided into relatively free (these include all direct meanings of words) and non-free. Among the latter, two main types are distinguished:

1) a phraseologically related meaning is one that arises in words in certain lexically indivisible combinations. They are characterized by a narrowly limited, steadily reproducible range of words, the connections of which among themselves are determined not by subject-logical relations, but by the internal laws of the lexical-semantic system. The boundaries of the use of words with this meaning are narrow. So, the word bosom figurative meaning "sincere, sincere" is realized, as a rule, only in combination with the word friend (friendship);

2) a syntactically determined meaning is one that appears in a word when it plays an unusual role in a sentence. Context plays an important role in the development of these meanings. For example, when using the word oak in the role of characterizing a person: Eh, you, oak, I didn’t understand anything - its meaning “dumb, insensitive” (colloquial) is realized.

The type of syntactically determined meanings includes the so-called constructively limited, which arises only under the conditions of using a word in a certain syntactic construction. For example, the relatively recent meaning of "district, region, place of action" in the word geography is due to its use in a construction with a noun in the genitive case: the geography of sports victories.

4. By the nature of the performed nominative functions, the meanings are actually nominative and expressive-synonymous.

Nominative are those who directly, directly call an object, phenomenon, quality, action, etc. In their semantics, as a rule, there are no additional features (in particular, evaluative ones). Although over time, such signs may appear. (In this case, various kinds of figurative meanings develop, but this group is distinguished according to another classification criterion. See type 1.)

For example, the words writer, assistant, make noise and many others have a nominative meaning. dr.

Expressive-synonymous is the meaning of a word, in the semantics of which an emotionally expressive feature prevails. Words with such meanings exist independently, are reflected in the dictionary and are perceived as evaluative synonyms for words that have their own nominative meaning. Wed: writer - hack writer, scribbler; assistant - accomplice; to make noise - to chatter. Consequently, they not only name an object, an action, but also give a special assessment. For example, kolobrod (simple.) Is not just "making noise", but "behaving noisy, fussy, promiscuous, dishonorable."

In addition to these basic types of lexical meanings, many words in the Russian language have shades of meanings, which, being closely related to the main one, still have differences. For example, along with the first direct meaning of the word hand in dictionaries, its shade is also given, i.e. separated by a semicolon, indicates "a part of the same limb from the metacarpus to the end of the fingers." (Compare in the dictionary the shades of the meanings of the word book and many other words.)

In this article, we will look at the types of lexical meanings of words and present the most famous classification of them, created by

What is lexical meaning?

As you know, a word has two meanings - grammatical and lexical. And if the grammatical meaning is abstract and inherent in a large number of words, then the lexical is always individual.

It is customary to call the lexical meaning the correlation of objects or phenomena of reality with a certain sound complex of a language unit, fixed in the consciousness of a native speaker. That is, the lexical meaning denotes the content inherent in a particular word.

Now let's look at what types are distinguished on the basis of And then we will consider one of the most popular classifications.

Types of lexical values

Semantic correlation of different words of the Russian language allows you to identify different types of lexemes. Today, there are many systematizations of such values. But the most complete is the classification proposed in his article entitled "The main types of lexical meanings of words." We will analyze this typology further.

By correlation

By nomination (or correlation), it is customary to distinguish two meanings of a lexeme - direct and figurative.

Direct meaning, it is also called main or main, is a meaning that reflects the phenomenon of reality, the real world. For example: the word "table" means a piece of furniture; “Black” is the color of charcoal and soot; "To boil" means to bubble, boil, evaporate from heat. This semantics is permanent and is subject only to historical changes. For example: "table" in ancient times meant "reign", "throne" and "capital".

The main types of lexical meanings of a word are always subdivided into smaller ones, which we proved in this paragraph, speaking of direct and figurative meanings.

Returning to the main topic, we can add that words in their direct meaning are less than others depending on the context and other words. Therefore, it is believed that such values ​​have the least syntagmatic connectivity and the greatest paradigmatic conditioning.

Portable

The types of lexical meanings of words were identified on the basis of live Russian speech, in which a language game is very often used, part of which is the use of words in figurative meanings.

Such meanings arise as a result of the transfer of the name of one object of reality to another on the basis of common features, similarity of functions, etc.

Thus, the word got the opportunity to have several meanings. For example: "table" - 1) in the meaning of "piece of equipment" - "machine table"; 2) in the meaning of "food" - "to get a room with a table"; 3) in the meaning of "department in an institution" - "round table".

The word "boil" also has a number of figurative meanings: 1) in the meaning of "manifestation in a high degree" - "work is in full swing"; 2) excessive expression of emotions - "boil with indignation."

Figurative meanings are based on the convergence of two concepts with the help of various kinds of associations that are easily understood by native speakers. Very often, indirect meanings are highly imaginative: black thoughts, boil with indignation. These figurative phrases are quickly fixed in the language, and then get into explanatory dictionaries.

Figurative meanings with a pronounced imagery differ in their stability and reproducibility from the metaphors invented by writers, publicists and poets, since the latter are strictly individual in nature.

However, very often figurative meanings lose their imagery for native speakers. For example, “sugar bowl handles”, “pipe elbow”, “chime of the clock” are no longer perceived by us as figurative phrases. This phenomenon is called extinct imagery.

Types of lexical meanings of words by origin

Depending on the degree of semantic motivation (or by origin), the following are distinguished:

• Motivated words (secondary or derivatives) are derived from derivational affixes and meanings of the derivative stem.
• Unmotivated words (primary or non-derivative) - they do not depend on the meaning of the morphemes included in

For example: the words “build”, “table”, “white” are considered unmotivated. To motivated - "building", "desktop", "whitewash", since these words were formed from unmotivated, in addition, the primary words help to understand the meaning of the newly formed lexemes. That is, "whitewash", formed from "white", means "make white".

But not everything is so simple, the motivation of some words does not always manifest itself so clearly, since the language changes, and it is not always possible to find the historical root of the word. Nevertheless, if an etymological analysis is carried out, then it is often possible to find an ancient connection between seemingly completely dissimilar words and explain their meanings. For example, after etymological analysis, we learn that the words "feast", "fat", "cloth", "window", "cloud" come from "drink", "live", "twist", "eye", "drag" respectively. Therefore, it is not always possible for a non-specialist to distinguish an unmotivated word from a motivated one the first time.

Types of lexical meanings of words by collocation

Depending on the meanings, words can be divided into:

• Free - are based only on subject-logical connections. For example: “drink” can only be combined with words that denote liquid (tea, water, lemonade, etc.), but can never be used with words like “running”, “beauty”, “night”. Thus, the combination of such words will be governed by the subject compatibility or incompatibility of the concepts that they denote. That is, "freedom" in the combination of such words is very conditional.
• Not free - such words are limited in their ability to lexically combine. Their use in speech depends on both the subject-logical factor and the linguistic one. For example: the word "lower down" can be combined with the words "eyes", "look", "eyes", while these words cannot be correlated with other lexemes - they do not say "lower your leg".

Non-free types of lexical meanings of words in Russian:

• Phraseologically related - they are realized exclusively in stable ones (or For example: sworn enemy - sworn friend is not used, unless this is an author's language game.
• Syntactically conditioned - it is realized only in those cases when the word is forced to perform an unusual function for it. For example, the words "hat", "oak", "log" become predicates, characterizing a person as narrow-minded, stupid, muddled, insensitive, lacking in initiative. Fulfilling such a role, the word always acquires figurativeness and is ranked among the type of figurative meanings.

The syntactically determined meanings also include those dictionary constructions that can be realized only in certain syntactic conditions. For example: "vortex" takes on a figurative meaning only in the form of genus. p. - "whirlwind of events."

By function

The types of hyphenation of the lexical meaning of words can be distinguished depending on the nature of the functions performed:

• Nominative - the name comes from the word "nomination", and denotes the naming of objects, phenomena and their qualities.
• Expressive-semantic - for such words, the connotative (emotional-evaluative) seme becomes the predominant seme.

An example of a nominative word: "tall person" - this phrase informs the listener that the person who is given the characteristic is tall.

An example of an expressive-semantic word: in the same case as described above, the word “tall” is replaced by the word “lanky” - this is how a disapproving, negative assessment of this growth is added to the information about high growth. Thus, the word "lanky" is an expressive synonym for the word "tall".

By the nature of the connection

The main types of lexical meanings of Russian words, depending on the nature of the connection in the lexical system of some meanings with others:

• Corresponding meanings are words opposed to each other on any basis: good - bad, far - close.
• Autonomous meanings are relatively independent words denoting specific objects: a chair, a flower, a theater.
• Deterministic meanings are words conditioned by the meaning of other words, since they are expressive or stylistic variants of them: the word "nag" is due to the word "horse", "beautiful", "magnificent" - "good".

conclusions

Thus, we have enumerated the types of lexical meanings of words. Briefly, we can name the following aspects that formed the basis of the classification presented by us:

• Subject-conceptual connections of words or paradigmatic relations.
• Syntagmatic relationship or the relationship of words to each other.
• Derivative or word-formative connections of lexemes.

Thanks to the study of the classification of lexical meanings, it is possible to better understand the semantic structure of words, to understand in more detail the system connections that have developed in the vocabulary of the modern language.

11. LEXICAL MEANING OF THE WORD- the correlation of the sound design of a linguistic unit with one or another phenomenon of reality, fixed in the speaker's mind.

Unambiguous and ambiguous words.

Words are unambiguous and ambiguous. Unambiguous words are words that have only one lexical meaning, regardless of the context in which they are used. There are few such words in Russian, it is

• scientific terms (bandage, gastritis),
• proper names (Petrov Nikolay),
• newly emerged words that are still rarely used (pizzeria, foam rubber),
• words with a narrowly subject meaning (binoculars, cans, backpack).

Most words in Russian are polysemantic, i.e. they are capable of several meanings. In each individual context, one meaning is actualized. A polysemantic word has a basic meaning, and the meanings derived from it. The main meaning is always given in the explanatory dictionary in the first place, followed by derivatives.

Many words that are now perceived as polysemous initially had only one meaning, but since they were often used in speech, more meanings began to appear in them, in addition to the main one. Many words that are unambiguous in modern Russian can become polysemantic over time.

Direct and figurative meaning of the word.

Direct meaning is the meaning of a word that directly correlates with the phenomena of objective reality. This value is stable, although it can change over time. For example, the word "table" in Ancient Rus meant "reign, capital", and now it means "piece of furniture".

A figurative meaning is such a meaning of a word that arose as a result of transferring a name from one object of reality to another on the basis of some similarity.

For example, the word "sediment" has a direct meaning - "solid particles that are in a liquid and settle on the bottom or on the walls of a vessel after settling", and the figurative meaning is "a heavy feeling that remains after something."

Problems and tests on the topic "Lexical meaning of the word"

• Lexical meaning of the word. Direct and figurative meaning of the word. Synonyms and Antonyms - Word Grade 2

  Lessons: 2 Assignments: 8 Tests: 1

• Lexical norm - Important topics for repeating the exam in the Russian language

  Lessons: 1 Assignments: 6

• Borrowed words. Dictionaries - The lexical meaning of words. The composition of the word grade 4

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Lexical meaning of the word

Nominative (direct) value with l 6-in a. Lexical meaning directly related to the reflection in the mind of objects, phenomena, relations of objective reality. Knife (item name), beautiful (quality name), read (action name), ten (number name), fast (action attribute name). Words with a nominative meaning form free phrases.

Phraseologically related meaning of the words a. Lexical meaning that exists or is acquired only as part of a phraseological unit. The adjective fraught with the meaning "capable of causing, generating something" implements this meaning in phraseological units fraught with consequences. In the phraseological phrase us of fire and in the fire, both nouns acquire the meaning of "trouble"

Syntactically determined meaning of the word. Lexical meaning acquired by a word only in a certain syntactic function. A noun decree in the function of a predicate with negation does not acquire meaning ^ it cannot serve as an authority, a basis, an indication for someone.

The lexical meaning consists of the real meaning, the carrier of which is the root of the word (non-derivative stem), and the derivational meaning, expressed by derivational affixes. The meaning "small house" in the word house is made up of the real (objective) meaning, enclosed in the root dom-, and the derivational meaning, expressed by the real diminution suffix -ik. In words with a non-derivative stem, the lexical and real meanings coincide. cm. , .

Dictionary of linguistic terms

Lexical meaning of the word

Reflection in a word of one or another phenomenon of reality (object, event, quality, action, relationship).

The concept of the lexical meaning of a word

The lexical meaning of a word is the correlation of the sound complex of a linguistic unit with one or another phenomenon of reality, fixed in the minds of the speakers.

Most of the words name objects, their signs, quantity, actions, processes and act as full-valued, independent words, performing a nominative function in the language (lat. nominatio- name, name). Possessing the same grammatical and syntactic meanings and functions, these words are combined into the categories of nouns, adjectives, numerals, verbs, adverbs, words of the category of state. Their lexical meaning is complemented by grammatical ones. For example, the word newspaper denotes a specific subject; the lexical meaning indicates that it is "a periodical in the form of large sheets, usually daily, devoted to the events of current political and social life." Noun newspaper has grammatical meanings of gender (feminine), number (this subject is thought of as one, not many) and case. Word read calls the action - "to perceive what is written, saying aloud or reproducing to oneself" and characterizes it as real, occurring at the moment of speech, performed by the speaker (and not by other persons).

Of the significant parts of speech, pronouns and modal words are deprived of the nominative function. The former only indicate objects or their signs: I, you, such, so much; they receive a specific meaning in speech, but cannot serve as a generalized name for a number of similar objects, attributes or quantities. The second express the speaker's attitude to the expressed thought: Probably, mail has already arrived.

Service parts of speech (prepositions, conjunctions, particles) also do not perform a nominative function, that is, they do not name objects, signs, actions, but are used as formal grammatical linguistic means.

Lexical meanings of a word, their types, development and changes are studied by lexical semantics (semasiology) (gr. sЇemasia- designation + logos- teaching). The grammatical meanings of the word are considered in the grammar of the modern Russian language.

All objects and phenomena of reality have their own names in the language. Words indicate real objects, our attitude towards them, which arose in the process of knowing the world around us. This connection of the word with the phenomena of reality (denotations) is of a non-linguistic nature, and nevertheless is the most important factor in determining the nature of the word as a sign unit.

Words name not only specific objects that can be seen, heard or touched at a given moment, but also concepts about these objects that arise in our minds.

A concept is a reflection in the minds of people of general and essential features of the phenomena of reality, ideas about their properties. Such signs can be the form of an object, its function, color, size, similarity or difference with another object, etc. The concept is the result of generalizing the mass of individual phenomena, in the process of which a person is distracted from insignificant signs, focusing on the main, basic ones. Without such abstraction, that is, without abstract representations, human thinking is impossible.

Concepts are formed and fixed in our minds with the help of words. The connection of words with a concept (the significative factor) makes the word an instrument of human thinking. Without the ability of a word to name a concept, there would be no language itself. The designation of concepts by words allows us to get by with a relatively small number of linguistic signs. So, in order to single out one of the many people and name any one, we use the word human... To designate all the richness and variety of colors of living nature, there are words red, yellow, blue, green etc. The movement of various objects in space is expressed by the word goes (man, train, bus, icebreaker and even - ice, rain, snow and under.).

Explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language most succinctly reflect the systemic connections of words. They represent, with varying degrees of completeness and accuracy, lists of words that make up the lexical system in all its diversity and complexity of its functioning in the language. So the word Island does not indicate the geographical position, size, name, shape, fauna, flora of any particular island, therefore, abstracting from these particular features, we call this word any part of the land surrounded by water on all sides (in the ocean, sea, on a lake , river) Thus, in words, those essential features and properties of objects are fixed that make it possible to distinguish an entire class of objects from other classes.

However, not all words name any concept. They are not able to express conjunctions, particles, prepositions, interjections, pronouns, proper names. Special mention should be made of the latter.

There are proper names that name individual concepts. These are the names of prominent people ( Shakespeare, Dante, Leo Tolstoy, Chaliapin, Rachmaninov), place names ( Volga, Baikal, Alps, America). By their nature, they cannot be a generalization and evoke the idea of ​​an object that is unique of its kind.

Personal names of people ( Alexander, Dmitry), surnames ( Golubev, Davydov), on the contrary, do not give rise to a certain idea of ​​a person in our minds.

Common nouns ( historian, engineer, son-in-law) according to the distinctive features of professions, the degree of kinship, they make it possible to form some idea of ​​the people named by these words.

Animal nicknames can approximate generic names. So, if the horse's name is Bulany, this indicates his gender and color, Squirrel usually called animals with white hair (although this can be called a cat, a dog, and a goat). So, different nicknames are related to generic names in different ways.