Types of lexical meanings of words in Russian

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

What is a lexical meaning?

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

A lexical meaning is that the correlation of objects or phenomena of reality with a certain sound complex of a unit of language, fixed in the mind of a native speaker, is called. That is, the lexical meaning denotes the content inherent in a particular word.

Now let's analyze, on the basis of which the types of lexical meanings of words are distinguished . And then consider one of the most popular classifications.

Types of lexical meanings

The semantic correlation of different words of the Russian language makes it possible to identify different types of lexemes. To date, there are many systematizations of such values. But the most complete classification is the classification proposed by V. V. Vinogradov in his article entitled "The basic types of lexical meanings of words". This typology we will discuss further.

By reference

On the nomination (or correlation) it is customary to allocate two values of a token - direct and portable.

Direct meaning, it is also called the main or basic, is a meaning that reflects the phenomenon of reality, the real world. For example: the word "table" denotes a piece of furniture; "Black" is the color of coal and soot; "Boiling" means bubbling, boiling, evaporating from heating. Such semantics is of a permanent nature and is subject only to historical changes. For example: "table" in ancient times meant "reign", "throne" and "capital".

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

Returning to the main topic, you can add that words in the direct meaning of less than others are depending on the context and other words. Therefore, it is believed that such values have the smallest syntagmatic connection and the greatest paradigmatic conditioning.

Portable

Types of lexical meanings of words were singled out on the basis of living Russian speech, in which language play is very often used, of which the use of words in portable meanings is a part.

Such values arise from the transfer of the name of one object of reality to another on the basis of common features, similarities of functions, and so on.

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

Has a number of portable meanings and the word "boil": 1) in the meaning of "manifestation in a high degree" - "boiling work"; 2) excessive manifestation of emotions - "boil indignation".

Portable values are based on the convergence of two concepts with the help of different kinds of associations that are easily understood by native speakers. Very often indirect values have a great imagery: black thoughts, boiling indignation. These figurative word combinations are quickly fixed in the language, and then fall into the explanatory dictionaries.

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

However, very often portable values lose their imagery for native speakers. For example, "sugar bowl handles", "pipe knee", "clock battles" are no longer perceived by us as figurative word combinations. This phenomenon is called extinct imagery.

Types of lexical meanings of words by origin

Depending on the degree of semantic motivation (or by origin):

• Motivated words (secondary or derived) are derived from derivational affixes and values of the derivational basis.
• Unmotivated words (primary or non-derivative) - they do not depend on the meaning of the morphemes that make up the word.

For example: the words "build", "table", "white" refer to the unmotivated. To motivated - "construction", "desktop", "whitewash", as these words were formed from the unmotivated, in addition, the words-primary sources help to understand the meaning of newly formed lexemes. That is, "whiten", formed from "white", means "making white".

But not everything is so simple, the motivation of some words does not always so clearly manifest itself, as the language changes, and it is not always possible to find the historical root of the word. Nevertheless, if we carry out etymological analysis, we often manage to find an ancient connection between seemingly completely different words and explain their meanings. For example, after an etymological analysis, we learn that the words "feast," "fat," "cloth," "window," "cloud" came from "drinking," "living," "bitching," "eye," "dragging" respectively. Therefore, it is not always possible for the layman to distinguish the unmotivated word from the motivated from the first time.

Types of lexical meanings of words by their compatibility

Depending on the lexical compatibility of the meanings, words can be divided into:

• Free - have as their basis only object-logical relations. For example: "drinking" can only be combined with words that denote a liquid (tea, water, lemonade, etc.), but it can never be used with words like "run", "beauty", "night." Thus, the combination of such words will be governed by the subject compatibility or incompatibility of the concepts that they designate. That is, "freedom" in the compatibility of such words is very conditional.
• Not Free - such words are limited in the ability to lexically combine. Their use in speech depends on both the subject-logical factor and the language factor. For example: the word "downcast" can be combined with the words "eyes", "eyes", "eyes", while these words can not be correlated with other lexemes - they do not say "downcast".

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

• Phraseologically related - are realized exclusively in stable (or phraseological) combinations. For example: sworn enemy - no sworn friend is used, unless it is an author's language game.
• Syntactically conditioned - 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 a narrow-minded, stupid, sprawling, insensitive, non-initiative. In fulfilling this role, the word always acquires imagery and is classed as a type of portable meanings.

Syntactically conditioned values include those dictionary constructions that can be realized only under certain syntactic conditions. For example: the "whirlwind" acquires a figurative meaning only in the form of a genus. Etc. - the "whirlwind of events".

By function

Types of hyphenation of the lexical meaning of words can be allocated 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 - in such words the predominant crowd is the connotative (emotionally-valued).

Example of the nominative word: "high man" - this phrase informs the listener that the person to whom the characteristic is given has a high growth.

An example of an expressive-semantic word: in the same case as described above, the word "high" is replaced by the word "lanky" - so the information about high growth adds a disapproving, negative evaluation of this growth. Thus, the word "lanky" is an expressive synonym for the word "high".

By the nature of communication

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

• Relative values are words opposing each other on some basis: good - bad, far - close.
• Autonomous values are relatively independent words that denote specific objects: a chair, a flower, a theater.
• Deterministic meanings are words due to the meaning of other words, because they are expressive or stylistic variants of them: the word "nag" is determined by the word "horse", "fine", "splendid" - "good".

conclusions

Thus, we listed the types of lexical meanings of words. Briefly, we can name the following aspects, which formed the basis of the classification that we presented:

• Object-conceptual relations of words or paradigmatic relations.
• Syntagmatic relations or the ratio of words to each other.
• Derivational or derivational connections of lexemes.

By studying the classification of lexical meanings, one can better understand the semantic structure of words, to understand in more detail the systemic links that have developed in the vocabulary of modern language.