The document discusses different ways to define the meaning of words and concepts. It describes definitions as being either real or nominal. Real definitions aim to describe the inherent nature or essence of something, while nominal definitions describe the meaning of a word. Common methods of defining include definition by ostension (pointing), synonymy (using synonyms), context/exemplars, and genus and differentia (specifying a broader class and distinguishing features). The relationship between words, meanings, and definitions is complex, as meaning can vary based on context and combination with other words.

1. MEANING AND DEFINITION
• Class : 5B
• Ayi Yulianty 112122058
• Alifya Nurul Fauziah 112122076
• Rizki Aryanti 112122079

2. The concept of the word’s meaning is
closely linked to the concept of
definition.
Definitions has been particularly
important for conceptual theories of
meaning.
Meaning and the dictionary

3. Semantics and Lexiography
• Dictionary-writing or lexiography a craft, a way
of doing something useful. it is the way to
increase the sum of human knowledge by a
practical work to put together a book that
people can understand.
• Linguistics semantics is the sort of theoritical
exercise to increase the sum of human
knowledge.

4. • writer/speaker ---->accessing the words (
mapping into the store meaning representation
in the mental lexicon) ---> word's formed--->
output ( written/spoken)
• reader/listener---> mapping the input (linguistic
signals) into the store neurosensory trace in the
mental lexicon---> input ( meaning
representation.

5. The History of Dictionary
Dictionaries are extremely popular tool.
This has not always been the case,
however: monolingual dictionaries did
not exist in the West until about the
sixteenth century (Matore 1968)

6. Word-based and meaning-based approaches
to definition
• The defintions found in the dictionary are the
result of a word-based or semasiological
approach to meaning. This approach starts with
a language’s individua lexemes and tries to
specify the meaning of each one. E.g : listing
the verb from :
scare, frighten, terrify, startle, spook, and panic.

7. • In contrast, meaning-based or onomasiological
approach starts with particular meaning annd
lists the various forms available in the language
for its expression. This approach will list from
the word “frighten” after it, it lists all the verbs
as its possible realization.

8. The Units Of Meaning

9. Words and Morphemes.
Word (lexeme) is the clearest type of meaning-bearing
unit .
Morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning.
But, the problem here is ...
“how can we determine what counts as a word in a
language ?”
For European languages with well-established tradition
of literacy, they thought that the words as the units
surrounded by space in standard otography.

10. There are two reasons :
1. Languages that have been written down often have a
very fluid practice of word-division,
e.g :
a. re tlo e bua ka thipa ya gagwe
1PLS FUT 3SGO skin INST knife 9 his
b. Retloebua kathipa yagagwe.
we shall skin it with his knife.
2. ortography practice itself is not even stable within
longstanding tradition of literacy, e.g :
eislaufen eis laufen „skate‟

11. Another assumption about the word is the
term “potential pause” which considered that the
words are the units before and/or after which
pauses can be found in spoken language. It For the
example :Abso-bloody-lutely
The other assumption about the word is
Bloomfield‟s famous definiton of “word” as “a
minimum free form” . It is the minimal unit that
may appear on its own without any grammatical
element.

12.  Phonological level ( full word)
The division between words are determined according to
the domain application of phonological rules and process. It
focuses on the stress and the accent. E.g:
the boy wants to help the old woman.
 Grammatical level (form word)
it is called grammatical word that is a word expressing a
grammatical or structural relationship with other words in a
sentence. E.g :
trying is the first step towards failure.
Those three criteria for recognition grammatical words are :
 Cohesiveness (kepaduan)
 Fixed order ( order yang tetap)
 Conventionalized coherence and meaning ( hubungan dan arti)

13.  Below the words such as morphemes.
Morphemes have the meanings although some of
morphemes ( bound morphemes) are less easy to describe.
 Above the words such as phrasal verbs and compounds.
Both of phrasal verbs and compounds are two clear cases in
which a single meaning is associated with a combination of
lexemes. E.G :
Phrasal verb : dispose of, touch down, call off, etc.
Noun compounds : tree house, tennis match, instruction book,
etc.

14. Meaning below the morpheme : sound
symbolism
 Sound symbolism (ideophony or onomatopoeia) is the existence of semi-
systematic correspondences between certain sounds and certain meanings. For
the examples : in English such as : meow, click, thwack, etc. In Ilocano (
Cordilleran, Philippines)
 high front vowel : e.g :
singgit : high pitched voice
 Alveolar fricatives
karasakas : rustling sound of leaves
 Kp in Emei that indicates “smallness”
kpuku „pointed/protruding‟: small, compact and round, short.

15. Meaning above the word level :
Idioms
Idioms are the sequence of the words whose
meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings
of the words themeselves.
E.g : scoop the pool, throw the towel, kick the
bucket.
Idiom is a non-compositional combination of
the words .

16. Contextual Modulation of Meaning
 The meaning of the words will vary according to their collocation or the
immediate linguistic context in which they occur.
 I cut the cake
 She cuts someone‟s hair
 They cut the wood
 the staranger cut his foot yesterday.
There are two possibilies about the meaning of the word “cut”
1. First possibility : compositionality
That the meanings of “cut” in every sentence result compositionally from the
meaning of the verb cut and the meaning of its noun object.
 The general meaning hypothesis
 The multiple meaning hypothesis
2. The second possibility : non-compositionality
The meaning of collocation is not constructed compositionally.

17. DIFFERENT WAYS OF DEFINING
MEANINGS
• Real And Nominal Definition
• Definition By Ostension
• Definition By Synonymy
• Definition By Context Or Typical Exemplar
• Definition By Genus And Differentia

18. Real And Nominal Definition
• Real definition : as a short of summation of
the essence or inherent nature of a thing.
e.g : thunder.
the noise of fire being extinguished in the
sky.
• Nominal definition : as a description of the
meaning of the word which denotes this thing.
slight of light.

19. • Bloomfiled (1933:139)
We can define the meaning of a speech-
from accurately when this meaning has to do
with some matter of which we possess
scientific knowledge.
e.g : salt – sodium chloride (NaCl)
But : love, hate

20. DEFINITION
Real Nominal
Cognitive Extensional

21. Definition By Ostension
• We can defining something by pointing out
the object which they denote.
e.x : pen
But : adjective, verb

22. Definition By Synonymy
• Synonymy : is the same words that have
meaning.
e.g. : angry
1. Definiens, metalanguage word proposed as
the definition.
2. Definiendum, the object language word for
which a definition.

23. Definition By Context Or Typical
Exemplar
• Another way to define a word is to situate it in
a system of wider relations through which the
specificity of the definiendum can be seen.

24. Definition By Genus And Differentia
• The two preceding types of definition are
essentially relational, defining a word’s meaning
through its connections with other words.
According to Aristotle :
• (genus)definition involves specifying the broader
class to which the definiendum belongs.
• (differentia) showing the distinguishing feature of
the definiendum (the differentia) which
distinguishes from the other members of this
broader class.

25. • Man rational animal
differentian genus