Communication, Semantics, and Signs: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Oct 14, 2024 in Language

UNIT 1: COMMUNICATION

1.1 Definition

Communication is an act whereby an individual (human, animal, or object) provides one or more other contacts that let you transmit certain information.

Elements of Communication

  1. Issuer: Subject to the act of communication occurs.
  2. Referring: The extra-linguistic reality referred to by the message communication.
  3. Joint Signs: Code, interrelated, and rules of construction, available to the sender and receiver.
  4. Message: Result of coding, carrier of information, or the amount of information transmitted.
  5. Channel: Physical environment by circulating the message.
  6. Receiver: Subject to decode and receive the message.

Relate the functions of language to the communicative purpose of the act with the components involved.

  1. Representative or Referential Function: This is the basic function of all communication. In it, the issuer intends to convey information about reality. Example: The sky is overcast.
  2. Expressive or Emotive Function: The focus is on the issuer, who externalizes their emotions and moods. Example: I wish we win this time!
  3. Appellate Function or Conative: Attention turns to the receiver, which directs the speaker to bring in some kind of response, verbal or nonverbal. Example: Will you come?
  4. Phatic or Contact Function: The message is to initiate, maintain, or disrupt communication, which becomes the true reference. Example: Good morning… Okay… Bye.
  5. Meta-Linguistic Function: The message focuses on the linguistic code. Example: Harvest means to gather grapes.
  6. Poetic or Aesthetic Function: The message calls particular attention to the way it’s built on itself. Stylistic figures are used to perform the poetic function in the texts. Example: In April, waters a thousand.

The Sign

A sign is any perceptible element (object, image, gesture…) representing or replacing an idea, a feeling, or a reality.

  1. Signifier: The part of the sign that the recipient receives for one of your senses. Example: In a traffic sign, it is the image that appears on the panel.
  2. Meaning: Is the concept or idea associated with the signifier, its semantic content. Example: A red light means there is a traffic stop.
  3. Reference: It is the external reality to which the sign refers. Example: Prohibition referred to the traffic lights.

There are several criteria for the classification of signs:

  1. Pursuant to the Direction of the Perceived:
    • Visual (a picture)
    • Acoustic (a bark)
    • Smell (a perfume)
    • Touch (a caress)
    • Taste
  2. Given the Relationship Between Signifier and Signified:
    • Evidence: The signifier and signified bear a natural relation of cause and effect. Example: The fever is a sign of infection.
    • Icons: The ratio is similar or likeness. Example: A statue, a map.
    • Symbols: The signifier and signified are related by convention. Example: The flags represent nations.

ITEM 2: SEMANTICS

Defining Semantics

Semantics is the discipline that studies the meaning of linguistic elements.

  • Lexical Meaning: Is the proper meaning of lexemes and, therefore, of all words that contain a lexeme in its structure. Nouns have lexical meaning, as do adjectives, verbs, and some adverbs.
  • Grammatical Meaning: In addition to grammatical morphemes (derivational or inflectional), grammatical meaning applies to the article, determiners, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and some adverbs.

Semantic Relations

Polysemy

Polysemy refers to the fact that the same word has several meanings. Example: Bank: a park, money, sand, blood, etc.

Monosemy

Monosemy means that a word has a single meaning. Example: Baking.

Homonymy

Homonymy occurs when there are significant words with similar meanings. It can occur at different levels. Homonyms can be:

  • Homophones: Identity only at the phonetic level. Example: Beautiful / Hair.
  • Homographs: Identity in the phonic and graphic level. Example: The verb came (third person) to come and drink wine.

Synonymy

Synonymy consists of the equivalence of meaning between different signifiers. We distinguish two types of synonyms:

  • Total: Total identity of all semes of various signifiers, which makes two words interchangeable in all contexts. Example: Donkey / Ass, Unhurt / Harmless. There are very few total synonyms.
  • Partial: Partially similar meanings between several significant words that can be exchanged in certain contexts. Example: Pick / Take: I’ll get / take a taxi.

Antonymy

Antonymy occurs when the meaning of a word is the opposite of another. In this opposition of meanings, there are nuances that lead us to establish different types of antonyms:

  • Complementary: There is a total opposition of meanings so that the negation of one statement implies the other. Example: Alive / Dead, Accented / Unaccented.
  • Gradual: There are intermediate terms, so that the denial of one claim does not imply the other. Example: Hot / Cold, High / Low.
  • Reciprocal: The affirmation of the existence of the claim term implies the existence of the other. Example: Parent / Child, Buy / Sell.

Denotative and Connotative Meaning

Denotation

The denotative meaning is the basic and necessary content of a word and has the following characteristics:

  • It is common to all speakers of a language.
  • It is a stable component of the meaning of a word.
  • It is objective information. Example: Chicken as a type of poultry.

Connotation

Connotation is used when the features of meaning are suggested under certain social and cultural assessments. Example: Funky chicken.

Semantic Fields

Semantic fields are sets of words related in meaning by having a core meaning common to them all. Within a semantic field, each word occupies a position and has a particular value, which we understand through its opposition to the other system elements. Example: Places to travel: road, street, highway, path.