Linguistics Describing Meaning of Words free essay sample

In trying to understand language, linguists who study semantics have always been concerned with explaining the meaning of words In natural languages such as English. Several problems have surfaced from an examination of the various exulting methods used to describe the meaning of these words, in particular dictionary definition, binary descriptors and referents. Context is also an important consideration when defining meaning.The dictionary definition of a word has been a problem because of Its vagueness (Hinkler, 2012), According to Winker (2012), because dictionary uses words to define rods generally, therefore the different sense and connotations of each word will result in an array of interpretations. To illustrate, the dictionary defines meaning as logical connotation of a word or phrase. However, the word logical is ambiguous in this case such as to whom and how (ibid. ). Linguists then attempted the use of binary descriptors to remove vagueness of word definitions.A binary descriptor Is a list of properties used to describe concepts, for example, mare as *equine *female *mature, eliminating the ambiguity (ibid. We will write a custom essay sample on Linguistics: Describing Meaning of Words or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page ). However, no list of terms can be joined to give a clear definition of abstract words, such as happiness, self (Hinkler, 2012) or freedom (Frocking, et al, 2005). Additionally, gradable words like coldness and slowness are subjected to individual interpretation (Hinkler, 2012). The problem of definition Is also assumed to be solvable by referents.According to Hinkler (2012), referents describe meaning by referring words to items existing in real life. However, there are numerous drawbacks with this method. Firstly, function words such as on, an and but do not have any referent (ibid. ). Certain nouns do not have referents as well. For instance, we may portray a picture of an elf or demon in our mind through movies or books, but these things do not have referents in real life (Ibid). Even things that exist but are not specified have the same problem (Ibid).For example, assassin in the sentence The kings assassin perished In the blast, Is usually an unknown being, though we do know from sense that it is a human and killer of important personnel et al, 2005). On the contrary, there are also things which do not exist but makes sense. In the sentence No human is indigenous to Antarctica, the non-existent being has no physical and rational referent even though the meaning Is understood (Hinkler, 2012). The distinction between various individuals perception of the word presents a further problem to using referents.The word mother has a clear lexical meaning, but mother represents a varying set of qualities distinct to each individual, such as age, height and personality differences (Hinkler, 2012). Lastly, factors Like geographical location can lead to different Interpretation of a word. Will disagree with the dictionary definition of a river as a large natural stream of water . This is because rivers there are only filled with water for a few weeks annually. It is indisputable that linguists consistently face problems when trying to accurately describe the meaning of English words.