4. Types of lexical meaning

The meaning is direct or nominative when it nominates the object without the help of context, in isolation, i.e., in one word sentences for example the “Rain”.

Take, for example, the noun “screen”. We find it in its direct meaning when it names “a movable piece of furniture” used to hide something or protect somebody, as in case of “fire screen” placed in front of a fireplace. The meaning is figurative when the word is applied to anything which protects by hiding, “be in smoke screen”. We define this meaning as figurative comparing it to the first that we called direct.

There are several types of lexical meaning.

1) direct (also nominative, primary, proper) meaning. It characterises an object without the help of the context, in isolation e.g. sweet (sugar, honey, cake);

2) indirect (also called figurative, transferred, secondary, derived) meaning is the meaning formed from the direct meaning according to the models of semantic derivation. It is realised only in definite contexts. The noun “eye” has direct meaning “the organ with which one sees” and indirect meaning “the hole in a needle through which the thread passes” – “the eye of a needle”; e.g. sweet (face, voice);

3) grammatically bound meaning means that the meaning of the word depends on the syntactical construction in which it is used, e.g. He is ill. He has ill manners.

In the first example the word “ill” has the meaning “больной, нездоровый”. In the second example it has the meaning of “плохой – bad”.

4) lexically bound meaning means that the meaning of the word depends on its combinability, e.g. “heavy” has different meanings in the following combinations: heavy bag, heavy rain, heavy crops, heavy guns.

5) phraseologically bound meaning is lexically or grammatically bound meaning, which are used in a limited field, e.g. –Would you like a drink? – I’d love to (“love” means “Yes!”).

5. Types of polysemy

There are radial polysemy, chain polysemy and radial-chain polysemy.

Radial polysemy (or radiation) is the type of polysemy in which the primary meaning of a word stands in the center and the secondary meanings proceed out of it like rays. Each secondary meaning can be traced to the primary meaning. In the word tube, the primary meaning is “a hollow round pipe of metal, glass, rubber, etc., used for holding or carrying liquids, gases, etc.” (e.g. laboratory test tubes). Each secondary meaning developed directly from this primary meaning: 2) “a small soft metal or plastic container with a screw cap, used for holding a soft wet mixture, such as toothpaste, paint, etc., e.g. tubes of glue; 3) “a hollow pipe or organ in the body”, e.g. bronchial, Eustachian tubes; 4) “a cathode ray tube, i.e. a vacuum tube, e.g. the picture tube of a TV set; 5) “the underground railway system in London”, e.g. to travel to work on the tube.

Chain polysemy (also concatenation) is the type of polysemy in which the secondary meanings of a word develop like a chain. In such cases it may be difficult to trace some meanings to the primary one. In the word crust the primary meaning is “a hard outer part of bread”. Out of this meaning the secondary meaning “a hard part of anything (a pie, a cake)” developed, then the meaning “a harder layer over soft snow” was developed, then “a sullen gloomy person” appeared, and the next step was the development of the meaning “impudence”.

Radial-chain (or mixed) polysemy is a combination of radial polysemy and chain polysemy. The word floor has the following meanings: 1) “the lower surface of a room, the surface on which one stands indoors”, e.g. sweep the kitchen floor; 2) “the bottom of the sea, a cave, etc.”, e.g. the ocean floor; 3) “(in cricket) the ground”, 4) “the part of a legislative assembly where members sit and speak”, e.g. speak from the floor; 5) “the right to speak in an assembly or meeting”, e.g. the floor is yours – you may present your argument; 6) “the minimum level for prices, wages, etc.”; 7) “ a level or storey of a building”, e.g. the office is on the first floor.