Proposional meaning Register Metaphorical meaning Connotational meaning

- collocation - webs of meaning - diagram picture - in context

3. The type of meaning

3.1 Proposional meaning

This is the basic meaning of a word given in simple dictionaries. For example,”good” is general description for things that are of high quality, positive, approved of or generally appreciated however, when we use “good” to describe things, it takes additional meanings.

3.2 Register

Part of the meaning of a word is its register. Which types of languages is the word used in : letters or report, spoken or written, biology or business etc? For example : “put up with” is an informal word, typically used in speech; tolerate is the more formal equivalent, common in academic writing. “integer” and magnitude are typically used in mathematics, whereas “debtor” and “creditworthiness” are used in business, and “biospheric and emi ssions” are related to environmental science.

3.3 Metaphorical meaning

Metaphorical meaning is the meaning that a word has when it is used in a new situation. When new ideas or products are made, very often old words are used for theses new ideas and products. In some cases the old meaning disappears or becomes less well known. Computer science and business use many metaphors. For example : A “head” is part of the body of an animal, but it is now commonly used for the highest person in a company or organization. “Approval of exception to this policy may only be made by the Head of the Department ”. “Green” is a colour but it is connected with protecting the environment. “This is managed by the environtmental research unit which analyses company for JTM`s green funds”. A “keyboard” is a musical instrument, but it is used for a device for computer input. “Most often this two-way communication is carried out through a keyboard, used to enter data into the computer, and a display monitor”.

3.4 Connotational meaning

Apart from the basic, dictionary, meaning, words have other meanings. For example, a word may be a positive or negative word? These are different in different languages so it is important to know the association that a word may have in English. For example : a social sciemce student, writing about people without permanent homes needs to remember that “vagrant” has negative connotations, compared with “homeless”.

4. The repsentation of meaning