According to Ferdinand de Saussure ,
how meaning is analyzed is by using the signifier and signified Palmer, 1976:24. The signifier is the
word which basically known daily and the signified is the word refers to or stands for.
Signifier Signified
Word The representation image
Example: Rabbit
An animal with long ears Word
The representation image
3. Metaphor
Another term which semantics used is metaphor. Metaphor is part of figurative language which characteristic is to compare something with
another thing that has similar meaning. Metaphor does not show the real meaning directly, in other words, it says beyond what it is written on text.
Metaphor where a word appears to have both a ‘literal’ meaning and one or more
‘transferred’ meanings Palmer, 1976: 103.
Metaphor
Literal Meaning Transferred Meaning
Example: Rainbow
A natural phenomenon A
positive lesson
after experiencing bad things
Literal Meaning Transferred Meaning
Actually, there is no relation between the literal meaning and transferred meaning of ‘rainbow’. The reason why ‘rainbow’ can be used
to symbolize positive lesson after experiencing bad things is because the characteristic of rainbow which comes after the rain. After the rainbow
comes out, the joy fulfils the atmosphere. The transferred meaning is acceptable if its concepts appropriate with the literal meaning. That is why
semantic properties also takes role in giving characteristics of each meaning to relate the literal and transferred meaning.
The word metaphor came from Greek word which means “to t
ransfer”. It is appropriate with the characteristic of metaphor which basically comparing one thing to another thing. According to F.R. Palmer
in Semantics: Second Edition, metaphor is a condition where a word has a literal meaning and more transferred meanings. However, metaphor is the
way where an object, subject, or something is described with other extension meaning. For example, ‘My home is a prison’, the home is not
literally a prison, but perhaps there are too many rules in that home which makes it feel like a prison. The simplest way to describe a metaphor is the
[first thing] is a [second thing]. In order to give appropriate description, an
