The Organization of Meaning in Language

Any speaker can only store a finite stock of basic signs in his mental lexicon. Language, howeve r, is creative: the speaker of a language can take basic units from the mental lexicon and use them to compose words that he may never have heard before. In order to build morphologically complex words one has to apply word formation rules. One important word formation process of English is derivation, i.e. the building of new words on the basis of affixation. Affixes are morphemes that can only occur as a part of a complex word, e.g., the word slowness consists of the base slow and the affix -ness. Knowing the rules of affixation is prerequisite to understanding a language: if we know the meaning of the word slow and we know that -ness indicates the state of being something, we will know the meaning of the word slowness. An affix which stands before the base is called a prefix. An affix which stands after the base is called a suffix. The last constituent of a morphologically complex word usually functions as its head (right hand head rule) and determines its word class, e.g., the suffix -er signals the doer of an action, thus if -er is added to the verb open, opener is a noun. However, if a prefix occurs before a verb, it only modifies the verb, but it does not affect the word class: for example re- signals the repetition of an action indicated in a verb, for example open, but reopen is still a verb. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule: if the prefix en- is attached to the noun slave the resulting word enslave is a verb. The affix en- overrides the right hand head rule and indicates a verb (Aff V ). Other prefixes that affect the word class are a- (Aff A ) and be- (Aff V ).

Derivation is binary, i.e., only two elements can be combined at any level. Consider the word reopener:

re- open -er On the basis of the word formation rules there is only one possible meaning of reopener: namely someone who reopens (not an opener who opens again!). As derivation is binary only one affix at a time can be attached. The prefix re- can only be attached to verbs. It is impossible to attach re- to the no un opener therefore re- must be attached to open first, modifying it to reopen, and on the next level the suffix -er is attached to the verb reopen, changing its meaning to “the doer of the action of reopening”. Attaching affixes to a word does not always change their word class, but it does always modify its meaning. English allows several combinations of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and, prepositions. As

I have explained, there is no relation between the phonemic representation and the meaning of

a simple sign. The meaning of a complex sign, however, can be interpreted from the meaning

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of its constituents and the way they are combined; this is called secondary motivation. A word combined of free morphemes is called a compound. For example, the adjective blue and the noun berry can be combined to form the noun blueberry. The last part of an English compound, in this case berry, determines its word class and is therefore called the head of the word. The compound blueberry can be represented as [[blue] A [berry] N ] N . The first constituent specifies the compound’s meaning. Compounds may even consist of constituents which are compounds themselves. e.g. [[[blue] A [berry] N ] N [flavour] N ] N and so on. By adding up words speakers of English can create infinitely long words. The main stress of an English compound is in most cases on the first constituent, e.g. téxtboòk , bluébìrd, or heádstròng. However, if a preposition is combined with an adjective or a verb, the stress is on the second constituent of the compound, e.g. òverrípe and òvereát This phenomenon is an exception to the stress pattern of compounds, but it is regular for all PA and PV combinations. Transparent compounds may be vague: they can have different meanings under different circumstances. Consider the example water pistol. This can be

a) a pistol used in water

b) a pistol that shoots water

c) a pistol made out of water

In such a case we have to revert to our experience of the world and judge on the basis of probability in order to guess the intended meaning. Compounding, like derivation, is binary: on each level we can bring together only two elements. The word kitchen towel rack can thus be understood as

a) kitchen towel rack

b) kitchen towel rack

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This is another case in which the results of compounding can be vague. In some cases,

however, the phonetic stress of a compound can help to decode its meaning. Usually the stress

of a compound is on the first constituent, e.g. tówel rack; but whenever the second element of

a compound is a compound itself the stress is on the first constituent of the last compound.

Consider the two different possible meanings of kitchen towel rack:

a) (a rack for kitchen towels)

kítchen tòwel rack kítchen tòwel ràck

b) (a towel rack that is in the kitchen)

kítchen tòwel rack constituent: kìtchen tówel ràck

The same rule also applies to compounds combined of two constituents which are both

compounds:

a) (a towel rack in the bathroom)

báthroòm tówel ràck stressed bàthroòm tówel ràck

b) (a rack for bath room towels)

báthroòm tòwel ràck first constituent: báthroòm tòwel ràck

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