Logical and Emotive factors in meaning

Lack of precision

vagueness

Wittgenstein

Suggestive and evocative power of words

Symbolist Movement

Vagueness

Generic character

Words denote classes of things bounded together by come common element

Distinctive features

e.g. common to all the objects of
which we use the word apple

e.g. size, shape, colour of
a particular apple

"abstractness"

Emotive Devices

There exist in every language specific devices which help to reinforce the emotive significance of words.

Some are universal.

Others are peculiar to a given language.

The device fall into three groups:

Phonetic

Under the stress of emotion, the shape of ours words may be altered in different ways.

In some languages, these "phonostylistic" devices,are systematically organized.

Lexical

The most potent available for emotive and expressive purpose is figurative language.

This can work by comparison or metaphor.

A kindred figure of speech, whose chief function is to give vent to strong, feelings is exageration or hyperbole.

Syntactical devices

The most valuable emotive devices in syntax is word-order.

Loss of Emotive Meaning

Some emotive overtones

Are ephemeral, contextual or purely subjective

Are fairly constant in a given period but may weaken, or disappear altogether, in the course of time.

The following four seem to be particularly significant

Slogans and key-words

Which held the stage at one time in politics, art, philosofy and others spheres may, with changed circumtances, lose their relevance and cease to arose strong feelings.

Loss of motivation

May also deprive words of their emotive colouring.

A term which is no longer felt to be onomatopoeic will lose the expressiveness it had derived from the harmony between sound and sense.

"Law of diminishing returns"

The more often we repeat an expressive term of phrase, the less efective it will be.

Constant repetition has taken the edge of many comparisons and metaphors.

Hyperbolical terms are even more affected for this law.

Such expressions become fashionable and how quickly they go out of fashion.

Words may lose their evocative power as they pass from a restricted milieu into common usage.

Language is not merely a vehicle of communication

it is also a means of expressing emotions
And arousing them in others.

The emotive use of words is a more simple matter

it is the use of words to express or excite feelings and attitudes.

Sources of Emotive Overtones

Phonetic factors:

The phonetic structure of a word may gives rise to emotive effects in two different ways.

Context:

The mos ordinary and prosaic, may, in certain contexts, be surrounded by an emotive aura.

Slogans:

It often happens that political and others slogans become so heavily charged with emotion,

that the latter will commpletely supersede their objective sense.

Emotive derivation:

There are some suffixes, for example, diminutive, argumentative, pejorative

and other, which add an emotive note or a value-judgment to the meaning of the stem.

Abstractness of French

Preference for Simple, Unmotivated Words

Lack of Precision Compared to German

Nominal Syntax

Importance of Context in French Vocabulary

Supremacy of General over Particular

Multiplicity of Word Meanings

French language is highly abstract and allusive, with a preference for simple words and a lack of precision compared to German.

Nominal syntax is popular in French, which means the use of abstract nouns instead of verbs.

French word formation and phraseology prioritize the general over the particular.

Even concrete words can have multiple meanings depending on the context and user.

Examples from the text include the comparison of German and French prepositions, and the use of abstract nouns in French syntax.

French vocabulary is vague and undifferentiated, making context important for understanding the meaning of a word.