First, the meaning of morphemes

(A) the meaning of morphemes

A morpheme itself cannot be a word, but can only be combined with other morphemes to form words or fixed structures (such as idioms and two-part allegorical sayings). Therefore, the meaning of morpheme only exists in the compound words and fixed structures it constitutes.

Morpheme meaning refers to the meaning of morphemes existing in compound words and fixed structures. For example:

"Fan" is an inflexible morpheme with a meaning: "refers to a foreign country or nation". This meaning only exists in compound words such as "rice stick" and "tomato".

"Dust" is also an inflexible morpheme, which means "tiny dust flying or adhering to objects" and exists in the compound words "dust" and "vacuum cleaner". It also has secular meaning, which exists in the compound words "red dust", "dust concern", "secular" and "hubbub".

(B) the meaning of morphemes

Let's look at the following example first. "Sea" is a morpheme. Modern Chinese Dictionary explains:

① The part of the ocean near the land: East China Sea and South China Sea.

② It is likened to a lot of similar things: a sea of people and a sea of fire.

(3) large (ship or capacity, etc.). ): sea bowls, massive.

(4) Ancient refers to those from foreign countries: begonia and date palms.

⑤ There are a lot of squares (usually followed by "le, la" and so on). ): The people in the square are so crowded!

6 aimless: the curse of the sea.

⑦ "Fang" is unrestrained: the sea eats and drinks.

Last name.

(Note: "Fang" is a dialect usage)

The first meaning of "sea" is both a word meaning and a morpheme meaning. Because "sea" means "the part of the ocean near the land", it can be used directly as a word. For example, "Let's look at the sea" and "The sea is very big", which is the meaning of this word. At the same time, it can also form compound words or fixed structures with other morphemes, such as "coast, altitude, kelp, island, seafood, ends of the earth, navy, shipwreck, beach, tsunami ..." At this time, its meaning exists in the compound words and fixed structures composed of "sea", which is the morpheme meaning.

The meaning of the word "sea" is only morpheme meaning, not word meaning. Because the meaning of item 2 only exists in the compound words "sea of people" and "sea of fire" composed of it; The meaning of the third item only exists in the compound words "massive" and "sea bowl" it forms; The meaning of the fourth item only exists in its compound words "begonia" and "date palm".

As you can see, morphemes have two meanings:

1, one of its meanings can be both word meaning and morpheme meaning. For example, the "sea" in Let's Watch the Sea and the "sea" in The Straits.

2. One of its meanings is only morpheme meaning, not word meaning. Such as "sea" in Volkswagen and "sea of people".

Second, the relationship between word meaning and morpheme meaning

As we all know, words are made up of morphemes. So, is the word meaning made up of morpheme meaning? What is the relationship between word meaning and morpheme meaning? Knowing this will be of great help to us in understanding, discriminating and using words accurately. The relationship between the meaning of a word and the meaning of its morphemes is complex, and the following situations are common:

(A) the morpheme meaning is the word meaning

There are three situations.

1, meaning equals morpheme meaning.

A simple word composed of a morpheme, that is, a word directly composed of a morpheme, has the same meaning as a morpheme. As mentioned above, the "sea" in Looking at the Sea. Another example is that the meaning of the word "glass" is equal to its morpheme meaning.

2. Meaning equals the direct combination of morpheme meanings.

This usually occurs in words consisting of two or more morphemes. For example:

High, high, big.

National policy The basic policy of a country.

I value it very much; I really want to see it.

Research and manufacturing

Weekend refers to two rest days, Saturday and Sunday.

3. The original meanings of two morphemes are the same or similar, and * * * means the same or similar meaning as the original morpheme. Compared with the morpheme meaning, the meaning at this time has been strengthened or further generalized and abstracted.

For example, the road thief, it is the lack of sound that makes it strange, cold and beautiful.

The two morphemes "species" and "class" have the same meaning here, and * * * both express the same meaning.

The two morphemes stolen here have the same meaning, and so does * * *.

(b) The meaning of a word is metonymic and figurative.

Some words composed of a morpheme have metonymic and figurative meanings on the basis of their original or basic meanings through metonymy and metaphor. For example:

Tie: ① Wrap the rope around the object and tie a knot. (2) metaphor entangled, unable to move freely: entangled in trivial matters.

The first meaning is its original meaning and basic meaning, the second meaning is figurative, and the word meaning is the figurative usage of morpheme meaning.

The following focuses on the analysis of words composed of two or more morphemes. The morpheme meaning of such words can only reflect part of the content and characteristics of the meaning. For example, the two morphemes of "auricularia auricula" mainly reflect the two characteristics of "growing on wood" and "ear-shaped", and cannot reflect all the contents and characteristics of the word "auricularia auricula".

The meaning of 1. is a metonymic usage of morpheme meaning.

(1) Several morphemes * * * are metonymies. For example:

Eyebrows and eyes, generally referring to appearance. Such as "Beautiful Eyes". Using "eyebrow" to refer to "appearance" means using parts to refer to the whole.

Eyebrows and eyes: eyebrows and eyes, generally referring to appearance and expression. For example, "the little girl has fine eyes." This also refers to the integral belt part.

Pen and ink: Pen and ink refers to writing, poetry, calligraphy and painting. For example, "pen and ink are fluent" and "the beauty of the West Lake is beyond description." This is using tools instead of results.

Sweat and sweat: blood and sweat. Used to symbolize hard work. For example, "food is bought by farmers with blood and sweat."

(2) One of the morphemes is metonymy. For example:

Returning to the field: refers to returning home from the army. The morpheme "Tian" is metonymy and refers to "hometown". Such as "returning to the field after demobilization" and "returning to the field after retirement".

Sweet mouth: What you said makes people feel very comfortable. The morpheme "mouth" is metonymy, which means "speaking or speaking". Substituting body parts for related actions or results of actions.

Stubborn: I know I was wrong, and I refuse to admit my mistake, and I refuse to admit my failure orally. The morpheme "most" is metonymic, as in the above example.

The meaning of 1. is a figurative use of morpheme meaning. For example:

(1) As a whole, several morphemes that make up a word are used as vehicles. For example:

Brother: For example, brother. For example, "brotherhood" and "brotherhood"

Cradle: ① Furniture for babies to sleep in. ② Metaphor refers to the living environment of childhood or youth, or the birthplace of culture and sports.

In both cases, meaning is a figurative meaning expressed by several morphemes as a whole. Longan, tiger's mouth, clue, uselessness, straw bag, soaking chicken, milestone, cornerstone, mainstay and so on.

(2) Among the morphemes that make up a word, only one morpheme is figurative, and only the figurative meaning of one morpheme is used. For example:

The part of the mountain near the flat ground. Among them, the morpheme "foot" is a figurative usage.

Hairtail is one of the most important marine fishes in China, with a flat and banded body. The morpheme "Dai" is a figure of speech.

Go straight. Go straight. The morpheme "pen" is a figurative use, as straight as a pen.

The fiery red sun. ② Describe exuberance or enthusiasm: fiery youth. The morpheme "fire" is a figurative usage.

Divide or distribute like a melon, especially a territory. The morpheme "melon" is a figure of speech.

In addition, there are "superficial, white, green, gnawing, gathering, sweeping, surging, heart, heartstrings, moon" and so on.

(3) The meanings of several morphemes only represent part of the meaning.

Objective things have various rich characteristics, such as shape, nature, function and so on. When people use compound words to reflect objective things and phenomena, they can only use the morphemes that make up the word to reflect some of them, but not all of them. Therefore, morpheme meaning only expresses part of the meaning, not the whole meaning.

An electric lamp with a seat is used to put a desk lamp on a table. The morpheme "lamp" means that this lamp is a kind of lamp, and the morpheme "table" means that this lamp is used in flat furniture such as tables.

A black flat plate made of wood or glass on which you can write with chalk. The morpheme "black" means color, and the morpheme "board" means plate-like things.

Television (1) A device that transmits images of objects by radio waves. (2) Images transmitted by the device. The morpheme "electricity" means to use electricity, and the morpheme "sight" means to see.

A device used to open and close circuits in electrical equipment. The morpheme "on" means on, and the morpheme "off" means off.

Buying and selling business; A shop. Morphemes "buy" and "sell" are the most important behaviors of both parties to a transaction.

Another example is "summer solstice, first frost, bosom friend, exception, graduation, insomnia, biscuits, egg yolk, stories, business cards, gloves …".

There are many such words. We can't simply infer the meaning of words from the meaning of several morphemes. Because the meaning of such words is not the simple addition of the meanings of several morphemes. Morpheme meaning is only a part of expressing the meaning of words.

(d) Some morphemes in compound words have lost their original meanings.

1. A compound word composed of two morphemes, in which one morpheme indicates meaning and the other morpheme does not, is a phenomenon that the compound word is biased. These words are also called "compound words with partial correction" and "compound words with partial correction". For example:

Countries (1) the tool of class rule. (2) refers to the whole area of a country. The morpheme "home" has no specific meaning here.

Things that have forgotten the experience are no longer in memory, so they are not remembered. The morpheme "pole" has no meaning here.

These morphemes, which do not mean meaning in compound words, are meaningful in the original text, but after slow development and change, they lose their meaning in specific compound words and play a foil role. For example:

Brother is two words in ancient Chinese, meaning "elder brother and younger brother". When it developed into modern Chinese, it became a word with the following meanings: ① younger brother; (2) address a man younger than himself (friendly tone); (3) Modesty is a man's self-promotion when he speaks to his contemporaries or others. At this time, "brother" is a morpheme, and its meaning is lost. In this compound word, it does not mean a specific meaning, but only plays a role in setting off.

In the process of vocabulary development, the original state of expressing morpheme meaning and the present state of morpheme meaning falling off sometimes coexist. For example, Sagittarius has two meanings. (1) refers to the army: "The whole army crossed the Yangtze River safely." ② Generally refers to the employees of a certain group: "former employees", "our editorial staff is relatively neat", "one employee, two brands" and so on. The two morphemes of "human" and "horse" are isomorphic in the first sense. In the second sense, the morpheme "Ma" is just a foil morpheme. Another example is the newly emerged "only child" in 1980s, in which "zi" and "female" are sometimes used as foil morphemes.

2. Several morphemes. Some morphemes can express some contents of the meaning of words, and some morphemes have vague meanings (they can't be said to be meaningless, but they can't clearly point out the meaning). For example:

Quick and agile; Come on. The morpheme "hemp" has a vague meaning here.

For example, the "silk" of "silk cake" and the "river" of "Jiangmi" are ambiguous here.