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Let\u2019s think about what it means for a word to \u201cmean\u201d something. Learning Slovak, I\u2019ve had some surprises with the word \u201cno.\u201d Part of the problem is that we have the word in English, too, where it means the opposite of \u201cyes,\u201d signifying something I might summarize as \u2018refusal\u2019 or \u2018denial\u2019; in Slovak, however, I struggle with the fact that \u201cno\u201d can perversely mean \u201cyes,\u201d (agreement, acceptance, approbation) even though there is a very similar word\u2014\u201cnie\u201d\u2014which means, well, \u2018no.\u2019 So, after climbing for several hours up above Strbske Pleso in the High Tatras with one of my \u2018uncles\u2019 (husband of my grandmother\u2019s sister\u2019s great-grandaughter) I ask:<\/p>\n
i) Mozeme ist dolu?<\/p>\n
And, to my consternation, he answers:<\/p>\n
ii) No . . . . paci sa.<\/p>\n
Only after much subsequent conversation do I recognize that he is not insisting that we climb to the very top of Mount Krivan, but that he is actually agreeable to whatever maniac idea I may suggest.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m told that such a \u201cno\u201d derives from \u201cano\u201d\u2014a shortened form of \u2018yes,\u2019 most commonly used in informal settings.<\/p>\n
So you see that word meaning can consist of what we generally call a \u2018definition,\u2019 (in this sense \u201cno\u201d and \u201cano\u201d mean the same thing) but, in addition, there is an associated contextual requirement. That is, part of a word\u2019s meaning appears to include a requirement on exactly what context in which it may be used. \u201cAno\u201d (almost) always means \u2018yes\u2019; though \u201cno\u201d only means \u2018yes\u2019 in certain circumstances.<\/p>\n
So far, we are in the normal everyday territory of \u2018denotation\u2019 and \u2018connotation.\u2019 But words commonly have many denotations. My Kratky Slovnik Slovenskeho Jazyka says that \u201cno\u201d can also mean \u2018but\u2019:<\/p>\n
iii) skromne, no dobre jedlo.
\niv) Vykloni sa, no pre hmlu nevidi.
\nv) Usiluje sa, no nestaci.<\/p>\n
It also appears to have a signification similar to English \u2018well\u2019, indicating heightened intensity:<\/p>\n
vi) Zda sa, ze maju radi zmrzlinu Slovaci. No, pravdaze!<\/p>\n
Or lack of intensity, communicating resignation:<\/p>\n
vii) Musim ist do Rusku. No, zbohom.<\/p>\n
These examples show that we can fine-tune the notion of \u2018context\u2019: there are social contexts in which language is used, and in informal contexts \u201cno\u201d can mean \u2018yes\u2019, but there are also grammatical, or more specifically, syntactic contexts that serve to tease out further dimensions of meaning. So in (iii-v) above \u2018no\u2019 occurs in situations where it is clearly connecting neighboring words or phrases. Its \u2018meaning\u2019 clearly makes a functional contribution: here it indicates that neighboring syntactic elements are related by means of contrast. Under the circumstances, \u2018no\u2019 seems to have the same meaning as \u2018ale\u2019.<\/p>\n
Perhaps \u2018no\u2019 owes the lion\u2019s share of its popularity to its function as an indicator of speakers\u2019 disposition towards the comments they are making. People always have some attitude regarding what they are hearing and saying. And \u2018no\u2019 can be used to communicate that what you have just said is very obvious (e.g. vi), or conversely completely surprising:<\/p>\n
viii) No, tu ho mas!<\/p>\n
It can communicate resignation verging on defeat (e.g. vii), or conversely hearty exuberance:<\/p>\n
ix) No! suri ho otec!<\/p>\n
And the affective dimension of \u2018no\u2019 can combine with the denotative dimension:<\/p>\n
x) Si spokojny? No!<\/p>\n
And in the case of (x) we get a convergence of denotative, affective, and contextual cues clustering on \u201cno\u201d, here indicating hearty agreement underscoring an informal context.<\/p>\n
One of the maddening\u2014or fascinating\u2014features of language is that words can often indicate themselves . . . or their opposites, a point repeatedly illustrated in the examples above. An adequate \u2018theory\u2019 of lexical meaning needs to explain the frequency of this apparently surprising phenomenon, and might suggest that a word\u2019s meaning is constructed by bringing together more primary units of meaning . After all, for something to be something else\u2019s opposite, the pair must be alike in every respect except for one, with regard to which there is a binary opposition: \u2018no\u2019 can be the opposite of \u2018yes\u2019 because they are alike in every way . . . . except one (consider \u2018boy\u2019 and its opposite \u2018girl\u2019 both human, non-adult, living creatures\u2014alike in every way, except one). So the meaning of a word taps into \u2018denotation,\u2019 \u2018connotation,\u2019 social context, grammatical function, and the nexus of other words which make up the dictionary of the language in which the word occurs. . . at which point you may ask:<\/p>\n
xi) \u2018Uz sme skoncili?\u2019<\/p>\n
To which the only appropriate answer right here and now could only be . . . \u2018no!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let\u2019s think about what it means for a word to \u201cmean\u201d something. Learning Slovak, I\u2019ve had some surprises with the word \u201cno.\u201d Part of the problem is that we have the word in English, too, where it means the opposite … Continue reading