The meaning of affection....
The meaning of affection, respect and praise in the English language
Key words: affection, respect, praise, linguistics
08 October 2010
The article is devoted to reveal a problem of linguistics and to define the difference of the terms ´´affection”, ”respect” and ”praise” in the English language.
В статье автор рассматривает проблему посвященный к дефинициям терминов ” ласка”, ”уважение” и хвала” в английском языке.
Nowadays there are so many linguistic problems in English and one of them is affectionate form. Many scientists worked out the topic ´´affection”, but they have never come closer depicting the difference of affection, respect and praise.
The aim of this article is to show the differential meanings of the terms ´´affection”, ´´respect” and ´´praise” in the English language from linguistic point of view. As we know different sources give various definitions to the term ´´affection”.
According to the Webster´s Dictionary the term ´´affection” is – 1) a: moderate feeling or emotion, tender attachment, fondness b: the action of affecting(1, 21).
Oxford Dictionary defines the term ´´affection” as a kindly feeling and love(2, 15).
But the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia gives the following definition to this term : affection is a word or phrase used to address and/or describe a person or animal for which the speaker feels love or affection....it is used for a variety of reasons, such as parents addressing their children and lovers addressing to each other(10).
According to Khazakov´s point of view If affection does not exist in the world there wouldn´t be smile on people´s face(5, 57).
Kursovski in his research classified an addressing form into the several groups and one of them is addressing to a person affectionately. The words baby, boy, dear, angel, dearest, dear boy, dear girl, friend, honey kid, love, lovely, sweet, sweatheart, sweets, my precious, my dear son, my dear dаughter, my dear sweet, sweеtheart are widely used in expressing affection(9).
But we think that affection is an expression of personal feeling of love or caress to people, animals, thing that you love and respect. Affection may be expressed with words, phrases, facial expressions, with a help of touching on one´s head, patting him or her with love and care. The main thing in affection is the strong feeling of love. We think one can not use the affection to somebody or something if he or she does not love him or her. In affection the words sweetheart, darling, sweet, honey, lamb, love and other words are used in written and colloquial English. Here some more examples for affection:
Oh, my love, do not you know there is not anything in the world I would not do for you(6, 472).
Mother: ´´Good morning, dear! Wake up! Breakfast is ready. Get up! Let´s have tea!” But Jimmy the Carrot is too lazy to move. He shuts his eyes again and says: ´´I won´t!” Then mother comes up to his bed and softly touches his head: ´´Are you well, darling?” She asks. ´´I am.” Jimmy says. ´´Don´t worry, my dear!” Mr. Dale says. ´´Your boy is never ill.” ´´I´m glad to hear that,” Mrs. Dale says. She touches a cup of milk from the table and says: ´´Jimmy, My Little Carrot, will you have a cup of milk?”(7, 207)
In these examples we can see that the words and phrases my love, dear, darling, my little Carrot show that the speaker addresses to the listener with care and love.
But sometimes English language learners confuse the meaning of affection and respect. The term ´´respect” is also expressed in various ways. The information taken from Internet web sites says:
Respect is...
Respect is...listening with out interrupting
Respect is...taking your partner´s feelings into consideration
Respect is...keeping an open mind
Respect is...agreeing to disagree
Respect is...trying to understand your partner´s viewpoint
Respect is...loving yourself
Respect is...trust and honesty
Respect is...giving each other space
Respect is...nonviolence
Respect is...direct communication
Respect is...building a person up instead of tearing them down
Respect is...friendship
Respect is…not pressuring the other person(11).
In Оxford Dictionary one can see the following definition: respect – 1. honour; high opinion or regard; esteem for a person or quality. 2. Consideration; attention. 3. Reference; relation. 4. Regards, polite greetings(2, 720).
But according to Webster´s Dictionary respect is a relation on reference to a particular thing or situation and it is an act of giving particular attention. And as well as it is high and special regard(1, 1061).
Kursovski says that in English exist the following phrases exist in addressing to a person respectfully: Mr., Mrs., or Miss (to a single girl ) + the addressee´s name or surname: ´´ Mr. Jones ´´, I`d like to talk to you.´´ They use the word Madam to women respectfully: Can I help you, madam? To men they apply with the word Sir. This word is not followed by full name. But applying to the group of people they use the phrase ladies and gentlemen. To the king and queen - Your majesty, Your Royal Highness and others are appropriate way to apply with respect. The phrase Your Grace is used to dukes(9).
In Erich Fromm´s opinion to respect a person is not possible without knowing him; care and responsibility would be blind if they were not guided by knowledge(10).
But we think respect is showing one´s positive attitude to a person or thing. To know the value of somebody or something that is dear to you. To address to smb. with respect and politeness. Here some examples:
´´Let me see,” he said, stepping ahead of them and opening the door, ´´you may bring them back Monday.” ´´Yes, sir,” said Mrs. Gerhardt. ´´Thank you.”(4, 30)
Attired in handsome smoking-coat, he looked younger than at their first meeting. ´´Well, madam,” he said, recognizing the couple, and particularly the daughter, ´´what can I do for you?”(4, 28)
The last term ´´praise” also has various definitions. According to the Russian dictionaries the praise is showing only positive sides of somebody or something(8, 1138).
Oxford Dictionary gives the followings about this term: praise- 1. Speaking with approval of; saying that one admires. 2. Giving honor and glory to(2, 653). But in Webster´s Dictionary it is an expression of approval(1, 975).
In our opinion, praise is the expressing one´s point of view stressing at the positive sides of something or showing the good features of an action done by somebody. Here some examples for praising:
Capulet:
God´s bread! It makes me mad:
Day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play,
Alone, in company, still my care hath been
To have her match´d: and having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train´d,
Stuff´d, as they say, with honorable parts,
Proportion´d as one´s thought would wish a man;
And then to have a wretched puling fool(13).
In this example Capulet praises gentlemen to his daughter showing his positive sides using the following phrases: noble parentage, youthful, and nobly train´d Stuff´d, as they say, with honorable parts. So the praise is speaking only good or positive sides of smb. or smth.
One more example: She is not educated in the sense in which we understand that word but she has natural refinement and tact. She is a good housekeeper. She is an ideal mother. She is the most affectionate creature under the sun(4,274).
The example shows that the speaker praises the woman using only her positive sides.
Here below we would give the table with examples that shows the real difference among the words and phrases used in affection, respect and praise.
Affection
Respect
Praise
Baby, dear, angel, dearest, dear boy, dear girl, friend, honey kid, love, lovely, sweet, sweatheart, sweets, my precious, my dear son, my dear dаughter, my dear sweet, sweеtheart and others. Ex: ´´Are you well, darling?” She asks. ´´I am ” Jimmy says. ´´Don´t worry, my dear!” Mr., Mrs., Miss, madam, sir, dear ladies and gentlemen, Your majesty, Your Royal Highness, Your Grace and others. Ex: ´´Well, madam,” he said, recognizing the couple, and particularly the daughter, What a good girl or boy, Ideal person, honorable, clever, bright, the most affectionate creature, excellent and others.
Ex: She is a good housekeeper. She is an ideal mother. She is the most affectionate creature under the sun.
The table shows that in expressing affection we use the words that show our endearment to another person. When we respect someone we use the words that show our respect and our serious attitude towards the speaker. But in praising we try to stress on person´s positive sides using only praising words and phrases.
So, in conclusion we can say that in expressing one´s affection, respect and praise to somebody or something we use different words and phrases. And these three terms should be clearly differed in learning English. Here we would give the followings short definition to these three terms:
Affection expressing and showing love and affection.
Respect showing serious attitude, to apply politely.
Praise speaking only about positive sides.
Thus analysis show that differing the terms in linguistics will help the learners and researchers to choose the right way to continue their education as a researcher and learning these kind of problems of linguistics will help us to understand more the national and cultural peculiarities of the English language.
Used Literature
1. Merriam Webster´s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, Merriam Webster, Incorporated Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 2003.
2. Oxford learners Dictionary of current English. Oxford University press, 1974.
3. The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language. Oxford, 2002.
4. Theodore D. Jennie Gerhardt. Moscow, 1972.
5. Казаков Ш. Семантико-стилистические оссобенности эмоционально оценочных лексики драм Хамзы. Диссертация. Ташкент, 1990.
6. Кунин А.В. Англо - русский фразеологический словарь. Москва, 1984.
7. Скультэ В. Английский язык для детей. Бишкек, 2005.
8. Толковый словарь Русского языка. Гос-ое издательство иностранных национальных словарей. Том-II. Москва. 1938.
9. Формы обращения в английском языке. Сборник курсовых http://works.tarefer.ru/105/100021/index.html
10. Erich Fromm (http://eqi.org/respect.htm)
11. Respect http://itsnotok.org/whatisrespect.htm)l
12. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia file://localhost/F:/янги2.htm
13. William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet http://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeo_juliet/romeo_juliet.1.1.html
Name: Samigova Khushnuda Botirovna
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