THE HIDDEN MEANINGS OF WORDS

-A SEMANTIC APPROACH TO A FAULKr叩 RPARAGRAPH-

Midori SASAKI

I

All literature is language is a truism. “Since literature is drawn from the currency

of relevant language， our understanding of literature is essentially linguistic."ll Y et

literature is seldom studied from a linguistic point of view; impressionistic， non-verbal

interpretations dominate. N either do linguists have much time for 1iterature. There

is a wall between 1iterary and linguistic studies. This essay attempts in a small way

to break down some of the wal1， by applying some linguistic insights to a literary

text. More speci五cal1y，it will apply certain semantic categories to a paragraph from

Light in August by William Faulkner， probably the foremost五ctionwriter in modern

English 1iterature.

What then is semantics? Semantics deals principally with words and their meanings.

What's in a word， we ask. The answer is that there are many profundities in a word;

primitive people believed with reason that there was magic in a word. A word may

contain a bundle of meanings， many of which are hidden from us. A word may open

doors for us and reveal the imagination of a great writer. A word changes the per-

ception of both speaker and hearer.

At the same time the meanings of words present many di伍culties. lndeed， there is

an inherent slipperiness about them; due to the nature of language it is almost im-

possible to grasp their exact meaning in discourse. After al1， a word is only a sign

or a symbol; to arrive at its meaning we must refer to another word or words， to what

semanticists call a referent. Unfortunately， there is no one-to-one correspondence be-

tween a symbol and its referent; the two are not directly related. The dictionary， it

is true， can provide us a referent of a word with synonyms， verbal de五nitionsand ex.

1 ) George Steiner， Extrαterritoriα1 (London: Faber and Faber & Queen Square， 1972)， p. 129.

(Midori SASAKI)

amples of usage， but the referent will be only an approximation of meaning. The

dictionary cannot do a satisfactory job. Moreover， many common words as well as

those favored by poets and writers have an ambiguity of meaning built into them.

The English word “beauty" is a symbol which represents hundreds of meanings. The

same can be said of the Japanese word “giri."2l

Furthermore， the process of verbal communication makes meanings di伍cultto grasp

because of the part played by both author and reader in the process. The author puts

his own interpretation onto a word; the reader brings his own understanding to bear

on it. What the author really intends to mean by a word is seldom fully comprehended

by the reader. Too much intervenes in the communication process between the two:

the perceptions， memories， fee1ings and attitudes of each. Even the most careful reader

misses the subtleties of meaning that the author intends.

11

Some of the complexities involved in distinguishing meanings can be seen in Jacob-

son's two diagrams describing the process of verbal communication whether it be a

speech， an entire literary work， or words in context3l • In the fIrst diagram we see his

scheme of the six elements of a verbal communication. Obviously there must be a

“sender，" his “message，" and a “receiver." Obviously a1so， if less so， the message

must be transmitted through some physica1 or psychologica1 “contact，" must be put

into a “code，" that is a language， and must refer to a “context." Jacobson describes

the process in the following scheme.

context message

sender ー 一一一 receiver

contact code

Jacobson goes on to describe a corresponding function to each of the six elements

of a verbal communication. The functions he describes are not entirely accurate， but

do illustrate the great number of factors implicit in verbal communication and its in.

tricate nature.

2) William Empson， Complex Words (London: Chatto and Windus， 1964)， p. 72.

3) Robert Scholes， Structuralism in Literαture (New Haven and London: Yale University Press，

1974)， pp. 24-25.

THE HIDDEN MEANINGS OF WORDS 口ヨ

referential poetic

emotive一回一一一ー一一一一←一一一一一一一一一一一 ←一一 conative

phatic metalingual

Each verbal communication contains the six functions and each may be dominated by

one or another of the functions. The emotive function parallels and is oriented to the

sender， the referential to the context， and the conative to the receiver. The emotive

function refers primarily to the feeling of the sender， the referential to what is said

or the informative aspect， and the conative to the rhetorical or persuasive aspect of

communication. Poetic function parallels message and is focused on style; the phatic

parallels contact and focuses on how persons are linked in communication， the metal-

ingual corresponds to the code and deals with the use of a language as a code.

111

However， we do not like to admit that words are di伍cultto understand or ambigu-

ous. In fact， we do not think much about distinguishing the meanings in words when

we read a literary text such as Faulkner's Light in August. We respond to words and

to their meanings by what 1. A. Richards calls a stock response， that is， by reacting

automatically， out of habit， and without thinking. We look only at the surface of words

and at their stock meaning. Consequently， we miss a great deal of meaning， the sense

of what the author is saying. We need to examine carefully the meanings of words

as they are used in discourse.

If a word is full of hidden meanings， how do we fi.nd them? We don't want to give

only a stock response and miss much of the sense of what we read. A great writer

like Faulkner uses words evocatively and imaginatively and crams them with meaning

with the result that we are likely to over1ook much of their sense. There are certain

ways of examining words in context which wiI1 reveal a greater density in meaning.

With help from Nida， the American semanticist and from Empson， the English literary

critic， we can describe seven ways or criteria at getting at meanings. These are: the

contrastive analysis with related words， the etymology or historical origins and changes

in meaning， the positive and negative force， the logical or other implications， the fi.g・

urative meanings， the cultural coloring， and the tone or mood.

Before we explore the meaning of a word in context， it is necessary to五ndits meaning

- 40- (Midori SASAKI)

in general usage. To do this we must establish a basis of contrast. We must contrast

or (distinguish) the meaning of the word with that of other words which are closely

related semantically， that is， with those words which share with it“the greatest num-

ber of common components and differ (from it) in the smallest number of components."4)

If only there were blue， there would be no blueness， since there would be nothing to

contrast with blue. The word “father" takes on meaning only when related to“mother"

and other terms of kinship.

Once the general sense of a word is established， only context will determine the

precise shading of meaning. One factor which may have a bearing on meaning is the

history of the word， 一一thedifferent senses in which the word has been used diachron-

ically. For example， whereas “ghost" in Shakespeare's day had the meaning of “soul，"

today it has the sense of the shadow or apparition of a dead person， yet the old usage

stil1 appears. In a literary context， words often take on meanings and reverberations

from their previous usages in literature5).

It is often the case that the context calls for a heightening or lowering of the mean-

ing of a word， what Empson cal1s “appreciative and depreciative pregnancy， a process

that makes the meaning of a word warmer and fuller or contrariwise less SO."6) In

the Biblical phrase “Jesus wept，" the sense of “wept" is considerably appreciated， that

is， given fuller meaning.

Many words， and especially words used in poetry and imaginative writing， carry

implied meanings. They often suggest other words. Logically or otherwise， there may

be information within a word which， in Nida's words， is“not formally present."υFor

example， the word “repent" has the implication of“sin;" without sin no one could

repent.

Meanings of words are often hidden in metaphor. A metaphor， or a五gureof speech，

extends the sense of the word; a word takes on additional meaning. Metaphor is ex-

tremely common and the breath of life to the literary artist. For instance， the adjec-

tive “foxy" in the phrase “foxy grandpa" is based on the metaphorical meaning of fox

4) Eugene A. NiJa， Comtonential Analysis o( Afeuning (The Hague. Paris: Mouton， 1975)， p. 68.

5) Scholes， p. 30.

6 ) Empson， p. 16.

7) Nida， p. 230.

THE HIDDEN MEANINGS OF WORDS - 41-

as deceitful and clever.

Furthermore， we often五nda cultural coloring in the meaning of a word. That is，

the situation and social environment in whic.h the speaker or writer uses a word de-

termines its sense. Faulkner's use of the word “blood，" for example， can hardly be

understood outside the cultural context of the Deep South.

Finally， a writer adopts invariably a tone or mood toward his reader which is re-

flected in his use of words The use of irony， the meaning of a word as the opposite

of its usual sense， is a clear instance as in the case of Othello's appelation of Iago as

“honest" Iago.

IV

Let us look at the paragraph from the second page of Faulkner's Light in August.

The underlined words and the composite in it seem especially rich in meaning and

suggestive of the author's theme in the novel. Obviously an underlined word is mean-

ingless by itself; it acquires meaning when used with other words. First we look at

the central meaning of the word， then see the meaning of the word from the way it

is used in a phrase or sentence

Faulker is describing the scene of a deserted lumber嶋milltown in the Deep South，

the home country of Lena Grove， one of the important characters in the novel. The

五rstsentences are narrative， simple and clear. The rest is more reflective， close to the

author's heart， while its language is poetical and evocative.

The brother worked in the mill. All the men in the village worked in the mill

or for it. It was cutting pine. It had been there seven years and in seven years

more it would destroy all the timber within its reach. Then some of the ma-

chinery and most of the men who ran it and existed because of and for it would

be loaded onto freight cars and moved away. But some of the machinery would

be left， since new pieces could always be bought on the installment plan . . . gαunt，

staring， motionless wheels rising from mounds of brick rubble and ragged weeds

with a quality profoundly astonishing， and gutted boilers lifting their rusting and

unsmoking stacks with an air stubborn， baffi.ed and bemused upon a stumppocked

scene of profound and peaceful desolation， unplowed， untilled， gutting slowly into

red and choked ravines beneath the long quiet rains of autumn and the galloping

fury of vernal equinoxes. Then the hamlet which at its best day had borne no

- 42ー (Midori SASAKI)

name listed on Posto伍ceDepartment annals would not now even be remembered

by the hookwormridden heirs-at-large who pulled the buildings down and burned

them in cookstoves and winter grates8). (U nder lines are mine.)

Let us examine the meaning of the word “existed." N ot only is it the key word in

the paragraph， but it suggests a great deal about the character of the poor whites who

dominate the novel. Before we look at the word in its context in the paragraph， we

need to find an accurate explanation of “the central meaning"9) of the word， and for

this we must establish a basis of contrast. That is， we must distinguish its meaning

from that of other words of simi1ar sense. The semantic area of simi1arity， or seman-

tic domain， in this case consists of abstract words about living and rea1ity; Hayakawa

includes three besides “exist":“bef'“subsist，" and “live."lO)

The central meaning of “exist" would seem to lie in the notion of “to continue liv-

ing." The meaning of this is slightly different from the meaning of“be，" which has

a more philosophical connotation， asserting the reality of existence， as“God is." The

second synonym，“subsist" has a connotation of dependence lacking in“exist;"“subsist"

means living as dependent on speci五cconditions， as in “Eskimos subsist on raw meat."

“To live" has the closest similarity in sense to“exist，" but has a wider meaning， re・

ferring to all of nature， while “exist" refers only to humans.

“Exist" is typical of words of a general and philosophical nature in that it may carry

a high voltage of meaning when used in context. In the Faulkner passage “the men

. existed because of and for it (the machinery)，" the central meaning of“exist" as

“to continue living" is expanded into two variant meanings. In “. .. existed because

of ... the machinery，" the sense becomes that the men were able to make a livelihood

by working at the machines; the machines provided an economic existence. In “.. •

existed ... for the machinery，" the sense is more suggestive. Here the meaning is

something like the machinery dominates the lives of the men; they live for the sake

of and are enslaved by the machinery. N ot only the phrase itself but the rest of the

passage suggests that the machinery ravages the lives of the people. To a Faulkner

8) WiIliam Faulkner， Light in August (New York: The Modern Lihrary， 1932)， p. 4.

9) Nida， p. 228.

10) S. I. Hayakawa and the Funk & Wagnalls， Modern Guide to Synonyms and relatt'd words (New

York: Funk & Wagnal1s， 1968)， p. 201-202.

THE HIDDEN MEANINGS OF WORDS - 43-

reader this connotation is familiar; a Southern agrarian， he intensely disliked modern

industrialism and the factory system.

Three of our criteria of meaning will give us additional senses of “exist" in the

context of the phrase “. .• existed ... for the machinery:" depreciative pregnancy，

implication， and tone.Let us apply each of the three criteria in turn. The notion of

existence as conveyed by the phrase is depreciative and negative. The meaning of

“exist" suggests unhappiness and deprivation;ー themeanness of lives dominated by

the machinery. The fullness of life is negated by an impersonal force.

Clear ly， words like “exist" may imply many things. But strictly within the frame-

work of the word in this context there is a definite implication of the notion of“to

endure." Existence on a negative， machine-dominated plane implies endurance， the

holding onto life in spite of its ugliness and suffering. The theme of endurance has

an important place in Light in August just as it does elsewhere in Faulkner's fiction;

the poor whites are praised because they endure.

An author's tone gives meaning to a word. Faulkner's tone in“existed for the ma-

chinery" adds an emotive factor to its sense. He conveys a feeling of hopelessness and

indi百erenceto life. “To exist" here means barely to get along， simply to keep on

going or to keep physically a1ive and nothing more. Faulkner's sympathy for the lot

of the poor whites in the poverty-stricken Southern milieu emerges in the tone of the

word.

A second word which carries a bundle of hidden meanings is“gaunt，" used here

metaphorically to describe the machinery wheels，一“gaunt，staring， motionless wheels."

The adjective “gaunt" belongs to a class of words related to the physical condition of

thinness. Thinness is the generic term under which “gaunt" and similar words are

classified. Under thinness are several adjectives specifying kinds of thinness. For

contrastive distinction whereas “lean" means a healthy lack of fat and “skinny" means

extreme and unattractive thinness，“gaunt" means a thinness resulting from wasting

away due to su妊eringor hunger.

Again， additional meanings can be found for “gaunt" through means of three of our

criteria-diachronic change， metaphorical extension， and tone. The origin and the

diachronic analysis of the word is significant and semantically revealing. The original

meaning of“gaunt" was that of a thin stick; at one time in the feudal period， accord.

- 44ー (Midori SASAKI)

ing to the O. E. D.，“gaunt" meant “thin" as elegant or graceful; now the meaning

has changed to the opposite with the sense of thinness as a wasting away. Thinness

in this sense， which is the central meaning of“gaunt，" is no longer considered elegant

and fashionable， but quite the contrary. Faulkner， with his aristocratic and feudal

bias， is reverting back to the older sense of “gaunt" as elegant. In contrast to the

disorderly “rubble and ragged weeds" the gaunt wheels have “a quality profoundly

astonishing，" an aristocratic quality akin to elegance and grace.

Faulkner's metaphorical extension of “gaunt" provides a wealth of hidden meanings.

In its context the word becomes a figurative extension of the usual animate meaning

of “gaunt" as an emaciated and wasted human appearance. Wheels have been used

so much and exposed to weather so long that they have become thin and worn or in

human terms “gaunt." The e妊ectof the metaphor is startling. Faulkner is following

a very common mode of figurative extension by personifying inanimate things. As 1.

A. Richards puts it， our common adjectives “constantly invite us to personify. Our

attitudes， feelings， and ways of thought about inanimate things are moulded upon and

grow out of our ways of thinking and fee1ing about one another."l!l

The metaphor of the “gaunt" wheels describes the scene of the vacated mill town.

There is a slight shift in meaning from human emaciation and waste to the sense of

desolation of a ghost town. Other words and phrases reinforce the meaning of deso-

lation ...“gutted，"“rusting，"“unsmoking" stacks. The gaunt wheel is symbolical of

the old South， desolate， worn down and laid waste by the new industrialism and com-

mercialism.

Few words in the Faulkner lexicon carry as heavy and emotional weight as does

“gaunt." Here the tone of the word expresses not only a feeling of lost and waste

over the impoverishment and disintegration of the Southern land but also an emotion

of pride and courage， stiff-necked de五ancein face of destruction. Faulkner often uses

the word to characterize his aristocrats， followers of the lost cause who are destroyed

but who still retain their grace and pride. That the two disparate feelings of lost

and of pride are both present in the word adds emotional force to its tone12l.

11) 1. A. Richards， Prαctical Criticism (London: Kegan Paul， Trench， Trubner & Co. Ltd.， 1929)， p.

199.

12) Empson， p. 5.

THE HIDDEN MEANINGS OF WORDS - 45ー

The last analysis of meaning deals not with a single word but with a word phrase

or what Nida calls a composite， as a semantical unit. Faulkner likes to put words

together in composites; in this passage “heirs-at・large"is a good example. “Heirs，"

the headword of the composite， is what Nida calls a speci五cterm referring to a narrow

semantic area and lacks related words of similar meaning. The central meaning of

“heirs，" which has never changed， is that of someone who inherits or gets property by

a will.

The meaning of the composite“heirs-at・large"may be expanded by two of our cri-

teria of meaning一一 negativedepreciation and tone. Logically，“heirs" implies private

property， by definition the “heir" receives property; yet with the added “at-large" the

precise negative of“heirs" becomes the meaning of the phrase “heirs-at-large." From

the sentence context，“heirs幽at-large"refers to poor people who have not by heritance

received private property but who steal it for their needs. The phrase “heirs-at・large"

is a contradiction in terms; an “heir" by de五nitionis not one of the “at・large"but a

private receiver. Poor people are “heirs" only in the negati ve sense of stealing near ly

worthless property

The phrase “heirs-at-large" has an ironical tone of a grimly humorous kind. To

call the abjectly poor people of the piny woods “heirs，" as does Faulkner here， is

laughable， an example of Faulkner's black humor. In the American South the word

“heirs" was associated with landed property and large plantations. Faulkner's ironical

tone in his use of the word is directed as much at the decadent plantation system

with its landed heirs as it is at the Southern piny woods whites or white trash. The

irony in“heirs-at・large"expresses his bitter taste for both planter and poor white.

The phrase “heirs-at-large" is closely defined by its adjective “hookwormridden."

This adjective takes on meaning only from its cultural coloring; the meaning of“hook-

wormridden" is understandable only in the cultural context of the Deep South. The

Southern writers of rural life from Caldwell to Faulkner commonly refer to the poor

classes as suffering from hookworms since hookworm disease is prevalent in the area

and is caused by a worm entering the body through the bare feet. The dictionary

de五nitionof“hookworm，" however， describes it only as a worm causing intestinal dis-

ease and does not refer to its prevalence in the South.

Our analysis of several words and of a composite in a Faulkner passage reveals how

閉開倒閣晶叫パ司、1

J

"

j

w

(Midori SASAKI) - 46ー

faithfully each expresses the inner conscIousness and depth of feeling of the writer

The meanings scene and characters 一時 thepoor white in the Deep South. about

which lie in the single word correspond to the meanings of larger semantic units， in-

There is an organic connection between cluding the meaning of the novel as a whole.

Every word has a signifying place in the structure of the novel.

No replacement of it is possible.

word and larger unit.