Types of denotative grammatical meanings and grammatical transposition

Words possess both lexical and grammatical meanings that correlate with extra-linguistic reality. The latter may be represented in different languages in a different way. E. g.: the notion of definiteness or indefiniteness is grammatically expressed in English by the article. In Russian it's expressed differently. Gender exists as a grammatical category of the noun in Russian but not in English, etc.

A grammatical form possesses a denotative and a connotative meanings. There are 3 types of denotative grammatical meanings.

The 1^st type reflects relations of objects in outside reality: singularity/plurality.

The 2" type denotes the relation of the speaker to the first type of denotation. This type of denotative meaning is expressed by such categories as modality, voice, definiteness/indefiniteness.

The 3^rd type of denotative meaning has reference to the extra-linguistic reality. It is an intralinguistic denotation, conveying relations among linguistic units proper. E. g.: the formation of past tense forms of regular and irregular verbs.

A grammatical form may carry additional expressive information, it can evoke associations, emotions and impressions. Connotations aroused by a grammatical form are adherent subjective components, such as expressive or intensified meanings, emotive or evaluative colouring. A new connotative meaning of a grammatical form appears when we observe a certain clash between form and meaning or deviation in the norm of the use of some forms. The stylistic effect produced is often called grammatical metaphor.

According to Shendels we may speak of grammatical metaphor when there is a transposition (transfer) of a grammatical form from one type of grammatical relation to another. In such cases we deal with a redistribution of grammatical and lexical meanings that create new connotations.