The term motivation is used to denote the relationship existing between the phonemic or morphemic composition and structural pattern of the word on the one hand, and meaning on the other hand.
There are 3 main types of motivation:
-phonetic motivation
-morphological motivation
-semantic motivation.
The motivation is phonetic when there is a certain similarity between the sounds that wake up the word and those referred to by the sense. For example: bang, giggle, hiss, etc. Here the sounds of a word are imitative of sounds in nature because what is referred characteristic sound (e.g. cuckoo).
The morphological motivation may be quite regular. Thus, the prefix ex- means “former” when added to human nouns: ex. – film star
Semantic motivation is based on the co-existence of direct and figurative meanings of the same word within the same synchronous system.
For example: Mouth continues to denote a part of the human face, and at the same time it can metaphorically apply to any opening or outlet: the mouth of a river, of a cave, of a furnace.
