HANDOUT 2: Paradigmatic Sense Relations of Inclusion and Identity

MRON!M!
Relation of inclusion
Part-whole relation.
Examples of meronymy: hand:finger, teapot:spout, wheel:spoke, car:engine, telescope:lens, tree:branch, and
so on.
A tree physically includes the branch
the meaning of branch somehow incorporates the sense of tree.
Is there the relationship of entailment between the following pairs of sentences containing a holonym and its
meronym:
John is in the cockpit. John is in the aeroplane.
John has a boil on his elbow. John has a boil on his arm.
The wasp is on the steering-wheel The wasp is on the car.
Prototypical features of meronyms: necessity, integrality, discreteness, motiation, congruence
"# Necessity
!ome parts are necessary to their wholes, whereas others are optional.
beard not a necessary part of a face
finger necessary to a hand
$ercise ":
"hich of the following are necessary parts of their wholes#
page: boo$
poc$et: trousers
monitor: computer
hand: watch
wheel: car
index: boo$
2# Integrality
!ome parts are more integral to their wholes than others. %ne way of diagnosing
integrality is by &udging how easy it is to describe the part as being attached to its whole.
The handle is a part of the door The handle is attached to the door : normal
The hand is a part of the arm The hand is attached to the arm. normal
The handle is a part of the spoon. The handle is attached to the spoon odd
If they are perceied as attached they are less integral.
%# Discreteness
!ome parts are more clearly diided from their sister parts than others.
If the part moes independently of the whole, li$e an arm with respect to the body, the diision is clear, it is a
discrete part.
the tip of the tongue, or the lobe of the ear less clearly separated, less discrete.
$ercise 2:
"hich of the following examples are discrete and which ones are less discrete#
handle: umbrella
spout: teapot
waist: body
wheel: car
foot: mountain
leg: table
&# Moti'ation
'enerally spea$ing, (good( parts hae an identifiable function of some sort with respect to their wholes.
e.g. the handle of a door is for grasping and opening and shutting the door.
S!NON!M!
$ercise %:
In the following sentences, do the capitali)ed pairs of words hae the same *or ery nearly the same+ sense in
the ways they are used here#
*,+ The thief tried to CONC!"#$%& the e'idence (es # No
*-+ %)m going to *+,C$!-#.+( a new coat (es # No
*.+ These tomatoes are "!,/#,%* (es # No
*/+ This is a 'ery "OO-#-$O,T definition (es # No
*0+ (ou ha'e my *,O0O+N&#&* sympathy (es # No
*1+ %t is a 'ery 1%&#.,O!& street (es # No
!ynonymy sameness of meaning#
!ynonyms are words whose semantic similarities are more salient than their differences.
2hree degrees of synonymy: absolute synonymy, propositional synonymy, and near-synonymy.
"# A(solute synonymy
Absolute synonymy complete identity of meaning
3ontextual approach to meaning meaning is anything which affects the contextual normality of lexical items
in grammatically well-formed sentential contexts.
Absolute synonyms e4ually normal in all contexts
*i+ bra'e: courageous
5ittle 6illy was so brae at the dentist(s this morning. *7+
5ittle 6illy was so courageous at the dentist(s this morning. *-+
*ii+ calm: placid
!he was 4uite calm &ust a few minutes ago. *7+
!he was 4uite placid &ust a few minutes ago. *-+
*iii+ big: large
8e(s a big baby, isn(t he# *7+
8e(s a large baby, isn(t he# *-+
*i+ almost: nearly
!he loo$s almost 3hinese. *7+
!he loo$s nearly 3hinese. *-+
*+ die: kick the bucket
Apparently he died in considerable pain. *7+
Apparently he $ic$ed the buc$et in considerable pain. *-+
Absolute synonyms are extremely rare 9 do not exist. It is difficult to find pairs of words which hae e2actly the
same semantic alue *perhaps sofa#couch#settee#+. In cases of potential synonymy, (correctie( mechanisms
come into play : one of the wods may fall into disuse or the words become associated with different nuances,
possibly of a stylistic or sociocultural nature.
2he term (absolute synonym( useful only to show a point on a scale of synonymy.
absolute propositional near not
synonyms synonyms synonyms synonyms
$ercise &:
Are the highlighted pairs of words synonymous# If not, which member of the pair is acceptable, and which one
is odd#
, a ;ohnny, tell <ummy when Playschool begins and she(ll watch it with you.
b ;ohnny, tell <ummy when Playschool commences and she(ll watch it with you.
- a Arthur is always munching gum.
b Arthur is always chewing gum.
. a =oes this aeroplane hae an engine#
b =oes this aeroplane hae a motor#
2# Pro)ositional synonymy
Propositions with propositional synonyms hae the same truth alue.
2hey entail one another:
John bought a 'iolin. entails and is entailed by John bought a fiddle3
% heard him tuning his fiddle entails and is entailed by 9 heard him tuning his 'iolin3
-he is going to play a 'iolin concerto entails and is entailed by -he is going to play a fiddle concerto. odd,
but the truth alue remains the same.
Propositional synonyms differ in
a+ expressie meaning,
b+ style,
c+ register.
'iolin:fiddle If the spea$er is an (outsider( to iolinistic culture, fiddle is more collo4uial, and possibly also
&ocular compared with 'iolin. 8oweer, if the spea$er is a professional iolinist tal$ing to another professional
iolinist, fiddle is the neutral term, with no &ocularity,
disrespect, or collo4uiality, whereas 'iolin is used mainly to outsiders.
shin:fibula fibula is from the register of medicine, shin is a neutral term.
baby: neonate: infant : style, register
autumn: fall - eo$ed
horse: nag 4 expressie alue
pissed: drunk: inebriated - style
.. Near*synonymy
2he borderline between propositional synonymy and near-synonymy clear.
2he borderline between near-synonymy and non-synonymy not obious
5anguage users do hae intuitions as to which pairs of words are synonyms and which are not.
2here is a scale of semantic distance, and synonyms are words whose meanings are
relatiely close.
Permissible differences between near-synonyms must be either minor, or bac$grounded, or both. Among (minor(
differences may be counted the following:
*i+ ad&acent position on scale of (degree(: fog:mist, laugh:chuckle,
hot:scorching, big: huge, disaster:catastrophe, pull:hea'e, weep:sob, etc.>
*ii+ certain aderbial speciali)ations of erbs: amble:stroll, chuckle:giggle,
drink:5uaff3
*iii+ aspectual distinctions: calm:placid *state s. disposition, 4uality+>
*i+ difference of prototype centre: bra'e *prototypically physical+: courageous *prototypically intellectual and
moral factors+
An example of a bac$grounded ma&or distinction would be pretty *?female? presupposed+ s. handsome *?male?
presupposed+, the propositional meaning of both of which may be glossed as ?good-loo$ing?.
In near-synonymy, similarities are foregrounded but one member of the pair can be contrasted with the other.
-he is beautiful, but not 'ery handsome.
$e was killed, but he was not murdered.
$ercise +:
!ynonyms usually share some but not all senses. 2his becomes eident in
certain of their uses. @or each apparent synonym pair below supply
sentences in which the two words can be used interchangeably without
altering the sense of the sentence, and then gie another sentence using one
of the words in a different sense *where no interchange is possible with the
same meaning+.
a small9little
b hard9difficult
c lady9woman
d cheap9inexpensie