10/16/2011

laLhln An[anl Pllman | 1209204043

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SLMAn1lC 8LLA1lCnS AMCnC WC8uS

Semant|c ke|at|ons among Words

1 nyponymy
Pyponymy ls a relaLlon beLween Lwo words ln whlch Lhe meanlng of one of Lhe
words lncludes Lhe meanlng of Lhe oLher word Pyponymy ls words whose meanlngs are
speclflc lnsLances of a more general word 1he lexlcal relaLlon correspondlng Lo Lhe lncluslon
of one class ln anoLher ls hyponymy Pyponymy ls a relaLlon of lncluslon A hyponymy
lncludes Lhe meanlng of a more general word
A hyponym ls a subordlnaLe speclflc Lerm whose referenL ls lncluded ln Lhe referenL
of super ordlnaLe Lerm lor example 8lue Creen are klnds of color 1hey are speclflc colors
and color ls a general Lerm for Lhem 1herefore color ls called Lhe super ordlnaLe Lerm and
blue red green yellow eLc are called hyponyms
A super ordlnaLe can have many hyponyms 1he more general Lerm ls called Lhe
superordlnaLe or hypernym Pyponymy ls Lhe relaLlonshlp beLween each lower Lerm and Lhe
hlgher Lerm (super ordlnaLe) lL ls a sense relaLlon lL ls deflned ln Lerms of Lhe lncluslon of
Lhe sense of one lLem ln Lhe sense of anoLher lor example 1he sense of anlmal ls lncluded
ln Lhe sense of llon
Pyponymy ls noL resLrlcLed Lo ob[ecLs absLracL concepLs or nouns lL can be
ldenLlfled ln many oLher areas of Lhe lexlcon

Word Cook
nyponyms roasL boll fry grlll bake eLc

Word Color
nyponyms blue red yellow green black purple eLc

Pyponymy lnvolves Lhe loglcal relaLlonshlp of enLallmenL Lg '1here ls a horse'
enLalls LhaL '1here ls an anlmal' Pyponymy ofLen funcLlons ln dlscourse as a means of lexlcal
coheslon by esLabllshlng referenLlal equlvalence Lo avold repeLlLlon

2 9art ] Who|e ke|at|onsh|p
arL Lo Whole 8elaLlonshlp or Meronymy ls a Lerm used Lo descrlbe a parLwhole
relaLlonshlp beLween lexlcal lLems 1hus covet and poqe are meronyms of book We can
ldenLlfy Lhls relaLlonshlp by uslng senLence frames llke \ ls pott of or bos \ as ln A poqe
ls pott of o book ot A book bos poqes
Meronymy also dlffers from hyponymy ln LranslLlvlLy Pyponymy ls always LranslLlve
as we saw buL meronymy may or may noL be A LranslLlve example ls ooll as a meronym of
floqet and floqet of booJ We can see LhaL ooll ls a meronym of booJ for we can say A booJ
bos oolls A nonLranslLlve example ls pooe ls a meronym of wloJow (A wloJow bos o pooe)
and wloJow of toom (A toom bos wloJow) buL pooe lsn'L a meronym of toom for we can'L
say A toom bos o pooe

Synonymy
Synonyms are dlfferenL phonologlcal words whlch have Lhe same or very slmllar
meanlngs Some examples mlghL be Lhe palrs below
couch/sofa boy/lad lawyer/aLLorney LolleL/lavaLory large/blrg
As almer (1981) noLes Lhe synonyms ofLen have dlfferenL dlsLrlbuLlons along a
number of parameLers 1hey may have belonged Lo dlfferenL dlalecLs and Lhen become
synonyms for speakers famlllar wlLh boLh dlalecLs llke lrlsh Lngllsh ptess and 8rlLlsh Lngllsh
copbootJ Cr Lhe words may belong Lo dlfferenL reglsLers Lhose sLyles of language
colloqulal formal llLerary eLc LhaL belong Lo dlfferenL slLuaLlons 1hus wlfe or spoose ls
more formal Lhan olJ loJy or mlssos 1he synonyms may porLray poslLlve or negaLlve
aLLlLudes of Lhe speaker for example ootve or qolllble seem more crlLlcal Lhan loqeoloos

Antonymy
ln LradlLlonal Lermlnology anLonyms are words whlch are opposlLe ln meanlng lL's
usefel however Lo ldenLlfy several dlfferenL Lypes of relaLlonshlp under a more general
label of oppos|t|on

o 5lmple Aotooyms
1hls ls a relaLlon beLween words such LhaL Lhe negaLlve of one lmplles Lhe
poslLlve of Lhe oLher 1he palrs are also someLlmes called comp|ementary pa|rs
or b|nary pa|rs ln effecL Lhe words form a LwoLerm classlflcaLlon lor example
dead/allve (of eg anlmals)
pass/fall (a LesL)
hlL/mlss (a LargeL)

b CtoJoble Aotooyms
1hls ls a relaLlonshlp beLween opposlLes where Lhe poslLlve of one Lerm doesn'L
necessarlly lmply Lhe negaLlve of Lhe oLher eg tlcb/poot fost/slow yoooq/olJ
beootlfol/oqly toll/sbott clevet/stoplJ oeot/fot lotetestloq/botloq
1hls relaLlon ls Lyplcally assoclaLed wlLh ad[ecLlves and has Lwo ma[or ldenLlfylng
characLerlsLlcs flrsLly Lhere are usually lnLermedlaLe Lerms so LhaL beLween Lhe
gradable anLonyms bot and colJ we can flnd hoL (warm Lepld cool) cold 1hls
means of course LhaL someLhlng may be nelLher hoL nor cold Secondly Lhe
Lerms are usually relaLlve so o tblck peocll ls llkely Lo be Lhlnner Lhan o tblo qltl
and o lote Jloosoot fossll ls earller Lhan oo eotly lvls tecotJ A Lhlrd
characLerlsLlc ls LhaL ln some palrs one Lerm ls more baslc and common so for
example of Lhe palr looq/sbott lL ls more naLural Lo ask of someLhlng now looq
ls lt? Lhan now sbott ls lt? lor oLher palrs Lhere's no such paLLern now bot ls lt?
or now colJ ls lt? are equally naLural dependlng on conLexL

c evetses
1he characLerlsLlc reverse relaLlon ls beLween Lerms descrlblng movemenL
where one Lerm descrlbe movemenL ln one dlrecLlon F and Lhe oLher Lhe
same movemenL ln Lhe opposlLe dlrecLlon for example Lhe Lerms posb and
poll on a swlng door whlch Lell you ln whlch dlrecLlon Lo apply force CLher such
palrs are come/qo qo/tetoto osceoJ/JesceoJ When descrlblng moLlon Lhe
followlng can be called reverses (go) op/Jowo (go) lo/oot (Lurn) tlqbt/left
8y exLenslon Lhe Lerm ls also applled Lo any process whlch can be reversed so
oLher reverses are loflote/Jeflote expooJ/coottoct flll/empty or kolt/ootovel

J oovetses
1here are Lerms whlch descrlbe a relaLlon beLween Lwo enLlLles from alLernaLe
vlewpolnLs as ln Lhe palrs owo/belooq to obove/below employet/employee
1hus lf we are Lold Aloo owos tbls book Lhen we know auLomaLlcally 1bls belooqs
to Aloo Cr from neleo ls uovlJs employet we know uovlJ ls neleos employee

e 1oxooomlc 5lstets
1he Lerm anaLomy ls someLlmes used Lo descrlbe words whlch are aL Lhe same
level ln a Laxonomy 1axonomles are classlflcaLlon sysLems we Lake as an
example Lhe colour ad[ecLlves ln Lngllsh and glve a selecLlon below
red orange yellow green blue purple brown
We can say LhaL Lhe words teJ and bloe are slsLermembers of Lhe same
Laxonomy and Lherefore lncompaLlble wlLh each oLher Pence one can say Pls
car lsn'L red lL's blue
CLher Laxonomles mlghL lnclude Lhe days of Lhe week 5ooJoy MooJoy
1oesJoy eLc or any of Lhe Laxonomles we use Lo descrlbe Lhe naLural world
llke Lypes of dog pooJle sybetloo bosky lometooloo eLc Some Laxonomles are
c|osed llke days of Lhe week we can'L easlly add anoLher day wlLhouL changlng
Lhe whole sysLem CLhers are open llke Lhe flavours of lcecream sold ln an lce
cream parlour someone can always come up wlLh a new flavor and exLend Lhe
Laxonomy

S onverseness
Converseness refers Lo a reclprocal relaLlonshlp beLween words 1here are Lerms
whlch descrlbe a relaLlon beLween Lwo enLlLles from alLernaLe vlewpolnLs as ln Lhe palrs
owo/belooq to obove/below employet/employee 1hus lf we are Lold Aloo owos tbls book
Lhen we know auLomaLlcally 1bls belooqs to Aloo Cr from neleo ls uovlJs employet we
know uovlJ ls neleos employee

6 9o|ysemy
A po|yseme ls a word or phrase wlLh dlfferenL buL relaLed senses Slnce Lhe LesL for
polysemy ls Lhe vague concepL of relaLedness [udgmenLs of polysemy can be dlfflculL Lo
make 8ecause applylng preexlsLlng words Lo new slLuaLlons ls a naLural process of language
change looklng aL words eLymology ls helpful ln deLermlnlng polysemy buL noL Lhe only
soluLlon as words become losL ln eLymology whaL once was a useful dlsLlncLlon of meanlng
may no longer be so Some apparenLly unrelaLed words share a common hlsLorlcal orlgln
however so eLymology ls noL an lnfalllble LesL for polysemy and dlcLlonary wrlLers also
ofLen defer Lo speakers lnLulLlons Lo [udge polysemy ln cases where lL conLradlcLs
eLymology Lngllsh has many words whlch are polysemous lor example Lhe verb Lo geL
can mean procure (ll qet tbe Jtloks) become (sbe qot scoteJ) have (ve qot tbtee
Jollots) undersLand ( qet lt) eLc

7 nomonymy
Pomonyms are unrelaLed senses of Lhe same phonologlcal word Some auLhors
dlsLlngulsh beLween homographs sense of Lhe same wrlLLen word and homophones sense
of Lhe same spoken word Pere we wlll generally [usL use Lhe Lerm homonym We can
dlsLlngulsh dlfferenL Lypes dependlng on Lhelr synLacLlc behavlor and spelllng for example
a Lexemes of Lhe same synLacLlc caLegory and wlLh Lhe same spelllng eg lop
'clrculL of a course' and lop 'parL of body when slLLlng down'
b Cf Lhe same caLegory buL wlLh dlfferenL spelllng eg Lhe verbs tloq and wtloq
c Cf dlfferenL caLegorles buL wlLh Lhe same spelllng eg Lhe verb keep and Lhe
noun keep
d Cf dlfferenL caLegorles and wlLh dlfferenL spelllng eg oot koot
Cf course varlaLlons ln pronunclaLlon mean LhaL noL all speakers have Lhe same seL
of homonyms Some Lngllsh speakers for example pronounce Lhe palrs cllck and cllpoe or
tolk and totpoe ln Lhe same way maklng Lhese homonyms whlch are spelled dlfferenLly
1he word Pomonym has been derlved from Creek Lerm Pomolos whlch means
ldenLlcal and onoma means name Pomonyms are Lhe words LhaL have same phoneLlc
form (homophones) or orLhographlc form (homographs) buL dlfferenL unrelaLed meanlngs
1he amblguous word whose dlfferenL senses are far aparL from each oLher and are noL
obvlously relaLed Lo each oLher ln any way ls called as Pomonymy Words llke Lale and Lall
are homonyms 1here ls no concepLual connecLlon beLween lLs Lwo meanlngs lor example
Lhe word 'bear' as a verb means 'Lo carry' and as a noun lL means 'large anlmal'
An example of homonym whlch ls boLh homophone and homograph ls Lhe word 'fluke'
lluke ls a flsh as well as a flaLworm CLher examples are bank an anchor and so on
nomophony Pomophony ls Lhe case where Lwo words are pronounced ldenLlcally
buL Lhey have dlfferenL wrlLLen forms 1hey sound allke buL are wrlLLen dlfferenLly and ofLen
have dlfferenL meanlngs lor example noknow ledlead wouldwood and so on
nomograph Pomograph ls a word whlch ls spelled Lhe same as anoLher word and
mlghL be pronounced Lhe same or dlfferenLly buL whlch has a dlfferenL lor example 8ear
bear When homonyms are spelled Lhe same Lhey are homographs buL noL all homonyms
are homographs


& 8eferences
Saeed !ohn l 2003 5emootlcs Cxford 8lackwell ubllshlng
hLLp//wwwbuzzlecom/arLlcles/lexlcalrelaLlonshyponymyandhomonymyhLml
hLLp//lvanlanlnposLerouscom/slnonlmanLonlmhomonlmhomofo
hLLp//brlansllngulsLlcsblogspoLcom/2009/03/flneganchapLer6semanLlcshLml