Lesson 5 Lexical Relations Part 2 PDF

Lesson 5 Lexical Relations Part 2  Hyponymy Hyponymy: (Greek hypo- ‘under’) the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of another Examples are the pairs: animal/dog dog/poodle vegetable/ carrot flower/rose tree/banyan ...

Lesson 5 Lexical Relations Part 2  Hyponymy Hyponymy: (Greek hypo- ‘under’) the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of another Examples are the pairs: animal/dog dog/poodle vegetable/ carrot flower/rose tree/banyan  Hyponymy The concept of “inclusion” involved in this relationship is the idea that if an object is a rose, then it is necessarily a flower So the meaning of flower is included in the meaning of rose. Or, rose is a hyponym of flower.  Hyponymy In hyponymous connections, we are essentially looking at the meaning of words in some type of hierarchical relationship.  Hyponymy Looking at the diagram, we can say that -“horse is a hyponym of animal” -“cockroach is a hyponym of insect” In these two examples, animal & insect are the superordinate (= higher-level) terms. Co-hyponyms: two or more words that share the same superordinate term. So, dog & horse are co-hyponyms & the superordinate term is animal.  Hyponymy The relation of hyponymy captures the concept of “is a kind of” Example: we give the meaning of a word by saying, “an asp is a kind of snake.” Sometimes the only thing we know about the meaning of a word is that it is a hyponym of another term.  Hyponymy It is not only words for “things” that are hyponyms. Words such as punch, shoot & stab, describing “actions,” can all be treated as cohyponyms of the superordinate term injure.  Practice 1 For the following pairs of statements, state which predicate is a hyponym of which. 1) ‘Mary’s face was red.’ ‘Mary’s face was crimson.’ 2) ‘Mary slapped John.’ ‘Mary hit John.’ 3) ‘John walked home.’ ‘John lurched home.’  Practice 2 Organize each of the following groups of words into a taxonomy in which the superordinate terms & their hyponyms are properly arranged with respect to each other. Be sure to identify which terms are superordinate & which are hyponyms (& which are co-hyponyms). It may be helpful to sketch a tree diagram.  Practice 2 1. hammer, screwdriver, wrench, awl, tool, pliers 2. carpenter, electrician, craftsman, plumber 3. mammal, human, animal, amphibian, reptile, frog, snake 4. shatter, crack, break, smash, fracture 5. man, woman, husband, bachelor, wife, human, widow  Prototypes While the words canary, dove, duck, flamingo, parrot, pelican and robin are all equally co- hyponyms of the superordinate bird, they are not all considered to be equally good examples of the category “bird.” According to some researchers, the most characteristic instance of the category “bird” is robin.  Prototypes Prototype: the idea of “the characteristic instance” of a category The concept of a prototype helps explain the meaning of certain words, like bird, not in terms of component features (e.g. “has feathers,” “has wings”), but in terms of resemblance to the clearest example. Prototypes  Prototypes Given the category label furniture, we are quick to recognise chair as a better example than bench. Given clothing, people recognise shirts quicker than shoes. Given vegetable, they accept carrot before tomato.  Prototypes However, this is one area where individual experience can lead to substantial variation in interpretation. People may disagree over the categorisation of a word like avocado or tomato as fruit or vegetable.  Practice 3 Look at the drawing, explain whether the objects shown could be a prototype of the word given below:  Practice 3 Look at the drawing, explain whether the objects shown could be a prototype of the word given below:  Practice 3 Look at the drawing, explain whether the objects shown could be a prototype of the word given below: Homophones  Homophones ‘Mine is a long and sad tale!’ said the Mouse, turning to Alice and sighing. ‘It is a long tail, certainly,’ said Alice, looking with wonder at the Mouse’s tail, ‘but why do you call it sad?’ (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s adventures in Wonderland)  Homophones Homophones: when two or more different (written) forms have the same pronunciation. Common examples are: bare/bear meat/meet flour/ flower pail/pale right/write sew/so to/too/two Homophones in Advertising Homophones in Advertising  Practice 4 Identify the meaning relations for the following pairs of words, & provide linguistic evidence that supports your identification: a. sharp/dull b. finite/infinite c. two/too d. arm/leg e. furniture/table  Practice 4 Identify the meaning relations for the following pairs of words, & provide linguistic evidence that supports your identification: f. deep/shallow g. silver/metal h. insert/extract i. damp/moist j. move/run k. piece/peace  Homophones & Homonyms ‘How is bread made?’ I know that!’ Alice cried eagerly. ‘You take some flour─’ ‘where do you pick the flower?’ the white Queen asked. ‘in the garden or in the hedges?’ ‘Well, it isn’t picked at all’ Alice explained; it’s ground─’ ‘How many acres of ground?’ said the White Queen.’ (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s adventures in Wonderland)  Homonyms Homonyms: when one form (written or spoken) has two or more unrelated meanings. Examples: bank (of a river) – bank (financial institution) bat (flying creature) – bat (used in sports) mole (on skin) – mole (small animal) pupil (at school) – pupil (in the eye) race (contest of speed) – race (ethnic group)  Homonyms The temptation is to think that the two types of bank must be related in meaning. They are not. Homonyms are words that have separate histories & meanings. However, they have accidentally come to have exactly the same form. Homonyms Homonyms Homonyms  References Hurford, J. R., Heasley, B., & Smith, M. B. (2007). Semantics: A coursebook (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Kreidler, C. W. (1998). Introducing English semantics. Routledge. Kroeger, P. R. (2018). Analyzing meaning: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Language Science Press. 10.5281/zenodo.1164112 O’Grady, W. (2016). Semantics: The analysis of meaning. In W. O’Grady, & J. Archibald (Eds.), Contemporary linguistic analysis: An introduction (8th ed., pp. 181-217). Pearson. Yule, G. (2010). The study of language (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press.