Lecture 3 Lexical Semantics

Three major types of Three major types of paradigmatic relationsparadigmatic relations

1. Hyponymy: “X is a kind of Y”1. Hyponymy: “X is a kind of Y”

Similarly: Similarly: pet: cat, dog, budgie, snake, monkey.....pet: cat, dog, budgie, snake, monkey..... fruit: apple, banana, pear, peach…fruit: apple, banana, pear, peach…

Three major types of Three major types of paradigmatic relationsparadigmatic relations

2. Meronymy: 2. Meronymy: “X is a part of Y” (part-whole relation)“X is a part of Y” (part-whole relation)

Similarly: Similarly: car: engine, bonnet, roof, steering wheel, wing car: engine, bonnet, roof, steering wheel, wing mirror, petrol tank.......mirror, petrol tank....... hand/finger hand/finger tree/branchtree/branch

3. Synonymy: “X is the same as Y”3. Synonymy: “X is the same as Y”

a. Absolute synonymya. Absolute synonymy (interchangeable in every context, very rare) (interchangeable in every context, very rare)

water H2Owater H2O

b. Propositional Synonymyb. Propositional Synonymy (a kind of “logical” sameness of (a kind of “logical” sameness of meaning, but used in different registers, the same meaning in meaning, but used in different registers, the same meaning in every contextevery context ))

I bought a I bought a bicyclebicycle//bikebike (different registers: formal/informal) (different registers: formal/informal)

violin/fiddle (fiddle is less formal) autumn/fall violin/fiddle (fiddle is less formal) autumn/fall

c. Near-synonymyc. Near-synonymy ( the same semantic field, but usually applied in ( the same semantic field, but usually applied in different contexts, meaning is close but slightly different)different contexts, meaning is close but slightly different)

pretty / handsome (semantic field = attractive appearance; pretty / handsome (semantic field = attractive appearance;

contexts: f/m)contexts: f/m)

old/ancientold/ancient

Tutorial exercise

1. What kind of sense relations (if any) exist between the following pairs (specify hyponymy, meronymy, absolute / propositional / near synonymy)

eagle:bird hyponymy keyboard:laptop meronymy weak:feeble near synonyms close meaning, sometimes used in different contexts:

the economy is weak *the economy is feeble

he is weak at Maths *he is feeble at Maths

• modem : internet This pair is not covered by any of the -onymies. The words

simply belong to the “same semantic field---internet technology”.The -onymies do not cover all sense relations by any means: most words are much more loosely related, belonging to broad semantic fields. For example:

student, diploma, learn, essay, tutorial - semantic field of “learning/studying”

money, cashier, cheque, overdraft, salary - semantic field of “banking/finance”

the items in the field are “unordered”, there is no the items in the field are “unordered”, there is no natural way, as far as their meaning is concerned, of natural way, as far as their meaning is concerned, of arranging them in any kind of order. But our arranging them in any kind of order. But our intuition tells us they are related, co-occur frequentlyintuition tells us they are related, co-occur frequently

shut:close near synonymy

shut/close the door

close a bank account

*shut a bank account--- not interchangeable

in different contexts

go:come antonymy

sandal:footwear hyponymy

boy:child hyponymy

rain:downpour hyponymy (a downpour is a

particularly heavy type of

rain, with coordinate terms

shower, drizzle, sprinkling. )

salt:NaCl absolute synonymy

piano:pianist derivational

pen:nib meronymy

care:carer derivational

rider:jockey hyponymy (a jockey is a kind of rider, with

coordinate term cyclist).

typhoon:hurricane propositioanl synonymy

the same kind of storm, but it’s called a typhoon in

the Pacific, and a hurricane in the Atlantic.

Meronymy

Integral: always present, and necessary for the correct functioning of the holonym e.g. engine: car iris: eye (iris is an integral part of a eye, directly attached). non-integral: beard: face (optional, not necessary to faces) Borderline cases: informants are either unsure or in a disagreement. Judgements are affected by contextual factors. e.g. pan lid: pan

Tutorial exercise 2 a. integral examples of meronymy b. non-integral examples of meronymy c. borderline cases d. not examples of meronymy

belt:buckle b. Non-integral A buckle is part of a belt, but not all belts have a buckleshoe:lace b. Non-integraljacket:pocket b. Non-integralbeard:hair dbread:crumb c. borderline casehouse:garden b. Non-integral fork:knife dfork:handle a. Integral

cd player:cd c: borderline

The player won’t function without a CD, but when you buy a player, the CD is not included, as an engine is always included with a car.

door:window d

door:hinge a. integral

bed:sheet c. borderline

book:library d

book:spine a. integral

book:reader d

book:bookmark b. Non-integral

“Entails” means “and therefore it logically follows that.....”

I went to HK entailsI went to a city

i. A. X is a cat

B. X has four legs YES,

ii. A. X is an animal

B. X is a cat. NO: it could be a dog

iii. A. X is a pet

B. X is an animal YES

iv.A. X enjoys watching television

B. X is human YES

v. A. X has stopped smoking

B. X used to smoke YES

vi.A. X learned to drive

B. X is not blind YES