Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Lingua Inglese 2
Lecture 10
DOTT.SSA MARIA IVANA LORENZETTI
1
The Study of the Lexicon
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How big is the lexicon of English?
How many words does it comprise?
What counts as a word?
Where does its vastness come from?
What are its historical sources?
What are the instruments for the study of the
lexicon?
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
1
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
The Study of the Lexicon (2)
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The lexicon is the subject of analysis of two
disciplines:
Lexicology: the general study of a language's
vocabulary including its history
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It investigates the lexicon of a language and its entries,
which are not seen as isolated elements
It tries to find generalizations and regularities
Lexicography: the art and science of dictionary
making
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It is based on the assumption that the lexicon of a language
is not homogeneous
The Study of the Lexicon (3)
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The English vocabulary contains a large
central area shared by all speakers
(common)
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Literary: contains scientific, foreign and
archaic words
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Colloquial: contains dialectal, vulgar, slang
and technical terms
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
2
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
The Structure of the English Lexicon
The Size of the English Lexicon
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English has an impressively large lexicon
The vocabulary of a language reflects the political,
economic, cultural and social events in the histories
of its speakers
Extensive contacts with other cultures throughout its
history have contributed to the build-up of a very
sizeable and etymologically diverse word-stock
Constant fluctuation makes measuring the lexicon of
a language very difficult, since no single dictionary
can record both archaisms and neologisms,
colloquial words and technical terms used in
specialized fields
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
3
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
The Size of the English Lexicon (2)
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The vocabulary of a language can be defined as “the total
resource of words available to the users of a language” (R.
Chapman 1974), in other terms, all the words, actual and
potential of a language
The total vocabulary of English is immense, consisting of
about half a million items
Vocabulary is also the range of words a speaker knows –
passive vocabulary – and uses – active vocabulary
Counting the words used and known by an average
speaker of English presents the same difficulties as
estimating the size of a vocabulary as a whole, since age,
gender, education, occupation, ethnic and geographic
factors, personal history are variables which make the
picture very unstable
The Size of the English Lexicon (3)
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Estimates of the word-command of an adult
educated speaker place the counts in the
10.000 – 60.000 words range
The passive vocabulary exceeds the active
vocabulary by about 25%, raising the number
of lexemes recognized by each user to
approximately 75.000
However, all the words that we use or
recognize have not the same structural
importance or frequency
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
4
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Core and Periphery
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Each lexical item is characterised by certain
parameters, such as frequency, grammatical
type, etymology and phonological structure
The most frequent words form the core of the
vocabulary, i.e. all the words shared by adult
speakers, and without which sentence
composition and basic communication would be
unthinkable
Words of decreasing frequency and familiarity
are placed outwards from the core
The Core and Periphery Diagram
4.000
3.000
2.000
Core
1.000
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Core and Periphery (2)
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The core includes lexemes which form the structural
backbone of syntax, namely articles, conjunctions,
prepositions, auxiliaries, pronouns, quantifiers,
determiners
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Among the most frequent open-class words are say,
make, man, go, do, time, year, new
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Biber et al. (1999) report that the most frequent verbs in
the English lexicon are get, say, go, know, think, come,
want and mean → very general verbs used to identify
entire semantic areas
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The notions of core and periphery are also related to the
parameters of grammatical type, meaning, etymology,
and syllabic structure
Core and Periphery (3)
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The core vocabulary is made up of functionally and
semantically indispensable words. These words are also
etymologically near-homogeneous and morphologically
simple, while outer circles present a more diverse
picture, both in terms of word origins and of
morphological complexity
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Etymologically, the core vocabulary is mainly Germanic.
Only four of the top 1000 core words are loans: state,
use, people, just (Latin origin)
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In everyday conversations -the basic bread-water-foodkitchen-eat-sleep-dream-wake-run type of discourse
covered by the 1000 most frequent items- most of the
words (83% approx.) are descendants of Old English
words
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Core and Periphery (4)
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Lexemes covering more complex or abstract notions, such
as autonomy, capitalism, cognition, delight, discretion,
elegant, psychoanalysis, which are spread throughout the
other layers, are loanwords
Words from the realm of ideas, art, science, technology and
specialized discourse are generally in more peripheral
layers
Another common feature for words designated as core or
periphery is their syllabic structure: 93% of the first 100
words are monosyllabic words.
At the other end of the frequency ranking, at the
metaphorical periphery, function words which are typically
mono- or bisyllabic words disappear completely. The
majority of words are derived or polysyllabic open-class
words (hierarchy, thoroughly, subordinate, attachment,
interpreter, inclination, paramount etc.)
Some Key Notions
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Lexicon: in its most general sense, it is
synonymous with vocabulary and lexis, indicating
the complete inventory of the words in a language
In a more specialized sense, lexicon indicates the
mental or conceptual lexicon, i.e. words/concepts
stored in our minds, their properties and
organization. In this sense, we can say that the
lexicon of a language is the open class of
units, considered from the point of view or
their meaning, i.e. of their semantic value
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Semantics
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Semantics is the study of the structure of
meaning. It is the most diverse field within
Linguistics and intersects with other
disciplines such as philosophy and
psychology.
A basic distinction can be made between two
research paradigms:
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Formal Semantics
Linguistic Semantics
Formal Semantics
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Also called truth-conditional semantics, it is
based on the Philosophy of Language
Aim: identify the necessary and sufficient
conditions which make sentences true, i.e. on
the basis of truth conditions
Tool: logic
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X is a woman, only if X has the following features
X is HUMAN, X is ADULT, X is FEMALE
These are the necessary conditions for truthfully defining
the word ‘woman’
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
8
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Lexical Semantics
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Linguistic Semantics: the study of meaning
communicate through natural languages
A very broad field of enquiry
Aim: describe semantic knowledge
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LEXICAL SEMANTICS
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Focuses on the meaning of lexemes
It attempts to represent them and to show the
ways they are interrelated
What is Meaning?
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The definition of meaning is not straightforward
1. Meaning as dictionary definition
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A word’s meaning is determined by the people who use
that word, not ultimately by a dictionary
Lexicographers arrive at their definitions by studying the
way speakers of the language use different words. If a
word’s meaning is its dictionary definition, then
understanding this meaning involves understanding the
meanings of the words used in the definition, and this ad
infinitum (Circularity Problem)
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Pride: the quality or state of being proud
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Proud: feeling or showing pride
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
9
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
What is Meaning? (2)
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2. Meaning as Mental Image
A mental image cannot be all there is to a word’s
meaning, anymore than a dictionary definition is
Problems:
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People’s mental images can be different
The image associated with a word tends to be of a typical
or ideal example
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The image of a bird is hardly an ostrich or a penguin
Most words have no clear image associated to them: e.g.
forget, aspects
What is Meaning? (3)
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3. Meaning and Reference
Language is used to communicate about things, happenings and
states of affairs in the world, and one way of approaching the study
of meaning is to attempt to correlate expressions in language with
aspects of the world
The thing or things in the world referred to by a particular expression
is its referent
In saying The cat is hungry I am normally referring to a specific cat,
and that cat is the referent for that expression
It is reasonable to consider the actual thing a word refers to as one
aspect of the word’s meaning
But once again, it would be a mistake to think of reference as all
there is to meaning
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Meaning and Reference: Problems
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What about words for things that do not exist or do
not have an external referent? e.g. Santa Claus,
unicorns, freedom, air
→ According to empirical semantics these words
should not have a meaning, because they do not
have a referent
Language can be used to talk about fiction, fantasy
or speculation in addition to the real world. But even
some expressions about the real world appear
problematic
If meaning is the same as reference, then if two
expressions refer to the same object, they must
mean the same thing
What is Meaning? (4)
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4. Meaning and Truth
Despite the problems with this idea, and even if the
meaning of a word is not just its real-world referent,
meaning involves a relation between language and the
world
Let us try this concept with sentence meaning.
What is sentence meaning? Or rather, for the moment,
what do we know when we know what a sentence
means?
Bill Clinton is asleep
To know what this sentence means is different from
knowing that Bill Clinton is asleep.
Every English-speaker knows what this sentence means,
but certainly few people know at every given time if Bill
Clinton is asleep.
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
What is Meaning? (5)
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Anyone who understands the sentence
knows what the world would have to be like in
order for the sentence to be true.
↓
Anyone who knows a sentence’s meaning,
knows the conditions under which a sentence
like that can be said to be true → its truth
conditions
Meaning and Truth (2)
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In order for the sentence Bill Clinton is asleep
to be true, one has to know that the individual
designated by the words Bill Clinton must be
in the condition designated by the expression
is asleep
The conditions under which something
qualifies as Bill Clinton differ from the
conditions under which something qualifies
as the ex-president of the USA. This explains
why they are not synonymous.
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Meaning and Language Use
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Specifying truth conditions effectively characterizes
many important aspects of literal meaning,
especially for ordinary declarative sentences.
But how can we determine the conditions under
which a question (Are you coming tomorrow?), (Do
not go beyond the yellow line), or a wish (Good
luck!) are true
Many types of sentences do not seem to be true or
false at all, and meaning is also partly determined by
the conditions under which a sentence can be used
Meaning and Language Use (2)
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The conditions under which a certain utterance may
be used are termed felicity conditions (Austin
1962)
In truth-conditional semantics a sentence is either
true or false
In speech-act theory an utterance is either felicitous
or infelicitous
By explaining general conventions of language use,
or conversational maxims (H.P. Grice 1975), it is
also possible to explain how utterances can imply
things above and beyond their literal meaning
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Provisional Conclusions
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Meaning, like any other aspect of language is
provided by a community of speakers, and
not just by some special authority like a
dictionary or a grammar book
The Semiotic Triangle of Significance
Speech community
Meaning
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Form
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Provisional Conclusions (2)
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The meaning of an expression is not just a definition
composed of other words in the same language, since
then the meaning system of a language would form a
vicious circle
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If a word’s meaning is its dictionary definition, than to
understand a given word involves understanding the
meaning of the words used in that definition, ad infinitum.
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Pride: the quality or state of being proud
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Proud: feeling or showing pride
Provisional Conclusions (3)
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The meaning of an expression is not just a mental
image, since mental images seem to vary from person
to person more than meaning does, they tend to be
typical examples of the things, and not all words have
mental images
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
15
Lingua Inglese AA 2008/09 - 6 CFU
Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Provisional Conclusions (4)
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The meaning of a word involves more than the actual
thing it refers to, since not all expressions have realworld referents, and substituting expressions with
identical referents does not yield the same result
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Knowing the meaning of a sentence involves knowing
the conditions under which it would be true, and its
meaning is partially specified by its truth conditions
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Knowing the meaning of an utterance also involves
knowing how to use it, knowing its felicity conditions
Meaning
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Meaning is a complex phenomenon involving
a relationship between:
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A language and the mind of its speakers
A language and the world
A language and the practical uses to which it
is put
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Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Meaning and Sense Relations
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But meaning also involves relationships among words
themselves
Sense relations situate themselves on three axes:
‰ Syntagmatic
‰ Paradigmatic
‰ Derivational
“A language is a system of signs, whose functions and
meaning is determined by their relationships with
other signs, i.e. by their mutual position in the system”
(F. de Saussure, Cours de Linguistique Générale,
1916)
Syntagmatic Relations
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These kinds of relations are better
understood in terms of constraints, and hold
among items which occur in the same
sentence with specific syntactic relations
A word cannot combine freely with just any
other words in the language
There are constraints on the combinability of
words:
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Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Syntactic constraints
Collocational constraints
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Syntagmatic Relations - Syntactic
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The word class label of a word, which is also shown
in its dictionary entry (noun, verb, adj, adv, prep etc)
is a designation of the syntactic operations that a
word can engage in
Combination of nouns and determiners – mass
nouns vs. countable nouns
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Some sugar will do
*a sugar
* many sugar
Sugar is a basic ingredient
Syntagmatic Relations – Syntactic 2
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Nouns that are compatible with particular
post-modifiers
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His determination to succeed
His affection for Lucy/ *to Lucy
Her regret that he had failed
Position of adjectives – attribute vs.
predicate
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Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
A mere boy vs. *that boy is mere
The boy is asleep vs. *an asleep boy
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Syntagmatic Relations – Syntactic 3
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Verbs and type of structure in which they can
occur (the kind of object, complements and
obligatory adjuncts)
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Do you remember Jim?
He remembered that he had phoned
He remembered to phone her
Do you remember who came?
I remember him bald
Syntagmatic Relations - Collocational
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We refer to the term collocations to talk about two
types of combinability
The regular expectations that a word has for some
other words
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Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Describe a circle
Construct a triangle
Draw a perpendicular
Powerful motorcar
Strong coffee
Raise cattle
Bring up children
Good/strong likelihood; strong/high probability
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Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(2)
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John R. Firth: “the company that words keep”
Collocation is a feature of all languages. At its
simplest, it is “what goes together with what”.
It is used in lexicology to refer to the habitual
co-occurrence of individual lexical items.
Weak collocations: good +…..
Strong Collocations: green jealousy; blue flu
Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(3)
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A collocation can be made up of two or more words:
Verb + Noun
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make a mistake; take a shower
Adjective + Noun
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Strong tea; powerful engine (*powerful tea; *strong engine)
Heavy traffic; heavy drinker
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Adverb + Verb
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Adverb + Adjective
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Totally misunderstand
Extremely grateful/generous; completely wrong
Adjective + Preposition
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Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Guilty of …-ing; crazy for; fond of; interested in
20
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Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(4)
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Collocations can undergo a fossilization process
until they become fixed expressions (or idioms)
BLUE
‰ Blue film: film a luci rosse
‰ Blue Funk: fifa nera
‰ Blue jeans: blue jeans
‰ Blue blood: sangue blu
‰ To feel blue: sentirsi giù
‰ Out of the blue: inaspettatamente
Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(5)
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RED
‰ Red wine: vino rosso
‰ To see red: non vederci più dalla rabbia
‰ To catch sb red-handed: cogliere in
flagrante
‰ To be in the red: essere al verde (o
avere il conto in banca in rosso)
‰ Red-light district: quartiere a luci rosse
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Paradigmatic Relations
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They reflect the semantic choices available at a
particular point in a sentence, and are typically
related to words belonging to the same category
They are called relations in absentia, as opposed to
syntagmatic relations, which are in praesentia
Meaning involves on the one hand the relation of
reference to extralinguistic reality, and on the other,
relations of sense to other vocabulary items
(lexemes) in the lexicon
Paradigmatic Relations (2)
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They reflect the particular semantic choices
available at a particular structure point in a
sentence.
‰
I’ll have a glass of
beer
wine
water
lemonade
*potatoes/rock
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti (modulo introduttivo)
Paradigmatic Relations (2)
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Paradigmatic sense relations, or relations in absentia, typically involve
words belonging to the same syntactic category.
‰ I bought some_______
knives
forks
spoons
cutlery → this is a mass noun
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John_____across the field
ran
walked
crawled
Lucy bought a/an_______dress
red
long
expensive
Typologies of Paradigmatic Relations
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Three main categories of paradigmatic sense
relations can be identified:
Identity
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Inclusion
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Synonymy
Hyponymy
Meronymy
Opposition
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Relations of Identity: Synonymy
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It involves sameness in meaning. Two words can be
defined as synonym or synonymous, when they are
alike in meaning
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Liberty – Freedom
But
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*Liberty of speech
Range - Selection
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What a nice range of/selection of furnishing
But
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They reached the mountain range/*selection
Typologies of Synonymy
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It can be further subdivided in
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Absolute Synonymy
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Propositional Synonymy
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Near-Synonymy
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Absolute Synonymy
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It refers to complete identity in meaning
Two lexical items X and Y can be defined as absolute
synonyms, if and only if their contextual relations are
identical, that is if in any context in which X is fully
normal, Y is too
Some possible candidates:
Nearly – Almost
‰ She looks almost Chinese. (+)
‰ She looks nearly Chinese. (-)
Big – Large
‰ You’re making a big mistake. (+)
‰ You’re making a large mistake. (-)
Absolute Synonymy (2)
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Begin – Commence
‰ Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then I’ll begin. (+)
‰ Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then, I’ll commence.
(-)
Calm – Placid
‰ She was quite calm just a few minutes ago. (+)
‰ She was quite placid just a few minutes ago. (-)
Brave – Courageous
‰ Little Billy was so brave at the dentist’s this morning. (+)
‰ Little Billy was so courageous at the dentist’s this morning.
(-)
Die – Kick the bucket
‰ Apparently he died in considerable pain. (+)
‰ Apparently he kicked the bucket in considerable pain. (-)
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Absolute Synonymy (3)
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Absolute identity of meaning can occur
between different forms belonging to different
varieties of the same language.
Autumn and Fall in British English and
American English respectively. They are not
different to translational equivalents in
different languages. (In It. both are translated
as autunno)
Fall would be less normal than autumn in a
sentential context marked as British English
Absolute Synonymy (4)
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Absolute synonyms are extremely rare, and
one could easily generalize that it is
impossible to find plausible candidates for
absolute synonymy
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There is no obvious motivation for the
existence of two absolute synonyms in a
language, but a difference in semantic
function is always expected to develop.
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Propositional Synonymy
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It can be defined in logical terms.
Propositional synonyms can be substituted in
any declarative sentence salva veritate, that
is without changing its truth-value
By this criterion begin and commence are
propositional synonyms, because if The
lecture began at nine o’clock, then so The
lecture commenced at nine o’clock
Propositional Synonymy (2)
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Differences in meaning in propositional
synonyms involve one or more aspects of
non-propositional meaning, namely
‰
Differences in expressive meaning
‰
Differences of stylistic level (the
colloquial/formal dimension)
‰
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Differences of presuppositional contexts
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Propositional Synonyms: Some
Examples
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Resolute – Stubborn – Determined
‰ She's utterly resolute in her refusal to apologise. (FORMAL)
‰
He is as stubborn as a mule (NEGATIVE CONNOTATION)
‰ She‘s sure to get the job she wants. She is a very determined
person.
Solitude – Loneliness
‰ He began to like those moments in solitude (POSITIVELY
EVALUATED)
‰ They suffer from isolation, poverty and loneliness (NEGATIVELY
EVALUATED)
Resign – Quit – Throw in the Towel
‰ She resigned as director.
‰ I’m going to quit psychiatry. I’ve had enough.
‰ After losing the election, he threw in the towel on his political
career. (IT SUGGESTS DEFEAT)
Propositional Synonyms: Some
Examples (2)
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Release – Discharge – Fire
‰ They had been released from prison.
‰ Patients were discharged from hospital because the beds were
needed by other people. (OFFICIAL)
‰ She was fired after she was caught stealing from her employer.
Meticulous – Fussy – Nit-picking
‰ Many hours of meticulous preparation have gone into writing the
book. (APPROVING)
‰ He's so fussy about the house - everything has to be absolutely
perfect. (DISAPPROVING)
‰ A nitpicking attitude (INFORMAL DISAPPROVING)
Between jobs – Out of Work - Unemployed – On the Dole
‰ He's been unemployed for over a year.
‰ You won't draw your out-of-work dole of 29s. this week.
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Near Synonymy
„
„
„
It can be assessed on the basis of speakers’ intuitions
Near Synonyms involve minor differences and are
usually interchangeably used in dictionary definitions
Minor differences might include the following:
‰ Adjacent position on a scale of degree: big – huge;
disaster – catastrophe; laugh – chuckle
‰ Certain adverbial specializations of verbs: amblestroll; chuckle – giggle; drink - quaff
‰ Aspectual distinctions: calm – placid (state vs.
disposition)
‰ Differences of prototype centre: brave
(prototypically physical) – courageous (usually
involves intellectual and moral factors)
Near Synonymy (2)
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Kill – murder – execute – assassinate
Laugh – chuckle – giggle - snigger
Walk – stroll – stride – amble
Anxious – nervous – worried – apprehensive –
fearful
Brave – courageous – bold – plucky - heroic
Calm – placid – tranquil – peaceful – serene
These words are not necessarily propositionally
identical, so for some of them it is possible to say:
‰
‰
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
He wasn’t murdered. He was executed
He was plucky, but not heroic.
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Near Synonymy (3)
„
„
Near-synonyms often occur in the test frame X, or
rather Y which signals that Y conveys information
that is not totally present in X, and that the
difference is relatively minor
So, it is possible to say
‰
He was murdered, or rather he was executed
but not
‰
„
*He was murdered, or rather beaten up.
Near-synonyms are words which share a common
core of meaning, but differ in minor aspects.
Near Synonymy (4)
„
Synonyms often come in clusters and are
grouped around a more central instance,
which subsumes all the characteristics of a
given group. While other exemplars of a set
represent elaborations on some aspects.
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Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Relations of Inclusion: Hyponymy
„
„
Hyponymy represents a specific type of
inclusion, namely the inclusion of one class
in another, as in the case of car and vehicle,
where cars constitute a subclass of the larger
class of vehicles
The more specific item is called a hyponym
(dog, apple), and the more general term is
called a superordinate (or hyperonym)
(animal, fruit)
Hyponymy (2)
„
„
„
Hyponymy can be thought of as an “X is a Y”
relation, which guarantees the truth of
general statements such as “A dog is an
animal” or “An apple is a fruit”, while the
opposite is obviously not true
*”A fruit is an apple”
*”An animal is a dog”
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Some Examples of Hyponymy
FRUIT
banana
apple
Golden
Delicious
pear
fig
Granny Smith
Some Examples of Hyponymy (2)
ANIMAL
dog
Collie
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Poodle
cat
Siamese
bird
Tabby
Robin
Sea gull
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Hyponymy (3)
„
Two sense relations are necessary in this configuration:
daughter-nodes must be hyponyms of their respective
mother-nodes (dog → animal; insect → creature), while
sister-nodes (co-hyponyms) are mutually incompatible
(dog ≠ cat; robin ≠ eagle)
„
Apple in the previous example is a hyponym of fruit, but
at the same time a hyperonym of Golden Delicious and
Granny Smith. In addition, it is in a mutual exclusion
relation with pear and banana
TABLEWARE
TABLEWARE
cutlery
knife
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
fork
crockery
spoon
plate
cup
Table
linen
napkin
Table
cloth
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Hyponymy (4)
„
The implication of hyponymy is that the
vocabulary of a language has a hierarchical
organization with degrees of generality and
inclusion. So dog is hyponym of animal,
which in turn is a hyponym of mammal and
so on. But not all the words in the language
are so ordered
Relations of Inclusion: Meronymy
„
„
„
„
Meronymy is a part-whole relation. Examples of
meronyms are hand-finger, car-engine; tree-branch.
In the case of finger-hand, finger is said to be the
meronym and hand the holonym
It shows an interesting parallel with hyponymy, but
the two do not have to be confused. A dog is not a
part of an animal, and a finger is not a kind of hand
Prototypical meronymous pairs, where X is a
meronym of Y are normal in frames such as X is a
part of Y; A Y has an X; The parts of Y are X, A and
B
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Meronymy (2)
„
„
„
Meronymy is defined on the basis of some
properties:
NECESSITY. Some parts are necessary to their
wholes, while others are merely optional. Even if a
beard can be a part of a face, this is not a necessary
element, while a nose is.
INTEGRALITY. Some parts are more integral to
their wholes than others. It has to do with judging
how easily a part can be classified as attached to its
whole. The hand is a part of the arm and The hand
is attached to the arm are both acceptable
Meronymy (3)
„
„
DISCRETENESS. Some parts are more clearly
divided from their sister parts than others. If they
move independently of the whole, like an arm with
respect to the body, the division is clear. Other
parts, such as for example the tip of the tongue or
the lobe of the ear are less clearly divided, so they
are less central.
MOTIVATION. A good indicator for defining ‘good’
parts is an identifiable function with respect to
whole. The wheels of a car enable it to move, the
blade of a knife is what enables to cut
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Some Examples of Meronymy
EUROPE
Brittany
France
Germany
Auvergne
Burgundy
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Wales
Highlands
Strathclyde
BODY
arm
forearm
leg
trunk
neck
head
hand
palm
finger
knuckle
tip
nail
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Useful Links
„
Virtual Thesaurus
‰
„
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
Merriam Webster Dictionary
‰
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
Relations of Opposition and Exclusion
„
They can be further subdivided in:
„
Relations of incompatibility and co-meronymy
„
Opposites
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Incompatibility
„
This relation concerns mutual exclusion of classes: if something is a
cat, then it follows that it cannot be a dog.
Incompatibles are terms which denote classes which share no
members
Co-hyponyms are not necessarily incompatible in the above sense:
queen and mother are both hyponyms of woman, but there is
nothing which prevents someone who is a queen from being also a
mother
Similarly, it might seem that novel and paperback can be considered
as compatible co-hyponyms of book. But in fact they are in a relation
of incompatibility, since they are hyponyms of different senses of
book.
Superordinate: Book → TOME
„
Superordinate: Book → TEXT
„
„
„
„
‰
‰
Hyponyms: paperback, hardback
Hyponyms: novel, biography, textbook
Incompatibility (2)
„
„
„
A relation of exclusion parallel to that between cohyponyms is the one which holds between comeronyms
If X and Z are parts of the same individual Y, then A
is a part of X unilaterally entails A is not a part of Z,
that is sister parts do not overlap.
Nose, cheek, chin of face, or wheel, engine and
chassis of a car do not overlap. The exclusion in
these cases is at least prototypically spatial: the
sister parts of an individual do not have any material
substance in common
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Opposites
„
„
„
„
Opposites are incompatible terms of a special type, i.e. they are
contrasting terms, which differ along a specific dimensions. They are
usually mentioned in pairs.
Some properties of opposites are:
Binarity: opposites are incompatibles by definition, but there can
only be two members of a set of opposites.
Inherentness: it concerns a type of binarity which is pragmatic or
accidental, as opposed to something that is logical.
‰ 2 main sources of heat for cooking, i.e. gas and electricity, but
they do not represent opposite terms, because their binarity is the
result of contextual factors (other sources might be discovered in
the future).
‰ Movement along a vertical axis: the possibilities of movement in
this case are logically limited to two: the binarity of the pair updown is thus ineluctable, and the adjectives form a satisfactory
pair of opposites
Typologies of Opposites
„
„
„
„
„
Opposites fall into a number of relatively
clearly-defined types, the most important of
which are:
Complementaries
Antonyms
Directional Opposites
Converses
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Complementaries
„
„
„
„
They constitute a very basic form of oppositeness and
show inherent binarity in its purest form.
Negating either terms in a complementary relation
logically implies the other term. So, if something falls
within a class, it cannot fall in the other.
Complementaries can be characterised by the following
logical relation
F(X) entails and is entailed by not-F(Y)
‰ The door is open → The door is not closed
‰ Mary passed the exam → Mary did not fail the exam
‰ The answer is not true → The answer is false
Complementaries (2)
„
They do not allow any intermediate term in between and
exhaustively divide a domain into two mutually exclusive
compartments. Cfr. *He is neither dead nor alive. / * The
answer is true, but also false.
„
They are not gradable.
‰ *He is more alive than you.
‰ *He is moderately alive/very dead
„
Some statements with complementaries can be used
with degree modification, but only in a figurative sense.
‰ What you say is very true → I agree with what you say
‰ He’s more dead than alive → He’s (probably) very ill.
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Some Examples of Complementaries
True-False
„ Open-Shut
„ Dead-Alive
„ Stationary-Moving
„ Male-Female
„
Antonyms
„
Antonyms (this term is also sometimes used
for the entire category of opposites) are
gradable adjectives i.e. they can be modified
without oddness by intensifiers such as very,
rather, extremely, and so on.
‰
‰
‰
‰
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Very good
quite easy
rather cold
extremely fast
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Antonyms (2)
„
Unlike complementaries, they do not
exhaustively divide a domain in two. There is a
neutral area between them, which can be
described as neither belonging to any of them
LENGTH
long
short
neither long
nor short
Antonyms (3)
„
„
Members of a pair denote degrees of some variable
property, such as length speed, weight, accuracy
Antonyms normally have a marked and an
unmarked member. The marked member is used as
a reference point in questions
‰
‰
‰
‰
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
How long is the ladder? → no presupposition as to length
of the ladder
How short is the ladder? → it presupposes that the ladder
is short
How good was the film? → neutral
How bad was the film? → I think the film was bad
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Polar Antonyms
„
„
„
„
„
They can occur in the comparative and superlative degrees:
long-longer-longest; light-lighter, lightest, but need to be
interpreted in relation to some reference value
They can indicate degrees of objective, usually measurable
properties.
They are fully gradable and occur with a variety of degree
modifiers, very, slightly, rather, quite, a bit, too, long
They are incompatibles, but not complementaries. It’s neither
long nor short is not a contradiction
Comparative forms stand in a converse relationship. If X and Y
are two polar antonyms, and A and B two nouns to which these
adjectives can be applied, saying A is X-er than B entails B is Yer than A.
‰ A is heavier than B → B is lighter than A
‰ Mary is younger than Tom → Tom is older than Mary
Examples of Polar Antonyms
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Long-short;
Young/old
Fast-slow;
Wide-narrow;
Heavy-light;
Strong-weak;
Large-small;
Thick-thin;
High-low;
Deep-shallow
Difficult-easy
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Directional Opposites
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
They are of two main types:
Static direction, which include straightforward
directions and extremes along an axis
up-down;
backwards-forwards;
north-south;
into-out;
east-west
top-bottom
Directional Opposites (2)
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Dynamic directional opposites, usually called reversives, are
represented by verbs denoting change or motion in opposite
directions
rise-fall;
advance-retreat;
increase-decrease;
lengthen-shorten;
dress-undress;
tie-untie;
mount-dismount;
enter-leave;
damage-repair
Appear-disappear
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Converses
„
„
„
They are usually defined as a sub-type of directional opposites.
They can also be called relational opposites
Some of them have a salient directional character, such as
precede/follow; lend/borrow (the thing lent/borrowed moves
from/towards the person denoted by the subject), bequeath/inherit;
buy/sell (double movements of money and of goods)
Others have a less clear direction with movements
‰
‰
‰
‰
‰
‰
‰
‰
Above-below;
In front of-behind
The tree is in front of the house
The house is behind the tree
Before-after
Buy-sell;
John sold the car to Bill for £.5000
Bill bought the car from John for £.5000
Converses (2)
‰
‰
Parent-offspring
Husband-wife
‰
John is Sarah’s husband.
Sarah is John’s wife.
‰
Lend-borrow
‰
Jim borrowed a bike from Tom
‰ Tom lend a bike to Jim
Both terms can be used to describe the same state of
affairs, A is above B means the same as B is below A,
except with respect to which element serves as a
reference point. Similarly A is B’s parent means the
same as B is A’s offspring
‰
„
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Derivational Relations
„
These kind of relations are those found between words forming part
of a set of paradigmatic choices
They have a role in structuring the vocabulary of a language, since
they manifest in the so-called word-families, or words derived from
a single root.
1.
Cook (v. tr)
I am cooking supper
2.
Cook (v. intr.)
Can you cook?
3.
Cook (v. intr.)
The chicken is cooking.
4.
Cook (n)
Jane is a good cook.
5.
Cooker (n)
We’ve bought a new cooker.
6.
Cooking (n)
John is in love with Mary’s cooking.
7.
Cookery (n)
John is taking cookery lessons
„
Derivational Relations (2)
„
„
„
„
The semantic relations between these words are partly
systematic and partly arbitrary.
If we think of the relationship between cook in 3 and cooker, the
suffix -er of cooker seems to have an instrumental meaning (a
cooker is something used for cooking), but if we cook chicken
over a fire, the fire does not become a cooker for that reason
So there is some specialization in the derivation of the word
cooker from cook, since a barbecue is not a cooker, nor is a
microwave oven
Considering the relation between cook in 1, 2, 3: in 3 the verb
refers to the fact that the chicken is undergoing heating
treatment, so as to be more tasty as a food. 2 is not just asking
whether John can cause food to undergo heat treatment, but
asks if he has certain abilities
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
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Choosing between Synonyms
„
„
„
„
„
„
The findings ______to indicate that students
are satisfied with their English courses.
Seem
Look
Many employers are calling on the
government to_______ language standards
in Hong Kong.
Enhance
expand
Choosing between Synonyms (2)
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
The test results_______that that English levels have
risen in the past ten years.
Prove
Explain
A number of students_______problems when using the
new software.
Suffer
Experience
This study______to examine the main factors that
graduates take into account when choosing a career.
Plans
Aims
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Synonyms or Opposites?
„
„
„
„
Decide if the underlined words in each sentence are synonyms or
opposites.
I couldn’t recall her name and I don’t even remember
where we met.
‰ S
I thought I had a rare old bicycle that was worth a
fortune. It turned out to be a common model that nobody
wanted to buy.
‰ O
“What is that awful smell?” Troy asked as Melinda
entered the room. “That wonderful fragrance is my
perfume!” she replied.
‰ S
Synonyms or Opposites? (2)
„
„
„
Yes, taking your shoes off as we entered Patrick’s house
was a polite thing to do. However, placing them on his
coffee table was rather rude.
‰ O
Mr. Smith never liked any of his daughter’s boyfriends.
He claimed that most of them were weird. He was even
less comfortable about any that he considered to be
normal.
‰ O
Miss Snowflake was convinced that George had turned
the heat up all the way. She demanded that he confess
his guilt. The other kids knew that George would never
admit that he had done wrong.
‰ S
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Synonymy
„
„
1. This law is far from perfect. We need to change
parts of it to make it fair. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to
amend a law.
2. That woman’s remarks are always rude! Why
can’t she keep her comments to herself?
‰
„
‰
„
remarks
3. Don’t expend too much energy on that game or
you won’t have enough left to use on homework.
expend
4. You shouldn’t make a big deal about Sam’s errors
when you haven’t even corrected your own
mistakes!
‰
errors
Synonymy (2)
„
„
„
„
„
5. I’ll create a new account for you if you make a list of features
you want it to have.
‰ create
6. Carefully observe the behaviour of John’s sister Ashley. If you
study her actions, you’ll understand why John says she’s weird.
‰ study
7. Jordan is a very smart girl. She’s intelligent enough to solve
puzzles that some adults can’t handle.
‰ intelligent
8. The smell of your shoes is a most unpleasant odor.
‰ odor
9. The smell of that flower is a very pleasant fragrance.
‰ fragrance
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Meronymy or Hyponymy?
„
Ferrari – car
‰
„
Screen – pc
‰
„
Meronymy
Motorbyke-vehicle
‰
„
Meronymy
Heels-shoes
‰
„
Hyponymy
Hyponymy
Trousers-clothes
‰
Hyponymy
Meronymy or Hyponymy? (2)
„
Sheet-bed
‰
„
Tip-fingers
‰
„
Hyponymy
Basset Hound-dog
‰
„
Meronymy
Thriller – film
‰
„
Meronymy
Hyponymy
Lace-shoe
‰
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Meronymy
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Meronymy or Hyponymy? (3)
„
Ink-pen
‰
„
Rock-music
‰
„
Meronymy
Hyponymy
Building-façade
‰
Lecture 10 - 17/12/2008
Meronymy
52