Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Lingua Inglese 2
Lecture 11
DOTT.SSA MARIA IVANA LORENZETTI
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Three Levels of Meaning
Word Meaning: the meaning of a simple or
expression taken in isolation
Referential meaning (denotations)
Cognitive Meaning (concepts)
Social Meaning (style, register): it indicates the social
relationship, or the performance of social actions, greetings,
apologies, congratulations)
Affective Meaning (connotations): conventional association
related to word meanings
Linguistic meaning (sense relations)
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Three Levels of Meaning
Sentence Meaning: the meaning an utterance
possesses inherently, by virtue of the words it
contains and their grammatical arrangements. It
is a stable meaning expected to occur in any
context
Utterance Meaning: the meaning which is
either picked up from the context, or which
arises as a result of the interaction of inherent
meaning and context
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Meaning
Meaning is a complex phenomenon involving
a relationship between:
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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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Meaning and Sense Relations
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)
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Paradigmatic Relations
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
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Paradigmatic Relations (2)
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
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Paradigmatic Relations (2)
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
John_____across the field
ran
walked
crawled
Lucy bought a/an_______dress
red
long
expensive
Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Typologies of Paradigmatic Relations
Three main categories of paradigmatic sense
relations can be identified:
Identity
Inclusion
Synonymy
Hyponymy
Meronymy
Opposition
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Relations of Identity: Synonymy
It involves sameness in meaning. Two words can be
defined as synonym or synonymous, when they are
alike in meaning
Liberty – Freedom
But
*Liberty of speech
Range - Selection
What a nice range of/selection of furnishing
But
They reached the mountain range/*selection
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Typologies of Synonymy
It can be further subdivided in
Absolute Synonymy
Propositional Synonymy
Near-Synonymy
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Absolute Synonymy
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. (-)
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Absolute Synonymy (2)
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)
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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Absolute Synonymy (4)
Absolute synonyms are extremely rare, and
one could easily generalize that it is
impossible to find plausible candidates for
absolute synonymy
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.
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Propositional Synonymy
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
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Propositional Synonymy (2)
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)
Differences of presuppositional contexts
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Propositional Synonyms: Some
Examples
Resolute – Stubborn – Determined
Solitude – Loneliness
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.
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)
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Propositional Synonyms: Some
Examples (2)
Release – Discharge – Fire
Meticulous – Fussy – Nit-picking
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.
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.
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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)
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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:
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.
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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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)
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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
Golden
Delicious
apple
pear
fig
Granny Smith
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Some Examples of Hyponymy (2)
ANIMAL
dog
Collie
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
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
TABLEWARE
TABLEWARE
cutlery
knife
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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
BODY
arm
forearm
leg
trunk
neck
head
hand
palm
finger
knuckle
tip
nail
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Useful Links
Virtual Thesaurus
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
Merriam Webster Dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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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
Hyponyms: paperback, hardback
Superordinate: Book → TEXT
Hyponyms: novel, biography, textbook
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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
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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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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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.
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
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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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
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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Antonyms
Antonyms fall into several relatively welldefined groups:
Polar Antonyms → long-short
Overlapping Antonyms → good-bad
Equipollent Antonyms → hot-cold
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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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
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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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Equipollent Antonyms
The two other types of antonyms can be characterized by the
impartiality of their comparatives.
In the case of equipollent antonyms, neither term is impartial. Both
are committed. Therefore hotter presupposes hot
?X is hot, but it’s colder than Y
?X is cold, but it’s hotter than Y
Equipollent antonyms typically denote sensations or emotions, or
evaluations based on subjective reactions rather than on objective
standards
happy-sad;
proud of-ashamed of;
hot-cold;
bitter-sweet;
painful-pleasurable
nice-nasty
pleasant-unpleasant
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Overlapping Antonyms
The members of this class have an evaluative character, one
member being positive, the other derogatory.
Both terms are used in normal how-questions, but one term
yields an impartial question, while the other yields a committed
question. (How good is it?/how bad is it?)
good-bad;
kind-cruel;
clever-dull;
pretty-plain;
polite-rude
dirty-clean
honest/dishonest
dangerous/safe
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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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
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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
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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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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
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Syntagmatic Relations
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 word in the language
There are constraints on the combinability of
words:
Syntactic constraints
Collocational constraints
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Syntagmatic Relations - Syntactic
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
Some sugar will do
*a sugar
* many sugar
Sugar is a basic ingredient
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Syntagmatic Relations – Syntactic 2
Nouns that are compatible with particular
post-modifiers
His determination to succeed
His affection for Lucy/ *to Lucy
Her regret that he had failed
Position of adjectives – attribute vs.
predicate
A mere boy vs. *that boy is mere
The boy is asleep vs. *an asleep boy
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Syntagmatic Relations – Syntactic 3
Verbs and type of structure in which they can
occur (the kind of object, complements and
obligatory adjuncts)
Do you remember Jim?
He remembered that he had phoned
He remembered to phone her
Do you remember who came?
I remember him bald
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Syntagmatic Relations - Collocational
We refer to the term collocations to talk about two
types of combinability
The regular expectations that a word has for some
other words
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)
The other sense of collocation refers to
semantic compatibilities between words
engaged in a particular syntactic function
It may be illustrated by Chomsky’s famous
sentence
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
The various semantic incompatibilities arise
from extra-linguistic reality, but they show
facts about the operation of words in the
language system
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Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(3)
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
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Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(4)
A collocation can be made up of two or more words:
Verb + Noun
Totally misunderstand
Adverb + Adjective
Strong tea; powerful engine (*powerful tea; *strong engine)
Heavy traffic; heavy drinker
Adverb + Verb
make a mistake; take a shower
Adjective + Noun
Extremely grateful/generous; completely wrong
Adjective + Preposition
Guilty of …-ing; crazy for; fond of; interested in
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Collocations
Typical criteria for collocations:
non-compositionality
non-substitutability
non-modifiability.
Collocations usually cannot be translated into
other languages word by word.
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Non-compositionality in Collocations
A phrase is compositional if the meaning can predicted from the
meaning of the parts.
new companies
A phrase is non-compositional if the meaning cannot be
predicted from the meaning of the parts
hot dog
Collocations are not necessarily fully compositional in that there
is usually an element of meaning added to the combination. Eg.
strong tea.
Idioms are the most extreme examples of non-compositionality.
Eg. to hear it through the grapevine.
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Non-Substitutability in Collocations
We cannot substitute near-synonyms for the
components of a collocation.
For example
We can’t say yellow wine instead of white wine even
though yellow is as good a description of the color of white
wine as white is (it is kind of a yellowish white).
Many collocations cannot be freely modified with
additional lexical material or through grammatical
transformations (Non-modifiability).
E.g. white wine, but not whiter wine
mother in law, but not mother in laws
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Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(5)
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
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Collocations and Semantic Integrity
The semantic integrity of a collocation is more marked, if
the meaning of one of its constituent is restricted
contextually
Heavy
Heavy Drinker
Heavy Smoker
That car is heavy on petrol
Heavy weight
Heavy Rain
Consumption
Sense
Quantity
Sense
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Syntagmatic Relations – Collocational
(6)
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
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
36
Lingua Inglese 2 LLS AA. 2008/09
(Dott.ssa Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
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
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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
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Lecture 11 - 22/04/2009
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