This document discusses various lexical relations in language including synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, prototypes, homophones, homonyms, metonymy, retronyms, entailment, and semantic features. It provides examples for each lexical relation and discusses how they relate words and concepts. It also discusses how dictionaries describe words and the role of prototypes. The document aims to describe the different relationships between words that exist in language.
9. 1. Gradable antonyms
Those which can be used in comparative constructions.
e.g. big/small
Also the negative of one member of a gradable pair
does not necessarily imply the other.
e.g. My car isn't old doesn’t necessarily mean My car is
new.
When one gradable antonym is marked ,the other is
unmarked.
The unmarked member is the one used in the question of
degree.
e.g. How high is the mountain?(not “How low is it?)
10. 2. Non-gradable antonyms ( complementary pairs)
Comparative constructions are not normally used. We don’t
say deader or more dead.
The negative of one member of a non-gradable pair does
imply the other one.
e.g. My grandparents aren’t alive does indeed
mean my grandparents are dead.
single/marred, true/false, male/female
11. 3. Reversives (antiautonym)
one member of this antonymous pair does
not necessarily describe the negative of the
other.
e.g. In undress/ dress ,undress doesn’t mean
not dress.
enter/exit, pack/unpack, lengthen/shorten
12. 4. Rational opposites
Kinds of antonym which display symmetry
in their meaning.
e.g. give/ receive, buy/sell, teacher /pupil
13. 5. Autoantonyms
Some words which are their own antonyms.
split apart
e.g. cleave
cling together
Note: Antonym pairs are pronounced the same
but spelled differently are similar to autoantonyms.
e.g. raise/raze
14. C. Hyponymy
When the meaning of one form is included in the
meaning of another word, the relationship is
described as hyponymy.
e.g. animal/dog
The specific term ,dog, is called hyponym, and the
general term ,animal, is called a superordinate.
Co-hyponyms : are two or more words that share
the same superordinate term.
e.g. dog, horse, cat
15. D. Prototype
The characteristic instance of a category is known
as the prototype.
e.g. The most characteristic instance of the
category ‘bird’ is the ‘robin’.
The concept of the prototype helps explain the
meaning of certain words, like bird, not in terms of
clearest features( e.g. ‘has feathers, wings ), but in
terms of resemblance to the clearest example.
16. E. Homophones and homonyms
• Homophones
Two or more words that have
the same pronunciation, but
different meanings.
e.g. flower/ flour, right/
write
18. C. Homonyms
When one form (written or spoken) has two or
more unrelated meanings.
e.g. bank (of a river)- bank (financial
institution).
Note: All homonyms have lexical ambiguity.
19. G. Metonymy
A type of relationship between words, based simply
on a close connection in every experience.
That close connection can be based on a
container-content relation( bottle/water,
can/juice)
A whole/part relation (car/wheels, house/roof)
Representative-symbol relation (king/crown, the
President/ the White house).
e.g. He drank the whole bottle.
filling up the car, boiling the kettle.
20. H. Retronyms
It is a term doesn't apply to the
individual words themselves, but
the combination.
e.g. whole milk, silent movie
21. Challenge your mind
What has fork and mouth, but can’t eat?
River
Fork: a place where a road, river, or tree divides into
two parts, or one of the parts it divides into.
Mouth : the part of a river where it joins the sea.
23. Semantic aspects in lexicon and
lexical entries
Entailment
Sometimes knowing the truth of one sentence
entails, or necessarily implies, the truth of
another sentence.
a. Max managed to finish the Infinite Jest.
b. Max finished the Infinite Jest.
A sentence( S1) entails a sentence(S2) if
whenever S1 is true, S2 is also true.
24. ?
a.The dado is extinct.
b.Berlin is the capital of
Germany.
25. Semantic Opposites
a. Max failed to finish Infinite Jest.
b. Max didn't finish Infinite Jest.
Contradiction
It is a negative entailment, that is the truth of
one sentence necessarily implies the falseness
of another sentence.
e.g. a. Scott is a baby.
b. Scott is an adult.
26. Hyponym (meaning inclusion)
a. The thing in the cage is a lion.
b. The thing in the cage is an animal.
a. The thing in the grass is a snake.
b. The thing in the grass is a reptile.
a. The thing in the tree is a sparrow.
b. The thing in the tree is a bird.
‘X is a lion ‘ entails ‘x is an animal'
28. Taxonomy
A structure in which we meet more general terms as
we ascend to higher levels.
creature
animal bird fish reptile
Lion dog cow sparrow eagle ostrich trout eel shark snake lizard newt
33. Synonymy (identity of meaning)
Cognitive synonymy
Lexemes L1 and L2 are cognitive synonyms if and
only if S(L1) entails S(L2) and S(L2) entails S(L1).
S(L1) S(L2)
a. ‘Sir Lanceiot rode a white horse’ entails ‘Sir
Lanceiot rode a white steed’
b. ‘Sir Lanceiot rode a white steed’ entails ‘Sir
Lanceiot rode a white horse’
34. a. The old lame horse gamely pulled the plough.
b. The old lame steed gamely pulled the plough.
37. Antonyms
Two words with opposite meanings.
a. ‘x is tall’ entails ‘X is not short’
b. ‘X is short’ entails ‘X is not tall’
38. Complementary(non-gradable
antonyms)
a. ‘The store is open’ entails’ the store is not
closed’
b. ‘the store is closed’ entails ‘the store is not
open’
a. ‘the store is not closed’ entails ‘the store is
open’
b. ‘the store is not open’ entails ‘the store is
closed’
45. Octagon- a plane figure of eight sides and eight
angles.
a. ‘X is an octagon’ entails ‘ X is a plane figure’
b. ‘X is an octagon’ entails ‘ X has eight sides ‘
c. ‘X is an octagon’ entails ‘ X has eight angles’
‘ X is a plane figure’ and‘ X has eight sides ‘ and ‘ X
has eight angles’ entails ‘X is an octagon’
46. Spaniel- a kind of dog, usually liver- and –white
or black-and –white, with long pendent ears.
• ‘X is a spaniel’ entails ‘x is a liver- and –white
or black-and –white’
• Spaniel-a kind of dog, with long pendent ears.
47. Spaniel – a kind of dog
‘X is a kind of dog’ entails ‘X is a
spaniel’
48. a. Strictly speaking, an ostrich is a bird.
b. ? Strictly speaking, a robin is a bird.
c. Technically, a whale is a mammal.
d. ? Strictly speaking, a trout is a fish.
49. The job of the linguist, like that of the biologist or
the botanist, is not to tell us how nature should
behave, or what its creations should look like, but
to describe those creations in all their messy glory
and try to figure out what they can teach us about
life, the world, and, especially in the case of
linguistics, the workings of the human mind.”
Arika Okrent
