2. The definition of Sense Relation.
Sense relation is a paradigmatic relation
between words or predicates. There are
several kinds of sense relations as a result
of the semantic relatedness between the
form and meaning and between two
meanings which will be discussed in the
following.
3. 1. Synonymy
Synonymy is the state or phenomenon in
which the words that sound different (different
in pronunciation) but have the same or
identical meaning as another word or phrase.
The concrete form of synonymy is called
“synonymy”.
Examples:
Small = little
Big = large
Mother and father = parents
Politician = statesman
4. 2. Polysemy
Polysemy is the state or phenomenon in which
the words that have more than one meaning. In
other words, it can be described as multiple
meanings of words. The words are considered to
be related etymologically.
The concrete form of polysemy is called
“polyseme”.
Examples: Plain
Simple (English is extremely plain subject)
With nothing added or not decorated in any
way (this blouse is too plain).
5. 3. Hyponymy
Hyponymy is the state or phenomenon that
shows the relations between more general term
(lexical representation) and the more specific
instances of it.
The concrete forms of sets of word (the
specific instances) are called “hyponyms”.
Example:
The lexical representation of: red, yellow,
green, purple, black, is color.
Thus we can say that: “red is a hyponym of
color”, and so on.
6. 4. Antonym
Antonym is the state or phenomenon in
which the words have the sense relation
which involve the opposite of meaning.
The concrete form of antonyms is called
“antonym” (opposite).
8. Binary antonyms
Binary antonyms come in pairs and between
them exhausted all the relevant possibilities. If
one is applicable, the other cannot be, and
verse versa.
Examples: true – false
dead – alive
married – unmarried
same – different
9. Converse
Conversances if a lexeme describes a
relationship between two things (or people)
and some other lexeme describes the same
relationship when the two things are
mentioned in the opposite order, then the two
lexemes are CONVERSES of each other.
Example: bellow – above love – hate
conceal – reveal own – belong to
10. Gradable antonyms.
• Two lexemes are gradable antonyms if they are
at opposite ends of a continuous scale of
values (a scale which typically varies
according to the context of use).
• Example: tall – short
long – short
clever – stupid
top – bottom
love – hate
11. Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning that is used
to understand human expression through
language. Semantics is perhaps the most
difficult part of the grammar of a language to
learn. The reason is because, basically,
meanings in language are indefinite /
undetermined.
Remember that language is arbitrary (one of
the characteristics of language). It is arbitrary
because the relationship between forms and
their meanings are sometimes cannot logically
proved.
12. Classification of lexical meaning (1).
Referential meaning (denotative meaning) –
central meaning of words, stable, universal.
Associative meaning – meaning that hinges on
referential meaning, less stable, more culture-
specific.
Connotative meaning – the communicative
value an expression has by virtue of what it
refers to, embraces the properties of the
referent, peripheral.
13. Classification of lexical meanings (2).
Social meaning (stylistic meaning) – what is
conveyed about the social circumstances of the
use of a linguistic expression
Affective meaning – what is communicated of
the feeling or attitude of the speaker/writer
towards what is referred to
Reflected meaning – what is communicated
through association with another sense of the
same expression.
14. Classification of lexical meanings (3).
Taboos
Co locative meaning – the associated
meaning a word acquires in line with the
meaning of words which tend to co-occur
with it.
15. Componential analysis.
Componential analysis is the approach that
analyzes word meaning by decomposing it into
its atomic features. It shows the semantic
features of a word. Examples:
Man: +HUMAN +MALE +ADULT
Boy: +HUMAN +MALE –ADULT
Father: + HUMAN +MALE +ADULT
→PARENT
Daughter: +HUMAN –MALE
+ADULT←PARENT
16. Words and concepts
Categorization
Categorization refers to
the process by which
people use language to
classify the world around
and inside them.
It is fundamental to human
cognition.
In the past two decades
cognitive psychologists
and cognitive linguistics
have gained new insights
into the nature of
categories.
Prototypes
A prototype is a set that
has typical, central
features. Others are
peripheral features,
which are not typical but
related.
Hierarchies.
Conceptual network.
17. Metaphors
Metaphors are well known as a stylistic feature of
literature, but in fact are found in almost all
language use, other than simple explanations of
physical events in the material world. All abstract
vocabulary is metaphorical, but in most cases the
original language hides the metaphor from us.
Depends means “hanging from” (in Latin),
pornography means “writing of prostitutes” (in
Greek) and even the hippopotamus has a
metaphor in its name, which is Greek for “river
horse”. A metaphor compares things, but does not
show this with forms such as, like, or more
[+qualifier] than. These appear in similes: fat as a
pig, like two peas in a pod.
