Lecture 9

Semantic (sense) relations

 Ferdinand de Saussure (1965) - existence of a network of associative fields within the vocabulary of a language:

-etymological (based on resemblance in both their meaning and form); -derivational (based on identity of suffixes); -formal (based on accidental sound resemblance); -semantic (based on meaning relations proper): -syntagmatic: relations established between elements that coexist within the same linguistic chain; both...and kind of relationship; items situated in contrast position; lexical items belonging to different word classes analysed by sentence syntax. -paradigmatic: relations established among members of the same class of distribution (traditionally called parts of speech); linguistic elements on the paradigmatic axis are mutually exclusive; an either ... or kind of relationship; not directly observable within a linguistic chain.

Paradigmatic sense relations

-incompatibility, -antonymy, -synonymy, -hyponymy, -polysemy, -homonymy.

1. Incompatibility
= a relation which characterizes all lexical elements; -established on the basis of substitution of items in a given utterance. - sentences with incompatible terms will thus contradict each other. e.g. John owns a car/farm/house/shop, etc. - the set car, house, farm, shop - terms are incompatible because the choice of one rejects the choice of another, though there is a close semantic link between them, namely all denote things that can be owned. * sky, leaf, love, and rain. e.g. Marys hat is orange / Marys hat is red. Red and orange = incompatible terms - useful for establishing semantic fields- Rogets Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1941): vocabulary grouped under 990 heads or topics
4

2. Antonymy
= the contrasting relation between two lexemes, one of which denotes some positive property whereas the other denotes the absence of that property. - three groups: a) gradable antonyms (pairs that describe the opposite ends of a continuous dimension), b) binary antonyms/ complementaries (pairs that exhaust all linguistic possibilities along some dimension), c) converse antonyms/reversibles (pairs that describe the relationship between items from opposite perspectives) (Parker and Riley, 2005:37).

2. Antonymy

a) Gradability - meaning oppositions which admit certain gradations with regard to the meaning expressed: e.g. wide narrow, old young, big small, good bad, tough tender, warm cool. - all of them adjectives, seen in terms of degrees of the quality involved: wide or very wide; sth. may be wider than sth. else; - graded against different norms according to the items being discussed: an old man old dog old piece of cake. - Marked vs. unmarked elements:
6

2. Antonymy

b) Complementarity (binary opposites) e.g. male - female, single-married, alive-dead to the set of incompatible terms, but with one specific characteristic: they are members of two-term sets instead of the multiple term sets (hence the denomination). - Gradables vs. complementaries: the denial of one implies the assertion of the other and vice versa (does not hold for gradables). - male/female, married/single, alive/dead as gradable antonyms on occasions.
7

2. Antonymy

c) Reversibility (converseness - Lyons (1977) /relational opposition - Palmer (1976) e.g. buy/sell, husband/wife, give/take, know/ignore, to rent/to let, to own/to belong to, give/receive, fianc/fiance, parent/child, debtor/creditor, if A is B's husband, B is A's wife.
8

3. HYPONYMY (meaning inclusion)

= the linguistic equivalent of the logical concept of implication; = a relation of asymmetrical implication of the type established between genus and species, as in flower - rose, house chalet, vegetable - tomato.

HYPONYMY

PLANT flower rose daisy pansy violet

superordinate tree oak birch fir hyponyms

Hyponymy involves the logical relationship of entailment: This is a rose entails This is a flower.

10

4. SYNONYMY

Synonymy = symmetrical hyponymy (Lyons,1977) Levitchi (1970): Synonyms are two or more lexical or grammatical units comparable through their content, but reflecting in various degrees and in various senses (semantic, grammatical, stylistic) the essential notes of the notion they denote. Types of synonyms: absolute vs. relative; stylistic

11

4. SYNONYMY

a) Absolute synonyms = restricted to monosemantic terms, such as scientific or technical terms: e.g. semi-vowels and semiconsonants or salt and sodium chloride. b) Relative synonyms = the degree of semantic similarity between words depends to a great extent on the number of semantic properties they share; e.g. sofa and couch; stool and chair. - proof of the richness of a language, allowing for differentiation and specialization within the lexicon. This differentiation is not only of semantic nature but also of a stylistic one.
12

4. SYNONYMY

c) Stylistic synonyms = express the same meaning but in various functional styles Neutr. arrogant cocky, Colloq. /slang violinist fiddler, spectacles gig lamps, dupe sucker disguised synonyms - based on figures of speech and characterize an object or a person in a certain way. e.g. Shakespeare- the greatest English playright; - the sweet swan of Avon
13

4. SYNONYMY

- euphemisms (Greek eu = well + phemi = I say) = lexical units considered less offensive or distasteful than the units they replace; e.g. He passed away (He died) He has had a drink too much (Hes drunk) .

14

euphemisms

parts of the body (forbidden territory): to be in ones birthday suit; boobs, cleavage, headlights = ? bum, exhaust pipe? privates, ones thing, the Crown jewels, the nether regions, the unmentionables. sickness: acutely visually handicapped, the big C, cutand-paste job, to send for the green van, vocally challenged, aurally inconvenienced, the cavalry's come, to have a visitor; sex: action / enclosure; cash and carried; a French letter; to play on the other side; death: to rest in Abrahams bosom, to be at rest, to go home in a box, to cash in ones chips, to go West, to dangle in the sheriffs picture frame, to hang up ones hat; the last summons, the last gateway, crime: bracelets; a booster (shoplifter), a dip, Eliza smiles, client of the correctional system/guest, the lightfingered gentry;
15

d) Contextual synonyms

= synonyms that are conditioned by a fixed context, out of which they are no longer synonymous;
- good vs kind: She is a good/kind person. BUT Thats very kind [polite] of you vs. She is good [talented, gifted for] at languages
16

Usefulness of synonymy

essential factor for translation selection of the appropriate equivalents from a possible synonymic series, taking into account the stylistic level and the context; Figures of speech based on synonymy - the quantitative hendiadys = the association of two or more synonyms by means of the conjunction and; e.g. each and every, far and away, dust and ashes, wear and tear, soft and tender, with might and main, sick and tired.
17

Usefulness of synonymy

Lexicography synonymy = the main device used by monolingual dictionaries, e.g. binoculars = field glasses. -advantage: great economy of space and conciseness; -disadvantage: the given explanation is sometimes insufficient or misleading for people with lower proficiency in language.
Vehicle for humour
18

5. POLYSEMY AND HOMONYMY Criteria for delimiting homonymy from polysemy: a) The criterion of etymology: Ear1 'organ of hearing' and ear2 'head of corn' = homonyms, because they were formally distinct in Old English and thus have a different etymology; two separate words/ lexemes in present-day English dictionaries. Flower 'part of plant' and flour 'powder made by crushing grain' = polysemous word with two meanings; they are etymologically identical, since both go back to the same Middle English word flour. Other well-known pairs in the history of English are: catch chase, mint - money, inch - ounce.
19

POLYSEMY AND HOMONYMY b) The criterion of formal identity or distinctness: are 3 possible situations; absolute homonyms = words pronounced and spelt alike: count: (v) & (n); spring: (n) & (v);

homographs = words spelt alike but pronounced differently: lead pronounced /li:d/, meaning 'a conduce', and pronounced /led/, 'plumb', minute pronounced /minit/ is a noun meaning 'minut', whereas pronounced /mainju:t/, it is an adjective meaning minuscul;
Homophones = words pronounced alike but spelt differently: cereal - serial /'siril/, desert (v) - dessert (n) /di'z:t/
20

POLYSEMY AND HOMONYMY c) Close semantic relatedness. If two or more senses are related we recognize a case of polysemy.
-historical - two meanings are historically related if they can be traced back to the same source, or if one meaning can be derived from the other e.g. mess 'dirty or untidy state of affairs' mess 'dish of food', - psychological- two meanings are psychologically related if present-day users of the language feel intuitively that they come from the same etymon, and therefore tend to assume that they are different uses of the same word. e.g. crane 'machine for lifting' crane 'type of long-necked bird'.
21

POLYSEMY AND HOMONYMY

homonymy - source of some stylistic devices such as puns (play upon words), and syllepsis. Pun =humorous device consisting in the homonymic interpretation of the same word or phrase: -'We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall hang separately' (Benjamin Franklin). -I would like to go to Holland someday. Wooden shoe? - A boy answers the phone. The caller asks, "Where are your parents?" "They ain't here!" "Come on, son. Where's your grammar?" "My gramma ain't here neither. She's gone to church!"

- "Look deep into our ryes." (slogan of Wigler's Bakery)

- Kings worry about a receding heir line.

22

 Syllepsis = figure of speech implying the simultaneous use of the same lexical unit in two different senses or functions of which one is
proper and the other figurative:

-He took his hat and his leave.

-"When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes." (E.B. White, "Dog Training") -"Piano, n. A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by depressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience." (Ambrose Bierce, A Devil's Dictionary) -"I finally told Ross, late in the summer, that I was losing weight, my grip, and possibly my mind." (James Thurber, The Years with Ross, 1959)
23