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SEMANTIC

HYPONYMY

What is Hyponymy?
Hyponym is a word or phrase whose semantic field is included within that of another word, its
hypernym (sometimes spelled hypernym outside of the natural language processing community
[citation needed]). In simpler terms, a hyponym shares a type-of relationship with its hypernym.
For example, scarlet, vermilion, carmine, and crimson are all hyponyms of red (their hypernym),
which is, in turn, a hyponym of color.

What is the relation between Hypernym and Hyponym?


Hypernymy is the semantic relation in which one word is the hypernym of another. Hypernymy,
the relation in which words stand when their extensions stand in the relation of class to subclass,
should not be confused with holonymy, which is the relation in which words stand when the
things that they denote stand in the relation of whole to part. A similar warning applies to
hyponymy and meronymy.
Hyponyms and hypernyms are both terms that come under the lexis/semantics section of English
language. A hypernym describes a broader term while a hyponym is a more specialized and
specific word, for example: spoon would be a hyponym of cutlery and Labrador would be a
hyponym of dog. 
Example:
 Hyponymy is a less familiar term to most people than either synonymy or antonymy,
but it refers to a much more important sense relation. It describes what happens when
we say 'An X is a kind of Y'—A daffodil is a kind of flower, or simply, A daffodil is
a flower.
o For instance:

HYPERONYM HYPONYM
Lake Pond, loch, pool, lagoon, tank
Spices Flavors, herb, salts peppers
aromas
Color Blue, red, green, white, violet
Reptile Crocodile, lizard, Chameleon,
Iguana, Snake
Dog Bulldog, Pomerania, chihuahua,
Husky, Poodle
References:
https://www.powerthesaurus.org/100_examples_of_hyponyms

https://www.mytutor.co.uk/answers/7824/A-Level/English-Language/what-is-the-difference-between-
a-hyponym-and-a-hypernym/

https://www.thoughtco.com/hyponym-words-term-1690946

https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Hyponymy

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