November 2020

SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF HYPONYMY IN CHINESE FOLKTALE

“THE PANTHER”

Cindy Christella

The Methodist University of Indonesia, Medan

cindy.christella@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The research was aimed at discovering the most dominant type of hyponymy category
and the least dominant type of hyponymy in Chines folktale The Panther. The nature of
this research is descriptive qualitative. To analyze the data, this paper applied technique
of data analysis proposed by Miles, Huberman & Saldana (2014). The data was
analyzed by analyzing the content and subsequently investigating types of hyponymy
and classifying the categories of hyponymy. It was discovered that there are 8 types of
hyponymy in the Chines folktale The Panther. Those hyponymy are Family, Part of
body, Animal, Furniture, Device, Plant, Occupation, Food. Based on the objective of the
research that is to find out the dominant type of hyponymy category and the least
dominant type of hyponymy category, it was revealed that the most dominant type of
hyponymy is “part of body” with a total of 8 words and the least dominant type of
hyponymy category are “plant, and food” with a total of 2 words in each category. The
research concluded that for foreign English learners, it is best to remember words
through hyponymy. In doing so, students can enrich their vocabulary.

Keywords : Semantic analysis, hyponymy, Chinese folktale

INTRODUCTION

Some words gather become phrases and sentences. A group of those phrases and
sentences is what we referred as a language. Human express inner thoughts, emotions,
and interactions through language whether in spoken or written form. The process of
expressing ideas and feelings or giving information by orally is a spoken form of a
language. Written form is the representation of a language in a text, sign and symbols.
Some products of written form of language are short story, article, poem, lyric, etc.
Individuals learn language to socialize and direct the behavior of others (Bruner, 1974).
Human use language for both formal and informal purposes. Specific grammatical
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structures and vocabulary are often used with language function like compare and
contrast, persuasion, asking questions, expressing likes and dislikes, cause and effect,
summarizing, predicting, agreeing or disagreeing, and for greeting others. Language is the
most fundamental aspects of human’s life, without language, communication between
human being cannot be done properly.

Semantic is sub-discipline in linguistic which study about meaning of linguistic

expression. Semantics focuses on the meaning of words, phrases or sentences in the language.
The meaning of the words and the structure determine the meaning of phrases or sentence.
Semantics is crucial not only for those who want to communicate but also for better
communication in the society.

Different languages have different structures and grammar as well as context. .

Language is systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of
conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meaning. Cruse (1986:
3) stated that” Language is a vehicle for communication between people “. Language is a
system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for communication of humans. This means that
language plays pivotal role in a society and has an impact of the society itself. One
introduced method of acquiring a certain language is through the process of memorizing list
of vocabularies under one specific category. This is called as hyponymy. Through hyponymy,
a language learner has the ease of mastering a group of words which will eventually lead to
the success in speaking the language.

METHOD

In this research, the researcher uses descriptive qualitative method as the research design. The
object of the research is the Chinese folktale The Panther. The objective of this research is to
find out the dominant type of hyponymy category and the least dominant type of hyponymy
category in the folktale.

The procedure of data collection is written as below.

1. The researcher gets the text of The Panther from the website
https://www.worldoftales.com/
2. The researcher scrutinizes the text of The Panther
3. The researcher lists the words or phrases that fall under certain type of hyponymy
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In this research, the author used the technique of data analysis proposed by Miles, Huberman
& Saldana (2014), which is about the steps of qualitative data analysis as written below.

1. Data Collection
The researcher gets the text of the Chinese folktales The Panther then the researcher
read the text thoroughly.
2. Data Condensation
The researcher highlights the words or phrases that fall under certain type of
hyponymy.
3. Data Display
The writers showed the result of the data analysis in table and paragraphs.
4. Conclusions Drawing
The writer described finding of the research and drew conclusion.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Result

After identifying the data, the researcher analyzes the hyponymy found in The Panther and
the researcher discovered that there are 8 (eight) types of hyponymy categories in the
folktales. These hyponymies are Family, Part of body, Animal, Furniture, Device, Plant,
Occupation, Food.

Table 1. List of hyponymy category and its definition

Word Definition in Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

Family The basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing
their children

Body The main part of a plant or animal body especially as distinguished

from limbs and head

Animal Any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things including many-celled

organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (such
as protozoans) that typically differ from plants in having cells
without cellulose walls, in lacking chlorophyll and the capacity
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for photosynthesis, in requiring more complex food materials (such

as proteins), in being organized to a greater degree of complexity, and
in having the capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor
responses to stimulation

Furniture Aquipment that is necessary, useful, or desirable.

Device Something devised or contrived.

Plant Any of a kingdom (Plantae) of multicellular eukaryotic mostly

photosynthetic organisms typically lacking locomotive movement or
obvious nervous or sensory organs and possessing cellulose cell walls

Occupation The principal business of one's life.

Food Material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in

the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes
and to furnish energy.

Based on the above definitions, we then can classify the words that belong to each hyponymy
category as listed above.

Table 2. The List of Hyponymy and its words in the Chinese folktale The Panther

No Category of Hyponymy Words Total

1 Family Daughters, son, mother, 5
grandmother, little brother
2 Parts of body Claws, hair, skin, bones, eye, 8
face, feet, finger
3 Animal Panther, hen, scorpion, turtle 4
4 Furniture Bed, arm chair 2
5 Device Basket, comb, rope, needle 4
6 Plant Beets, tree 2
7 Occupation Needle-vender, scorpion catcher, 5
egg-seller, dealer in turtle, a man
who sold wooden clubs
8 Food Beets, egg 2
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As can be seen from the Table 2, there are 8 different types of hyponymy found on the
Chinese folktales The Panther.

Discussion

Presented below are some example sentences extracted from the folktale The Panther:

1. Type of hyponymy: Family

Example sentence:

- Once upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters and a little son.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, daughter is a female offspring

especially of human parents and son is a male offspring especially of human parents.
These two words match the definition of family mentioned in Table 1. Therefore,
these two words are classified as family hyponymy

2. Type of hyponymy: Part of body

Example sentence:

- But as he passed his claws through her hair, he tore off a bit of her skin and
devoured it.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, claw is a sharp usually slender and

curved nail on the toe of an animal while hair is a slender threadlike outgrowth of the
epidermis of an animal and skin is  the integument of an animal (such as a fur-bearing
mammal or a bird) separated from the body usually with its hair or feathers. The
definition of the three underlined words surely reflect what part of body is. Hence,
these words are classified as animal hyponymy.

3. Type of hyponymy: Animal

Example sentence:

- And the woman allowed the panther to comb her hair.

- The man gave them a scorpion.
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According to Merriam Webster dictionary, panther is a leopard of the black

color phase. And leopard is a large strong cat (Panthera pardus) of southern Asia and
Africa that is adept at climbing and is usually tawny or buff with black spots arranged
in rosettes. Scorpion is any of an order (Scorpionida) of nocturnal arachnids that have
an elongated body and a narrow-segmented tail bearing a venomous stinger at the tip.
Both panther and scorpion have animal characteristic. Hence, these words are
classified as animal hyponymy.

4. Type of hyponymy: Furniture

Example sentences:

- Grandmother had no spare bed, so I had to sleep on the peas, and they pressed
themselves into my face.
- Stick these needles in the cushion of the arm chair, with the points up.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, bed is a piece of furniture on or in

which to lie and sleep and arm chair is a chair with armrests. Chair is a seat typically
having four legs and a back for one person. Both bed and arm chair are useful. One in
for sleeping and the other is for sitting. Therefore, these words are classified as
furniture hyponymy.

5. Type of hyponymy: Device

Example sentences:

- Then he turned on her little son and killed him too, put on the woman’s clothes,
and laid the child’s bones, which he had not yet devoured, in her basket.
- Stick these needles in the cushion of the arm chair, with the points up.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, basket is a receptacle made of

interwoven material and needle is a small slender usually steel instrument that has an
eye for thread or surgical sutures at one end and that is used for sewing. Because both
basket and needle are devised from other material, these words are classified as device
hyponymy.

6. Type of hyponymy: Plant

Example sentences:

- Oh, mother, give us some of your beets, too!

- And with that they ran out of the door, climbed up into a tree in the yard
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According to Merriam Webster dictionary, beet is a biennial garden plant (Beta

vulgaris) of the goosefoot family that includes several cultivars (such as Swiss chard
and sugar beet) and that has thick edible leaves with long petioles and often swollen
purplish-red roots and tree is a woody perennial plant having a single usually elongate
main stem generally with few or no branches on its lower part. With that being said,
beet and tree as described in the definitions are two istinct characters of an animal.
Therefore, these two words are classified as plant hyponymy.

7. Type of hyponymy: Occupation

Example sentence:

-  And a needle-vender came by and asked them why they were crying.
- Then an egg-seller came by and asked them why they were crying.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, vender is less common spelling of

vendor and the synonym of vendor is seller. Therefore, a needle-vender is someone
who sells needle. Both needle-vender and egg-seller are classified as occupation
hyponymy.

8. Type of hyponymy: Food

Example sentence:

-  I’m eating beets.

- So he gave them an egg.

As mentioned before, beet is some type of edible plant and according to Merriam
Webster dictionary, egg the hard-shelled reproductive body produced by a bird and
especially by the common domestic chicken also its contents used as food. Both
words refer to nutritious and edible substances. Hence, beet and egg classified as food
hyponymy.
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CONCLUSION

Based on the findings, it is concluded that in the Chine folktales The Panther, there are 8
types of hyponymy category. The most dominant type of hyponymy category is the Parts of
body with with 8 words in total, and then followed by family and occupation with 5 words.
The third most dominant categories are animal and device with 4 words. The last or the least
dominant categories are furniture, and plant with 2 words in each category.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, the researchers would like to be grateful to God Almighty who gives us health
and strength in everything so that we have accomplished this mini research on time. The
same gratitude is expressed by the writers to the lecturer of Sociolinguistics subject, Dr.
Charles David M. Silalahi, S.Pd., M.Hum, for the support and guidance as without his
guidance this mini research would not be completed well.
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REFERENCES

Bruner, J. S. (1974). ORGANISATION OF EARLY SKILLED ACTION.

In Richards, M. P. M. (ed.), The integration of a child into a social
world. London: C.U.P.

Cruse, D. A. 1986: Lexical Semantic. Cambridge University Press.

Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M., and Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis. A Methods
Sourcebook, Edition 3. USA: Sage Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-
us/nam/qualitative-data-analysis/book246128

Merriam-Webster.com. 2011. https://www.merriam-webster.com (19 November 2020).

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APPENDIX

The Panther

Once upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters and a little son. And one day the
mother said to her daughters: “Take good care of the house, for I am going to see
grandmother, together with your little brother!” So the daughters promised her they would do
so, and their mother went off. On her way a panther met her, and asked where she were
going.
She said: “I am going with my child to see my mother.”
“Will you not rest a bit?” asked the panther.
“No,” said she, “it is already late, and it is a long road to where my mother lives.”
But the panther did not cease urging her, and finally she gave in and sat down by the road
side.
“I will comb your hair a bit,” said the panther. And the woman allowed the panther to comb
her hair. But as he passed his claws through her hair, he tore off a bit of her skin and
devoured it.
“Stop!” cried the woman, “the way you comb my hair hurts!”
But the panther tore off a much larger piece of skin. Now the woman wanted to call for help,
but the panther seized and devoured her. Then he turned on her little son and killed him too,
put on the woman’s clothes, and laid the child’s bones, which he had not yet devoured, in her
basket. After that he went to the woman’s home, where her two daughters were, and called in
at the door: “Open the door, daughters! Mother has come home!” But they looked out
through a crack and said: “Our mother’s eyes are not so large as yours!”
Then the panther said: “I have been to grandmother’s house, and saw her hens laying eggs.
That pleases me, and is the reason why my eyes have grown so large.”
“Our mother had no spots in her face such as you have.”
“Grandmother had no spare bed, so I had to sleep on the peas, and they pressed themselves
into my face.”
“Our mother’s feet are not so large as yours.”
“Stupid things! That comes from walking such a distance. Come, open the door quickly!”
Then the daughters said to each other: “It must be our mother,” and they opened the door. But
when the panther came in, they saw it was not really their mother after all.
At evening, when the daughters were already in bed, the panther was still gnawing the bones
he had brought with him.
Then the daughters asked: “Mother, what are you eating?”
“I’m eating beets,” was the answer.
Then the daughters said: “Oh, mother, give us some of your beets, too! We are so hungry!”
“No,” was the reply, “I will not give you any. Now be quiet and go to sleep.”
But the daughters kept on begging until the false mother gave them a little finger. And then
they saw that it was their little brother’s finger, and they said to each other: “We must make
haste to escape else he will eat us as well.” And with that they ran out of the door, climbed up
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into a tree in the yard, and called down to the false mother: “Come out! We can see our
neighbor’s son celebrating his wedding!” But it was the middle of the night.
Then the mother came out, and when she saw that they were sitting in the tree, she called out
angrily: “Why, I’m not able to climb!”
The daughters said: “Get into a basket and throw us the rope and we will draw you up!”
The mother did as they said. But when the basket was half-way up, they began to swing it
back and forth, and bump it against the tree. Then the false mother had to turn into a panther
again, lest she fall down. And the panther leaped out of the basket, and ran away.
Gradually daylight came. The daughters climbed down, seated themselves on the doorstep,
and cried for their mother. And a needle-vender came by and asked them why they were
crying.
“A panther has devoured our mother and our brother,” said the girls. “He has gone now, but
he is sure to return and devour us as well.”
Then the needle-vender gave them a pair of needles, and said: “Stick these needles in the
cushion of the arm chair, with the points up.” The girls thanked him and went on crying.
Soon a scorpion-catcher came by; and he asked them why they were crying. “A panther has
devoured our mother and brother,” said the girls. “He has gone now, but he is sure to return
and devour us as well.”
The man gave them a scorpion and said: “Put it behind the hearth in the kitchen.” The girls
thanked him and went on crying.
Then an egg-seller came by and asked them why they were crying. “A panther has devoured
our mother and our brother,” said the girls. “He has gone now, but he is sure to return and
devour us as well.”
So he gave them an egg and said: “Lay it beneath the ashes in the hearth.” The girls thanked
him and went on crying.
Then a dealer in turtles came by, and they told him their tale. He gave them a turtle and said:
“Put it in the water-barrel in the yard.” And then a man came by who sold wooden clubs. He
asked them why they were crying. And they told him the whole story. Then he gave them two
wooden clubs and said: “Hang them up over the door to the street.” The girls thanked him
and did as the men had told them.
In the evening the panther came home. He sat down in the armchair in the room. Then the
needles in the cushion stuck into him. So he ran into the kitchen to light the fire and see what
had jabbed him so; and then it was that the scorpion hooked his sting into his hand. And
when at last the fire was burning, the egg burst and spurted into one of his eyes, which was
blinded. So he ran out into the yard and dipped his hand into the water-barrel, in order to cool
it; and then the turtle bit it off. And when in his pain he ran out through the door into the
street, the wooden clubs fell on his head and that was the end of him.
Note: “The Panther” in this tale is in reality the same beast as “the talking silver fox” in
No. 49, and the fairy-tale is made up of motives to be found in “Little Red Riding-Hood,”
“The Wolf and the Seven Kids,” and “The Vagabonds.”