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Lexicology Chapter IV
Lexicology Chapter IV
Semantic classes :
suchas Lyons (1977) have suggested that an adequate
basis for semantic classification of words is the
ontological correlate. According to this view, words may
be grouped into coherent semantic classes by looking at
the category of things they refer to (the so-called
ontological category).
C. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
WORD CLASSES AND MEANING
There appear to be striking correspondences between
the formal properties of words (their morphological
and syntactic properties) and the type of meaning they
express, though at a rather general level.
These correspondences attest the close relationship that
exists between conceptual/ontological categorization
and linguistic encoding, and several linguists over time.
Lyons (1977: 439–52) for example proposed a three-output classificatory
system of ontological categories (called entities) based on their so-called
order. These entities consist of different types of “things
Table 4.1. Types of entities on the basis of their order
According to Lyons’ proposal, people, animals, places and things (first
order entities) are entities that exist in time, and are relatively constant as
to their perceptual properties; actions, events, processes, situations (second
order entities) are entities that occur in time, rather than exist in time;
possible facts (third-order entities) are entities located outside of time and
space:we can, therefore, say that they are “true” rather than “real”
(beliefs, judgments, expectations, and so on).
Let us now focus on first- and second-order entities and examine how they
relate to the parts of speech. The most obvious observation is the one we
made at the beginning of the section; first-order entities tend to be coded as
nouns, while second-order entities tend to be coded as verbs. These
generalizations are summarized in below.
Let us now focus on first- and second-order entities and examine how they relate to the
parts of speech. The most obvious observation is the one we made at the beginning of the
section; first-order entities tend to be coded as nouns, while second-order entities tend to
be coded as verbs. These generalizations are summarized in Table .
Table. Types of entities and parts of speech
Intransitive
(monovalent);
An intransitive verb takes one argument / one-slot verb, e.g;
A baby girl (1) was born / Paul (1) coughed loudly.
transitive
(=divalent);
a transitive verb takes two arguments / two-slot verbs, e.g;
Sara (1) rented a car (2) / Mark (1) lives in Rome (2).
Ditransitive
(trivalent):
a ditransitive verb takes three arguments / Three-slot Verbs, e.g;
Lynda (1) put the keys (2) in the bag (3) / Lisa (1) dedicated her
book (2) to her father (3).
There
are a few verbs that take four arguments. Sometimes bet is
considered to have four arguments in English, as in the e.g;
The company transferred the money from one bank account to
another ( are controversial classes and will not address them here).
3. Aktionsart;
Aktionsart is a property of (mostly verbal) predicates. It concerns
the internal temporal constituency of a (type of) situation denoted
by a given predicate. The (originally German) term aktionsart is
approx. equivalent to the English terms lexical aspect and
kind of action.
4. The Root
Noun Classes
1. Entity Nouns ;
2. Event Nouns
E. WORD CLASS SYSTEMS ACROSS
LANGUAGES