Ch. 9 Semantics 2nd Term 20-21 (Part 2)

Chapter 9/ Part 2
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Lec. Tahani Almansour 1
ANTONYMS
Antonyms are of three types
Gradable Non-Gradable Reversives

e . g. hot/ warm/ c old e. g. true /fal se e. g. dre ss/undre ss
sma lle r a live / dea d enter/ exit
My ca r is n’t old. pa ck/unpa c k
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

ANTONYMS
Antonyms are of three types
Gradable Non-Gradable Reversives

( ca n be com pared) (direct o pposit es) (on e is a re ver se ( Oppo site
me aning (n eg ativ e t est) a ct ion of t he o th er)
a lo ng a s cal e) e .g . tru e/f alse e. g. d r ess/u n dr ess
e. g. h ot / wa rm/ co ld aliv e/ d ead en ter/ ex it e. g. sma ller
p ack /u np ack
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab
e.Lec.
g.Tahani
m y Almansour
ca r isn ’t o ld . 3
CONTINUED: ANTONYMY
1-Gradable (opposites along a scale): two words (e.g.

cold/warm/hot, big/medium/small, tall/short) stand for
opposite along a scale of, e.g. temperature, size and
height).
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: ANTONYMY
1-Gradable (opposites along a scale):
It can be used in comparative constructions involving

adjectives, e.g.,
I’m smaller than you.
The negative of a member (using the negative test) in a

gradable pair doesn’t necessarily imply the other, e.g.,
“My car isn’t old” does not have to mean “my car is new.”
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: ANTONYMY
2-Non-gradable antonyms (complementary pairs):

words opposite in meaning (e.g. married/single) where if
one adjective is not applicable, the other one must be.
There is no middle ground.
Comparatives are not used in this type.
The negative (using the negative test) of a member in a

non-gradable pair implies the other, e.g.,
My grandparents aren’t alive  my grand parents are dead.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: ANTONYMY
3-Reversives: members in these pairs mean (do the

reverse of the action), e.g.,
-dress / undress
-pack / unpack
-lengthen / shorten
-raise / lower
-tie / untie
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

HYPONYMY
When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning

of another, the relationship is described as hyponymy.
Examples: animal/horse, insect/ant, flower/rose.
The concept of “inclusion” is the idea that if an object is a

rose then it is necessarily a flower >>>> the meaning of
flower is included in the meaning of rose.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

HYPONYMY
When we investigate connections based on hyponymy, we

are looking at the meaning of words in some type of
hierarchical relationship.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: HYPONYMY
 Horse is a hyponym of animal.

 Ant is a hyponym of insect (is a kind of relation ).
 Animal and insect are superordinate terms (higher level).
 Dog and horse are co-hyponyms.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab
CONTINUED: HYPONYMY
 Therefore, we can say that “hyponymy” is classified into:

1. Superordinate (higher level):
horse >>>> animal
2. Co-hyponyms: when two words share the same superordinate.
dog & horse >>>> animal
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: HYPONYMY
 The relation of hyponymy captures the concept of “ is a kind of”,

e.g., “a pine is a kind of tree”.
 Sometimes it is the only thing that we know about the meaning of

a word, is that it is a hyponym of another term, e.g., the only
thing we know about a yorkie is that it is a kind of dog.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: HYPONYMY
Hyponymy is not restricted to objects, abstract concepts or

nouns. It can be identified in many other areas of lexicon.
 It can also be applied to verbs of actions,

e.g., punch, stab, shoot are co-hyponyms of the superordinate verb
injure.
e.g., bake, boil, grill, microwave. are co-hyponyms of the
superordinate verb cook.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: HYPONYMY
In other words:

Hyponymy is the semantic relation between a more
specific word and a more general word.
Dog is a hyponym of animal, because all dogs are also
animals but not vice versa.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

PROTOTYPES
“The most characteristic instance of a category” is

known as prototype. The clearest example of certain
words, e.g., penguin, sparrow, parrot, pigeon, ostrich.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Lec. Tahani Almansour
PROTOTYPES
In terms of hyponymy, penguin, sparrow, parrot,

pigeon, ostrich are co-hyponyms of the superordinate
term bird (the semantic relation between a more
specific word and a more general word.)
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

PROTOTYPES
However, in terms of ‘portotypes’, not all of them are

equally good examples of the category of “bird”.
We might find some difficulty in deciding about an

ostrich as a hyponym of bird, but no difficulty in
deciding about a sparrow or a pigeon because it is
much closer to the prototype (more resemblance to the
clearest
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab
example). 17
CONTINUED: PROTOTYPES
Which are better examples?

Chair or bench (furniture)
Apples or figs (fruit)
T-shirt or shoes (clothes)
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: PROTOTYPES
However, this is one area where individual experience

can lead to substantial variation in interpretation and
people might disagree over the categorization of words
like tomato and avocado (fruit OR vegetable)
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

HOMOPHONES AND HOMONYMS
According to the above examples, what is the

definition of “homophones”?
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Homophones: Two or more words with different forms

and the same pronunciation.
Hole / Whole
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

T h iNesreen
Dr. s s l i d e Nawwab
can be found at the following link:
https://www.kau.edu.sa/Files/0008867/Subjects/140771_Chapter%209%20(semantics)
Lec. 22
. p d fTahani Almansour
 Other examples of homonyms:
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

POLYSEMY
Polysemy from Greek
poly “many”
semy “meanings”
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

POLYSEMY
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

This slide can be found at the following link: 25
Lec.
h t tTahani
p s : / / Almansour
www.kau.edu.sa/Files/0008867/Subjects/140771_Chapter%209%20(semantics).pdf
POLYSEMY
T h iNesreen
Dr. s s l i d e Nawwab
can be found at the following link:
https://www.kau.edu.sa/Files/0008867/Subjects/140771_Chapter%209%20(semantics).pdf
POLYSEMY
What is the difference between ‘homonyms’ and

‘polysemy’?
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

WORD PLAY
These last three lexical relations (homophones,

homonyms, and polysemy) are the source of word play,
usually for humorous effect.
Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 789 (homophones)
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

METONYMY
Another type of relationship between words, based

simply on a close connection in everyday experience.
This close connection between words can be based on

THREE types of relations:
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

METONYMY
T hDr.
i s Nesreen
s l i d e c Nawwab
an be found at the following link:
h t t p s Tahani
Lec. ://www Almansour
.kau.edu.sa/Files/0008867/Subjects/140771_Chapter%209%20(semantics).pdf
30
METONYMY
Metonymy is a word used in place of another with which

it is closely connected in everyday experience, e.g.
 He drank the whole bottle (=the liquid))

 Answering the door.
 Giving someone a hand.
 Making sense of above examples depends on our familiarity and

everyday experience (background knowledge) of the these
expressions.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab
OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTER
1. Semantic features 3. Lexical relations
 Words as containers of  Synonymy
meaning.  Antonymy
 Hyponymy
2. Semantic roles  Prototype
 Agent and theme  Homophones and
 Instrument and homonyms
experiencer  Polysemy
 Location, source and goal  Word play
 Metonymy
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab 4. Collocation 32

Collocations
One final aspect of our knowledge 

of words and how they are used
has nothing to do with any of the
.factors considered so far
As mature speakers of a language 
we know which words tend to
.occur with other words
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab
COLLOCATION
If we ask a thousand people what they think of when you

say
Hammer nail
Table chair
Butter bread
Needle thread
Salt pepper
‫? ي?ك?س?ر? ا?ل?ق?ا?ع?د?ة‬،?‫ي?ك?س?ر? ا?ل?ر?و?ت?ي?ن‬
 (words tends to occur with other words based on our knowledge.)
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

COLLOCATION
One way we seem to organize our knowledge of words is

on the basis of collocation which depends on
organizing our knowledge of words that frequently
occur together.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

COLLOCATION
In recent years, the study of which words occur together,

and their frequency of co-occurrence, has received a lot
more attention in corpus linguistics.
A corpus is a large collection of texts, spoken or written,

stored as a database in a computer. It can be used to find
out how often specific words or phrases occur and what
types of collocations are most common.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

CONTINUED: COLLOCATION
Some of the most common collocations are everyday

phrases, e.g.,
I don’t know what to do.
You know what ?I mean.
They don’t want to.
 Our understanding of what words and phrases mean is

tied to the context in which they occur.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

APPLICATION
 Match each word with the most relevant statement. Write the
number of the lexical relation in the provided parenthesis.
Word(s) / Phrase(s) Statements

Day / night ) ( .This is an example of reversives .1
.I’ve got a new set of wheels ) ( .This is an example of polysemy .2

I drive too fast and my brother ) (
.This is an example of a collocation .3
.drives too slow
.We will always fall and rise ) ( .This is an example of metonymy .4
This is an example of non-gradable .5

.I saw your mother in law ) (
.antonyms
This is an example of gradable .6
.antonyms
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

APPLICATION
 Match each word with the most relevant statement. Write the
number of the lexical relation in the provided parenthesis.
Word(s) / Phrase(s) Statements

Day / night ) 5 ( .This is an example of reversives .1
.I’ve got a new set of wheels ) 4 ( .This is an example of polysemy .2
Fast / slow ) 6 ( .This is an example of a collocation .3
Rise / fall ) 1 ( .This is an example of metonymy .4
This is an example of non-gradable .5

.I saw her mother in law ) 3 (
.antonyms
This is an example of gradable .6
.antonyms
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Ch.9 Assignment:
-Answer the book questions # 1-10 on p. 135
-Answer & submit assignment # 6 on ‘Semantics’ which
will be posted on blackboard after completing this
lecture.
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

End of Chapter 9
Dr. Nesreen Nawwab


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Chapter 9/ Part 2

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Antonyms are of three types

Gradable Non-Gradable Reversives

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Antonyms are of three types

Gradable Non-Gradable Reversives

1-Gradable (opposites along a scale): two words (e.g.

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

1-Gradable (opposites along a scale):

It can be used in comparative constructions involving

The negative of a member (using the negative test) in a

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

2-Non-gradable antonyms (complementary pairs):

Comparatives are not used in this type.

The negative (using the negative test) of a member in a

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

3-Reversives: members in these pairs mean (do the

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning

Examples: animal/horse, insect/ant, flower/rose.

The concept of “inclusion” is the idea that if an object is a

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

When we investigate connections based on hyponymy, we

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

 Horse is a hyponym of animal.

 Therefore, we can say that “hyponymy” is classified into:

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

 The relation of hyponymy captures the concept of “ is a kind of”,

 Sometimes it is the only thing that we know about the meaning of

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Hyponymy is not restricted to objects, abstract concepts or

 It can also be applied to verbs of actions,

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

In other words:

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

“The most characteristic instance of a category” is

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

In terms of hyponymy, penguin, sparrow, parrot,

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

However, in terms of ‘portotypes’, not all of them are

We might find some difficulty in deciding about an

Which are better examples?

Apples or figs (fruit)

T-shirt or shoes (clothes)

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

However, this is one area where individual experience

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

According to the above examples, what is the

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Homophones: Two or more words with different forms

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

 Other examples of homonyms:

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Polysemy from Greek

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

What is the difference between ‘homonyms’ and

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab

These last three lexical relations (homophones,

Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 789 (homophones)

Dr. Nesreen Nawwab