Sense Relation 9

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9 SENSE RELATIONS

9.1 HOMONYMY

Homonymy in EnglishThe learning objectives: after you have studied

the lecture you should be able to speak on the

following:

1.Homonyms, its etymology, definition.2.Classification of homonyms.3.Sources of homonyms.4.Relationship among polysemy, homonymy

and synonymy.

Seminar on Homonymy and Polysemy:

Consider your answer to the following:

1)Antrushina G.B. and others Englishlexicology, M., 1999. Pp. 166-182.

Do exercises 1, 2, (8 sent), 4, 5, 7, (6 sent), 8 p.

182

2)Kasheeva Practical Lexicology, pp. 39-40Homonyms (from Gr. homos means the

same, omona means name) are the words,

different in meaning and either identical both in

sound and spelling or identical only in spelling or

sound. The most widely accepted classification of

them is following:


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1. Homonyms proper (or perfecthomonyms)

2. Homophones3. Homographs

1.Homonyms proper are words identical inpronunciation and spelling:

a) Ball as a round object used in game,ball as a gathering of people for dancing;

b) Bark v to utter sharp explosive cries;bark n is a noise made by dog or a sailing

ship, etc.

b)Bay vis to bark; bay nis a part of the seaor the lake filling wide mouth opening of the

land, or the European laurel1, or .

You should remember, that homonyms are

distinct words not different meanings within

one word.

2.Homophones are words of the samesound, but of different meaning, for

example:

Air heir, arms alms, bye buy

by, him hymn, knight night,

rain reign, not knot, or ore

oar, piece peace, scent cent,

steal steel still, write right, sea

see, son sun.1


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In the sentence: The play-write on my right

thinks it that some conventional rite2 should

symbolize the right of every man to write as he

pleases the sound complex [rait] is noun,adjective, adverb and verb, has 4 different

spellings and 6 different meanings.

The difference may be confined to the use of a

capital letter as in bill and Bill: How much

is my milk bill? Excuse me, madam, but my

name is John. On the other hand, wholesentences may be homophonic: The sons raise

meat - The suns rays meet. To understand

this one needs a wide context.

3.Homographs are words different in soundand in meaning but accidentally identical in

spelling:

Bow [bou] / [bau]

Lead [li:d]/ [led]

Row [rou] / [rau] ,

Sever [sov ] / [sjuv ]

Tear [te] / [ti ]

Wind [wind] / [waind]

()

2


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Classification of homonyms in full and partial

see in: Kasheeva pp 39-40, Antrushina pp

128-129.

Sources of homonymsOn of source of homonyms is a phonetic change,

which a word undergoes3 in the course of it

historical development. As a result of such

changes, less or more words, which were

formerly pronounced differently, may develop

identical sound forms and thus becomehomonyms.

Night and knight, for instance, were not

homonyms in Old English (O.E.) as the initial k

in the second word was pronounced. The verb to

write in O.E. had the form to writan and the

adjective right had the form reht or riht.

Another source of homonyms is borrowing. A

borrowed word may, in the final stage of the

phonetic adaptation conclude the form either

with a native word or another borrowing. So in

the group of homonyms rite nto writeright

adj. The second and third words are of native

origin, whereas rite is Latin borrowing (Latin

ritus); bank n(a shore) is a native word,

and bank n (a financial institution) is an Italian

borrowing.

3


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Word building also contributes significantly to

the growth of homonymy, the most important

type of it being conversion. Such pairs of words

as combncomb v; pale adj.pale v;make v make n, etc. are numerous in

vocabulary. Homonyms of this type refer to

different categories of parts of speech and called

lexico-grammatical homonyms.

Shortening is a further type of word-building,

which increases the number of homonyms. Forexample fan (an enthusiastic admirer of some

sportsmen, actor, singer, etc.) is a shortening

produced from fanatic [f ntik]. Its homonym

is a Latin borrowing fan an element for

waving and produce some cool wind.4

The noun, for instance, rep, a kind of fabric,

has 4 homonyms:

1) rep = repertory;2) rep = representative;3) rep = reputation;4) rep = repetition (in school slangsmth,

need to know by hard)

A further course of homonyms is called split5

polysemy: 2 or more homonyms can originate

different meanings of the same word, when for

some reason the semantic structure of the word

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breaks into several parts. We may illustrate this

by the 3 following homonyms of the word

spring, means:

1) The act of springing, leap;2) A place, where a steam of water

comes up out to the sky;

3) A season of the year.Historically all three originate from the same

verb with meaning to jump, to leap. This is the

Old English word springun6. So that themeaning of the first homonym is the oldest or the

most etymological one. The meanings of the 2nd

and the 3rd

examples were originally made in

metaphor. As the head of the strim, the water

something lips out of the earth, so that

metaphorically such a place could be described as

a leap. On the other hand, the season of the

year, following winter, could be poetically defined

as a leap from the darkness and cold into

sunlight and life.

Polysemy, synonymy and homonymy

One of the most complicated problems in

semasiology is to define the place of homonyms

among other relationships of words. In a simple

code each sign has only one meaning and its

meaning is associated with only one sign. But this

ideal is not realized in natural language. When6


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several related meanings are associated with the

same form, the word is called polysemantic.

When 2 or more unrelated meanings are

associated with the same form, these words arehomonyms. When 2 or more forms are associated

with the same or nearly the same meaning, they

are called the synonyms.

9.2 SYNONYMY

A synonymis a word of similar or identical

meaning to one or more words in the same

language. All languages contain synonyms but in

English they exist in superabundance.

Theyre no two absolutely identical words

because connotations, ways of usage, frequency ofan occurrence are different.

Senses of synonyms are identical in respect of

central semantic trades but differ in respect of

minor semantic trades.

Classification:1. Total synonyms

an extremely rare occurence Ulman: a luxury that language can hardly

afford.

M. Breal spoke about a law of distribution inthe language (words should be synonyms,


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were synonyms in the past usually acquire

different meanings and are no longer

interchangeable).

Ex.:

2. Ideographic synonyms.

They bear the same idea but not identical intheir referential content.

Ex.: to ascentto mountto climb To happento occurto befallto chance Look appearance complexion

countenance

3. Dialectical synonyms.

Ex.: liftelevator

Queueline Autumnfall

4. Contextual synonyms.

Context can emphasize some certain semantic

trades & suppress other semantic trades;words with different meaning can become

synonyms in a certain context.

Ex.: tastelessdull Activecurious Curiousresponsive Synonyms can reflect social conventions. Ex.:


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clever bright brainy intelligentDever-

clever

neutra

l

Onlyspeakin

g about

younger

people

by older

people

Is not

used by

the

higher

educate

d people

Positive

connotatio

n

Stylisticall

y

remarked

5. Stylistic synonyms.

Belong to different styles.

child Infant Kid

neutral elevated colloquial

To die To kick the bucket

Synonymic condensation is typical of the English

language.

It refers to situations when writers or speakersbring together several words with one & the same

meaning to add more conviction, to description

more vivid.

Ex.:

Safe & sound


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Lord & master First & foremost Safe & secure Stress & strain By force & violence

It is deeply rooted in the history of English

language

It was customary to use French borrowingstogether with their native synonyms. They are

very often characterized by alliteration, rhymes,

idioms, etc.

Synonymythe coincidence in the essential

meanings of l inguistic elements which (at the sametime) usually preserve their differences in

connotations and stylistic character istics.

Synonymstwo or more words belonging to the

same part of speech and possessing one or more

identical or nearly identical denotational

meanings, interchangeable in some contexts. Theirdistinctive features can be connotations, stylistic

features, distr ibutional or depending on valency.

The difference between some synonyms can be

marked for register subject-f ield, mode, and style

(tenor) or their combinations.

Typology of synonyms:


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- cognitive synonyms s. which differ inrespect of the varieties of discourse in which

they appear; the distinction between such

items lies not so much in their inner lexicalmeaning, but in the sphere of their actual

application or usage, as besides the

referential basis (referential meaning q.v.)

the actual meanings of the words as found in

utterances reflect relations which hold

between lexical items within thecommunicative space, i.e. the functional

differentiation of discourse.

- contextual/context-dependent synonymssimilar in meaning only under some specific

distributional conditions, when the difference

between the meanings of two words is

contextually neutralized: e.g. buy and get;

- dialectal synonymspertaining to differentvariant of language from dialectal

stratification point of view;

- functional synonyms the term is notlexicological proper as it refers to different

syntactic units capable of performing one and

the same syntactic function (e.g. Subordinate

Object Clause and Complex Object

constructions are functional synonyms;


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- ideographic synonyms differ in shades ofmeaning, i.e. between which a semantic

different is statable;

- stylistic synonyms are distinguishedstylistically, i.e. in all kinds of emotional,

expressive and evaluative overtones without

explicitly displaying semantic difference;

- referential synonyms a vague term,concerns coreferential expressions, when one

denotatum can be defined differently fromdifferent points of view and in different

aspects: e.g. names Walter Scott and the

author of 'Ivanhoe' are coreferential because

they refer to one and the same denotatum

Sir Walter Scott;

- terminological synonyms two existingterms for one denotatum: e.g. borrowing and

loan-word; concept and notion (the difference

between them is not discriminated by some

linguists);

- total synonyms - can replace each other in anygiven context, without the slightest alteration in

denotative or emotional meaning and

connotations (e.g. noun and substantive,

functional affix, flection and inflection); is a rare

occasion.


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The dominant synonym expresses the notion

common to all synonyms of the group in the most

general way, without contributing any additional

information as to the manner, intensity, durationor any attending feature of the referent. So, any

dominant synonym is a typical basic-vocabulary

word (see Ch. 2). Its meaning, which is broad and

generalized, more or less "covers" the meanings

of the rest of the synonyms, so that it may be

substituted for any of them. It seems that here, atlast, the idea of interchangeability of synonyms

comes into its own. And yet, each such

substitution would mean an irreparable loss of

the additional information supplied by

connotative components of each synonym. So,

using to look instead of to glare, to stare, to peep,

to peer we preserve the general sense of the

utterance but lose a great deal in precision,

expressiveness and colour.

Euphemisms

There are words in every language which people

instinctively avoid because they are considered

indecent, indelicate, rude, too direct or impolite.

As the "offensive" referents, for which these

words stand, must still be alluded to, they are

often described in a round-about way, by usingsubstitutes called euphemisms. This device is


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dictated by social conventions which are

sometimes apt to be over-sensitive, see

"indecency" where there is none and seek

refinement in absurd avoidances andpretentiousness.

The word lavatory has, naturally, produced

many euphemisms. Here are some of them:

powder room, washroom, restroom, retiring

room, (public) comfort station, ladies' (room),gentlemen's (room), water-closet, w. c.

([dabljH`sJ]), public conveniences and even

Windsor castle (which is a comical phrase for

"deciphering" w.c.).

Pregnancy is another topic for "delicate"

references. Here are some of the euphemisms

used as substitutes for the adjective pregnant: in

an interesting condition, in a delicate condition,

in the family way, with a baby coming, (big) with

child, expecting.

The apparently innocent word trousers, not solong ago, had a great number of euphemistic

equivalents, . some of them quite funny:

unmentionables, inexpressibles, indescribables,

unwhisperables, you-mustn't-mention ems, sit-

upons. Nowadays, however, nobody seems to

regard this word as "indecent" any more, and so


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its . euphemistic substitutes are no longer in use.

y A landlady who refers to her lodgers as paying t

guests is also using a euphemism, aiming at half-

concealing the embarrassing fact that she letsrooms.

The love of affectation, which displays itself in

the t excessive use of euphemisms, has never been

a sign of a good taste or genuine refinement.

Quite the opposite. I Fiction writers have oftenridiculed pretentious people for their weak

attempts to express themselves in a delicate and

refined way.

9.3 Antonymy

Antonyms

a) The Definition of Antonyms

Words with diametrically opposite meanings are

called antonyms. We find antonyms among words

denoting:

- quality: hard soft; good bad;

;

- state: cleandirty; wealthpoverty;

;

- manner: quickly slowly; willingly


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unwillingly; ;

- direction: up down; here there; ;

- action or feeling: to smileto frown; to loveto

hate; ;

- features: tallshort; beautifulugly;

.

Words which do not have relative features do not

have antonyms.

Classifications of Antonyms

Antonyms can be divided into two groups: those

which are formed with the help of negative

affixes (derivational) and those which are of

different roots. There are affixes in English which

impart to the root the meaning of either the

presence or the absence of a certain quality,

property or state.

The most productive antonym-forming negative

prefixes are un- (unhappy, unimportant), mis-

(misfortune, misunderstanding). In the Ukrainian

language that is the prefix -(,). The prefix - is also rather


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productive: , ).

Antonym-forming suffixes impart to the word the

meaning of the presence or absence of the qualityor feature indicated by the root. The most

productive antonym-forming suffixes are ful,-

less: fruitful fruitless; hopeful hopeless.

The second group (antonyms proper) includes

words of different roots: daynight; richpoor, , .

Considered in meaning antonyms can be divided

into absolute, phraseological and complex.

Absolute antonyms are diametrically opposite

in meaning and remain antonyms in any word-

combinations. These are mostly found among

negative affix-formed antonyms.

Phraseological antonyms. When they become

components of phraseological groups or

compound words they sometimes lose their

absolutely antonymic nature.

e.g.: to give to take: to give a book to take a

book but to give way will not have to take way as

its antonym.


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Phraseological antonyms cannot be used in

parallel antonymic expressions indiscriminately.

We can say The books are alike - The books are

different but we cannot say an alike book thoughwe do say a different book.

Complex antonyms are those polysemantic words

that have different antipodes for their various

meanings.

e.g.: Soft has such meanings as

- not hard, yielding (soft seat, soft nature);

- not loud, subdued (soft voice, soft colours);

- mild, not severe (soft climate, soft punishment).

Naturally all these meanings will find different

words for antipodes:

- hard (hard seat, hard nature);

- loud, harsh (loud voice, harsh colours);

- severe (severe climate, severe punishment).

)Criteria of Antonyms


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Antonyms have traditionally been defined as

words of opposite meanings. This definition is not

sufficiently accurate, as it only shifts the problem

to the question of what words may be regarded aswords of opposite meanings. Two words are

considered antonyms if they are regularly

contrasted in actual speech. A regular and

frequent co-occurrence in such contexts is the

most important characteristic feature of

antonyms.

Another criterion is the possibility of substitution

and identical lexical valency. Members of the

same antonymic pair reveal nearly identical

spheres of collocation.

e.g.: The adjective hot in its figurative meanings

angry and excited is chiefly combined with

unpleasant emotions (anger, scorn) . Its antonym

cold occurs with the same words. But hot and

cold are used in combinations with the

emotionally neutral words fellow, man, but not

with the nouns implying positive evaluation

friend, supporter.

Antonyms form binary oppositions, the

distinctive feature of which is semantic polarity;its basis is regular co-occurrence in typical


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contexts combined with approximate sameness of

distribution and stylistic and emotional

equivalence.

9.5 HYPONYMY

Definition:

In linguistics, a specific term used to designate a

member of a class. Forinstance, daisyandroseare hyponyms of flower.

Words that are hyponyms of the same

superordinate term (that is, a hypernym) are

called co-hyponyms. See Examples and

Observations, below.

Examples and Observations:

"Hyponymy is a less familiar term to most people

than either synonymyorantonymy, but it refers

to a much more important sense relation. It

describes what happens when we say 'An X is akind of Y'--A daffodil is a kind of flower, or

simply, A daffodil is a flower."

(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of

the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge

University Press, 2003)
http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/linguisticsterm.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hypernym.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Synonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Synonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Antonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Antonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Antonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/Antonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Synonymy.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hypernym.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/linguisticsterm.htm


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A Test for Hyponymy

"Hyponymyinvolves specific instantiations of a

more general concept such as holdsbetween horseand animalor vermillionand redo

r buyand get. In each case, one word provides a

more specific type of concept than is displayed by

the other. The more specific word is called

a hyponym and the more general word is

the superordinate which may also be referred toas a hyperonymorhypernym. . .. Where the

words being classified according to this relation

arenouns, one can test for hyponymy by

replacing X and Y in the frame 'X is a kind of Y'

and seeing if the result makes sense. So we have

'(A) horse is a kind of animal' but not '(An)

animal is a kind of horse' and so on."

(Ronnie Cann, "Sense Relations." Semantics: An

I nternational H andbook of Natural Language and

Meaning, Vol. 1, ed. by Claudia Maienborn,

Klaus von Heusinger, and Paul Portner. Walter

de Gruyter, 2011)

Inclusion

"In general, there are a number of hyponyms for

each superordinate. For

example, boarand pigletare also hyponyms of thesuperordinate pig, since the meaning of each of
http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hypernym.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hypernym.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hypernym.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nounterm.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nounterm.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nounterm.htmhttp://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/hypernym.htm


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the three words sow, boar, andpiglet'contains' the

meaning of the word pig. (Note that in defining a

word like sow, boar, or piglet, the superordinate

word pig is often used as part of the definition:'A sowis an adult female pig.') Thus, it is not

surprising that hyponymy is sometimes referred

to as inclusion. The superordinate is the included

word and the hyponym is the including one."

(Frank Parker and Kathryn Riley, L inguistics for

Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994)

For example, most people know that"alligator" and "crocodile" are wordsdenoting similar reptiles, but manypeople are not sure how to tell the

animals apart. Exploring the senserelationship that binds the wordstogether (as cohyponyms of thehypernym "reptile") and examining themodifying details that differentiate them,people can add these two clarified wordsto their permanent vocabulary.

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Sense Relation 9