Components and

Contrasts of Meaning Latif Y. Hamad-Amin

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Under the Subject of Semantics, We

Shall Deal with Concepts of

Semantic Features

Components of Meaning

Meaning Relations

Componential Analysis

Taxonomy

Relative Oppositions

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Semantic Feature

Semantic feature is a notational method which can be used to express the

existence or non-existence of pre-established semantic properties by using

plus and minus signs.

Semantic properties: The components of meaning of a word.

Meaning as collection of properties/features typically with two possible

values (+ / -)

Example of componential analysis:

baby is [+ young], [+ human], [+animate]

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Components of meaning

The meanings of the individual items can be expressed by combinations of

these features:

man girl boy woman horse window

ANIMATE + + + + + -

HUMAN + + + + - -

MALE + - + - + -

ADULT + - - + + -

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Neutralization

child and adult are not specified for sex, man ( = 'human being') is

unspecified for both sex and adulthood, and the adjective female (-MALE)

is unspecified for both species and adulthood. This feature represented by

the symbol [ o ].

man: +HUMAN (OMALE) (OADULT)

adult: +HUMAN +ADULT (OMALE)

child: +HUMAN -ADULT (OMALE)

female: (OHUMAN) (OADULT) –MALE

Men have lived on this planet for over a million years

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Meaning Relations

Synonym

Antonym

Polysemy

Hyponym

Incompatibility

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Synonym

Synonym: words that have the same meanings or that are closely related in meaning [more than one form having the same meaning ]

e.g.: ‘John is grown up.’ entails ‘John is an adult.’

Other examples:

1. answer = reply

2. Almost = nearly

3. Buy = purchase

4. Freedom = liberty

‘sameness’ is not ‘total sameness’- only one word would be appropriate in a sentence.

E.g. Sandy only had one correct answer on the test. (but NOT reply)

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Antonym

Antonym: words of opposite meaning.

For example: quick × slow, big × small, old × young, male × female, true ×false, alive × dead.

Antonyms are divided into two parts.

Gradable antonyms: they can be used in comparative constructions.

such as the pair big × small, like

This book is bigger than that book. ×

That book is smaller than this book.

Non-gradable Antonyms: Such antonyms have “complementary pairs, comparative constructions and negative of one member does imply the other.

For example : The person is not dead, it means that the person is alive. 5/13/2014

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Polysemy

A word which has multiple meanings related by extension,

e.g. bright: ‘shining’ ; ‘intelligent’

Shining = It is a bright sunshine.

Intelligent = He is a bright child.

‘Head’ of the body and the person at the top of a company.

‘Foot’ of a body and of a mountain and of the bed or chair.

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Hyponym Words whose meanings are specific instances of a more general word.

When the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another, the relationship is describedas hyponym. For example:

Flower: daffodil

Animal: dog

Dog: poodle

Vegetable: carrot

Tree: banyan

: …

:

The concept of “inclusion’ involved here.

Dog is a hyponym of animal. Animal is the superordinate of dog.

Dog is the specific lexical item (word), but Animal is the general one.

When we say that dog is a hyponym of animal, we mean that dog is a type of animal. 5/13/2014

Animal dog, cat, cow, camel, lion, giraffe,

Superordinate Hyponyms (Co-hyponyms)

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Look at the Meaning of Words in Some

Type of Hierarchical Relationship

Living things

Creature

Animal

Horse Dog

Poodle

Snake

Asp

Insect

Ant Cockroach

Plant

Vegetable

Carrot

Flower

Tulip

Tree

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Incompatibility

It is containing at least one feature contrasting with a feature in the other.

e.g. Woman: child

She is a woman. [ entails that she is not a child.]

the meaning of woman is incompatible with child because of the clash

between + ADULT and -ADULT

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Componential Analysis

Justifying a componential analysis means showing that the contrasts and

combinations of meaning one has recognized are necessary and sufficient

to explain relevant data.

Entailment: it is a relation between sentence meanings, or propositions.

e.g.

'The secretary is a woman' entails 'The secretary is an adult.‘

'I met two boys' entails 'I met two children.‘

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Inconsistency:

It is a situation in which two statements are different and cannot be true.

X is inconsistent with Y

If X is true, Y is false; also, if Y is true X is false.

'The secretary is a woman' is inconsistent with 'The secretary is a man.‘

'Her best pupil is a boy' is inconsistent with 'Her best pupil is an adult.'

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Tautology and Contradiction

Some types of tautology and contradiction, too, can be defined in terms of

hyponymy and incompatibility, as may be gathered from these examples:

Tautology is a way to express something by repeating or saying it in a

different way.

'That man is an adult' is a tautology.

Contradiction is a difference between two statements, ideas, beliefs or

opinions about something that cannot be true.

'That boy is a woman' is a contradiction.

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Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the relationship between the general term and the instance. It

is often be described using hierarchical diagram.

There are two types of taxonomy:

BINARY TAXONOMY

MULTIPLE TAXONOMY

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Taxonomy

BINARY TAXONOMY:

The absoluteness of the boundary needs explanation. It might be pointed

out that in objective, physical terms, there is no clear-cut opposition

between life and death;

'John is alive' is inconsistent with 'John is dead‘

'John is dead' entails 'John is not alive‘

'John is alive' entails 'John is not dead'.

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Taxonomy

MULTIPLE TAXONOMY

Examples of this type are semantic classes dealing with types of metal,

species of animal, or tree, or fruit, etc., primary colours, noises ('bang',

'crash1, 'clatter', etc.) and types of vessel ('vase', 'mug', etc.).

the absoluteness of boundaries may be justified in logical terms, for

example by the contradictoriness of a statement like

'This copper jug is made of silver'.

'This red book is brown'

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Relative Oppositions

Relative oppositions imply that there are several semantic features on

which the opposition rests. The verb to leave means ‘to go away from’ and

its opposite, the verb to arrive denotes ‘to reach a place, esp. at the end of

a journey’.

It is a relation which involves contrast of directions, for example:

own/belong to , parent/child, teacher/pupil

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The contrast between two relative features consists in the fact that the two arguments

(a and b in the diagram) may be related either in one order or in another.

John is the parent of James,

James is the parent of John.

a b

Parent of

Child of

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My uncle owns this car is synonymous with This car belongs to my uncle.

'John s married to Susan' entails 'Susan is married to John'.

'Clive is taller than Bill' is inconsistent with 'Bill is taller than Clive.' 'Clive is taller.

'The king is in his counting house and his counting house is in his castle'

entails 'The king is in his castle.' [transitivity ]

John is the parent of George, and George is the parent of Tom ' is

inconsistent with * John is the parent of Tom '. [ intransitivity ]

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Comments and Questions

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