LEXICAL RELATION (2)

TRUTH CONDITIONAL SEMANTICS:LEXICAL FIELDS, KINSHIPHYPONYMY, SYNONYMY, ANTONYMY

TRUTH CONDITION

AN APPROACH TO MEANING BASED ON THE TRUTH CONDITION

TRUTH A CORRESPONDENCE WITH FACT / CORRECT DESCRIPTIONS OF STATES OF AFFAIRS IN THE WORLD.

LEXICAL FIELDS

1. What set a lexeme belongs to. e.g. sports (tennis, badminton, golf, soccer) and how it differs from other members of the same set. e.g. tennis vs soccer

2. Some sets involve part-whole relationships. e.g. arm hand finger and thumb3. Some sets form paradigms. male FemaleAdult man womenChild boy girl

Componential Analysis

Features:Man = [ adult male human] Binary features: the labels [+male] and [-female],

instead of [male] and [female].

KINSHIP: ANOTHER COMPONENT ANALYSIS

SENSE RELATION INVOLVING BLOOD TIES AND MARRIEGE

FEATURES: 1. [parent], [offspring], [sibling] and [spouse] 2. [male]M and [female] F

Combination of Features

father = M parent mother = F parent brother = M sibling sister = F sibling son = M offspring daughter = F offspring husband = M spouse wife = F spouse

uncle = parent’s M sibling; parent’s sibling’s M spouseaunt = parent’s F sibling; parent’s sibling’s F spousenephew = sibling’s M offspring; spouse’s sibling’s M offspringniece = sibling’s F offspring; spouse’s sibling’s F offspring.

HYPONYMY SOME WORDS HAVE A MORE GENERAL MEANING, WHILE

OTHERS HAVE A MORE SPECIFIC MEANING, WHILE REFERRING TO THE SAME ENTITY.

e.g. tree and oak oak is a more specific object than tree. tree may be used to refer to objects that are not oaks,

but which share with them the essential features of “treeness” (e.g. large plants, with trunk, branches, leaves, etc)

the term oak is the hyponym of tree, and the term tree is the superordinate of oak. Hyponym is a word whose referent is included in the referent of a more general word

ENTAILMENT

Consider these pairs of sentences: 1a Rover is a collie 1b Rover is a dog 2a There are tulips in the vase 2b There are flowers in the vase THE TRUTH RELATIONSHIP: a b b a T T T ? F ? F F

3a There is a tennis in the court3b There is a game in the court

Notes: 1) There are co-hyponym without a superordinate. e.g. a knife, a fork, a spoon 2) This is an instance of a lexical

gap (see Kreidler 1998, 94-95)

SYNONYM: A RELATIONSHIP OF “SAMENESS OF MEANING”

THE TRUTH RELATIONSHIP: 3a Jack is a seaman 3b Jack is a sailor

a b & b a ~a ~b & ~b~a

In tabular form: a b T T F F

Synonymy is an instance of mutual entailment, and of mutual hyponymy.

e.g. hide = conceal skinny = slender

But Points to consider

(1) A dialect difference e.g. postman Vs. mailman(2) Difference in connotation e.g. skinny, thin Vs. slender(3) A subtle matter of potential co-

occurance e.g. hide Vs. conceal(4) Compatible with the same subject. e.g. hard = difficult as in hard subject hard Vs difficult as in hard chair

ANTONYMY: MUTUALLY CONTRADICTORY

1. Antonyms are opposite in meaning. if one is true, the other must be false e.g. The television is on now The television is off now. big vs. small2. The meaning—like big, is very much

dependent on the topics they are associated with: a big rat is not as big as small elephant.

BINARY AND NON-BINARY ANTONYMS

1. BINARY ANTONYMSTHERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND

e.g. On Vs. Off An electric light is on/off.2. NON-BINARY ANTONYMS THERE ARE OPPOSITE ENDS OF A SCALE THAT INCLUDES VARIOUS INTERMEDIATE TERMS e.g. Old Vs. Young Mr. Jones is very old.

3. Non-binary antonyms can easily be modified: e.g. very old, rather young4. But, it is also a fact that binary antonyms

can be modified: e.g. quite dead, wide open5. Non-binary adjectives are gradable. e.g. very long, rather short 6. Binary adjectives are considered

ungradable though the expression “someone is too asleep.” is meaningful.

CONVERSE ANTONYMS

1. CONVERSE ANTONYMS TWO LEXEMES SO RELATED THAT EITHER ONE PRESUPPOSE THE OTHER.

e.g. If A gives X to B, B receives X from A2.Converseness is a kind of antonymy

between two terms.

Study these pairs of sentences: 1a Danny broke a window 1b A window was broken (by Danny)

2a Olga wrote a marvelous essay 2b A marvelous essay was written (by Olga)

3a Simon climbed the wall 3b The wall was climbed (by Simon) 4a This package weighs two kilos. 4b * Two kilos are weighed by this package.

Why 4b is not acceptable? Read Kreidler pp. 66-70

1. The object of the verb has the role of Associate (4a)

2. 1b, 2b, and 3b are accepted because if the object has the role of Affected (1a), Effect (2a), and Theme (3b).

SYMMETRY AND RECIPROCITY (A SPECIAL KIND OF CONVERSE)

1. SYMMETRY = INTERCHANGE If X is a symmetrical predicate, the

relationship a X b can also be expressed as b X a and as a and b X (each other).

e.g. 5a Line AB is parallel to Line CD 5b Line CD is parallel to Line AB 5c Line AB and Line CD are parallel

to each other, or simple as: 5d Line AB and CD are parallel (see Kreidler, 107)

RECIPROCITY

Reciprocity A relationship that can be expressed by each other or one another.

If X is a reciprocal predicate, the relationship a X b does not entail b X a but a and b X entail a x b and b X a.

e.g. 6a The truck collided with the bus. 6b The truck and the bus collided.