9. 1. Gradable antonyms Those which can be used in comparative
constructions. e.g. big/small Also the negative of one member of a
gradable pair does not necessarily imply the other. e.g. My car
isn't old doesnt necessarily mean My car is new. When one gradable
antonym is marked ,the other is unmarked. The unmarked member is
the one used in the question of degree. e.g. How high is the
mountain?(not How low is it?)
10. 2. Non-gradable antonyms ( complementary pairs) Comparative
constructions are not normally used. We dont say deader or more
dead. The negative of one member of a non-gradable pair does imply
the other one. e.g. My grandparents arent alive does indeed mean my
grandparents are dead. single/marred, true/false, male/female
11. 3. Reversives (antiautonym) one member of this antonymous
pair does not necessarily describe the negative of the other. e.g.
In undress/ dress ,undress doesnt mean not dress. enter/exit,
pack/unpack, lengthen/shorten
12. 4. Rational opposites Kinds of antonym which display
symmetry in their meaning. e.g. give/ receive, buy/sell, teacher
/pupil
13. 5. Autoantonyms Some words which are their own antonyms.
split apart e.g. cleave cling together Note: Antonym pairs are
pronounced the same but spelled differently are similar to
autoantonyms. e.g. raise/raze
14. C. Hyponymy When the meaning of one form is included in the
meaning of another word, the relationship is described as hyponymy.
e.g. animal/dog The specific term ,dog, is called hyponym, and the
general term ,animal, is called a superordinate. Co-hyponyms : are
two or more words that share the same superordinate term. e.g. dog,
horse, cat
15. D. Prototype The characteristic instance of a category is
known as the prototype. e.g. The most characteristic instance of
the category bird is the robin. The concept of the prototype helps
explain the meaning of certain words, like bird, not in terms of
clearest features( e.g. has feathers, wings ), but in terms of
resemblance to the clearest example.
16. E. Homophones and homonyms Homophones Two or more words
that have the same pronunciation, but different meanings. e.g.
flower/ flour, right/ write
17. Challenge Your Mind Why is number Six afraid? Because7
ate9?
18. C. Homonyms When one form (written or spoken) has two or
more unrelated meanings. e.g. bank (of a river)- bank (financial
institution). Note: All homonyms have lexical ambiguity.
19. G. Metonymy A type of relationship between words, based
simply on a close connection in every experience. That close
connection can be based on a container-content relation(
bottle/water, can/juice) A whole/part relation (car/wheels,
house/roof) Representative-symbol relation (king/crown, the
President/ the White house). e.g. He drank the whole bottle.
filling up the car, boiling the kettle.
20. H. Retronyms It is a term doesn't apply to the individual
words themselves, but the combination. e.g. whole milk, silent
movie
21. Challenge your mind What has fork and mouth, but cant eat?
River Fork: a place where a road, river, or tree divides into two
parts, or one of the parts it divides into. Mouth : the part of a
river where it joins the sea.
22. Entailment & Hyponymy
23. Semantic aspects in lexicon and lexical entries Entailment
Sometimes knowing the truth of one sentence entails, or necessarily
implies, the truth of another sentence. a. Max managed to finish
the Infinite Jest. b. Max finished the Infinite Jest. A sentence(
S1) entails a sentence(S2) if whenever S1 is true, S2 is also
true.
24. ? a.The dado is extinct. b.Berlin is the capital of
Germany.
25. Semantic Opposites a. Max failed to finish Infinite Jest.
b. Max didn't finish Infinite Jest. Contradiction It is a negative
entailment, that is the truth of one sentence necessarily implies
the falseness of another sentence. e.g. a. Scott is a baby. b.
Scott is an adult.
26. Hyponym (meaning inclusion) a. The thing in the cage is a
lion. b. The thing in the cage is an animal. a. The thing in the
grass is a snake. b. The thing in the grass is a reptile. a. The
thing in the tree is a sparrow. b. The thing in the tree is a bird.
X is a lion entails x is an animal'
27. Note: An important property of hyponymy is that it is a one
way relation.
28. Taxonomy A structure in which we meet more general terms as
we ascend to higher levels. creature animal bird fish reptile Lion
dog cow sparrow eagle ostrich trout eel shark snake lizard
newt
29. a. X borrowed/stole/found/bought Y b. X got Y a. X
walked/ran/stagger/crawled to Z b. X moved to Z
30. Partial Taxonomy get borrow steal find buy move walk run
stagger crawl
31. Meronymy The whole-part relation between the words. body
arm leg elbow wrist knee ankle
32. Lexical gap Think believe hope wish know realize
33. Synonymy (identity of meaning) Cognitive synonymy Lexemes
L1 and L2 are cognitive synonyms if and only if S(L1) entails S(L2)
and S(L2) entails S(L1). S(L1) S(L2) a. Sir Lanceiot rode a white
horse entails Sir Lanceiot rode a white steed b. Sir Lanceiot rode
a white steed entails Sir Lanceiot rode a white horse
34. a. The old lame horse gamely pulled the plough. b. The old
lame steed gamely pulled the plough.
35. Meaning Opposites
36. Meaning Opposites tall/short, high/low, fat/ thin,
old/young, old/new
37. Antonyms Two words with opposite meanings. a. x is tall
entails X is not short b. X is short entails X is not tall
38. Complementary(non-gradable antonyms) a. The store is open
entails the store is not closed b. the store is closed entails the
store is not open a. the store is not closed entails the store is
open b. the store is not open entails the store is closed
39. Semantic Features
40. a. ram, ewe, lamp b. Stallion, mare, foal Age Gender adult
Non-adult Male Ram Stallion Lamb Foal Female Ewe Mare Lamb
Foal
41. a. Ram [male, adult, ] b. Ewe [female, adult,] c. Lamb -
[non-adult,]
45. Octagon- a plane figure of eight sides and eight angles. a.
X is an octagon entails X is a plane figure b. X is an octagon
entails X has eight sides c. X is an octagon entails X has eight
angles X is a plane figure and X has eight sides and X has eight
angles entails X is an octagon
46. Spaniel- a kind of dog, usually liver- and white or
black-and white, with long pendent ears. X is a spaniel entails x
is a liver- and white or black-and white Spaniel-a kind of dog,
with long pendent ears.
47. Spaniel a kind of dog X is a kind of dog entails X is a
spaniel
48. a. Strictly speaking, an ostrich is a bird. b. ? Strictly
speaking, a robin is a bird. c. Technically, a whale is a mammal.
d. ? Strictly speaking, a trout is a fish.
49. The job of the linguist, like that of the biologist or the
botanist, is not to tell us how nature should behave, or what its
creations should look like, but to describe those creations in all
their messy glory and try to figure out what they can teach us
about life, the world, and, especially in the case of linguistics,
the workings of the human mind. Arika Okrent