English Lexicology (III)
English lexicology (III) 2
Contents
? 8,Word Meaning
? 9,Sense Relations
To be continued
Chapter 8 Word Meaning
8.1 Types of Word Meaning
8.2 Grammatical Meaning
8.3 Lexical meaning
8.4 Conceptual meaning
8.5 Associative meaning
English lexicology (III) 4
8.1 Types of Word Meaning
Conceptual
Meaning
Associative
Meaning
Stylistic meaning
Collocative meaning
Affective meaning
Connotative meaning Grammatical Meaning Lexical Meaning
Word Meaning
English lexicology (III) 5
8.2 Grammatical Meaning
? Grammatical meaning(语法意义 )refers to that
part of meaning of the word which indicates
grammatical concept or relationships such as
the word class,singular and plural forms of
nouns,tense meaning of verbs and their
inflectional forms (forget,forgets,forgot,
forgotten,forgetting),
English lexicology (III) 6
8.3 Lexical meaning
? Lexical meaning(词汇意义 ) is the meaning of an
isolated word in a dictionary,This component of
meaning is identical in all the forms of the word,
? E.g,‘go,goes,went,gone,going’ possess
different grammatical meaning,But they
have the same lexical meaning expressing
the process of movement,
? Lexical meaning itself has two components,
conceptual meaning and associative meaning,
English lexicology (III) 7
8.4 Conceptual meaning
? Conceptual meaning(概念意义 ) (also known as
denotative meaning) is the meaning given in the
dictionary and forms the core of word meaning,
Conceptual meaning forms the basis for
communication as the same word has the same
conceptual meaning to all the speakers of the
same language,
? Sun,a heavenly body which gives off light,
heat,and energy
? Mother,a female parent
English lexicology (III) 8
8.5 Associative meaning
? Associate meaning(关联意义 ) is the secondary
meaning supplemented to the conceptual
meaning,It differs from the conceptual meaning
in that it is liable to the influence of such factors
as culture,experience,religion,geographical
region,class background,education,etc,
? Associative meaning comprises four types,
connotative meaning,stylistic meaning,affective
meaning,and collocative meaning,
English lexicology (III) 9
8.5 Associative meaning
? Connotative meaning (内涵意义 )
? In contrast to denotative meaning,connotative meaning
refers to the overtones or associations which a word
suggests or implies,
? Mother (a female parent) is often associated with
‘love’,‘care’,‘tenderness’,‘forgiving’,etc,
? Home (a dwelling place) may suggest ‘family,warmth,
safety,love,convenience’,etc,‘East or west,home
is best’,
? Statesman implies ‘loyalty,devotion to public
welfare’; politician implies ‘deceit,power-drunk,
bragging,villainy’,
English lexicology (III) 10
8.5 Associative meaning
?Connotative meaning
?For people with different cultural backgrounds,a
word might evoke different associations,
China Britain
magpie Good luck,good will wordiness
owl bad luck,malignance composure,wisdom
red happiness,good luck,
success
unfavoured state
‘ red-light district?
?red flags?
?in the red”
English lexicology (III) 11
8.5 Associative meaning
?Stylistic meaning(文体意义 )
? Words may have stylistic features,which make
them appropriate for different contexts,
? This stylistic difference is especially true of
synonyms,It is observed that there are few
words which have both the same conceptual
meaning and stylistic meaning,
English lexicology (III) 12
8.5 Associative meaning
?Stylistic meaning
? Degrees of formality
? Formal
? Neutral/Common
? Informal/ Colloquial
? Examples
? male parent,father,daddy
? residence,home,pad
English lexicology (III) 13
8.5 Associative meaning
?Stylistic meaning
? bodily----corporal
? brotherly---fraternal
? tooth----dental
? blood----sanguinary
? hereby,thereby,therefore,however,moreover,
furthermore
English lexicology (III) 14
8.5 Associative meaning
? Affective meaning(情感意义 )
? Affective meaning indicates the speaker?s attitude
towards the person or thing in question,
? Words that have emotive values may fall into two
categories,
? Appreciative or commendatory(褒义 ),words of
positive overtones used to show appreciation or
approval,
? Pejorative or derogatory(贬义 ),words of negative
connotations imply disapproval,contempt or
criticism,
English lexicology (III) 15
8.5 Associative meaning
?Affective meaning
? Appreciative
? love,cherish,prize,treasure,admire,
worship,charm,fascinate,attract
?Pejorative
? hate,detest,loathe,abominate,vicious,
good-for-nothing
English lexicology (III) 16
8.5 Associative meaning
?Affective meaning
? This affective difference is especially true of
synonyms,
Appreciative Neutral Pejorative
gathering crowd mob
senior citizen old person fossil
slender,slim thin skinny
unique unusual bizarre
English lexicology (III) 17
8.5 Associative meaning
?Collocative meaning(搭配意义 )
? Collocative meaning consists of the associations
a word acquires in its collocation,In other words,
it is that part of the word meaning suggested by
the words before or after the word in discussion,
English lexicology (III) 18
8.5 Associative meaning
?Collocative meaning
??A bit or a little? collocates with words of negative
connotations,drunk,jealous,gloomy,tired,
worried…
??Highly? collocates with words of positive
connotations,important,significant,intelligent,
sensitive…
English lexicology (III) 19
8.5 Associative meaning
?Collocative meaning
? wide awake,fully awake,sound asleep,far apart
(?Very? is inappropriate here)
? tremble with fear,quiver with excitement
Chapter 9 Sense Relations
9.1 Sense Relations
9.2 Hyponymy
9.3 Synonymy
9.4 Antonymy
9.5 Homonymy
English lexicology (III) 21
9.1 Sense Relations
?What are sense relations(语义关系 )?
? Words are arbitrary symbols and are
independent identities so far as heir outer facet---
spelling and pronunciation,is concerned,But
semantically,all words are related in one way or
another,hence sense relations,In light of sense
relations,words can be classified semantically,
English lexicology (III) 22
9.1 Sense Relations
?Types of sense relations
? Hyponymy(上下义关系 )---semantic inclusion
? Synonymy(同义关系 )---semantic similarity
? Antonymy(反义关系 )---semantic opposition
? Homonymy(同形或同音异义关系 )
English lexicology (III) 23
9.2 Hyponymy
?The definition of hyponymy
? Hyponymy deals with the relationship of
semantic inclusion,It refers to the relationship
which obtains between the genus (general lexical
item)and the species(specific lexical items),
? The general lexical item is called the
superordinate(上义词 ),
? The specific words are known as
hyponyms(下义词 ),
English lexicology (III) 24
9.2 Hyponymy
literature
prose fiction drama
short story novelette novel
poetry
English lexicology (III) 25
9.2 Hyponymy
swimming
boxing running race wrestling weight-lifting
hurdle race running
relay sprinting long-distance race
gymnastics athletics ball games
sports
English lexicology (III) 26
9.2 Hyponymy
? The semantic field theory(语义场理论 )
? The vocabulary of a language is not simply a listing of
independent items,but is organized into areas or fields,
the members of which are joined together by some
common semantic component,The whole vocabulary
can be divided up into fields,Words in each field are
semantically related and define one another,Vocabulary
is seen as ? an integrated system of lexemes interrelated
in sense?,
? ------Jost Trier (a German linguist)
English lexicology (III) 27
9.2 Hyponymy
? The semantic field theory
? Most languages share same semantic fields,
? Time
? Space
? Age
? Kinship
? Food
? Color
? Emotion
? ………
English lexicology (III) 28
9.2 Hyponymy
?The semantic field theory
? The semantic field of the same concept may not
have the same members in different languages,
thus lexical gaps(词汇空缺 ) occur,
English lexicology (III) 29
9.2 Hyponymy
?The semantic field theory
? The semantic field of kinship
? Members in English,13----father,mother,
son,daughter,brother,sister,uncle,aunt,
nephew,niece,cousin,husband,wife,
? Members in Chinese,………,
? The semantic field of food
? hot dog,sandwich,hamburger
? 豆腐,馒头
English lexicology (III) 30
9.2 Hyponymy
?The semantic field theory
emotion
joy love hate fear grief
English lexicology (III) 31
9.2 Hyponymy
?Implications of semantic field for vocabulary
learning
character/ virtue
easy-going,aggressive,arrogant,self-conceited,
modest,considerate,sympathetic,extrovert,introvert,
amicable,Ambitious,honest,loyal,obedient,
strong-willed,Iron-willed,trustworthy,obstinate,
stubborn,unyielding,confident
English lexicology (III) 32
9.3 Synonymy
?Types of synonyms
? Absolute or perfect synonyms,words which are
identical in meaning in all its aspects,I.e,both in
grammatical and lexical meaning,including
conceptual and associative meaning,Such
synonyms are rare in natural languages,
? compounding and composition;
? word building and word-formation;
? malnutrition and undernourishment
English lexicology (III) 33
9.3 Synonymy
?Types of synonyms
? Relative or partial synonyms,words which are
similar or nearly the same in denotation,but
embrace different shades of meaning or different
degree of a given quality,It is this type of
synonyms we shall deal with here,
English lexicology (III) 34
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Borrowing
Native Borrowed
room chamber
foe enemy
help aid
leave depart
bodily corporal
English lexicology (III) 35
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Borrowing
Native French Latin
time age epoch
belly stomach abdomen
fire flame conflagration
ask question interrogate
English lexicology (III) 36
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Dialects and regional English
lift elevator
tube subway
petrol gasoline
call box telephone booth
charm glamour (ScotE)
English lexicology (III) 37
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Figurative and euphemistic of words
occupation walk of life
dreamer star-gazer
drunk elevated
lie distort the fact
English lexicology (III) 38
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Coincidence with idiomatic expressions
pick up choose
give up abandon
go on with continue
put off postpone
win gain the upper hand
hesitate be in two minds
English lexicology (III) 39
9.3 Synonymy
?Semantically synonymous field(同义语义场 )
?Base on semantic similarity,synonyms are
usually arranged into synonymic groups or sets,
Within this groups there is the most general term
known as,synonymic dominant”(主导同义词 ),
The synonymic dominant is the common
denotational component that brings two or more
words together into a synonymic group(同义词
群 ),which can be called a semantically
synonymous field,
English lexicology (III) 40
9.3 Synonymy
?Semantically synonymous field
synonymic
dominant
synonymic group
Leave depart,quit,retire,withdraw,
exit…
Look stare,gaze,eye,peep,
glance…
Picture painting,photo,drawing…
English lexicology (III) 41
9.3 Synonymy
? Implications of Semantically synonymous field
? General------specific
? Say/speak,murmur,scream,retort,argue,protest,
claim,state,declare
? Monotony----vividness
? We have but one aim and one single,irrevocable
purpose,We are resolved to destroy Hitler and every
vestige of the Nazi regime,From this nothing will
turn us,nothing,We will never parley,we will never
negotiate with Hitler or any of his gangs,
? -------Winston Churchill
? Barbie doll’s fashion,fashions,costumes,outfits,
apparel,dress…,,
English lexicology (III) 42
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in denotation
------look,stare,gaze,eye,peep,glance
------laugh,chortle,chuckle,giggle,guffaw,
snicker/snigger,titter
------extend,increase,expand
-------make one?s way,thread one?s way,dig one?s way,
break one?s way,push one?s way,shoulder one?s way,
elbow one?s way,worm one?s way
English lexicology (III) 43
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in denotation
-----let,allow,permit
-----want,wish,desire
-----rich,wealthy
-----big,large,huge
English lexicology (III) 44
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in denotation
------chilly,frigid,icy,cold,frosty,cool
Cool-----chilly-----cold-----frosty-----frigid-----icy
English lexicology (III) 45
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in connotation
? Differ in emotional coloring
? Differ in stylistic coloring
English lexicology (III) 46
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in collocation
-----empty (box,street,room),vacant (seat,
chair,apartment),blank (check,a blank
sheet of paper)
------a large (not big) amount/number/quantity
of…
------great courage/confidence/wisdom
------make efforts,take measures
English lexicology (III) 47
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in collocation
-----accuse…,of,charge… with,rebuke… for,
reproach… with/for
-----a lump of sugar,a sheet of paper,a slice of
meat/bread,a cake of soap,a chunk of wood
-----a flock of sheep/goats/birds,a herb of
cows/elephants/zebras/antelopes,a school of
fish/whales/dolphins,a swarm of
ants/bees/wasps/locusts,a stable of horses,a pride
of lions
English lexicology (III) 48
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
?Difference in distribution
Pre-modifier VS post-modifier
---He is the greatest living novelist in England,
---He is the greatest novelist alive in England,
---Don?t disturb the sleeping old man,
---Don?t disturb the old man asleep,
English lexicology (III) 49
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? The losing team was from further
competition,
? Firefighters a big fire,
? The meeting has been because of
the flu,
? The government the tax on alcohol,
abolish,cancel,extinguish,eliminate
extinguished
eliminated
cancelled
abolished
English lexicology (III) 50
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? She made an of ideas she wanted to
present in her talk,
? I have read the of his book,
? The chemistry book had a at the end
of each chapter,
abstract,outline,summary
outline
abstract
summary
English lexicology (III) 51
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? It is to judge a foreign culture only
by its food,
? There was an idea that the earth
was flat and motionless,
? You were very to trust him,
absurd,ridiculous,silly
ridiculous
absurd
silly
English lexicology (III) 52
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? Reading the mind only with materials of
knowledge,it is thinking that makes what we read ours,
? This hotel can up to 500 guests,
? We can't that expensive sports car,
? The company the customer's wish and
sent the delivery overnight,
? The tall building a beautiful view of the
ocean,
accommodate,afford,furnish
furnishes
accommodate
afford
accommodated
affords
English lexicology (III) 53
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? The boss him strongly for his
negligence
? The police him of theft,
? The police him with murder,
accuse,charge,rebuke
rebuked
accused
charged
English lexicology (III) 54
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? An lack of food brought hunger to the Iraqi
people,
? It is that you study hard for the exam or you
will fail it,
? Improved consumer confidence is to an
economic recovery,
? We have an need for help; we are running
out of water,
acute,critical,crucial,urgent
acute
critical
crucial
urgent
English lexicology (III) 55
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? It is whether the economy will get better,
? His changes of recovery from illness are,
? He has some ideas about what to do,but
nothing specific,
? His directions confused us; we did not know
which of the two roads to take,
? The poetry of Ezra Pound is sometimes difficult to
understand because it contains so many
------------ - ------ references,
ambiguous,obscure,vague,unclear,dim
unclear
dim
vague
ambiguous
obscure
English lexicology (III) 56
9.4 Antonymy
?The definition of antonymy
? Antonymy is concerned with semantic
opposition,Antonyms can be defined as words
which are opposite in meaning,They are a
variety of,oppositeness”,They can be classified
into three major groups,
English lexicology (III) 57
9.4 Antonymy
?Types of antonyms
? Contraries
? Complementaries
? Conversives
? Semantic incompatibles
English lexicology (III) 58
9.4 Antonymy
?Contraries(相对反义词 /两极反义词 )
? Antonyms of this type are best viewed in terms
of a scale running between two poles or
extremes,The two opposites are gradable,
? hot,warm,cool,cold
? beautiful,pretty,good-looking,plain,ugly
? old-young,open-close,big-small,poor-rich
English lexicology (III) 59
9.4 Antonymy
?Complementaries(绝对反义词 /互补反义词 )
? These antonyms truly represent oppositeness,
They are so opposed to each other that they are
mutually exclusive and admit no possibility
between them (non-gradable),
? dead-alive,present-absent,male-female,
true-false,approval-disapproval,capable-
incapable
? Prefixes,dis-,in-,il-,ir-,im-,un-……
English lexicology (III) 60
9.4 Antonymy
?Conversives(换位反义词 /关系反义词 )
? This third type consists of relational opposites,
? Husband-wife,fiancé-fiancée,employer-
employee,debtor-creditor
? Above-below,in front of-behind,up-down
? Buy-sell,give-receive,go-come,gain-lose
English lexicology (III) 61
9.4 Antonymy
?Semantic incompatibles(多项不相容词 )
? North,south,east,west
? Spring,summer,autumn,winter
?January,February,March,……December
?Sunday,Monday,….Saturday
English lexicology (III) 62
9.4 Antonymy
?A word can have more than one antonyms
? Fresh bread------stale bread
? Fresh air-----stuffy air
? Fresh flowers-----faded flowers
? Fresh look----tired look
English lexicology (III) 63
9.4 Antonymy
?Stylistic purpose of the use of antonyms
? To achieve emphasis by putting contrasting
ideas together,to express economically the
opposite of a particular thought,
English lexicology (III) 64
9.4 Antonymy
?Stylistic purpose of the use of antonyms
? United we stand,divided we fall,
? Hope for the best and prepare for the worst,
? Visible darkness,a victorious defeat,a clever
fool,an open secret,painful pleasure,cruel
kindness,
English lexicology (III) 65
9.4 Antonymy
?Stylistic purpose of the use of antonyms
? It was the best of times,it was the worst of times; it was the
age of wisdom,it was the age of foolishness; it was the
epoch of belief,it was the era of incredulity; it was the
season of Light,it was the season of Darkness; it was the
Spring of Hope,it was the Winter of Despair; we had
everything before us,we had nothing before us; we were all
going direct to Heaven,we were all going direct the other
way,
(Charles Dickens,A Tale of Two Cities)
English lexicology (III) 2
Contents
? 8,Word Meaning
? 9,Sense Relations
To be continued
Chapter 8 Word Meaning
8.1 Types of Word Meaning
8.2 Grammatical Meaning
8.3 Lexical meaning
8.4 Conceptual meaning
8.5 Associative meaning
English lexicology (III) 4
8.1 Types of Word Meaning
Conceptual
Meaning
Associative
Meaning
Stylistic meaning
Collocative meaning
Affective meaning
Connotative meaning Grammatical Meaning Lexical Meaning
Word Meaning
English lexicology (III) 5
8.2 Grammatical Meaning
? Grammatical meaning(语法意义 )refers to that
part of meaning of the word which indicates
grammatical concept or relationships such as
the word class,singular and plural forms of
nouns,tense meaning of verbs and their
inflectional forms (forget,forgets,forgot,
forgotten,forgetting),
English lexicology (III) 6
8.3 Lexical meaning
? Lexical meaning(词汇意义 ) is the meaning of an
isolated word in a dictionary,This component of
meaning is identical in all the forms of the word,
? E.g,‘go,goes,went,gone,going’ possess
different grammatical meaning,But they
have the same lexical meaning expressing
the process of movement,
? Lexical meaning itself has two components,
conceptual meaning and associative meaning,
English lexicology (III) 7
8.4 Conceptual meaning
? Conceptual meaning(概念意义 ) (also known as
denotative meaning) is the meaning given in the
dictionary and forms the core of word meaning,
Conceptual meaning forms the basis for
communication as the same word has the same
conceptual meaning to all the speakers of the
same language,
? Sun,a heavenly body which gives off light,
heat,and energy
? Mother,a female parent
English lexicology (III) 8
8.5 Associative meaning
? Associate meaning(关联意义 ) is the secondary
meaning supplemented to the conceptual
meaning,It differs from the conceptual meaning
in that it is liable to the influence of such factors
as culture,experience,religion,geographical
region,class background,education,etc,
? Associative meaning comprises four types,
connotative meaning,stylistic meaning,affective
meaning,and collocative meaning,
English lexicology (III) 9
8.5 Associative meaning
? Connotative meaning (内涵意义 )
? In contrast to denotative meaning,connotative meaning
refers to the overtones or associations which a word
suggests or implies,
? Mother (a female parent) is often associated with
‘love’,‘care’,‘tenderness’,‘forgiving’,etc,
? Home (a dwelling place) may suggest ‘family,warmth,
safety,love,convenience’,etc,‘East or west,home
is best’,
? Statesman implies ‘loyalty,devotion to public
welfare’; politician implies ‘deceit,power-drunk,
bragging,villainy’,
English lexicology (III) 10
8.5 Associative meaning
?Connotative meaning
?For people with different cultural backgrounds,a
word might evoke different associations,
China Britain
magpie Good luck,good will wordiness
owl bad luck,malignance composure,wisdom
red happiness,good luck,
success
unfavoured state
‘ red-light district?
?red flags?
?in the red”
English lexicology (III) 11
8.5 Associative meaning
?Stylistic meaning(文体意义 )
? Words may have stylistic features,which make
them appropriate for different contexts,
? This stylistic difference is especially true of
synonyms,It is observed that there are few
words which have both the same conceptual
meaning and stylistic meaning,
English lexicology (III) 12
8.5 Associative meaning
?Stylistic meaning
? Degrees of formality
? Formal
? Neutral/Common
? Informal/ Colloquial
? Examples
? male parent,father,daddy
? residence,home,pad
English lexicology (III) 13
8.5 Associative meaning
?Stylistic meaning
? bodily----corporal
? brotherly---fraternal
? tooth----dental
? blood----sanguinary
? hereby,thereby,therefore,however,moreover,
furthermore
English lexicology (III) 14
8.5 Associative meaning
? Affective meaning(情感意义 )
? Affective meaning indicates the speaker?s attitude
towards the person or thing in question,
? Words that have emotive values may fall into two
categories,
? Appreciative or commendatory(褒义 ),words of
positive overtones used to show appreciation or
approval,
? Pejorative or derogatory(贬义 ),words of negative
connotations imply disapproval,contempt or
criticism,
English lexicology (III) 15
8.5 Associative meaning
?Affective meaning
? Appreciative
? love,cherish,prize,treasure,admire,
worship,charm,fascinate,attract
?Pejorative
? hate,detest,loathe,abominate,vicious,
good-for-nothing
English lexicology (III) 16
8.5 Associative meaning
?Affective meaning
? This affective difference is especially true of
synonyms,
Appreciative Neutral Pejorative
gathering crowd mob
senior citizen old person fossil
slender,slim thin skinny
unique unusual bizarre
English lexicology (III) 17
8.5 Associative meaning
?Collocative meaning(搭配意义 )
? Collocative meaning consists of the associations
a word acquires in its collocation,In other words,
it is that part of the word meaning suggested by
the words before or after the word in discussion,
English lexicology (III) 18
8.5 Associative meaning
?Collocative meaning
??A bit or a little? collocates with words of negative
connotations,drunk,jealous,gloomy,tired,
worried…
??Highly? collocates with words of positive
connotations,important,significant,intelligent,
sensitive…
English lexicology (III) 19
8.5 Associative meaning
?Collocative meaning
? wide awake,fully awake,sound asleep,far apart
(?Very? is inappropriate here)
? tremble with fear,quiver with excitement
Chapter 9 Sense Relations
9.1 Sense Relations
9.2 Hyponymy
9.3 Synonymy
9.4 Antonymy
9.5 Homonymy
English lexicology (III) 21
9.1 Sense Relations
?What are sense relations(语义关系 )?
? Words are arbitrary symbols and are
independent identities so far as heir outer facet---
spelling and pronunciation,is concerned,But
semantically,all words are related in one way or
another,hence sense relations,In light of sense
relations,words can be classified semantically,
English lexicology (III) 22
9.1 Sense Relations
?Types of sense relations
? Hyponymy(上下义关系 )---semantic inclusion
? Synonymy(同义关系 )---semantic similarity
? Antonymy(反义关系 )---semantic opposition
? Homonymy(同形或同音异义关系 )
English lexicology (III) 23
9.2 Hyponymy
?The definition of hyponymy
? Hyponymy deals with the relationship of
semantic inclusion,It refers to the relationship
which obtains between the genus (general lexical
item)and the species(specific lexical items),
? The general lexical item is called the
superordinate(上义词 ),
? The specific words are known as
hyponyms(下义词 ),
English lexicology (III) 24
9.2 Hyponymy
literature
prose fiction drama
short story novelette novel
poetry
English lexicology (III) 25
9.2 Hyponymy
swimming
boxing running race wrestling weight-lifting
hurdle race running
relay sprinting long-distance race
gymnastics athletics ball games
sports
English lexicology (III) 26
9.2 Hyponymy
? The semantic field theory(语义场理论 )
? The vocabulary of a language is not simply a listing of
independent items,but is organized into areas or fields,
the members of which are joined together by some
common semantic component,The whole vocabulary
can be divided up into fields,Words in each field are
semantically related and define one another,Vocabulary
is seen as ? an integrated system of lexemes interrelated
in sense?,
? ------Jost Trier (a German linguist)
English lexicology (III) 27
9.2 Hyponymy
? The semantic field theory
? Most languages share same semantic fields,
? Time
? Space
? Age
? Kinship
? Food
? Color
? Emotion
? ………
English lexicology (III) 28
9.2 Hyponymy
?The semantic field theory
? The semantic field of the same concept may not
have the same members in different languages,
thus lexical gaps(词汇空缺 ) occur,
English lexicology (III) 29
9.2 Hyponymy
?The semantic field theory
? The semantic field of kinship
? Members in English,13----father,mother,
son,daughter,brother,sister,uncle,aunt,
nephew,niece,cousin,husband,wife,
? Members in Chinese,………,
? The semantic field of food
? hot dog,sandwich,hamburger
? 豆腐,馒头
English lexicology (III) 30
9.2 Hyponymy
?The semantic field theory
emotion
joy love hate fear grief
English lexicology (III) 31
9.2 Hyponymy
?Implications of semantic field for vocabulary
learning
character/ virtue
easy-going,aggressive,arrogant,self-conceited,
modest,considerate,sympathetic,extrovert,introvert,
amicable,Ambitious,honest,loyal,obedient,
strong-willed,Iron-willed,trustworthy,obstinate,
stubborn,unyielding,confident
English lexicology (III) 32
9.3 Synonymy
?Types of synonyms
? Absolute or perfect synonyms,words which are
identical in meaning in all its aspects,I.e,both in
grammatical and lexical meaning,including
conceptual and associative meaning,Such
synonyms are rare in natural languages,
? compounding and composition;
? word building and word-formation;
? malnutrition and undernourishment
English lexicology (III) 33
9.3 Synonymy
?Types of synonyms
? Relative or partial synonyms,words which are
similar or nearly the same in denotation,but
embrace different shades of meaning or different
degree of a given quality,It is this type of
synonyms we shall deal with here,
English lexicology (III) 34
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Borrowing
Native Borrowed
room chamber
foe enemy
help aid
leave depart
bodily corporal
English lexicology (III) 35
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Borrowing
Native French Latin
time age epoch
belly stomach abdomen
fire flame conflagration
ask question interrogate
English lexicology (III) 36
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Dialects and regional English
lift elevator
tube subway
petrol gasoline
call box telephone booth
charm glamour (ScotE)
English lexicology (III) 37
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Figurative and euphemistic of words
occupation walk of life
dreamer star-gazer
drunk elevated
lie distort the fact
English lexicology (III) 38
9.3 Synonymy
?Sources of synonyms
? Coincidence with idiomatic expressions
pick up choose
give up abandon
go on with continue
put off postpone
win gain the upper hand
hesitate be in two minds
English lexicology (III) 39
9.3 Synonymy
?Semantically synonymous field(同义语义场 )
?Base on semantic similarity,synonyms are
usually arranged into synonymic groups or sets,
Within this groups there is the most general term
known as,synonymic dominant”(主导同义词 ),
The synonymic dominant is the common
denotational component that brings two or more
words together into a synonymic group(同义词
群 ),which can be called a semantically
synonymous field,
English lexicology (III) 40
9.3 Synonymy
?Semantically synonymous field
synonymic
dominant
synonymic group
Leave depart,quit,retire,withdraw,
exit…
Look stare,gaze,eye,peep,
glance…
Picture painting,photo,drawing…
English lexicology (III) 41
9.3 Synonymy
? Implications of Semantically synonymous field
? General------specific
? Say/speak,murmur,scream,retort,argue,protest,
claim,state,declare
? Monotony----vividness
? We have but one aim and one single,irrevocable
purpose,We are resolved to destroy Hitler and every
vestige of the Nazi regime,From this nothing will
turn us,nothing,We will never parley,we will never
negotiate with Hitler or any of his gangs,
? -------Winston Churchill
? Barbie doll’s fashion,fashions,costumes,outfits,
apparel,dress…,,
English lexicology (III) 42
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in denotation
------look,stare,gaze,eye,peep,glance
------laugh,chortle,chuckle,giggle,guffaw,
snicker/snigger,titter
------extend,increase,expand
-------make one?s way,thread one?s way,dig one?s way,
break one?s way,push one?s way,shoulder one?s way,
elbow one?s way,worm one?s way
English lexicology (III) 43
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in denotation
-----let,allow,permit
-----want,wish,desire
-----rich,wealthy
-----big,large,huge
English lexicology (III) 44
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in denotation
------chilly,frigid,icy,cold,frosty,cool
Cool-----chilly-----cold-----frosty-----frigid-----icy
English lexicology (III) 45
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in connotation
? Differ in emotional coloring
? Differ in stylistic coloring
English lexicology (III) 46
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in collocation
-----empty (box,street,room),vacant (seat,
chair,apartment),blank (check,a blank
sheet of paper)
------a large (not big) amount/number/quantity
of…
------great courage/confidence/wisdom
------make efforts,take measures
English lexicology (III) 47
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? Difference in collocation
-----accuse…,of,charge… with,rebuke… for,
reproach… with/for
-----a lump of sugar,a sheet of paper,a slice of
meat/bread,a cake of soap,a chunk of wood
-----a flock of sheep/goats/birds,a herb of
cows/elephants/zebras/antelopes,a school of
fish/whales/dolphins,a swarm of
ants/bees/wasps/locusts,a stable of horses,a pride
of lions
English lexicology (III) 48
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
?Difference in distribution
Pre-modifier VS post-modifier
---He is the greatest living novelist in England,
---He is the greatest novelist alive in England,
---Don?t disturb the sleeping old man,
---Don?t disturb the old man asleep,
English lexicology (III) 49
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? The losing team was from further
competition,
? Firefighters a big fire,
? The meeting has been because of
the flu,
? The government the tax on alcohol,
abolish,cancel,extinguish,eliminate
extinguished
eliminated
cancelled
abolished
English lexicology (III) 50
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? She made an of ideas she wanted to
present in her talk,
? I have read the of his book,
? The chemistry book had a at the end
of each chapter,
abstract,outline,summary
outline
abstract
summary
English lexicology (III) 51
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? It is to judge a foreign culture only
by its food,
? There was an idea that the earth
was flat and motionless,
? You were very to trust him,
absurd,ridiculous,silly
ridiculous
absurd
silly
English lexicology (III) 52
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? Reading the mind only with materials of
knowledge,it is thinking that makes what we read ours,
? This hotel can up to 500 guests,
? We can't that expensive sports car,
? The company the customer's wish and
sent the delivery overnight,
? The tall building a beautiful view of the
ocean,
accommodate,afford,furnish
furnishes
accommodate
afford
accommodated
affords
English lexicology (III) 53
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? The boss him strongly for his
negligence
? The police him of theft,
? The police him with murder,
accuse,charge,rebuke
rebuked
accused
charged
English lexicology (III) 54
9.3 Synonymy
?Discrimination of synonyms
? An lack of food brought hunger to the Iraqi
people,
? It is that you study hard for the exam or you
will fail it,
? Improved consumer confidence is to an
economic recovery,
? We have an need for help; we are running
out of water,
acute,critical,crucial,urgent
acute
critical
crucial
urgent
English lexicology (III) 55
9.3 Synonymy
? Discrimination of synonyms
? It is whether the economy will get better,
? His changes of recovery from illness are,
? He has some ideas about what to do,but
nothing specific,
? His directions confused us; we did not know
which of the two roads to take,
? The poetry of Ezra Pound is sometimes difficult to
understand because it contains so many
------------ - ------ references,
ambiguous,obscure,vague,unclear,dim
unclear
dim
vague
ambiguous
obscure
English lexicology (III) 56
9.4 Antonymy
?The definition of antonymy
? Antonymy is concerned with semantic
opposition,Antonyms can be defined as words
which are opposite in meaning,They are a
variety of,oppositeness”,They can be classified
into three major groups,
English lexicology (III) 57
9.4 Antonymy
?Types of antonyms
? Contraries
? Complementaries
? Conversives
? Semantic incompatibles
English lexicology (III) 58
9.4 Antonymy
?Contraries(相对反义词 /两极反义词 )
? Antonyms of this type are best viewed in terms
of a scale running between two poles or
extremes,The two opposites are gradable,
? hot,warm,cool,cold
? beautiful,pretty,good-looking,plain,ugly
? old-young,open-close,big-small,poor-rich
English lexicology (III) 59
9.4 Antonymy
?Complementaries(绝对反义词 /互补反义词 )
? These antonyms truly represent oppositeness,
They are so opposed to each other that they are
mutually exclusive and admit no possibility
between them (non-gradable),
? dead-alive,present-absent,male-female,
true-false,approval-disapproval,capable-
incapable
? Prefixes,dis-,in-,il-,ir-,im-,un-……
English lexicology (III) 60
9.4 Antonymy
?Conversives(换位反义词 /关系反义词 )
? This third type consists of relational opposites,
? Husband-wife,fiancé-fiancée,employer-
employee,debtor-creditor
? Above-below,in front of-behind,up-down
? Buy-sell,give-receive,go-come,gain-lose
English lexicology (III) 61
9.4 Antonymy
?Semantic incompatibles(多项不相容词 )
? North,south,east,west
? Spring,summer,autumn,winter
?January,February,March,……December
?Sunday,Monday,….Saturday
English lexicology (III) 62
9.4 Antonymy
?A word can have more than one antonyms
? Fresh bread------stale bread
? Fresh air-----stuffy air
? Fresh flowers-----faded flowers
? Fresh look----tired look
English lexicology (III) 63
9.4 Antonymy
?Stylistic purpose of the use of antonyms
? To achieve emphasis by putting contrasting
ideas together,to express economically the
opposite of a particular thought,
English lexicology (III) 64
9.4 Antonymy
?Stylistic purpose of the use of antonyms
? United we stand,divided we fall,
? Hope for the best and prepare for the worst,
? Visible darkness,a victorious defeat,a clever
fool,an open secret,painful pleasure,cruel
kindness,
English lexicology (III) 65
9.4 Antonymy
?Stylistic purpose of the use of antonyms
? It was the best of times,it was the worst of times; it was the
age of wisdom,it was the age of foolishness; it was the
epoch of belief,it was the era of incredulity; it was the
season of Light,it was the season of Darkness; it was the
Spring of Hope,it was the Winter of Despair; we had
everything before us,we had nothing before us; we were all
going direct to Heaven,we were all going direct the other
way,
(Charles Dickens,A Tale of Two Cities)
