Word Meaning - CIA

8/8/2019 Word Meaning - CIA

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Derivational RelationsDerivational Relations


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Here comes your footer Page 2

Causative VerbsCausative Verbs

State adjectives > a state

Incohative verbs > a beginning or change of state

Causative verbs > cause of the change of a state

Resultative adjectives > the state which is a

result of a process


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Agentive NounsAgentive Nouns

Meaning = the entity who/ which performs theaction of the verb

example:

Verb + -er or or>>> walker, calculator, etc.

Listed as different entries:

- Irregularities = footballer derived from theverb football

- Not possible to be predicted what strategy ofagentive noun to be used

- a person who cooks = cook; cooker


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Lexical UniversalsLexical Universals


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Color TermsColor Terms

Berlin & Kay = identifying underlying similarities in

color term system to be universal

Eleanor Rosch = comparing color term system ofDani and English

Conclusion = preception of color spectrum is the

same for all human beings, but languages provides

different ranges of naming

Reason = color concept > physiological; lingustic


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Core VocabularyCore Vocabulary

Morris Swadesh = core vocabulary list

Cognates = related words from a common

ancestor language2 languages have 90% cognates = closely

related


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Universal LexemesUniversal Lexemes

Anna Wierzbicka et all

Semantic primes = universal


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Word MeaningWord MeaningWord meaning

=

Lexical semantics


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AimAim

To represent the meaning of

each word in the language

To show how the meanings

of words in a language are

interrelated


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The meaning of a word itself

is defined in part by itsrelations with other words inthe language

The meaning of a word itself

is defined in part by itsrelations with other words inthe language

Entailment relationship contains lexical

relations


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Words and Grammatical CategoriesWords and Grammatical Categories

Different categories of words

reflect different semantic

descriptions


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exampleexample

Names : Keanu Reeves

Common nouns: woman, man, tree

Pronouns : I, you, we, theyLogical words : not, and, or, all, any


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Words and Lexical ItemsWords and Lexical Items

Lexical items are functioned to

identity words, so we can get

the semantic meaning of a word


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exampleexample

Grammatical words

Example:

He talks like a duck

He is talking like a duckHe talked like a duck

Three of them have the same lexeme, the verb talk which has thesame lexical meaning


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Phonological words

Example:

a. He scored with his left footb. They made camp at the foot of the mountain

c. I ate a foot-long hot-dog

Three lexemes have the same pronounciation and the same

syntactic category (noun), but we can know that they are different

meanings.

Foot (noun): 1. part of the leg below the ankle, 2. base or bottom

of something, 3. unit of length, one-third of a yard


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Problem with Pinning Down Word MeaningProblem with Pinning Down Word Meaning

Collocation effect

Compare the collocation patterns

of two adjectives strong and

powerful, which might seem to

have similar meanings


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Contextual effect

Pull word meanings in the other direction,towards creativity and semantic shift

Example:

a. I go for a run every morning

b.The bears are here for the salmon run

c. We took the new car for a run


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The problem are aboutThe problem are about

Ambiguity

Same lexemes that have different senses

To avoid it, we can use do so, do so too, so do to identity the

lexical meaning.

Example:

Charlie hates mayonnaise and so does Mary

Vagueness

Same lexemes, same senses, but have different uses


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LEXICAL RELATIONSLEXICAL RELATIONS: Relations between lexems


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HomonymyHomonymy

Meaning : Unrelated senses of the same phonological word

Types : Based on syntactic behavior and spelling

1. Same lexical category & same spelling

ex : lap circuit of a course & lap part of body when sitting down

2. Same category & different spelling

ex : ring & wring (both are verbs)

3. Different categories & same spelling

ex : play (verb) & play (noun)

4. Different category & different spelling

ex : not & knot


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PolysemyPolysemy

Dealing with multiple senses which are judged to be RELATED of the samephonological word.

Distinctions from homonymy :

- The senses in polysemy ARE judged RELATED through the historical development andspeakers intuitions whereas the senses in homonymy ARE NOT RELATED

- Polysemy words are put in the same entries but homonymy words are in two separate entriesEx : Through historical development of the word gay, which means both :

1. Lively, ligh-hearted, bright

2. Homosexual

For many speakers : both meaning are quite distinct thus they are considered as homonymy

Ex 2 : Head (top position) & head (part of body)=polysemy


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SynonymySynonymy

Different phonological words that have same / similar meaning

ex : Large & big

Nice & kind

etc.


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Opposites (antonymy)Opposites (antonymy)

Words which are opposite in meaning

Types :

Simple : Binary pairs, ex : dead & live

Gradable : positive of a term does not

necessarily imply the negative of the other.

Ex : hot & cold

Reverses : Describing movement, ex:

right/left, up/down

Converses :Two entities from alternate

viewpoints.

ex: own & belong to

Taxonomic sisters : Classification systems

ex : red & green are sister-members of the same taxonomy which iscolor


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HyponymyHyponymy

A relation of inclusion, includes a meaning of a more general word.

- Ex : Dog and cat are hyponyms of animal


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MeronymyMeronymy

Describing a part-whole relationship between lexical items.

Sentence Frames :

- X is part of Y, orY has X

Ex :- Nose and cheek are meronyms of face


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Member-collectionMember-collection

A relationship between the word for a unit and the usual word for a

collection of the units.

- Ex : Tree Forest

Book Library


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Portion-massPortion-mass

The relation between a mass noun and the usual unit of measurement or

division.

- Ex : Drop of liquid

Explanation : a count noun ( drop) is added to the mass noun (liquid) resulting

noun phrase into a count nominal (drop of a liquid)

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Word Meaning - CIA