Chapter 9 - Semantics

Question 1

Semantic features

Answer 1

Words are containers of meaning. Ex. Animate, human, female etc. + and – describes if an elemant has that feature or not. The … is reading the paper. We know that … is +human, or else it would be odd.

Question 2

Semantic roles

Answer 2

Words can play roles in the situation describes by a sentence. Agent is the one who performs the action. Theme is the entity that is involved or affected by the action. The boy/kicked/the ball Agent/kicked/theme. Instrument is the entity that is used to perform an action “with a knife”. Experiencer is the one who sees, feels or enjoys something. Location is where an entity is “on the table”. Source where the entity moves from. Goal is where it moves to

Question 3

Lexical relations

Answer 3

: When we explain a word in relation to another word. Synonymy is two words with very close related meaning. Antonymy is two words with opposite meaning. Gradable antonymy is for instance bigger, smaller, old and is used to compare. Non-gradable antonymy is for instance dead, not comparable.

Question 4

Hyponymy (lexical relations)

Answer 4

is when a meaning of one form is included in the other. Both animal and insect is part of creature, both creature and plants are part of living things. It is the meaning of words in a hierarchical relationship. Superordinate terms are the higher-level ones. If two words share the same superordinate level they are co-hyponyms (as with dog and horse (has superordinate animal)).

Question 5

Prototypes (lexical relations)

Answer 5

The idea of a characteristic instance of a category. A typical bird is a robin, not an ostrich.

Question 6

Homophones and hononyms (lexical relations)

Answer 6

Homophones have the same pronunciation but not meaning meet/meat, bare/bear etc. Homonyms are homophones with no related meaning bat/bat, bank/bank, race/race. Just accidently the same form.

Question 7

Polysemy (lexical relations)

Answer 7

Same form and related meaning. Date (as a meating) and point in time date are polysemy. But the date that we eat are homonyms to them.

Question 8

Metonymy (lexical relations)

Answer 8

A word used in place of another with which it is closely connected in everyday experience. He drank the whole bottle (we mean th e liquid).

Question 9

Collocation

Answer 9

When words frequently occurs together. Hammer/nail, butter/bread. They become associated, when we say hammer, many say nail.