Lexis and Semantics

Question 1

What are words that represent a category or class of things called? Give one example

Answer 1

Hypernyms.
e.g ‘flower’ is a hypernym for ‘rose’, ‘tulip’, ‘daisy’, etc.

Question 2

What are words that are the subjects of a broader category called? Give one example

Answer 2

Hyponyms.
e.g. ‘rose’, ‘tulip’, ‘daisy’ are hyponyms of ‘flower’.

Question 3

DEFINE Lexis 📝

Answer 3

The Vocabulary of a Language

Question 4

DEFINE Semantics, and what is it not? 🪨🔥

Answer 4

The ways one’s lexicon, grammatical structure, tone, and other elements of a sentence coalesce to communicate its meaning

NOT: irony, metaphors, or conversational implicature etc

Question 5

What are common words relevant to the context of an utterance and refering to a place, time, or person called?

Answer 5

Deixis

e.g. “yesterday”, “he”, “here”

Question 6

Give an example of deixis in 2 sentences 🍽️ + effect of each

Answer 6

“He’s coming to dinner” (1) vs “He’s coming to dinner, tomorrow” (2)

(1) Sparks a sense of urgency
(2) Implies there’s more time to prepare

Question 7

What are two ways semantics can change the meaning of a sentence?

Answer 7

1) Using deixis
2) Using word order

Question 8

How can word order effect the meaning? Give an example ⛹️‍♀️

Answer 8

The choice of word order effects the meaning semantically.

e.g. “She tossed the ball” and “The ball tossed her.”
First implies she threw it, second implies the ball threw her, yet both make grammatical sense.