Structural relations Flashcards
How does Saussure define vocabulary?
as a system
F. de Saussure - the value of a linguistic sign does not come from its intrinsic signification (from its internal components), and it cannot be determined by the sound image alone.
The arbitrarily chosen signifiant has no value, and the signifié does not have true value by itself because it exists within a language system.
The linguistic value of the sign is determined by
(and thus structurally related to) the other linguistic signs
in the system of vocabulary.
Into what levels are lexemes structurally organised into?
Lexemes in vocabulary are structurally organized on two levels: paradigmatic (vertical, in absentia, choice) and syntagmatic (horizontal, in presentia, chain).
What is concept of the word?
“Table“ is a word representing the concept of:
an item of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, used as a surface for working at, eating from or on which to place things.
denominators of meaning
i.e. semantic markers, semes) →
What are semantic fields?
Semantic (lexical) fields
In vocabulary (in our mind), words are organized according to some common denominators of meaning into semantic fields.
Semantic field of furniture terms (table, warderobe, chair, bed)
The common denominator is “furniture“, also “wooden object“, etc.
Semantic field of colour terms (yellow, green, red, blue, black)
The common denominator is “colour“, “a type of visual perception“, etc.
Sematnic field of kinship terms (brother, sister, mother, father, cousin)
The common denominator is “family“, but also “creature“, etc.
Describe synonymy and its types
Synonymy - relationship between two or more words based on sameness of their meaning – a paradigm of semantically similar words
paradigmatic relation of adjectives related to
↓ attractiveness or positive aesthetic qualities
Stylistic synonyms - the same denotation but different connotation (different style)
lock-up - gaol – prison – correction institution mum – mommy – mother - mumsy
Ideographic synonyms - different denotation (different idea)
large – big – huge – extensive easy – safe – quiet – calm
Describe antonymy and its types
Relationship between two words which are semantically contrary
Non-gradable: cannot be graded (complementary, binary; by the features of one we deny the other)
dead – alive, single - married
Gradable: can be graded (polar; there is a scale of possibilities between the two poles)
good – (better) – (worse) – bad ugly – (uglier) - (prettier) – pretty
Conversive: based on reciprocal relationship
teacher – student husband – wife
Directional: up – down, here – there, top – botton
Morphological classification:
Marked: useful – useless, possible - impossible
Unmarked: pretty – ugly, good – bad
What is hypnonymy?
A relationship between hierarchically structured classes. A superordinate term includes a subordinate term
Transitivity: if X is a hyponym of Y, and Y is a hyponym of Z, then X is a hyponym of Z
vertebrate
→ amphibian - mammal - bird - reptile – fish
→ bear – dog – cat – man
→ dachshund – alsatian – poodle – chihuahua (cohyponyms)
hyperonym
↓ hyper + hypo ↑
hyponym
What is meronymy?
An inclusion based on a part-whole relation
hand (holonym) – finger (meronym)
house – roof
roof is a part of house
compare:
meronymy vs. hyponymy
tree - root tree - pine
(part of) (kind of)
Name types of meronymy
Componential meronymy: wheel – bicycle
Substance meronymy: wood – table
Member meronymy: finger - hand
Location meronymy: room - house
Indirect meronymy: intermediary steps or components that create a bridge in the relationship.
page – book – library:
Page serves as a direct meronym of book because it represents one of the physical components of a book. However, book itself can be considered a direct meronym of library because books collectively constitute the essential components of a library’s collection. Consequently, page becomes an indirect meronym of library through the intermediate concept of book.
What is incompatibility?
Incompatibility (also known as heteronymy) - logical contradiction between two expressions that negate each other, e.g., morning and night represent incompatibilities within the semantic field of time; large and tiny are incompatible within the semantic field of size.
Example:
Chair, bench, stool, sofa, and settee are all hyponyms of seat. Incompatibility occurs among most of these; for example, choosing to sit on a chair means not sitting on a bench, stool, sofa, or settee. However, sofa and settee do not demonstrate incompatibility, as they are synonymous; thus, sitting on a sofa also means sitting on a settee.
Formal paradigmatic relationships (homonymy and paronymy) - describe homonymy
Relationship between words of identical form Homophones – word related by the same sound form meet /miːt/ – meat/miːt/, for /fɔː(r)/- four/fɔː(r)/
Homographs – words related by the same orthography lead /liːd/ – lead /led/, read /riːd/ – read /red/
Real (proper) homonyms – w. related by the same sound and orthography
bear - bear
Full homonyms – real w. + belonging to the same part of speech
bank – bank
Lexico-grammatical homonyms – w. differ lexically and grammatically
seen – scene, rose – rose
Dsecribe paronymy
Words have similar but not identical sound or spelling forms. The relationship results from mispronunciation, misspelling and the related misunderstanding
lose /luːz/– loose /luːs/, affect /əˈfekt/ – effect /ɪˈfekt/
use /juːz/– use /juːs/ (homographs)
Slovak: hudobný – chudobný
synonym rolls ← cinnamon rolls
(“Synonym rolls “ is a misspelling of “cinnamon rolls” - first appeared in 2014 in a tweet describing a photograph of baked cinnamon-flavored pastries)
Interlingual paronymy (interlanguage false friends)
gymnasium, promotion, action, actual, chef, sympathetic
What is the difference between homonymy and polysemy?
Homonymy – relation between different lexemes vs. Polysemy – relation between different sememes (meanings)
Name types of paradigmatic lexical relations
- relationship between lexemes
a. semantic
Synonymy Antonymy Hyponymy Meronymy Incompatibility
b. formal
homonymy and paronymy - relationship between meanings
polysemy
