THEME
SENSE RELATIONS
COLENCIUC INNA,
Lecturer, MA
ULIM (2021-2022)
2 PLAN
1. Homonymy. Classification and Sources of
Homonyms
2. Synonymy. Types and Sources of Synonyms. The
Dominant Synonym.
3. Antonymy. Classification of Antonyms.
Conversives.
4. Hyponymy
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3 Sense Relations
The individual polysemous senses of a lexeme can have
different sets of relations with other word senses. The
interrelations of word senses are collectivelly known as
sense relations.
All the sense relations of a word are based on the extent to
which semantic features are shared with other word senses.
Synonymy is a relationship of identity; hyponymy is a
relationship of hierarchy, where the semantic features of a
more general words form part of the description of a more
specific word; antonymy is a phenomenon in which the
words have the sense relation which involve the opposite of
meaning.
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4 Homonyms
Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but
different in meaning, distribution and (in many cases)
origin are called homonyms. The term is derived from
Greek homonymous (homos – “the same” and onoma –
“name”) and thus express very well the sameness of name
combined with the difference in meaning.
The most widely accepted classification is that
recognizing homonyms proper, homophones and
homographs.
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5 Classification of Homonyms
Homonyms proper are identical in pronunciation and
spelling, but different in meaning, e.g. back (“a part of the
body” – back ( “away from the front”); ball – (“a round
object”) ball (“ a large dancing party”)
Homophones are words of the same sound but of different
spelling and meaning: flower – flour, night – knight.
Homographs are words different in sound and in meaning,
but accidentally identical in spelling: bow [bau] – bow
[bou], lead [li:d] – lead [led].
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6 Classification of Homonyms (A.I.
Smirnitsky)
Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the
same category of parts of speech and have the same
paradigms, e.g. match, n ( “a game, a contest”) – match, n
(“a short piece of wood used for producing fire”)
Partial homonyms
A. Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are
words that belong to the same category of part of speech.
Their paradigms have one identical form, but it is never
the same form, e.g. to found – found (Past Participle of to
find), to lay – lay (Past Indefinite of to lie)
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7 Partial Homonyms
B. Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are
words of different categories of part of speech which have
one identical form in their paradigms, e.g. rose, n. – rose,
v (Past Indefinite of to rise), left, adj – left, v (Past Indef.,
Past Part., of to leave), bean, n – been, v (Past Part., of
to be).
C. Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same
category of part of speech which are identical only in their
corresponding forms, e.g. to hang ( hung, hung) – to hang
(hanged, hanged), to can (canned, canned) – can (could)
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8 Sources of Homonyms
Different causes by which homonymy may be
brought about are subdivided into two main groups:
1) homonymy through convergent sound
development, when two or three words of different
origin accidentally coincide in sound;
2) homonymy developed from polisemy through
divergent sense development.
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9 Synonymy
Synonyms ( Greek sunonumon, from syn – “together,
with”, onoma –“name”) can be defined as two or more
words of the same language, belonging to the same part
of speech and possessing one or more identical or nearly
identical denotative meanings, but different in
morphemic composition, phonemic shape, shades of
meaning, style and idiomatic use.
Few words in a language are identical in meaning, for
instance, semasiology and semantics. Such synonyms
are called complete or absolute synonyms.
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10 Types of Synonyms
Two words denoting the same thing, having the same
denotative meaning but differing in style are called
stylistic synonyms. Thus, child (neutral), infant
(elevated) and kid (colloquial) are stylistic synonyms.
If the difference in the meaning of synonyms concerns the
notion and the emotion expressed, the synonyms are
classed as idiographic synonyms. For example, lonely
and alone, both words denote being apart from others, but
lonely besides the general meaning implies longing for
company, feeling sad because of the lack of sympathy.
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11 Types of Synonyms
Phraseological synonyms are words identical in their
meaning and style but different in their combining with other
words in the sentence, e.g. to be late for a lecture but to miss
the train.
Dialectal synonyms are synonyms pertaining to different
variants of language from dialectal stratification point of
view, e.g. lift (BrE) – elevator (AmE)
Contextual or context-dependent synonyms are similar in
meaning only under some specific distributional conditions.
E.g. buy and get would not generally be taken as synonyms,
but they are synonyms in the following examples: I’ll go to
the shop and buy / get some bread.
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12 Desynonymization
In English there are a lot of synonyms, because there are
many borrowings, e.g. hearty (native) - cordial
(borrowing). After the word is borrowed it undergoes
desynonymization, because absolute synonyms are
unnecessary for a language. In case of desynonymization
one of the absolute synonyms can specialize in meaning,
e.g. city (borrowed) – town (native). The French
borrowing city is specialized.
Quite frequently, synonyms mostly stylisic, but
sometimes ideographic as well are due to shortening. E.g.
examination – exam, popular – pop, microphone – mike.
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13 Dominant Synonym
Most synonymic groups have a “central” word whose
meaning is equal to the denotation common to the entire
synonymic group. This word is called the dominant
synonym. Here are the examples of dominant synonyms
with their groups:
to surprise – to astonish – to amaze – to astound
to shout – to yell – to bellow – roar
to tremble – to shiver – to shudder – to shake
to make – to produce, to fabricate – to manufacture
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14 Antonymy
Antonyms may be defined as two words of the same language
belonging to the same part of speech and to the same semantic
field, identical in style and nearly identical in distribution,
associated and often used together so that their denotative
meanings render contradictory or contrary notions.
Contradictory notions are mutually opposed and denying one
another, e.g. alive means “not dead” and impatient means “not
patient”.
Contrary notions are also mutually opposed but they are
gradable, e.g. old and young are the most distant elements of
the series like: old - middle-aged - young
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15 Types of Antonyms
This classification of antonyms is based on a
morphological approach): root words form
absolute antonyms ( different-root antonyms),
e.g. right –wrong
The presence of negative affixes creates
derivational antonyms (one-root antonyms), e.g.
happy – unhappy .
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16 Conversives
Conversives (conversive pairs or relational
opposites), which are not antonyms but are
semantically opposed denote one and the same
referent situation as viewed from different points of
view. The relation is closely connected with
grammatical contrast of active and passive, e.g. He
gave her flowers. She received flowers from him. =
She was given flowers by him.
Tehnica elaborării unui studiu de caz
17 Hyponymy
Hyponymy is a semantic relationship of inclusion
(identified in lexico-semantic groups – small lexical
groups belonging to the same part of speech and linked by a
common concept). E.g. vehicle includes car, bus, train,
plane, taxi and so on; oak implies tree, horse entails
animal; table entails furniture. Thus, the hyponymic
relationship may be viewed as a hierarchical relationship
between the meaning of the general and the individual
terms. The general term (vehicle, tree, animal) is referred
to as classifier . The most specific term is called hyponym,
the most general – superordinate.
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18 References:
Ciobanu, Olga . A Guide to English Lexicology. Chișinău : USM , 2010. 224 p.
Melenciuc, Dumitru. A Reader in English Lexicology. Chișinău, CEP USM, 2005.
304 p.
Melenciuc, Dumitru. A Practical Aid for Seminars in Modern English Lexicology.
Chișinău: Artpoligraf, 2012. 170 p.
Melenciuc, Dumitru. English Lexicology. Chișinău: CEP USM, 2002. 452 p.
Zykova Irina. A Practical Course in the English Lexicology. Moscow: Academia,
2007. 288 p.
Дубенец Эдуард. Современный английский язык. Лексикология: учебное
пособие для вузов. Москва.; Пб.: ГЛОССА: КАРРО, 2004. 192 с.
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19 THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
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