Lexical Semantics Team members: 陈俊 许佳莹 朱煜佳 俞金晶 李明霞 包佳鑫

2 What is the lexical semantics?  Lexical semantics is a subfield of linguistic semantics. It is the study of how and what the words of a language denote.  The units of analysis in lexical semantics are lexical units which include not only words but also sub-words or sub- units.( affixes, compound words,and phrases)  It covers theories of the classification and decomposition of lexcial items, the differences and similarities in lexical semantic structure between different language,and the relationship of lexical meaning to sentence meaning and syntax.

3 Major Sense Relations A question asked is if meaning is established by looking at the neighbourhood in the semantic net a word is part of and by looking at the other words it occures with in natural sentences or if the meaning is already locally contained in a word. Another question is how words map to concepts.As tools, lexical relations like synonymy, polysemy, homonymy,hyponymy,antonymy.

4 Synonymy  It refers to words that are pronounced and spelled differently but contain the same meaning.  It can be nouns,adverbs or adjectives,as long as both members of the pair are the same part of speech.

5 The Classification of Synonymy  Dialectal synonyms Examples:British: lift, luggage, lorry, petrol American: elevator ， baggage ， truck ， gasoline  Stylistic synonyms Examples:old man, daddy, dad, father  Synonyms that differ in their emotive or evaluative meaning For example,the two words collaborator and accomplice are synonymous in that they share the meaning of"a person who helps others",but they differ in that a collaborator helps another in doing something good, while an accomplice helps other in a criminal act.

6  Collocational synonyms For example,when we want to say that someone has done something wrong or even criminal,we can use accuse,charge,rebuke,but they are followed by different prepositions--accuse of,charge with,rebuke for.  Semantically different synonyms For example,the two words amaze and astound are very close in meaning to the word surprise, but have subtle differences. While amaze suggests confusion and bewilderment,astound suggests difficulty in believing.

7 Polysemy  While different words may have the same or similar meaning,the same one word may have more than one meaning. For example: “Table”,a very common word in english,but it has many different meanings. (1)a piece of furniture (2)All the people seated at a table (3)The food that is put on a table (4)a thin flat piece of stone, metal,wood (5)part of a machine-tool on which the work is put to be operated on (6)part of a machine-tool on which the work is put to be operated on (7)a level area, a plateau

8 Homonymy  In linguistics, a homonym is a word that has different meanings.  In the strict sense, one of a group of words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings,i.e. different words are identical in or spelling,or in both.

9 The Classification of Homonymy  When two words are identical in sounds,they are homophones. Examples: rain/reign night/knight piece/peace  When two words are idential in spelling, they are homographs. Examples: bow(v.)/bow(n.) tear(v.)/tear(n.) lead(v.)/lead(n.)  When two words are identical in both sound and spelling, they are complete homonyms. Examples: fast(adj.)/fast(v.) scale(n.)/scale(v.)

10 Hyponymy  Hyponymy refers to the sense relation between a more general, more inclusive word and a more specific word.  The word which is more general in meaning is called the Superordinate,and the more specific words are called its hyponyms. For example Superordinate: animal Hyponyms: dog, cat,sheep, tiger...

11 Antonymy  The semantic relation that holds between two words that can express opposite meanings. (1)Gradable antonyms (2)Complementary antonymy (3)Relational opposites

12  Gradable antonyms are pairs of opposites with variable degrees in semantic strength. For example,between hot and cold there exist varying qualities of being neither hot nor cold, such as warm,lukewarm,cool,cold  Complementary antonymy : The denial of one member of the pair implies the assertion of the other. For example, mortal and immortal, male and female, present and absent, innocent and guilty, odd and even, pass and fail,boy and girl  Relational opposites: Pairs if words that exhibit the reversal of a relationship between the two items are called relational opposites. For example, husband and wife, father and son, buy and sell, lend and borrow,give and receive,go and come, in and out, up and down

13 Thank you!