Word Relations and Sense Relations Concepts and forms from Lessons XXI-XXII

Word Relations l Words mean what they mean because they contrast with other words or word choices. l Euphemism l Hyperbole l Oppositions: analog watch, acoustic guitar, grandé, economy, superior, satisfactory, whip, mix, frappé, blend, liquefy.

Word Relations l Taxonomy: hierarchical relations l Meronymy: part-whole relations l Synonymy: shared designation l Antonymy: relations of opposition

Kinds of Antonyms l Gradable antonyms l Simple antonyms l Converses: doctor-patient, buy-sell, lend-borrow l Reverses: tie-untie, arrive-leave, ascend-descend l Antipodals: left-right, up-down

Gradable Antonyms versus Simple Antonyms l Gradable antonyms (e.g., young-old, fast- slow) welcome various kinds of intensifers: very, really, extremely, a lot. l Simple antonyms (e.g., male-female, extant- extinct) do not. l Gradable antonyms can both be false. l Simple antonyms cannot both be false.

Gradable Antonyms versus Simple Antonyms Which of the following pairs of antonyms are simple and which are gradable? a. private-public b. clean-dirty c. enemy-friend d. cold-hot e. temporary-permanent f. young-old g. legal-illegal

Sense Relations l A word with two or more possible meanings is called an ambiguous word. l There are two sources of ambiguity: homonymy and polysemy. l A word with multiple possible meanings need not be ambiguous; it may simply be vague.

A Test for Ambiguity Take a sentence containing and. Assume one sense of your ambiguous word on one side of the and and another sense on the other: Pat went to the bank and so did Leslie, Pat and Leslie went to the bank. Is the result odd or funny? If so, the word you’re testing is ambiguous.

Blends (Lesson XXI) l Definition. A word formed by combining two words such that only a part of each remains: blaxploitation, breathalyzer, simulcast, blog, wuss, doofus, electrocute. l Blending is related to clipping, but not all word parts found in blends can stand alone as clipped forms. l Blending is also related to back formation : athon, burger, izer, gate, aholic, eteria. l The sources of blends become more difficult to identify over time.

Doublets (Lesson XXII) l Definition. A pair of English words descended from a common base in Latin, one of which was borrowed directly from Latin and the other of which came into English via French. l The Frenchified version of the Latinate word tends to have missing or ‘softened’ consonants, and altered vowel qualities, especially diphthongs.

Doublets FACT feat(fait)/fashion (façon)fact/faction REG royal (royale) regal

Doublets HOST ‘guest’ hôtel host, hostel SCANDAL ‘trap’ slander scandal

Doublets APERT ‘open’ overture aperture GRAT ‘thanks’ grace gratitude

Doublets CAP ‘take, seize’ chase capture ANTECED ‘come before’ antecedent ancestor

Doublets COMPLIC- ‘fold together’ comply complicate COMPREHEND- ‘pull together’ comprise comprehend

New Bases(XXI) l PAC l MAGN l LIQU l AL, ALT l MEDI (not MEDIC-) l MIGR l MORT l PET (e.g., petulant) l PUG(N)

New Bases (XXII) l GRAT l MISC, MIXT l MOV, MOT l NEG l PURG l VULG

New Suffixes (XXI) l -ify, -efy, ‘to make’ l -ific, ‘making, causing’ l What do these derivational suffixes do? l What base do they appear to include?