Antonym1

5.3 Wording Meaning
The Third Week


Key Points:
• Componential analysis
• Homonymy
• Synonymy
• Antonymy
• Hyponymy


Difficulties:
• Homonymy
• Synonymy
• Antonymy
• Hyponymy
• Meronymy


5.3.3 Semantic Field
• Semantic or lexical field is a
set of words with an
identifiable semantic
connection.


Lexical gap
• The absence of a word in a particular
place in a semantic field of a
language is called lexical gap.

• horse ---stallion and mare
uncle--- 叔叔 , 舅舅 , 姑父，表叔


Marked and Unmarked Item

• A marked item is a member
word in a semantic field
that its conceptual meaning
is specific and limited
compared to its synonym
with a more general
meaning.


• An unmarked item is a
member word in a semantic
field that its conceptual
meaning is more general
and inclusive.


5.3.4 Componential analysis
• All lexical items can be analyzed into
a set of semantic features or
semantic components which may be
universal. This semantic theory is
called Componential Analysis (CA).

Samples:
•
•
•
•
•
•

How
How
How
How
How
How

old are you?
big is the picture?
big the picture is!
old the grandpa is!
powerful are your glasses?
powerful the cannon is!


• old/young
• big/small
• powerful/weak
• tall/short


Definition of CA:

• CA is a way proposed by the
structural semanticists to
analyze word meaning. It believes
that the meaning of a word can
be dissected into meaning
components called semantic
features.


•

Example of the kinship terms
[MALE]

• Father
+
• Mother
• Uncle
• Aunt
• Brother
• Sister
• Son
• Daughter
• Nephew
• Niece
• Cousin

+

-

[ASCEND]

+

[DESCEND]

-

[LINEAL]


Advantage of CA:
• CA allows a highly explicit and
economical account of meaning
relations such as hyponymy and
incompatibility.
• Woman: + HUAMN +ADULT
• Spinster: +HUMAN +ADULT
-MARRIED

+ FEMALE
+FEMALE


• Bachelor: +HUAMN +ADULT +MALE
-MARRIED
• Spinster: +HUMAN +ADULT -MALE
-MARRIED
+HUMAN +ADULT -MALE +

• Wife:
MARRIED

• Thus, spinster is incompatible with
bachelor by contrast of gender
specification; and with wife by the
marital specification.


Problem with CA:
• It is not easy to work out the
set of features which could
be widely acclaimed and
accepted.


5.3.5 Semantic relationships
between words
•
•
•
•
•
•

Homonymy
Polysemy
Synonymy
Antonymy
Hyponymy

Meronymy


5.3.5.1 Homonymy
（同音异异异系）
• It refers to the phenomenon
that words has one form,
either in spelling or in
pronunciation, or both, but
more than one unrelated
meanings. These words are
called homonyms.


Homophones
• When two words are identical in
pronunciation, but different in
spelling and meaning, they are called
homophones.
• Samples:
rain/reign night/knight piece/peace
bare/bear sun/son flour/flower


Homographs
• When two words are identical in
spelling, but different in
pronunciation and meaning, they
are homographs.
• Samples:

bow n./bow v. tear n./tear v.
lead n./lead v. close v./close adj.


Complete homonyms:
• When two words are identical in
both pronunciation and spelling, but
different in meaning, they are
called complete homonyms.
• fast/fast scale/scale bank/bank
pupil/pupil mole/mole


5.3.5.2 Polysemy
（多异异系）
• When a word has two or more
meanings that are related
conceptually or historically, it is
said to be a polysemous or
polysemic word. The phenomenon
is termed as polysemy.


The distinction between
homonymy and polysemy:
• One indication of the distinction can
be found in the typical dictionary
entry for words. If a word has two or
more meanings (polysemic), then
there will be a single entry, with a

numbered list of the different
meanings of the word. If two words
are treated as homonyms, they will
typically have two separate entries.


5.3.5.4 Synonymy
• Words that sound different but
have the same meaning are called
synonyms, and the sense relation
of “sameness of meaning” is
called synonymy.
• Ex. answer/reply big/large
liberty/freedom


• Synonyms may be different in
dialect, style, emotion and
collocation.
• elevator/lift
• start/commence
• did/offspring
• economical/ stingy
• accuse of/charge with


5.3.5.5 Antonymy
• Words that are opposite in
meaning are often called
antonyms. The oppositeness of

meaning is called antonymy.
• They can be grouped into 3
types: gradable,
complementary, and relational
antonyms.