MEANING RELATIONS WORD IN USE

LEXICOLOGY
UNIT 5 MEANING RELATIONS
SENSE RELATIONS
Sense is an internal meaning relation.
Sense relations hold between words within the vocabulary.
What are the two most obvious sense relations? What are other sense relations?
Collocation is the fact of two or more words often being used together, in a way
that happens more frequently than would happen by chance. (Oxford dictionary)
Sense relations are paradigmatic. They are about the choice between words, the
substitution of one word for another in a particular contextual slot in a sentence.
Words also contract semantic relations syntagmatically, with words occupying
other slots in a sentence. Such relations are described in terms of collocation, the
mutual expectancy of words, or the ability of a word to predict the likelihood of
another word occuring. The verb flex in English allows only a limited number of
possible words as abject in the sentence, primarily muscles or parts of the body
such as legs or arms. The adjective maiden predicts a limited number of nouns,
primarily voyage or flight and speech.
A semantic field contains words that belong to a defined area of meaning (e.g.
education). The field then becomes the context within which to establish meaning
relations.
A semantic field contains words that belong to a different area of meaning. (false)
In linguistics,

a semantic

field is

a

lexical

set

of

words

grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.
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Synonymy refers to ‗a relationship of sameness of meaning that may hold between
two words.‘
(Jackson & Amvela, 2007)
Synonymy is a relation in which various words have different (written and sound)
forms but have the same or nearly the same meaning.
e.g: The two English verbs hide and conceal are synonyms; they both mean keep
somebody or something from being seen or known about.
Ex: native – indigenous;
Types of synonymy: strict and loose (true and partial)
In the strict sense, two words that are synonyms would have to be interchangeable
in all their possible contexts of use.
Indeed, it would appear that where, historically, two words have been in danger of
becoming strict synonyms, one of them has either changed its meaning in some
way or fallen out of use.
Distinguishing synonymy: 3 ways: dialect, formality, connotation
One pair of synonyms may be used in a more formal context than the other or one
of the pair may belong to slang/ colloquial English.
Synonyms may be distinguished relates to the style or formality of the context in
which a word may be used (in a more formal context/ informal or less formal

context).
A third way in which synonym pairs may be distinguished is where connotations
differ.
Ex: hate - loathe;
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Antonymy is a relation in which two words have different (written and sound)
forms and are opposite in meaning.
Most antonyms belong to adverbs. (false)
e.g: Pass-fail, hot-cold and thinner-fatter are three pairs of antonyms
Three types are commonly identified: gradable antonyms, contradictory or
complementary antonyms, and converses.
1. Gradable antonymy is a relation in which two members of a pair of antonyms
are gradable and can be used in questions with how to ask about degrees.
Ex: between ―hot‖ and ―cold‖ there are three intermediate terms i.e warm, tepid/
lukewarm and cool. (one is marked and the other is unmarked)
Ex: wide – narrow;
2. Binary/ complementary/ contradictory antonymy is a relation in which two
members of a pair of antonyms are mutually exclusive and cannot be used in a
comparative or superlative sense.
Ex: single ≠ married; alive ≠ dead; arrest – release; true – false;
3. Relational/converse antonymy (R): when two members of a pair of relational
antonyms display symmetry in their meaning.
Ex: buy-sell, employer-employee; host – guest;
Hyponymy is a relation in which the referent of a word is totally included in the
referent of another word. In other words, hyponymy is the relationship between
each of the hyponyms (the "lower" word) and its superordinate (the "higher"
word).

Hyponyms are also referred to as subordinates or specific lexical items.
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Superordinates are also referred to as hypernyms or generic lexical items.
e.g: stir-fry = fry (vegetables, meat, etc.) for a short time in very hot oil while
stirring them
Ex: emotion – exciting; fish – tuna;
A hyponym is a word whose referent is totally included in the referent of another
word (the prefix hypo- in hyponym means below)
Accordingly, a superordinate is a word whose referent covers all the referents of its
hyponyms (the prefix hyper- in hyper(o)nym means over)
Meronymy is the relationship of being a constituent part or member of something
The absence of a word in a particular place in a lexical field of a language is called
a lexical gap. [Richards]
The meaning of a word involves its reference to an entity in the world of
experience as well as the sense relations it contracts with other words in the
vocabulary and the collocational relations that may hold between it and other cooccurring words.
In Semantics, componential analysis is an approach to the study of meaning which
analyses a word into set of meaning components or semantic features.
For example, the meaning of boy may be shown as [+human], [+male],and [adult] while that of man may be a combination of [+human], [+male], and [+adult].
Thus, man is different from boy basically in one primitive semantic feature: [±
adult].
Generally speaking, componential analysis is applied to a group of related words
which may differ from one another only by one or two semantic features.

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UNIT 6: WORD IN USE
6.1 Vocabularies
A number of words are marked with labels of one kind or another, e.g. botanical,
baseball, slang, American English.
These labels indicate that the word is restricted in its use.
Common words in which literary and colloquial usage meet
Scientific and foreign words enter common words through literature
Slang words ascend through colloquial use
Technical terms, dialect words blend with the common language both in speech
and literature
A fundamental distinction between words that belong to the common core of the
language, and those that belong to particular specialist subsets.
1) How many dimensions of variation can be identified the specialist
vocabularies?
 Historical, charting the birth and death of words



archaic, old-fashioned,

does not define a specialist vocabulary.
 Geographical (national and regional dialect/ variety)



Alternatively, we

need to recognize that each national variety has a common core, which
includes many words that are shared with the common cores of other

national varieties, but also some words that are restricted to that particular
national variety.

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 Occupation (jargons)



It encompasses scientific, religious, legal, political,

and journalistic language (Crystal 1995), as well as the vocabulary
associated with particular jobs and professions, sports and hobbies.
 Social and cultural (types of slangs)
 Formality of the context
6.2 National and regional vocabularies
McArthur (1987) accompanies his article discussing ‗English languages‘ with a
diagram called ‗The circle of World English‘ (reproduced in McArthur 1992} (see
Figure 6.2). The central circle implies a ‗world‘ or ‗international‘ English, which
English speakers with differing national Englishes use with each other when they
meet at conferences, business meetings, or on holiday.
The languages inside the segments of the larger circle in McArthur‘s diagram are
the national and regional standards of English.
1. How much do the British and American varieties account for?
 British and American English (70 % of mother-tongue English speakers)
2. Which variety is dominant? why?
 AmE is the dominant variety in the world
 Political, cultural and economic dominance of the USA

Benson et al. (1986b) identify ten groups of lexical differences.
The first five groups are:
I. Words reflect cultural differences, with no equivalent in the other variety
Ex: Ivy League (AmE); Value Added Tax (BrE)

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II. Words that are variety-specific but which have an equivalent in the other
variety
Ex: baggage room (AmE) – left-luggage office (BrE)
III. Words having one sense used in the World English (WE) and additional
sense/senses in one or both varieties.
Ex: caravan in WE: a company of traders or other travellers journeying together
with a train of camels through the desert.
In BrE: a larger enclosed vehicle capable of being pulled by a car and equipped to
be lived in
IV. Words that have a single sense in (WE) and have one equivalent in either AmE
or BrE
Ex1: undertaker (BrE) – mortician (AmE)
filling station (WE) – gas station (AmE)- petrol station (BrE)
V. Words that have no WE meaning but have different meanings in the two
varieties.
Ex: flyover (AmE): a special flight by a group of aircraft, for people to watch at an
important ceremony (BrE ~ flypast)
flyover (BrE): an intersection of two roads at which one is carried over the other by
a bridge (AmE~ overpass)
Crystal (1995) give fourfold division of BrE and AmE
1. No crossover potential from either side

2. Crossover potential from AmE => BrE, but not from BrE to AmE
 AmE word is in the WE
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3. Crossover potential from BrE => AmE, but not from AmE to BrE
 BrE word is in the WE
4. Crossover potential both from AmE => BrE and from BrE => AmE
 Both words are in WE.
Antipodean

English/ænˌtɪp.əˈdiː.ən/

English

coming

from

or relating to Australia or New Zealand.
Australian English has some ten thousand distinctive words, drawn from a variety
of sources.
One set comprises words borrowed from native Maori dialects. The-other-set of
distinctive New Zealand words comes from the adaptation and extension of BrE
words to the culture of New Zealand as it has developed over the years.
6.2.3 African English
Immigration to the African continent from Britain took place in the early
nineteenth century.
Today around 10 per cent of the population of South Africa speaks English as a

first language.
South African English (SAE) is a distinct regional variety, with a distinctive
vocabulary drawn in part from Afrikaans.
Some of the words from Afrikaans have made their way into World English, e.g.
aardvark, apartheid, eland, trek, veld.
Two other major varieties of English are found in Africa: West African English
(WafrE) and East African English (EafrE).

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English is an official language in the West African states of Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra
Leone, Gambia, Cameroon and Liberia; and it‘s a second language in the other
eight states that comprise West Africa.
Indian English
1. Since when has English been spoken in the Indian subcontinent?
 since the East India Company established trading factories in the 17th century
2. Today, how is English considered in India?
 English => official language
3. How much of Indian population use English regularly?
 4 per cent of Indian population (30 million)
4. Which languages have been loaned into Indian English?
 Portuguese, local languages
Jargons: specialist vocabularies associated with ‗occupations‘ that people engage
in, either as a mode of employment or as a leisure pursuit or for some purpose.
Jargon refers to words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or
group of people, and are difficult for others to understand (Oxford dictionary)
How many types of jargon are mentioned in the book?
1. occupational jargons (e.g medicine and allied professions)

2. Sport jargons (e.g cricket jargons)
3. religious language (the language of Christianity)
4. ‗Green‘ jargon (developed by the green, ecology movement
Sub-cultures:
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1. Youth culture
2. Underworld slang
3. Rastafarian /ˌræs.təˈfeə.ri.ən/ culture
Rastafarians are a group among the African Caribbean community.
4. CB talk/ CB slang / trucker talk
CB is the abbreviation for Citizen (or Citizen‘s, or Citizens‘} Band Radio, used
initially by truckers (BrE lorry drivers) in the USA (CB-ers) to communicate with
each other and inform each other of potential difficulties on the roads (AmE
highways).
CB talk is an example of what Crystal (1987) calls a ‗restricted language‘.
Style:
1. Formal words
2. Colloquial and slang words
the majority of ‗slang‘ words are slang because they are used in contexts that are
very informal, between people who know each other well, or for a particular effect:
barmy, belt up, burk, bilge, binge, blub, bonce, etc.
3. Taboo words
In lexicology, the label ‗taboo‘ is usually applied to words that would be extremely
offensive if spoken in most contexts.
Taboo words in English are largely concerned with non-technical words for parts
of the human anatomy associated with sex and excretion and for the act of sexual
intercourse — some eighteen such terms are labelled ‗coarse slang‘ in The Concise

Oxford Dictionary.
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4. Political correctness
Although often used in a disparaging way, this term reflects the sensitivities that
have developed in the use of words that refer to women, people from minority
ethnic communities, disabled people, older peaple, and so on (McArthur (ed.)
1992).

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