Lexal Relation

 Lexal Relation

3.5 Lexal Relations

            There are a number of different types of lexical relation, as we shall see. A particular lexeme may be simultaneously in a number of these  relation, so that it may be more accurate to think of the lexicon as a network, rather than a listing in a published dictionary.

            An important organizational principle in the lexicon is the lexical field. This is a group of lexemes which belong to a particular activity or area of specialist knowledge, such as the terms in cooking or sailing; or the vocabulary used by doctors, coalminer or mountain climber. One effect is the use of specialist term like phoneme in linguistics or gigabyte in computing.

3.5.1    Homonym

            Homonym  are unrelated sense of the same phonological word. Some authors distinguish between homograph, sense of the same written word, and homophones, sense of the same spoken word. We can distinguish different types depending on their syntactic behaviour, and spelling.

3.5.2    Polysemy

            There is a traditional distinction made in lexicology between homonym and  polysemy. Both deal with multiple sense of the same phonologycal word, but polysemy is invoked if the sense are judge to be related. This is an important distinction for lexicographer in the design of their dictionaries, because polysemous sense are listed under the same lexical entry, while homonymous are given seperate entry. Lexicographers are tend to use criteria of ‘relatedness’ to identify polysemy. These criteria include speakers’ intuistions, and what is known about the historical development of the item.

3.5.3    Synonym

            Synonym are different phonologycal word which have the same or very similiar meanings.

3.5.4    Opposites (antonym)

            Antonym are words which are opposite in meaning. Is id useful, however, to identify several different types of relationship under a more generallabel of opposition. There are number of relation which  seem to involve words which are  the  same the related in meaning yet incompatible or contrasting; we list some of them below.

Simple antonyms

            This is relation between words such that the negative of  one implies the positive of the other. The pairs are also sometimes salled complementary pairs or binary pairs.

Gradable antonym

            This is relationship between opposites where the positive of one term does not necessarily imply the negative of the other. This relation is typically associated with adjectives and has two major identifying characteristics: firstly, there are ususally intermediete terms. Secondly, the term are usually relative. A thiird characteristic is that in some pairs one term is more basic and common.

Reverses

            The caracteristic reverse relation is between terms describing movement, where on term describe movement in one direction, and the other the same movement in the opposite direction.

Converses

             These are terms which describe a relation between two entities from alternate viewpoints.

Taxonomic sisters

            The term antonomy is sometimes used to describe word which are at the same level in a taxonomy.

3.5.5    Hyponymy

            Hyponymy  is a relation of inclusion. A hyponymy includes the meaning of a more general word. The more gwnwralterm is called the superordinate or hypernym. Much of the vocabulary is linked by such systems of inclusion, and the resulting semoatic networks form the hierarchical taxonomies mention above.

3.5.6    Meronymy

            Meronymy is a term used to describe a part-whole relationship between lexical items. Thus cover and page are meronyms of book. We can identify this relationship by using sentene frames like X is part of Y,  or y has x,  as in  A page is part of a book ,or  A bokk has pages.meronymy reflects hierarchical classifications in the lexicon somewhat ike taxonomies.rom

Meronymic hierarchies are less clear-cut and regular than taxonomies. Meronymy also differs from hyponymy in transitivity. Hyponymy is always ransitive, as we saw, but meronomy may or may not be.

3.5.7    Member-collection

            This is a relationship between the word for a unitand the usual word for a collectioon of the units.

3.5.8    Portion-mass

            This is the relation between a mass noun and the usual unit of measurement or division.