Adjective meanings is one that explains meanings in terms of a limited number of relationships between the senses of words. The following four senses relations were defined and illustrated: synonym, complementarity, antonym and converseness. In the process of doing semantic description, entailments between sentences are the evidence for senses relation in a semantic description indicate the entailment potentials of words. In formal semantics, meaning postulates carry this information. Gradability-a feature of antonyms, but not of complementaries –was explained. It was observed that the modification of nouns by adjectives cannot be fully accounted for interms of the intersection of sets denoted by the words.

1. EBy: Muhammad Syahruddin Nawir, Rasynal Tenri Sanna
Israkwaty, Putri Purnawati, Moeh. ZaInal Khairul
English Language Studies - Hasanuddin University

2. Adjective is a good
starting point for
trying to understand
word meaning.
OVERVIEW

3. Using language to give the
meaning of words
Sense relations relevant to
adjectives
Constructions with
adjectives
Ant Ent Vid

4. Using language to give the meaning of words
Much – large in quantity
Large – ample in extent
Ample – large in extent
Short – not long, not tall
Little – small, not big
Small – little in size
Big – large in size
Tiny – very small
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5. Using language to give the
meaning of words
Sense relations relevant to
adjectives
Constructions with
adjectives
Ant Ent Vid

6. When a single word in
a sentence is replaced
by a synonym then
the literal meaning of
the sentence is not
changed.
SYNONYM
example
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7. Sentence with the same
meaning are called
paraphrases
a. You said Andy is cheeky, so that means he is impudent
b. You said Andy is impudent, so that means he is cheeky
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8. COMPLEMENTARIES
(absolute antonym)
A pair of words with
opposite meanings
where there is no
middle ground and
there are only two
possibilities, either one
or the other is called
“complementaries”
example
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9. ANTONYM
(graded antonym)
Antonym means any
kind of oppositeness.
It is one of a pair of
words with opposite
meanings where the
two meanings there is
middle ground
between them.
example
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10. CONVERSES
(relational antonym)
The comparative
forms of an antonym
pair have an
interesting sense
relation between
them, called
converses.
example
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11. MEANING POSTULATES
Meaning postulate is
a way of integrating
into logical systems
the entailment
information that
comes from word
meaning.
example
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12. Using language to give the
meaning of words
Sense relations relevant to
adjectives
Constructions with
adjectives
Ant Ent Vid

13. GRADIBILITY
When the language has
ways of expressing
different levels or
degrees of the qualities
is called gradability
(comperative &
superlative)
example
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14. ADJECTIVES MODIFYING NOUN
Adjectives as modifier
of noun. “Modify”
means “change a
little”. An adjective
changes the meaning
of noun by giving
more information
about it.
example
Red
adjective
Red
bicycles
Bicycles
noun
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15. Sense relation
that holds
between the
meaning of set
of words can be
larger than
pairs.
example
A
yellow
rock
Black
Blue
Brown
Green
Yellow
Orange
Red
Pink
Grey
Set 1
Circular
Triangular
rectangular
Set 2
Previous
Current
Next
Set 3
LARGER SETS THAN PAIRS
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