This document discusses different types of semantic relationships between words, phrases, and sentences. It defines semantic relationships at the word level such as synonymy, antonymy, homonymy, polysemy, and metonymy. It provides examples and explanations of each relationship. The document also discusses semantic relationships at higher levels, including hyponymy, metaphor, idioms, and slang.

1. LIN101 Week 4.2
Semantic Relationships
DR. RUSSELL RODRIGO

2. Semantic Relationships
Semantic relationships are the associations that
there exist between the meanings of words
(semantic relationships at word level), between the
meanings of phrases, or between the meanings of
sentences (semantic relationships at phrase or
sentence level).

3. Semantic Relationships at Word Level
1. Synonymy
2. Antonymy
3. Homonymy
4. polysemy
5. metonymy.

4. Synonymy
 is the semantic equivalence between lexical
items.
big = large
hide = conceal
small = little
couch = sofa
to begin = to start
kind = courteous
beginning = start
to cease = to stop
fast = quickly = rapidly

5. Antonymy
 Antonymy is the semantic relationship that exists
between two (or more) words that have opposite
meanings.
 Antonymous pairs of words usually belong to the
same grammatical category (i.e., both elements are
nouns, or both are adjectives, or both are verbs, and
so on).

6. There are three major types of
antonyms:
1. Complementary or contradictory antonyms
 They are pairs of words in which one member has a certain
semantic property that the other member does not have.
 Therefore, in the context(s) in which one member is true, the
other member cannot be true.
 E.g., male/female, married/unmarried, complete/incomplete,
alive/dead, present/absent/ awake/asleep.
 It is said that these pairs of antonyms exhibit an either/or kind
of contrast in which there is no middle ground.

7. There are three major types of
antonyms:
2. Relational antonyms
 They are pairs of words in which the presence of a certain
semantic property in one member implies the presence of
another semantic property in the other member.
 In other words, the existence of one of the terms implies the
existence of the other term.
 For example:
 over/under, buy/sell, doctor/patient, teacher/pupil, stop/go,
employer/employee, taller/shorter, cheaper/more
expensive.

8. There are three major types of
antonyms:
3. Gradable or scalar antonyms
 They are pairs of words that are contrasted with respect to
their degree of possession of a certain semantic property.
 Each term represents or stands for an end-point (or
extreme) on a scale (e.g., of temperature, size, height,
beauty, etc.); between those end-points there are other
intermediate points (i.e., there is some middle ground)
 E.g., hot/cold, big/small, tall/short, good/bad, strong/weak,
beautiful/ugly, happy/sad, fast/slow.

9. Homonymy
 Homonymy is the relationship that exits between two (or more) words which
belong to the same grammatical category, have the same spelling, may or
may not have the same pronunciation, but have different meanings and origins.
Examples:
 to lie (= to rest, be, remain, be situated in a certain position) and to lie (= not to
tell the truth);
 to bear (= to give birth to) and to bear (= to tolerate);
 bank (= the ground near a river) and bank (= financial institution);
 lead [li…d] (= the first place or position, an example behavior for others to copy)
and lead [led] (= heavy metal);
 bass [beIs] (= musical instrument) and bass [bœs] (= edible fish).

10. Homonymy
 It can also give rise to lexical ambiguity.
 For example, in the following sentences it is almost
impossible to know the intended meanings of bank
and bear. Notice the following sentences.
1. John went to the [bœnk] (the financial institution or the
ground by the river?)
2. Mary can’t [be´r] (have or tolerate?) children.

11. Hyponymy
 We say that the term whose meaning is included in the meaning of the
other term(s) is the general term. Linguists usually refer to it as a
superordinate or hypernym.
 The term whose meaning includes the meaning of the other term is the
specific term; linguists usually refer to it as a hyponym. If the meaning of
a superordinate term is included in the meaning of several other more
specific words, the set of specific terms which are hyponyms of the same
superordinate term and are called co-hyponyms.

12. Polysemy
 Polysemy is the semantic relationship that exists
between a word and its multiple conceptually and
historically related meanings.
 foot = 1. part of body; 2. lower part of something
 plain = 1. clear; 2. unadorned; 3. obvious.
 nice = 1. pleasant; 2. kind; 3. friendly; etc.
The different meanings of a word are not
interchangeable; in fact, they are context-specific.

13. Metonymy
 Metonymy is the semantic relationship that exists
between two words (or a word and an expression) in
which one of the words is metaphorically used in place
of the other word (or expression) in particular contexts
to convey the same meaning.
 Examples:
 "The pen is mightier than the sword,"
 The "pen" stands in for "the written word."
 The "sword" stands in for "military aggression and force."

14. Metonymy Examples
1. The suits - in place of business people
2. Silver fox - for an attractive older man
3. The name of a church - used in place of its individual
members
4. The name of a sports team - used in place of its individual
members
5. The White House - in place of the President or others who
work there
 The White House will be announcing the decision around
noon today.

15. Word meaning:
Expressions
1.Metaphor
2.Idiom
3.Slang

16. Metaphor
 a figure of speech
in which a word or
phrase is applied to
an object or action
to which it is not
literally applicable.

17. Metaphor Ambiguity
1. Dr. Jones is a butcher.
2. John is a snake in the grass.

18. Idioms
 Idioms and idiomatic expressions are phrases or sayings that do not have a
literal meaning.
Examples:
1. Maria felt like a fish out of water on the first day of school.
2. He didn't have his coat on, and he caught a cold.
3. Last night my mom lost her temper.
4. I think that you will get a kick out of the movie.
5. I let the cat out of the bag and told her that I was moving.

19. Slang
 a type of language that consists of words and
phrases that are regarded as very informal, are
more common in speech than writing, and are
typically restricted to a particular context or group
of people.
 "Chicken" is slang for someone who isn't very brave.

20. Examples of Old-Fashioned Slang
 Wallflower: shy
 Don’t have a cow: To tell someone to calm down, The
Simpsons 19802.
 “Don’t have a cow, mom! I didn’t eat all the ice cream.”
Examples of Evolving Slang
 Busted: Old: getting caught doing something wrong,
Now: “ugly.”
 Hip: (very fashionable in 20th century, jazz and beatnik
culture in 40s & 50s, “hipster,” meaning a self-aware artsy
person.

21. Portmanteau Slang
 Frenemy: “gigantic” and “enormous”
 Bromance: “brother” and “romance”
 Ginormous: “gigantic” and “enormous”
Modern Slang
 Basic: A put-down describing someone or something that’s not very
interesting or highly evolved.
 Bae: A term of endearment, usually for romantic partners, but possibly
for close friends as well.
 On point: outstanding, perfectly executed
 Dead: Overwhelmed, unable to keep up
 Salty: Angry or bitter about something
 Fam: A group of close friends.
 Throw shade: To insult or say something unkind about someone.