Matakuliah : G0922/Introduction to Linguistics
Tahun
: 2008
Session 8
Lexical Semantic
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Students are able to give their own examples on
semantics relation among words
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OUTLINE
Definition of Semantics
Semantics properties
Semantics relation among words
 synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, homonymy, polysemy
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Semantics
• Definition
– The study of the linguistics meaning of morphemes, words,
phrases and sentences
• Lexical semantics: the meaning of words and the
meaning relationships among words
• Phrasal/Sentential semantics: concerned with the
meaning of syntactic units larger than words
• Pragmatics: the study of how context affects meaning
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Semantic Properties
• Words and morphemes have meanings.
• Semantic properties are pieces of information of the
words on which speakers of the language agree.
- For example: the semantic property of ‘female’ is found
in the words: tigress, hen, aunt, maiden, woman
• Words that share a semantic property are said to be in a
semantic class.
• Semantic properties can be represented using semantic
features, which are a formal or notational device that
indicates the presence or absence of semantic
properties by pluses or minuses
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Semantics relation among words
•
•
•
•
•
Synonymy
Antonymy
Hyponymy
Homonymy
Polysemy
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Semantics relation among words
•
Synonyms
– Words or expressions that have the same meaning in some or all
contexts
– E.g remember = recall
– Purchase = buy
– Big = large
• Antonyms
–
–
–
–
Words or phrases that are opposites in their meaning
E.g. dark x light
Boy x girl
Dead x alive
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Semantics relation among words
1. Homonymy
– A single form of word that has two or more meanings which do not
relate one another
– E.g. bank : place for saving money
–
sides of the river
–
bark : sound of a dog
–
: the outer part of a tree trunk
2. Polysemy
– A word that has two or more related meaning
– E.g. Fork : instrument for eating
–
: instrument for taking hays
–
(the shape is similar)
–
bright : shining; intelligent
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Semantics relation among words
3. Hyponymy
– A relationship between two words in which the meaning of the
words includes the meaning of the other word
– Red is hyponym of color – meaning that the meaning of red
includes the meaning of color
– Cat is a hyponym of animal – meaning that the meaning cat
includes the meaning of animal.
4. Metonyms
- Substitutes for the object that is meant, the name of an attribute
or concept associated with that object.
- The use of crown for king, the use of ice for hockey, Washington
for government
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