When
we are talking to someone, it must be having meaning that make they understand.
In
linguistics it called SEMANTICS. Semantics studies meanings. It is intimately
connected with logic, the study of reasoning. To see whether we have the correct
meaning it is sometimes illuminating to check whether the purported meaning carries
the correct logical consequences. Peviously, in Syntax we have learned about
words combine to be sentence but have no meaning.
In
semantics relations, there are :
1.Synonymy
and antonymy
synonymy = two words have
the same meaning in a number of contexts
example : I spent my
holidays/vacations in Spain but Christmas, Easter holidays
real synonymy: rare or
not-existent
other examples :
youth -
adolescent
purchase - buy
remember -
recall
begin – start
antonymy = lexemes
contrast in semantic feature(s)
•
one
member can be marked: How tall is Rita?
(tall vs. small, tall
is unmarked)
graded antonymy: not clever (not
meant) stupid
ungraded antonymy: alive vs.
Dead
other examples :
dark - light
hot - cold
in - out
2. polysemy = lexemes can
have two or more related meanings cf. surfer
= to be seen as single word with
different meanings
bright: shining – intelligent
deposit: minerals in the earth – money
in the bank
3.homonymy = lexemes have
entirely distinct meanings
= to be seen as separate words
with same
pronunciations
bat: flying mammal – equipment
in baseball
club: social organization – a
blunt weapon
4.homography = words are
written identically but
pronounced differently: wind
5.homophony = words are
pronounced identically but
written
differently: threw –
through
references
: Introductions to Linguistics. PDF
