- •1. The object of Lexicology
- •2. Lexicology and other Branches of Linguistics
- •3. The definition of the word
- •4. Give a general overview on word meaning
- •5. Reasons for changes in word meaning
- •6. Types of word meanings
- •7. Word formation
- •8. Derivation
- •9. Frequency and productivity of affixes
- •11. Conversion
- •12. Reconversion
- •13. Compounding
- •14. Structure of compounds
- •15. Syntactic and lexical compounds
- •16. Classification of compounds
- •17. Correlation between compound and free phrases
- •18. Shortening
- •19. Correlations of a clip with its prototype
- •20. Position of the clipped part
- •21. Back formations
- •22. Blending
- •23. Acronyms
- •24. The difference btwn true acronyms & initialisms
- •25. Reverse acronyms
- •26. Eponyms
- •27. Minor types of word formation
- •28. Distinguishing set expressions and compounds
- •29. Classification of set expressions
- •31. Features of set expressions
- •33. Loanword. Most popular sources
- •34. Sources of most recent loanwords
- •35. Synonymy
- •36. Strict and loose synonymy
- •37. Distinguishing synonyms
- •38. Abundance (изобилие) of synonyms
- •39. Antonymy
- •41. Types of antonyms
- •42. Pervasiveness of antonyms
- •43. Polysemy
- •44. Problems in the concept of polysemy Consider a certain number of polysemy [pə'lɪsɪmɪ] problems:
- •45. Homonymy
- •46. Homonym clashes
- •47. Types of homonyms
- •48. Hyponymy
- •49. Meronymy
- •50. Lexical gaps
49. Meronymy
The part of relation can similarly be represented by a hierarchy of super ordinate and subordinate terms.
The super ordinate term is not merely (только) a more general way of talking about its meronyms, as in the hyponymy relation. Though there is a sense in which the use of a super ordinate term includes reference to the meronyms.
PLANT
leaf bud stem (стебель) root flower
stalk (ножка стебля) blade cap hair petal (лепесток) stamen (тычинка)
“Flower” refers to the entity in its totality, including its petals, stamen, stalk; but these are not more specific kinds of flower, but different parts of it that together make up the whole. Such relations exist in many words of vocabulary. Most human artifacts are made up of parts, which we usually want to label (маркировать) with their own terms (A knife consists of a blade and a handle).
50. Lexical gaps
Consider the parts of the human finger: the finger has three joints, but we have a common language term for only on of them, the knuckle (сустав). This suggests that there are “lexical gaps” for the other two potential meronyms, but we presumably [prI'zju:mqblI] (возможно) so rarely need to refer to them that a expression will usually suffocate ['sAfqkeIt] (душть) e.g. the middle joint or the joint nearest the nail. That was an example from meronymy.
Let’s use the hyponymy relation to illustrate the unsystematic nature of hierarchical organization in vocabulary. The super ordinary term is vehicle, and so we will look at different kinds of vehicles (Car / automobile, van, lorry / truck, bus, cycle, train). Though hyponyms might include various kinds of vehicles, but a more rational hierarchy might wish to distinguish engine – powered (механизированные), pedal – powered, horse – drawn, hand – operated / pushed vehicles. However, these terms are not of quite the same kind as car, van, etc.; they seem created for the purpose.
It demonstrates that, while the hierarchical semantic relations of hyponymy and meronymy are undoubtedly (несомненно) important in the structuring of vocabulary, they do not operate in an altogether systematic and unambiguous (однозначных) way. There are many lexical gaps that are shown up when we begin to build words into hyponymy and meronymy trees.