英语词汇学_Unit_06_Sense_relations

1、English LexicologyLecture 6Sense Relation between WordsThis week: Sense Relation between Words objects-better understand the relation between words-appreciate words used in discourses-enable learners to use words effectivelyContentsn1.Synonymy 同义关系 synonym 同义词n2.Antonymy 反义关系 antonym 反义词n3.Polysemy

2、多义关系 polyseme 多义词n4.Homonymy 同音(同形)异义关系qhomonym 同音同形异义词qhomograph同形异义词qhomophone同音异义词n5.Hyponymy 上下义关系 qsuperordinate 上义词qhyponym下义词n6.Taxonomy (分类关系) n7. Partonomy (部分整体关系)1. SynonymyContents 1.1.definition of synonymy1.2. source of synonyms 1.3. kinds of synonyms1.4. Lexical variation and malaprop

3、ism1.5 effects of synonyms1.6 exercises1.1.definition of synonymynSynonyms are words different in sound and spelling but most nearly alike or exactly the same in meaning.同义词是发音和拼写不同但在意义上极为相似或完全相同的词。nThis definition sounds reasonable, but it is still controversial. The focal point is what is meant by

4、 meaning.nIf one chooses any group of synonyms and analyses them, one will find different shades of meaning, for example, end-terminate-close, all of which are modes of ending, but to terminate is to end finally and to close is to end gradually.nDifference is also apparent in pairs of maid-girl, mon

5、key-imitate, generous-extravagant.nAlthough they share similar concept, they differ in stylistic appropriateness and affective values or connotations.nTherefore, wed better say synonyms are words that share a likeness in denotation as well as part of speech, for a verb cannot have an adjective as it

6、s synonym.同义词在字面意义和词性上要具有相似性。1.2. source of synonymsnEnglish has the most synonyms of any language in the world. Why are there so many synonyms in English?Why are there so many synonyms in English?q1.The primary reason for this has to do with the heavy borrowing from other languages, especially from

7、 French and Latin. EnglishFrenchLatinaskquestioninterrogatetimeageepochbellystomachabdomenfireflameconflagrationnMatch the following native terms with their Latin counterparts. Native Borrowed friendship maternal hearty enemyinner amityouter acute motherly cordial sharp interior deed action foe exte

8、rior nMatch the following native terms with their foreign counterparts. Native Borrowed brotherly mansion bodily universe homely fraternal might purchase house corporal buy domesticfiddle violin world power nIn this pattern, native, French, and Latin or Greek words co-exist.Native French Latin/Greek

9、begin terror trepidationrise flame interrogateask commence ascendfire royal conflagrationfear question regalkingly mount initiateholy age consecratedtime virtue probitygoodness sacred epoch2.The second reason: Dialects and regional EnglishAmEBrE佣人helpservant人行道sidewalkpavement铁路railroadrailway电梯elev

10、atorlift药品商druggistchemist分期付款installment planhire-purchase system汽油gasolinepetrol西洋跳棋checkersdraughts3.The third reason: Figurative and euphemistic of words occupation (profession) walk of life (fig) dreamer star-gazer (fig)nFor example, parents of a mentally retarded child might not mind the docto

11、r saying so bluntly, but would be greatly offended if relatives or friends should do so. To them the child is simply “a bit slow for his age”.nLets see some examples in Political and Military activities:Euphemism1. liesterminological inexactitude;2. aggressionpre-emptive action; police action;3. ret

12、reat, routphased withdrawal;4. admit defeatconcede the victory to;5. concentration campsstrategic villages or hamlets;6. labor strikean industrial action7. demobilization from military serviceinvoluntary separation8. military prostitutecomfort woman9. suicidal attackone-way action4.The forth reason:

13、 Coincidence with idiomatic expressionspick upchoosegive upabandongo on with continueput offpostponewingain the upper handhesitatebe in two minds1.3. kinds of synonymsnLinguists make a distinction between strict or absolute synonymy and loose or relative synonymy.Strict synonymynStrict synonyms refe

14、r to two words which are identical in meaning in all its aspects. They are interchangeable in all contexts. nStrict synonyms are very rare, and some linguists even argue that strict synonyms do not exist. nStrict synonymy is uneconomical; it creates unnecessary redundancy in a language.Strict synony

15、my scarlet fever- scarlatina word formation- word building motherland- fatherland mother tongue- native languageLoose synonymy nWhen we speak of synonymy, we mean loose or relative synonymy, where we find not only a significant overlap in meaning between two words, but also some contexts where they

16、cannot be used interchangeably. John found/discovered the basketball in the grass. Maria Curie discovered radium in 1898. *Maria Curie found radium in 1898. discover: be the first one to come across somethingfind: experience something in some wayDistinguishing synonymsnWe often take the following th

17、ings into consideration when we try to find the differences between synonyms. qIn English and American usageqDiscrimination of synonymsqDifferent stylistic meaningsqDifferent connotative/emotive meaningsqIn shades of meaningqIn the range of useqIn collocationSynonyms In English and American usagenSo

18、me synonym pairs differ in that they belong to different dialects of English. Here are some examples of synonyms from British and American English:BrEAmEBrEAmEliftelevatorfarmranchlawyerattorneybiscuitcookierubbishgarbagepavementsidewalkDiscrimination of synonymsnRelative synonyms always differ in o

19、ne way or another. nOne is more general: refuse-rejectnOne is more emotive: reject-declinenOne is more tense: repudiate-refusenOne is appreciative or derogatory where another is neutral: thrifty-economicalnOne is more professional: decease-deathnOne is more literary: passing-deathnOne is more colloq

20、uial: turn down-refuseOne of the synonyms belongs to child-talk: daddy-fathernDifference in range and intensity of meaningnI did not comprehend his exposition or his arguments, although I understood his language. nBright denotes intense light, but in certain contexts it can also connote purity or be

21、auty or other intangible qualities.denote: strict and literal meaning; connote: implied or suggested meaning.nbeautiful, pretty, handsome, lovely, comelynbeautiful 是最普通用词, 可用于人、物、景色等, 指“形式或颜色的美”, 或“给人以愉快或美感事物”, 侧重 “阴柔的优美”, 一般用于形容女人和儿童, 如: The west lake is famous for its beautiful scenery. 西湖以风景优美著称。

22、nhandsome 一般指男人, 指“相貌英俊、温文尔雅”; 用于女性时, 指“身材匀称, 仪表端正”; 用于儿童时, 指“外貌俊秀”; 用于其他事物时, 指“悦目或大方”, 如: He is a handsome lad. 他是个漂亮的小伙子。nlovely 往往用于女性、儿童、景色、物品等, 指“在外貌上能使人感到美好动人、漂亮可爱”, 带有“亲切”之意, 如: What a lovely smile she has! 她的微笑多可爱呀!npretty 语气较beautiful 弱, 侧重“娇小的”, 一般用于小孩或青年女子, 指女性“适度的美”, 含有“温柔、纤巧, 从而使人产生美感”之

23、意; 用于小孩时, 指“漂亮可爱的”; 用于事物时, 指“精致美好的”, 如: nShe looks very pretty in that new skirt. n她穿那条新裙子很好看。ncomely 通常是限定于健全的躯体带来的吸引力, 如: “Mrs. Hurd is a large woman with a big, comely, simple face” n“赫德太太是一个大个子女人，长着一张大而清秀单纯的脸。nlook, glance, stare, gaze, eye and peepnLook 泛指 看的动作nGlance: a short, quick look, e.g.

24、 He glanced at his watch. 他瞥了一眼手表.nPeep: a cautious glance, e.g. to peep through a keyhole 从锁眼里偷看nGaze: a long, steady look, often caused by surprise or admiration, e.g. I gazed at the car in front of me; Id never seen anything like it.nStare: a very surprised look or a very ill-mannered gaze, e.g.

25、We all stared at Aunties new hat. 我们目不转睛地盯着姑妈的新帽子看.nEye: watch carefully, e.g. to eye somebody narrowly 端详某人nlaugh (笑), smile (微笑), grin (咧嘴笑), chuckle (暗笑), giggle (痴笑), chortle (哈哈大笑), titter (傻笑), snigger (嬉皮笑脸地笑), guffaw (哄笑), cackle (咯咯的笑), roar (狂笑)nrich and wealthynA rich man and a wealthy la

26、dy are both rich, but the wealthy lady is felt to possess more money and property than a rich man.nThe work was not hard and she soon learned to do it well. (light or heavy; mental or physical) The wealth of industrial society could only come from the toil of masses. (suggesting heavy and tiring wor

27、k, more with manual labor)nA teacher was amazed to find that a lazy student had gained a mark of 100 in an important test. (difficulty of belief) A woman may be astounded to learn that her dearest friend has been spreading malicious gossip about her. (extreme difficulty of belief)nThe wolf rolled ov

28、er and played dead to escape capture by the farmer. They lost no time in fleeing the burning hotel.nThe company has decided to increase its sales by ten per cent next year. The owner of the restaurant is going to extend the kitchen. The metal will expand if heated.nEach of the three terms expresses

29、a different kind of enlargement. This can be illustrated by the following graphs:Synonyms with different stylisticmeaningsnOne of a pair of synonyms may be used in a more formal context than the other. Here are some examples of synonym pairs. InformalFormalInformalFormaldiedeceasedaddyfatherblamechi

30、deguymanwestoccidentalpraiseeulogyExample They made a decision to abandon the project.They decided to walk out on the project.The group policeman, constable, bobby, cop serves for another example. Among them, policeman and constable are stylistically neutral, yet the former is used both in BrE and A

31、mE while the latter is British specific. Bobby is colloquial used only in BrE and cop is slangy.Difference in emotive coloring 感情色彩差异 Look at that lovely little boy. Look at that small boy. Look at that tiny boy.All the three adj. describe the smallness of the boy. But little suggests attractively a

32、nd pleasantly, obviously an appreciative term; tiny means extremely small, implying the abnormal growth of the child; and small is neutral, simply implying not big.In shades of meaning-let, allow, permit-want, wish, desire-rich, wealthy-big, large, hugeCool-chilly-cold-frosty-frigid-icySynonyms diff

33、erent in range of usen同义词的语法特征不同nAsleep sleepingSynonyms Different In Collocationnaccuseof vs. charge withnRancid vs. addlednRancid bacon/ butternAddled eggs or brainspretty (girl, child, flower, garden, color, village, cottage)handsome (boy, man , car, table, overcoat, airliner, house)a flock of sh

34、eep, a herd of elephants, a shoal of fish, aswarm of bees; to sail a small boat, to navigate a liner;nempty (box, street, root); vacant (seat, chair, apartment); blank (paper): empty implies that there is no one or nothing inside while vacant suggests that something or some place is not occupied.1.4

35、 Lexical variation and malapropismnLexical variation 词汇变体英语中个别词有两个读音和拼写上都稍有不同的形式, 如whatever和whatsoever, 它们在词义和用法上毫无区别,完全是一个词,因此称为 “词汇变体”. More examples: eastward and eastwards; toward and towards; sere and sear; egoism and egotism; hippie and hippy; whisky and whiskey; favour and favor; connexion an

36、d connectionnMalapropism 误用词语误用词语是英语中的一种用词错误现象,类似汉语里的写错别字和读别音, 如:“Five below zero, nominally a safe temperature for driving.” (weather forecast)“My goal in life is to be a success, and when I retire I want to devote my money to philandering.” (from a students composition)normally 正常地 philanthropy 慈善

37、事业Try to distinguish the following confused words:predict v. 预言predicate v. 论断distinct 独特的distinctive 区别性的transcendent 卓越的transcendental 先验论的masterful 专横的masterly 熟练的fateful 命中注定的fatal 致命的defective 有缺点的deficient 缺乏的alternate 交替的alternative 二者选一的TemperatureTemperament 气质ingenious 机灵的ingenuous 纯真的defi

38、nite 明确的definitive 决定的intense 强烈的intensive 深入细致的observance 遵守observation 观察1.5. effects of synonymsnDo you know the significance of studying synonyms?nEg. We are hungry for a life that turns us on;we yearn for a knowledge of living that will save us from our innocuous lives that resemble death. We l

39、ook for signs in every strange event; we search for heroes in every unknown face. (A Walker, The Civil Rights Movement)nAvoid repetitionnGeneral-specific( achieve precision )nSay/speak: murmur, scream, retort, argue, protest,claim, state, declarenMonotony-vividnessnBarbie dolls fashion: fashions, co

40、stumes, outfits, apparel, dress. 1.6 Exercises: Discrimination of synonymsqThe losing team was from further competition.qFirefighters a big fire.qThe meeting has been because of the flu.qThe government the tax on alcohol.abolish, cancel, extinguish, eliminateeliminatedextinguishedcancelledabolishedD

41、iscrimination of synonymsqShe made an of ideas she wanted to present in her talk.qI have read the of his book.qThe chemistry book had a at the end of each chapter.abstract, outline, summaryoutlineabstractsummaryqIt is whether the economy will get better.qHis changes of recovery from illness are .qHe

42、 has some ideas about what to do, but nothing specific.qHis directions confused us; we did not know which of the two roads to take.qThe poetry of Ezra Pound is sometimes difficult to understand because it contains so many references. ambiguous, obscure, vague, unclear, dimuncleardimvagueambiguousobs

43、curenHe mounted his _ (gee-gee, steed)./ He got on his _ (gee-gee, steed).nThe corns are heavy and _ (ripe, mature).nShe is in some ways_ (ripe, mature) and some ways rather a child.nAfter sustained effort, they have found_ (effective, efficient) ways of reducing pollution.nTo run the business more

44、profitably, you need an _ (effective, efficient) production manager.nI was so _ (fatigued, tired) as to be obliged to retire at the same time as the _ (children, kids).nI was so _ (fatigued, tired) that I had to go to bed as early as the_ (children, kids).nWhen he asked me to dance, I _ (refused, de

45、clined) politely.nHe _ (refused, declined) to accept the political advice which was offered.nThe fridge smelled strongly of _ (addled, rancid) butter.nAn _ (addled, rancid) egg is one that has gone bad.n_ (Penalties, Fines) for overdue books will be strictly enforced.nYou have got to pay _ (penaltie

46、s, fines) for overdue books.nThe teacher _ (accused, rebuked) the student for being impudent.nThe writer _ (accused, rebuked) the critic of failing to do justice to his maiden work.2. AntonymyContents 2.1.definition of antonymy2.2. types of antonyms2.3. Some Characteristics of Antonyms2.4. use of an

47、tonyms2.1.definition of antonymynAntonymy is a relationship of meaning opposition that may hold between two words.nAntonyms can be defined as words which are opposite in meaning. 2.2. types of antonymsnSemantic classificationnContrary/ Gradable antonym 相反词等级反义词相反词等级反义词ncontradictory antonym /Complem

48、entaries /non-gradable 互补反义词互补反义词nConverse antonym 相对反义词相对反义词Contrary 相反词相反词nContrary antonyms are best considered in terms of a scale running between two poles or extremes. 相反词最好被想像为处于两极之间的一个标尺。non-gradablegradablenWords such as rich-poor, old-young, big-small represent two points at both ends of t

49、he pole. The existence of one is in relation to the other. .This shows what is called semantic relativity. 像富穷、老少、大小这样的词表示了一根杆子的两端。一方的存在与另一方有关。 这就是所谓的语义相对性。Examples: poor rich, good bad cold hot, old youngMore examples are:old, middle-aged, youngopen, ajar, closerich, well-to-do, poorhot, warm, cool

50、, coldbeautiful, good-looking, plain, uglyContradictory (complementary) antonymsnContradictory antonyms include pairs like the following:asleepawakedeadaliveonoffremember forgetwinlosetruefalsenNoun: boy girl, man womanThese pairs are called contradictory antonyms because they represent an either/or

51、 relation.If you permit some behavior, then it is not forbidden. Since they are not gradable, they do not allow comparisonFeatures of complementaries (1) They are so opposed to each other that they are mutually exclusive and admit no possibility between them. The assertion of one is the denial of th

52、e other or vice versa. 它们互相完全对立，互相排斥，之间不允许有任何可能项。肯定一方就等于否定另一方，反之也一样。(2) Another distinctive feature of this category is that such antonyms are nongradable. 这类反义词的另一个显著特征是这种反义词是非等级的。He is very single, or more single, or extremely single.Converse antonyms nThe following are examples of converse antony

53、ms：lendborrowhusbandwife above belowbeforeafterbehindin front ofbuysellgivereceiveparentchildspeaklistenLend is the converse of borrow and vice versa; i.e. the substitution of one member for the other does not change the meaning of a sentence if it is accompanied by the change of subject and object.

54、 John lent Mary five dollars.Mary borrowed five dollars from John.The bridge is above the river.The river is below the bridge. This behavior is allowed.This behavior is not prohibited. Contradictory antonymsvs. Converse antonymsConverse antonyms are relational antonyms.Contradictory antonyms are eit

55、her/or antonyms. 2.3 Some Characteristics of AntonymsnWords denoting nature, quality or state of things have in many cases antonyms. This accounts for abundance of antonyms among adjectives. Next come verbs which denote action or activity. Least antonyms are found among nouns which generally denote

56、names of objects, domain, idea, etc. nMany words, though having synonyms, do not find their semantic opposites. Therefore, there are a great many more synonyms than antonyms.nWords which are polysemantic can have more than one antonym, e.g. fast-loose/slow; dull-interesting/vivacious.nContraries are

57、 gradable antonyms, differing in degree of intensity, so each has its own corresponding opposite, e.g. hot-cold, warm-cool; poor-rich, destitute-opulentnSome words may have two different types of antonyms at the same time, one being negative and the other opposite, e.g.: happy-unhappy-sad, productiv

58、e-unproductive-destructive, free-unfree-enslaved.nExceptions：valuable and invaluableflammable and inflammableshameful and shamelessheritable and inheritable2.4 use of antonymsnA word can have more than one antonymsqFresh bread-stale breadqFresh air-stuffy airqFresh flowers-faded flowersqFresh look-t

59、ired looknPurpose of using antonymsnPurpose of using antonymsnAntonyms are often used to form antithesis to achieve emphasis by putting contrasting ideas together. Quite a few proverbs and sayings are illustrative examples:nEasy come, easy go.nMore haste, less speed.nUnited we stand, divided we fall

60、.nSpeech is silver; silence is golden.nGive me liberty, or give me deathnIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the era of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,