英语词汇学(第四讲).pptVIP

Lecture 4 Word Meaning and Semantic Relations (Part II) Semantic Relations Two main Types of Semantic Relations Words are in different sense relations with each other (eg. desk). So are sentences in a language. (eg.John is an orphan. John’s father is a farmer) Lexical Semantic Relations Syntactic Semantic Relations 1. Synonymy 1). Synonyms are traditionally defined as words different in sound and spelling but identical or similar in meaning. head : leader, ruler, headmaster He has a good head for maths. head : ability, talent Interchangeable in all contextes? Identical in a certain sense Synonyms of a word vary according to different contexts, that is, when contexts change, synonyms will become different; or we can say: The so-called synonyms are all context dependent. Synonymy is the technical term for the sameness relation. English is said to be rich in synonyms. There are many pairs of words of these two sources which mean the same, e.g: Buy vs. Purchase World vs. Universe Brotherly vs. Fraternal 2)The sources of synonyms The English vocabulary has come from different sources: A: Anglo-Saxon B: Latin C: Greek D: French Three sources of synonyms in English: 3). Types of paired synonyms: Doublets: English Latin answer reply buy purchase help aid inner internal world universe Some doublets are made of British English and American English: British American coach bus chemist druggist petrol gasoline railway railroad pavement sidewalk Triplets: English French Latin/ Greek ask question interrogate end finish conclude fire flame conflagration holy sacred consecrated time age epoch A learned value in lexical meaning Warmer and homel