Transcript 6.5 Hyponymy

6.5 Hyponymy
6.5 Hyponymy
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Hyponymy deals with the relationship
of semantic inclusion.
The meaning of a more specific word
is included in that of another more
general word .
6.5 Hyponymy
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General
superordinate
flower
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animal
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Specific
subordinate/hyponym
rose, plum,
osmanthus (桂花）
cow, horse, sheep,
6.5 Hyponymy
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Hyponymy can be described in terms
of inverted tree-like graphs, with
higher-order superordinates above the
lower subordinates.
But their status either as
superordinate or subordinate is
relative to other terms.
6.5 Hyponymy
plant
vegetable
flower
cabbage carrot rose
Chinese
leaves
red
rose
tree
plum
pine
6.5 Hyponymy
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Hyponymy is very helpful in both receptive
and productive processing of language.
In reading comprehension, coherence by
hyponymy is an important key:
6.5 Hyponymy
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The village had most of the usual amenities:
a pub, a library, a post office, a village hall,
a medical centre, and a school.
In production, knowing the semantic
features of the hyponyms and their
superordinates can help us achieve
vividness, exactness, and
concreteness.
6.5 Hyponymy
[a] Trees surround the water near
our summer place.
[b] Old elms surround the lake
near our summer cabin.
6.5 Hyponymy
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Comment and improve:
It is said that a magnificent building
was destroyed recently.
I heard from my neighbour Lao
Wang that Shangri-la Hotel in
Hankou was burnt down on the night
of May Day.
6.6 Semantic Field
6.6 Semantic Field
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Semantic fields refer to semantically
related sets of words.
fruit: apple, pear, peach, apricot, date,
mango, pineapple, orange, lemon
vegetable:, celery, lettuce, leek, potato
cucumber, spinach, tomato, egg-plant
6.6 Semantic Field
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The meaning of a word often depends
on the neighbouring words which
identify the semantic field and help
pin down the meaning.
6.6 Semantic Field
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What does
orange:
orange:
orange:
orange mean?
red, blue, yellow
pear, apple, peach
coke, pepsi, sprite
6.6 Semantic Field
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What does captain mean?
Ship Crew
captain
first officer/mate
船长
大副
Navy
captain
commander
上校
中校
Army
captain
lieutenant
上尉
中尉
6.6 Semantic Field
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Semantic field of address forms:
Marriage
status
unmarried
married
unknown
Female
Male
Miss
Mrs
Mr
6.6 Semantic Field
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Changes in the semantic field:
Marriage
status
unmarried
Miss
married
Mrs
unknown
Ms
Female
Ms
Male
Mr
6.6 Semantic Field
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In different languages, the semantic field
may have different members.
Semantic field of Kinship terms:
6.6 Semantic
Field: kinship
English
father
mother
Chinese
父亲
母亲
uncle
叔叔，伯伯，舅舅，姨父，姑父
aunt
伯母，婶婶，姑妈，姨妈，舅妈
cousin
nephew
niece
堂兄/弟，表兄/弟，堂姐/妹，表姐/妹
侄儿，外甥
侄女，外甥女
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