Senses, sense components and semantic fields Kuiper and Allan Chapter 3.1.3

Senses Words have senses and senses have components. boy & girl share the components <young>, and <human>. hot & cold share the component <temperature>.

Superordinate senses have only the sense components shared by their hyponyms. child has the sense components <young> and <human>. Child is therefore the SUPERORDINATE of boy and girl and they are its HYPONYMS.

Hyponymy and entailment If something is a hyponym it follows that it is also a superordinate but not the other way around. i.e. If something is a pan then it is also a kitchen utensil. But if something is a kitchen utensil, then it does not follow that it is a pan.

Co-hyponyms define a semantic domain or field. chair, table, bed, stool etc brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandmother etc

Selectional restrictions come about because some words semantically select others, e.g cut the paper. Semantic redundancy and contradiction Metaphor, e.g. cut the noise

Exercise Arrange the words in each group so that every word is a hyponym of the word immediately before it. a. mouse, rodent, mammal b. house, building, bungalow, structure c. run, jog, move d. pistol, weapon, firearm, revolver