Word Relations, Sense Relations and Doublets Concepts and forms from Lesson XXII

Word Relations Words mean what they mean because they contrast with other words or word choices. Euphemism Hyperbole Oppositions: analog watch, acoustic guitar, grandé, economy, superior, satisfactory, whip, mix, frappé, blend, liquefy.

Word Relations Taxonomy: hierarchical relations Meronymy: part-whole relations Synonymy: shared designation Antonymy: relations of opposition

Kinds of Antonyms Gradable antonyms Simple antonyms Converses Reverses Antipodals

Gradable Antonyms versus Simple Antonyms Gradable antonyms (e.g., young-old, fast-slow) welcome various kinds of intensifers: very, really, extremely, a lot. Simple antonyms (e.g., male-female, extant-extinct) do not. Gradable antonyms can both be false. Simple antonyms cannot both be false.

Gradable Antonyms versus Simple Antonyms Which of the following pairs of antonyms are simple and which are gradable? private-public clean-dirty enemy-friend cold-hot temporary-permanent young-old legal-illegal

Sense Relations A word with two or more possible meanings is called an ambiguous word. There are two sources of ambiguity: homonymy and polysemy. A word with multiple possible meanings need not be ambiguous; it may simply be vague.

A Test for Ambiguity Take a sentence containing and. Assume one sense of your ambiguous word on one side of the and and another sense on the other: Pat went to the bank and so did Leslie, Pat and Leslie went to the bank. Is the result odd or funny? If so, the word you’re testing is ambiguous.

Doublets Definition. A pair of English words descended from a common base in Latin, one of which was borrowed directly from Latin and the other of which came into English via French. The Frenchified version of the Latinate word tends to have missing or ‘softened’ consonants, and altered vowel qualities, especially diphthongs.

feat (fait)/fashion (façon) fact/faction Doublets FACT feat (fait)/fashion (façon) fact/faction REG royal (royale) regal

Can you Guess the Doublet? Fashion Chase Grace Balm Comply Overture Hostel

New Bases (XXII) GRAT MISC, MIXT MOV, MOT NEG PURG VULG