I

NTRODUCTION TO

L

INGUISTICS

.

L

ECTURE

8.

Words in context

0. Language is a system of arbitrary signs used in a society for communication. System: a group of

elements or factors which interact (e.g. language, human body, society, chess, logic, traffic lights,
etc.).

I. Relations in a system:

1. Syntagmatic (simultaneous possibilities, string of constituents, linear order, addition)
2. Paradigmatic (competing possibilities, contrast, selection)
3. System: class of paradigmatically related elements (e.g. case system, tense system)
4. Structure: set of syntagmatically related constituents (e.g. sentence, clause)
5. Identity of a unit within the language (system): syntagmatic relations + paradigmatic relations

II. Words in context:

1. Syntagmatic relation: collocation, colligation (grammatical collocation);
2. Paradigmatic relation: sense.

plan

rejected

group

application

approved

commission

The

scheme

was submitted by the

committee

proposal

accepted

government

programme

discussed

body

3. Stylistic context:

a. spoken / written / electronic (digital)

b. technical / non-technical

c. formal / informal

d. General English / Special English

4. Social context (dialect):

a. global / regional

b. standard / substandard

c. high / low

III. Lexical (sense) relations:

1. synonymy (relation of sameness, similarity):

‘What is the meaning of conceal ? The same as hide’

near synonymy:
let – allow – permit; start – begin – commence; end – finish – terminate

2. antonymy (relation of oppositeness, contrast):

‘What is the meaning of shallow ? The opposite of deep’

graded: big – small, good – bad, old – young, love – hate;

non-graded (complementary / contradictory): dead – alive, single – married, true – false;

converse: husband – wife, parent – child, sell – buy, lend – borrow;

incompatibility (days of week, seasons, colours, etc.).

different dimensions of antonymy:

woman – man / girl / lady;
old – young / new / fresh.

3. hyponymy (relation of inclusion):

‘What is the meaning of finch ? It is a kind of bird’

finch is the hyponym of bird,
bird is superordinate = hyperonym;
finch and lark are co-ordinates;
superordinate / hyperonym: move, hyponyms: walk, run, fly, swim

animal

bird

dog

snake

finch lark

robin

4. meronymy: part-whole relation (tree > branch > leaf; arm > hand > finger; face > nose; book >

page )

5. homophony (same pronunciation, different meanings, different words):

flower / flour, meet / meat, pail / pale, sea / see, threw / through, etc.

6. homography (same spelling, different meanings, different pronunciation):

lead [lI;d] vs. lead [led], wind [wInd] vs. [waInd], row [r@U] vs. [raU], etc.

7. homonymy (same form, different – unrelated – meaning, different words):

bear (‘animal’ vs. ‘carry’), swallow, bank, bat, club, etc.

8. polysemy (single word with different – related – meanings, cf. metaphorical extension): head,

foot, run, plain, etc.

9. metonymy (‘name for thing’; substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the thing meant):

the Crown property, White House has decided, to answer the door, I’ve been reading
Conrad, I have Blake on the shelf behind my desk, the buses are on strike, the kettle is
boiling, he is not on the list.

10. synophony: different meanings, similar pronunciation, words often confused:

wander / wonder; adopt / adapt; simple / sample; perimeter / parameter.