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1、Semantic classification of words means that vocabulary units are classified on the basis of various meaning relations between words on the paradigmatic axis(语义聚合轴线).Paradigmatic relation existing between words not only define the word meaning but also function as the main criteria underlying(account
2、ing for)the semantic classification of words.For example,the criterion of common concept serves to classify words into semantic fields,whereas semantic relations of similarity,contrast and inclusion underlie（are the basis of)respectively the classification of lexical items into synonyms,antonyms and
3、 hyponyms(下义词）.,现代英语词汇学（第六章）Semantic Classification of Words,1.The superordinate and the hyponym Some words refer to the genus（类概念）;others refer to the species（种概念）.As has been stated earlier,the genus is a class of things made up of two or more subordinate classes of species.This involves us in the
4、 notion of semantic inclusion(语义内包)in the sense that tulip and rose are included in flower,and lion and elephant in animal.Inclusion is thus a matter of class membership.John Lyons term for the relation is Hyponymy(上下义关系),which is also known as“semantic inclusion”.Inclusion refers to including and b
5、eing included.Hyponymy refers to the relationship which obtains,between general and specific lexical items(between the genus and the species).That is to say,hyponymy includes the upper term and the lower term.The upper term is called the superordinate while the lower term is called the hyponym.we sa
6、y that dog and cat belong to animal,the word animal is the upper term called the superordinate.The words dog and cat are lower terms called hyponyms.We know that living things include animals and plants.On the one hand,animals contain birds,fishes,snakes,insects,etc.as well as mammals;on the other h
7、and,animals include human and beasts.The relationship of inclusion among living things is evident.First,animals may be used in contrast with plants to include birds,fishes,snakes etc.Second,animals may be used in the,sense of mammal to contrast with birds,fishes,snakes etc.to include human and beast
8、s.Third,animals may be used in the sense of beasts to contrast with human beings.Hyponymy can be described in terms of tree-like graphs,with higher-order superordinates above the lower superordinates.But their status either as superordinates or as subordinates is relative to other terms.For example,
9、horse,dog,pig are subordinates in relation to animal,but superordinates to mare,hound and boar.Animal itself becomes a subordinate of creature.And creature in turn becomes a subordinate of living things.It would seem reasonable that the whole of the vocabulary could be organized in this way:,food me
10、at vegetable fruit beef,pork,mutton;celery,spinach,cabbage;apple,orange,peach The set of terms which are hyponyms of the same superordinate term are called co-hyponyms.For example,beef,pork,mutton are the co-hyponyms of the superordinate meat.The sense relation of hyponymy is very helpful in recepti
11、ve and productive processing.In reading comprehension,coherence by hyponymy is a key point.,e.g.There was a fine rocking-chair that his father used to sit in,a desk where he wrote letters,a nest of small tables and a dark,imposing bookcase.Now all this furniture was sold,and with it his own past.In
12、this piece of discourse,the writer uses a set of hyponyms under furniture,which gives the writing coherence and provides the key to understanding the text.In production,knowing the semantic features of the hyponyms,and their superordinates can help us achieve vividness,exactness,and concreteness.Con
13、sider the following two pairs of sentences:(1.a)Trees surrounded the water near our summer place.(1.b)Old elms surround the lake near our summer cabin.,(2.a)I met a writer who is the relation of a politician.(2.b)I met a newspaper reporter who is the brother of Senator Buckley.It is not difficult to
14、 judge that in each pair sentence b is better than sentence a,because in b the writer uses subordinates,which are concrete and precise,presenting a vivid verbal picture before the reader whereas in a the words used are superordinates,which convey only general and vague idea.Semantic Field“The vocabu
15、lary of a given language is not simply a listing of independent items,but is organized into areas,or field,within which words interrelate and define each other in various ways.”(Crystal 1989:316),The massive word store of a language like English can be conceived of as composed around a number of mea
16、ning areas,some large,such as philosophy or emotion,others smaller,such as kinship or color.Viewing the total meaning in this way is the basis of field theory.The German linguist Trier saw vocabulary as“an integrated system of lexemes(词位)interrelated in sense”.Therefore,the words of language can be
17、classified into semantically related sets or fields.For example,peach,apricot,mango,pineapple,orange,lemon,etc.make up the semantic field of fruits;celery,lettuce,leek,onion,cucumber,pumpkin spinach,carrot,egg-plant and so on form the field of vegetables.The field of colors comprises words like red,
18、orange,yellow,green,white,black,blue,purple,pink,etc.According to Triers vision of fields,the whole vocabulary can be divided up into fields.Rogets Thesaurus(分类词汇汇编；辞典)was a good example.He used a scheme of universal concepts as a frame and listed together the words which share the same concepts.Lon
19、gman Lexicon of Contemporary English too was compiled on this principle.It describes some 15,000 items,classified into fourteen semantic fields of a practical everyday nature.Words in each field are semantically related and.,define one another.It is a general belief that the meaning does not exist i
20、n the word itself,but rather spreads over the neighboring words,because the neighboring words identify the semantic field and help pindown the meaning.Such words are thus semantically interdependent.As a result,meaning is to great extent determined by the position a word occupies in its semantic fie
21、ld.For instance,“He is a captain”does not mean very much until we know the semantic field in which captain operates.We know what captain means in the merchant service,in the navy or in the army only when we know whether his subordinate is called mate,commander or lieutenant.,Each semantic field cons
22、ists many sub-fields.For example,under family relations are father,mother,son,daughter,brother,sister,and under other family relations are found uncle,aunt,nephew,niece,cousin.There is a field concerning family in the past or future:ancestor,forefather,forebear,descendant,generation.Words in each fi
23、eld are semantically related and define one another.It is the general belief that the meaning does not exist in the word itself,but it rather spreads over the neighboring words,because the neighboring words identify the semantic field and help pindown the meaning.The semantic category obviously over
24、laps with,hyponymy:both are involved with forming relationships between words in the same general area of meaning.For practical purposes,in the case of hyponymy,one should pay attention to the question of which specific term to use,while in the case of semantic field,ones attention should be turned
25、towards the highly probable collocations the words of each semantic field have in common.2.Synonymy synonyms are traditionally defined as words different in sound and spelling but identical or similar in meaning.In fact,there are no two words in English that are interchangeable in all contexts.Moreo
26、ver most English words are polysemic words.It is impossible that,polysemic words could be synonymous in all their meanings.If one choose any group of synonyms and analyze them,one will find different shades of meaning.For example,end/terminate/close are all modes of ending,but to terminate is to end
27、 finally and to close is to end gradually.Therefore the term synonym can be better defined as“one of two or more words in the same essential meaning.”(WNDS)In other words,synonyms share a likeness in denotation as well as in part of speech.1)Source of synonyms English has not only the largest vocabu
28、lary,but also the most synonyms of any language in the world.,That is to say,English is particularly rich in synonyms.This is because the English language has grown over many centuries by incorporating words from other languages.The English vocabulary has come from different sources:from Anglo-Saxon
29、 on the one hand and from Latin,Greek or French on the other.Concretely speaking,there are three sources of synonyms in English.Before the Norman Conquest in 1066 the Old English vocabulary included words borrowed from Latin,Greek and Scandinavian.After the Norman Conquest the English vocabulary was
30、 enriched by the addition of French words.Nowadays British English exists side by side with American English,and a lot of,synonyms have been produced by both of them.There are countless paired synonyms where a native word is opposed to one borrowed from Latin,Greek or French.These words are called d
31、oublets.e.g.English Latin answer reply brotherly fraternal buy purchase heavenly celestial help aid inner internal sharp acute,In most cases the native word is more informal whereas the loan-word often has a learned value in lexical meaning.The native word is usually warmer and homelier than the loa
32、n-word in emotive meaning.In a few cases the native word is more formal than the loan-word.e.g.English Latin deed action dale valley foe enemy meed reward There are another type of synonyms called triplets.,and most ordinary of the three terms.The Latin word or the Greek word is learned,whereas the
33、French one stands between the native and the Latin word or the Greek word.English French Latin or Greek ask question interrogate end finish conclude fire flame conflagration fear terror trepidation goodness virtue probity holy sacred consecrated rise mount ascend A number of synonyms in English are
34、made up of,British English and American English.British English American English call box telephone booth coach bus chemist druggist lift elevator garage service station petrol gasoline hire purchase installment plan pavement sidewalk 2)Semantically synonymous field,Based on semantic similarity,syno
35、nyms are usually arranged into synonymic groups or sets.Within these groups there is the most general term known as“synonymic dominant”(主导同义词).The synonymic dominant is the common denotational component that brings two or more words together into a synonymous field.The term differs from the semantic
36、 field in that the members of the symantically synomous fields are synonyms whereas the members of the semantic field are different in meaning.The synonymous dominant,being general in concept,is usually neutral both stylistically and emotionally.It potentially contains the characteristics rendered/g
37、iven/provided by all the other members of,the semantically synonymous field.For example,leave,depart,quit,retire,withdraw can form a synonymic group,within which leave is the synonymic dominant,because leave is the general lexical item while the rest are the specific lexical items.Leave means“go awa
38、y”,and this idea is contained in the other members of the synonymic group.For example,the word retire may mean“go away”as in“The ladies retired into the drawing room”,but it may also refer to the idea of giving up ones work because of advanced age as in“The worker retired at the age of 60.”The secon
39、d sense of the word can still be traced back to the general concept of going away.3)Differences between synonyms Generally speaking,there is no difference between absolute synonyms whereas relative synonyms always,differ in one way or another.Differences between synonyms boil down/be summarized in t
40、he following aspects:1)Differences in denotation:Synonyms may differ in the range and intensity of meaning.Some words have a wider range of meaning than others.For example,timid and timorous are synonyms,but the former is applied to both the state of mind in which a person may happen to be at the mo
41、ment,and to the habitual disposition/temperament,and the latter only to the disposition.Therefore,timid has a wider range of meaning than timorous.It is the same with comprehend and understand.The verb understand is used in a much more extended sense than comprehend.Whatever is comprehended is under
42、stood,but in many cases,comprehend cannot take the place of understand.,It would be quite correct to say,“I did not comprehend his argument,although I understood the language,and all the sentences.”Another illustrative example is the synonymous group of extend,increase,expand.They share the general
43、sense but have different implications:(1)The company has decided to increase its sales by ten per cent next year.(2)The owner of the restaurant is going to extend the kitchen by ten feet this year.(3)Metal expands if heated.Each of the three terms express a different kind of enlargement.,Synonymy ma
44、y differ in degree of intensity.Take rich and wealthy for example.A rich man and a wealthy lady are both rich,but the wealthy lady is felt to possess more money and property than a rich man.Want,wish,desire afford another example of the kind.Of the three terms,want is the most general and has the wi
45、dest range of meaning while wish and desire are much narrower in sense.As far as intensity is concerned,both are stronger than want,and desire the strongest of the three.2)Difference in connotation:By connotation we mean the stylistic and emotive coloring of words.Some words share the same denotatio
46、n but differ in their stylistic appropriateness.For example,the words borrowed from,Latin and French are generally more formal than native words:answer/respond,storm/tempest,wood/forest,unlike/dissimilar,handy/manual,homely/domestic,flesh/carnal.In each pair,the first term is native and not style-sp
47、ecific whereas the second term is borrowed either from French or Latin and is formal.These borrowings are more appropriate for formal and technical writings.Apart from these,mention should be made of archaic and poetic terms,which are self-suggestive.For example,ire/anger(rage,fury,wrath,resentment,
48、indignation,annoyance,irritation etc.)bliss/happiness,forlorn/distress,dire/dreadful,list/listen,enow/enough,save/except,mere/lake and such like are all synonymous pairs,but in each the second is standard in usage whereas the first is old-fashioned and archaic,only found in poetry,early writings,etc
49、.,Modern linguists deal with synonyms from the stylistic point of view.Different labels are used for stylistically significant synonyms.For example,horse,charger,steed,nag and plug form a synonymic group within which horse can be labeled as neutral,charger and steed as formal(or literal),nag and plu
50、g as informal(colloquial or casual or intimate).Words that occur in different settings are stylistically marked.Those used for serious purpose,for example,in official reports,business letters and regulations are labeled as formal whereas those used in private conversation or personal letters are lab
