Chapter 6
Lexical Semantics
Exercise 6.3Structural Semantics
Identify the superordinate term in each set.
house, shed, building, garage, cottage, hut
plate, saucer, cup, soup bowl, dish, serving bowl
stream, river, rivulet, creek, brook, tributary
glance, peep, stare, leer, look (at), view, watch
hurricane, tornado, gale, storm, typhoon
Identify the relationship of oppositeness expressed in the following sentences.
The window pane is open, but it should be shut.
This class is better than last year's class.
This painting is similar to that one.
He pushed the lever forwards instead of backwards.
This plant was sick, but now it's healthy.
My poor relatives envy my rich relatives.
He ordered a sweet and sour dish.
It is better to give than to receive.
Below is one member of a set of scalar adjectives. Identify the other member of the set; if an alternative member exists (in a different context), list that as well.
hard
strong
short
happy
light
cheap
Give the end-of-scale equivalents for these normal scalar adjectives
tired
wet
poor
sad
hot
Name the structural relation expressed by each of the following pairs of words.
casual/informal
parent/offspring
university/college
right/wrong
right/left
odd/even
odd/unusual
bring/take
rude/polite
wind/breeze
moist/damp
present/absent
fair/foul (ball)
intelligent/smart
employ/use
mathematics/history
glass/tumbler
doctor/patient
own/belong to
ancestor/descendant
predator/prey
benefactor/donor
enter/leave
rise/fall
dress/undress
Identify whether the following pairs are examples of antonymy or complementary. Are these concepts gradable?
clean/dirty
drunk/sober
fresh/stale
building
dish
river
look (at)
storm
complementarity
converseness
symmetry
converseness
complementarity
antonymy
antonymy
converseness
| a. |
hard: soft |
(as in hard/soft bed) |
|
hard (= ‘difficult’): easy |
(as in hard/easy question) |
|
| hard is unmarked | ||
| (Soft is in opposition to loud when referring to a sound or voice.) | ||
| b. |
strong : weak |
(as in strong/weak person or tea) |
|
strong : mild |
(as in strong/mild cheese) |
|
| strong is unmarked | ||
| c. |
short : long |
(as in short/long rope or novel) |
|
short : tall |
(as in short/tall person or building) |
|
| short is marked | ||
| d. | happy : sad/unhappy | |
| happy is unmarked | ||
| e. |
light : dark |
(as in light/dark color) |
|
light : heavy |
(as in light/heavy box or housework) |
|
| light is marked | ||
| f. | cheap/inexpensive : expensive | |
| cheap is marked | ||
exhausted
drenched, soaking
destitute
despondent
scorching
synomymy
converseness
cohyponyms
complementarity
converseness
complementarity
synonymy
converseness
antonymy
superordinate — hyponym
synonymy
complementarity
complementarity
synonymy
synonymy
cohyponyms
superordinate — hyponym
converseness
converseness
converseness
converseness
synonymy
converseness (reversive)
converseness (reversive)
converseness (reversive)
All would appear to be examples of antonymy since they are gradable: very {clean, drunk, fresh} or cleaner, drunker, fresher. However, we might also conceive of these as complementary concepts in some contexts: e.g., a dish is either clean or not, and legally, one is either drunk or not.