Lexical Semantics: Hyponyny Networks
Question 2
Not all dictionary definitions contain classifiers, but many do, and in some cases when you look up the classifier itself, you find another even more general classifier within its definition. For example, you might like to think about the following definitions from the Collins English Dictionary.
Colostrum is the thin milky secretion from the nipples that precedes and follows true lactation. It consists largely of serum and white blood cells.
A secretion is a substance that is released from a cell, especially a glandular cell, and is synthesized in the cell from simple substances extracted from the blood or similar fluid.
Substance is (1) the tangible basic matter of which a thing consists; or (2) a specific type of matter, especially a homogeneous material with definite or fairly definite chemical composition.
Matter is (1) that which makes up something, especially a physical object; material.
What are the classifiers in these definitions? (Why is this question hard to answer? Can you change the definition to make it easier?)
Draw a diagram to show the hyponymy chain you found in (a), with hyponyms shown below their classifiers.
Can you think of any additional levels that you can put in the hyponymy chain above secretion? Add them.
Sebum and saliva are co-hyponyms of colostrum. Add them to the diagram, along with two co-hyponyms for each level of the chain.
Add distinguishers to your diagram, to differentiate each of the co-hyponyms you have added.
On an intuitive level it would seem a simple task to select the different classifiers within each of the above definitions however, several problems arise which belie this. Colostrum is the easiest to deal with as it is the most specific of the four terms, although there is still potential for an error to be made. The only classifier in this description is 'secretion ' as, according to Hudson (1995: 26) “the classifier … is the first common noun that follows is”[1]. Although this syntactic
Not all dictionary definitions contain classifiers, but many do, and in some cases when you look up the classifier itself, you find another even more general classifier within its definition. For example, you might like to think about the following definitions from the Collins English Dictionary.
Colostrum is the thin milky secretion from the nipples that precedes and follows true lactation. It consists largely of serum and white blood cells.
A secretion is a substance that is released from a cell, especially a glandular cell, and is synthesized in the cell from simple substances extracted from the blood or similar fluid.
Substance is (1) the tangible basic matter of which a thing consists; or (2) a specific type of matter, especially a homogeneous material with definite or fairly definite chemical composition.
Matter is (1) that which makes up something, especially a physical object; material.
What are the classifiers in these definitions? (Why is this question hard to answer? Can you change the definition to make it easier?)
Draw a diagram to show the hyponymy chain you found in (a), with hyponyms shown below their classifiers.
Can you think of any additional levels that you can put in the hyponymy chain above secretion? Add them.
Sebum and saliva are co-hyponyms of colostrum. Add them to the diagram, along with two co-hyponyms for each level of the chain.
Add distinguishers to your diagram, to differentiate each of the co-hyponyms you have added.
On an intuitive level it would seem a simple task to select the different classifiers within each of the above definitions however, several problems arise which belie this. Colostrum is the easiest to deal with as it is the most specific of the four terms, although there is still potential for an error to be made. The only classifier in this description is 'secretion ' as, according to Hudson (1995: 26) “the classifier … is the first common noun that follows is”[1]. Although this syntactic
Bibliography: Hudson, R. (1995). Word Meaning. Padstow: Routledge. Palmer, F.R. (1981). Semantics. Bath: Cambridge University Press. Stevenson, A. (ed.) (2007). Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (6th edition). Italy: Oxford University Press. Word Count 1693 not including diagrams. 1799 with diagrams ----------------------- [1] I have used “ “ for quotations rather than ' ' to prevent confusion between quotes and senses.