Semantic Relations

Semantic Relations

1. As speakers of the language, we all have an implicit understanding of a number of semantic relationships that hold between either words or sentences in the language.

   • Paraphrase
     • Is
       • A paraphrase of another when it has the same meaning as another.
         • Example
           • Philip purchased an automobile is a paraphrase of Philip bought a car.
   • Entailment, or implication
     • One
       • Utterance entails another when the second is a logically necessary consequence of the first.
         • Example
           • Alan lives in Toronto entails Alan lives in Canada.
             • Note that the relationship of entailment, unlike that of paraphrase, is one-way: it is not the case that Alan lives in Canada entails Alan lives in Toronto.
   • Inclusion
     • One
       • Utterance encompasses another.
         • Example
           • I like fruit includes I like apples.
             • Again, this relationship is unidirectional: I like apples do not include I like (all) fruit.
   • Contradiction
     • A
       • Statement or sequence of utterances is logically contradictory; that is, if one is true, the other must be false.
         • Example
           • He is an orphan who contradicts his parents are living or I was fatally ill last year is internally contradictory.
   • Anomaly
     • An
       • Utterance has no meaning in the everyday world.
         • It
           • Violates semantic rules.
             • For example, He swallowed a dream or The rock giggled.
   • Presupposition
     • It
       • Assumed beforehand by an utterance, or what is taken for granted, is said to be presupposed.
         • The existence of the thing or the person talked about (the topic).
   • Meronymy
     • A
       • Word denotes part of a whole.
         • As
           • Fender is to a car, a week is to month, the head is to body...
   • Homonymy
     • Two words sound and are written the same but are different in meaning.
       • As
         • In pupil 'a student' and pupil 'the opening in the center of the iris of the eye.
   • Polysemy
     • It occurs when one word has other meanings out of context.
     • The words that have more than one meaning. It can be described as multiple meanings of words.
   • Denotation/Connotation
     • Words
       • Have literal or referential meanings (denotation) but also evoke feelings, attitudes, or opinions (connotations).
         • Examples
           • Relax - Loaf Insect - Bug Hound - Dog
   • Lexical ambiguity
     • A
       • Word or phrase allows more than one meaning in context.
         • Example
           • He lost his head, which may mean that he became discomposed (a metaphorical interpretation) or that he was decapitated (the literal interpretation).