SEMANTICS

6.1 What is semantics?

Semantics refers to meaning and meaning is so intangible that one group of
linguists, the structuralists, preferred not to deal with it or rely on it all. To
illustrate what we mean by the intangible quality of ‘meaning’, think of such
words as ‘beauty’, ‘goodness’, ‘love’; it would be hard to find two people who
agree absolutely on what each of these words implies. A person may seem good
to one onlooker and a hypocrite to another. Meaning is a variable and not to be
taken for granted.
Under the subject of semantics we shall deal with the following areas of interest:
1. The fact that a word can have more than one meaning, for example ball can
be both a dance and a round object for bouncing
2. The fact that different words appear to have the same meaning, for example
‘regal’ and ‘royal’ or ‘big’ and ‘large’
3. The fact that some words can be analyzed into components such as adult,
female, for example mare implies both adult and female as well as horse
4. The fact that some words seem to have opposites, for example ‘long’ and
‘short
5. The fact that the meanings of some words are included in the meaning of
others, for example the meaning of ‘vegetable’ is included in that of ‘potato’

6.2 Polysemy
Polysemy, meaning ‘many meanings’, is the name given to the study of this
particular phenomenon. In a dictionary entry for any given word the meanings
are listed in a particular order with the central meaning given first, followed by
the most closely related meanings and with metaphorical extensions coming last.
If we look up ‘star’, for example, in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, we find the
meanings:
1. Celestial body
2. Thing suggesting star by its shape, especially a figure or objects with radiating
points
 3. (in card game) additional life bought by player whose lives are lost
4. Principal actor or actress in a company
Normally dictionaries decide between polysemy and homonymy by referring to
etymology (the origins and history of a word) when this is known, but even this
rule is not foolproof because, on occasions, etymologically related words may
have different spellings as in the case of ‘flower’ and ‘flour’. The simplest solution
is to seek a core of meaning and any homonymous items sharing the core of
meaning should be classified as polysemous.
The phenomenon of polysemy is not restricted to full words in English.
Multiplicity of meaning Is a very general characteristic of language and is found in
prefixes as well as full words. Let us take ‘un’ for example. When it prefixes a
verb, it usually means ‘reverse the action of the verb’: undo, unpack, untie. When
‘un’ precedes a noun to form a verb, it can mean ‘deprive of this noun’:
‘unhorse’, ‘unman’ (that is, deprive of manly qualities). This usage is rare in
English now but previously words like ‘unbishop’, ‘unduke’, ‘unking’, ‘unlord’
occurred. When ‘un’ precedes an adjective, it can mean ‘the opposite of’: ‘unfair’,
‘ungracious’, ‘unkind’, ‘untrue’.

6.3 Synonymy
Most people think of ‘synonymy’ as implying ‘having the same meaning’ but it is
easy to show that synonymy is always partial, never complete. ‘Tall and ‘high’ are
usually given as synonyms but whilst we can have both:
A tall building
And:
A high building
We can not have both:
A tall boy
And:
*a high boy
We can best define synonymy by saying that it is the relationship in which two
or more words are in free variation in all or most contexts. The closest we come
to absolute synonymy is when the synonyms belong to different dialects as with:
 British usage US usage
Autumn fall
Estate agent realtor
Pavement sidewalk
But even here the choice of one term rather than another indicates a regional
preference. As well as regionally marked synonyms, we find synonyms which
differ stylistically, in that one term may be more formal than another:
Die pass on/over kick the bucket decease
Steal relieve one of pinch/half inch purloin
Smell odour stink/pong effluvium
And, as the above items also illustrate, items which are cognitively synonymous
may arouse very different emotional responses, the A list below implying less
approval than the B list:
A B
Conceal hide
Politician statesman
Stubborn resolute
Total synonymy, that is, the coincidence of cognitive, emotive and stylistic
identity, is more of an ideal than a reality. In addition, the choice of one word
rather than its synonym can have an effect on the words and phrases than can co-
occur with it. Let us illustrate this briefly by listing dictionary synonyms for ‘put up
with’ and ‘noise’:
Pup up with noise
Bear clamour
Brook din
Endure disturbance
Stand sound level
Tolerate
All the verbs can collocate with ‘such noise’ although ‘brook’ is more likely to
occur with words like ‘impertinence’, ‘offhandedness’ or ‘rudeness’. As soon as
we try to substitute ‘clamour’ for ‘noise’, we meet our first problem. We can say:
I can’t put up with such noise
 But for most native speakers:
I can’t put up with such clamour
Is unacceptable. In addition, if we substitute ‘din’ we need to include an
indefinite article ‘such a din’, and the same applies to ‘racket’. What is being
stressed here is the fact that items collocate and interact. We must take levels of
formality into account in selecting synonyms.
6.4 Antonymy
This is the general term applied to the sense relation involving oppositeness of
meaning. For our purposes, it will be convenient to distinguish three types of
‘oppositeness’, namely (1) implicitly graded antonyms, (2) complementarity and
(3) converseness.
1. Implicitly graded antonyms refer to pairs of items such as ‘big’ and small,
‘good’ and ‘bad’. In other words, ‘big’ and ‘good’ can only be interpreted in
terms of being ‘bigger’, or ‘ better’ than something which is established as the
norm for the comparison, thus, when we say that one fly is bigger than
another, we imply that ‘big’ is to be understood in the context of flies. This
accounts for the apparent paradox of a ‘big fly’ being smaller than a ‘small
dog’ because ‘small’ in the latter context means ‘small when compared with
other dogs’.
In English, the larger item of the pair is the unmarked or neutral member.
Thus we can ask:
How big is it?
How wide is the river?
Without implying that the subject is either ‘big’, or ‘wide’. Such questions are
unbiased or open with regard to the expectations of the enquirer. On the
other hand, to ask:
How small is it?
Does prejudge the matter, claiming that it is indeed small. There is nothing
universal about the larger member of the pair being the neutral member
although in many societies this seems to be the case. In Japanese, for
example, one would as the equivalent of:
How thin is it?
 When an English speaker would have to ask:
How thick is it?
2. Complementarity refers to the existence of such pairs as ‘male’ and ‘female’.
It is characteristic of such pairs that the denial of one implies the assertion of
the other. Thus if one is not male, then one is certainly female. Notice the
difference between graded antonyms of the ‘good’/;bad’ type and
complementarity pairs. To say:
John is not single
Implies:
John is married
But to say:
John is not bad
Does not imply:
John is good
In certain contexts, the following can be complementary pairs:
Food drink
Land sea
Transitive intransitive
Warmblooded coldblooded
Related to complementary sets are sets of terms like colours or numbers
where the assertion of one member implies the negation of all the others.
Thus, if we have a set such as: green, yellow, brown, red, blue, to say:
This is green
Implies that it is not yellow, brown, red, or blue. In a two-term set such as
(male, female), the assertion of male implies the denial of the only other
term in the set. Such terms, as well as being described as ‘complementary’,
are often referred to as ‘incompatible’
3. Converseness is the relationship that holds between such related pairs of
sentences as:
John sold it to me
And I bought it from John
 Where SELL and BUY are in a converse relationship. English has a number of
conversely related verbs and so sentence converseness is a common
phenomenon:
John lent the money to Peter
Peter borrowed the money from John
Other frequently occurring converse verbs include:
Buy and sell
Push and pull
Command and serve
Give and take
Hire out and hire
Lease and rent
Teach and learn
Occasionally, the same verb can be used in the conversely related pair of
sentences as in:
John rented the house to Peter
Peter rented the house from John
And also:
John married Mary
And:
Mary married John
Sometimes, in English, we can find converse nouns corresponding to
converse verbs:
Command serve master servant
Teach learn teacher pupil
Treat consult doctor patient

6.5 Hyponymy
Hyponymy is related to complementarity and incompatibility. Whereas the
relationship of implicit denial is called incompatibility, the relationship of implicit
inclusion is called hyponymy. This relationship is easy to demonstrate. The colour
‘red’, for example, includes or comprehends the colours ‘scarlet’ and ‘vermilion’
 just as the term ‘flower’ includes ‘daisy’, ‘forget-me-not’ ‘rose’. The including term
in our latter example ‘flower’ is known as the superordinate term’ and the
included items are known as ‘co-hyponyms’. The assertion of a hyponym:
This is a rose
Implies the assertion of the superordinate:
This is a flower
But the assertion of the superordinate does not automatically imply one specific
hyponym. We can thus say that the implicational nature of hyponymy is
unilateral or works one way only.
One of the most useful features of the principle of hyponymy is that it allows us
to be as general or as specific as a particular linguistic occasion warrants, as can be
seen from the following hierarchies:

Plant

Flower bush tree

Deciduous coniferous

Pine fir

Vegetable

Greens pulses roots tubers

Cabbage spinach peas beans carrots turnips potatoes yams

Often these hierarchical diagrams are called ‘taxonomies’. With each downward step
we encounter terms of more specific meaning.
Hyponymy is a recently invented method of indicating the relationships that can exist
between words. Occasionally, items have to be put into a context to see whether
their relationships can best be illustrated by means of one classification rather than
another. ‘Black’ and ‘white’ are co-hyponyms when considered as colours but they
can be complementary in discussions about race, draughts and piano keys.

6.6 Idioms
An idiom is a group of words whose meaning cannot be explained in terms of
the habitual meanings of the words that make up the piece of language. Thus ‘fly
off the handle’ which means ‘lose one’s temper’ cannot be understood in terms of
the meanings of ‘fly’, ‘off’ or ‘handle’. Idioms involve the non-literal use of
language and they can be categorized as follows:
1. Alliterative comparisons:
Dead as a dodo
Fit as a fiddle
Good as gold

2. Noun phrases:
A blind alley (route that leads nowhere, a false trail)
A close shave (a narrow escape)
A red letter day (a day that will never be forgotten)
3. Preposition phrases:
At sixes and sevens (unable/unwilling to agree)
By hook or by crook (by whatever methods prove necessary)
In for a penny, in for a pound (I’m involved irrespective of cost)
4. Verb + noun phrase:
Kick the bucket (die)
Pop your clogs (die)
Spill the beans (reveal a secret)
5. Verb + preposition phrase:
Be in cover (be exceptionally comfortable)
Be in the doghouse (be in disgrace)
Be between a rock and a hard place (have no room for maneuver)
6. Verb + adverb:
Give in (yield)
 Put down (kill)
Take to (like)
Idioms range from the semi-transparent where the meaning can be interpreted in
terms of metaphor:
Clip someone’s wings (reduce someone’s mobility)
Or because one part of the idiomatic phrase is used literally:
Run up a bill
To the totally opaque:
Go bananas (lose one’s temper)
They tend to be relatively fixed with regard to number:
Spill the beans and not spill the bean
The use of determiners:
A dead duck and not the/that dead duck
The use of comparative and superlatives:
Good as gold and not better than gold
Red tape and not reddest tape
Word order:
Hale and hearty and not hearty and hale
The use of passives:
They buried the hatchet and not the hatchet was buried
He split the beans and not the beans were split
There is a tendency for the more transparent idioms to allow some change:
Run up a bill and run up an enormous bill
But:
Kick the bucket and not kick the enormous bucket
And there is a marked tendency for a few colours-black, blue, green, red and
white- to be used idiomatically:
Blackmail a blue moon a red herring a white elephant