英语词汇学6.5Hyponymy.ppt

7.3 Hyponymy – the kind-of relation;a gneral term = linguistically a superordinate or an upper term; i.e., it includes all the other terms listed underneath it. Meat, vegetable and fruit are co-hyponyms, because they are all hyponyms of food. Hyponyms = a subordinate terms, lower terms. The subordinate term can be defined , as in a dictionary definition, with reference to the superordinate term; e.g. "cabbage is a type of large round vegetable”. Thus, the word of English language are arranged in a hierarchical system of superordinates and subordinates. go: ride, run, walk, fly, sail; walk: trudge, saunter, totter, stride, stroll hobble, limp, tiptoe, waddle, pussy-foot, stagger, hop and amble.; e.g go -- ride, run, walk, fly, sail; walk—trudge, saunter, totter, stride, stroll hobble, limp, tiptoe, waddle, pussy-foot, stagger, hop, amble. Usually, general terms suffice for our purpose. For instance: We went there last year. But general terms used too often can result on vagueness and triteness. They are too vague to convey any precise meaning. e.g. nouns -- thing, person, animal, plant, fact, condition, place; adjectives -- good, bad, awful, great, lovely, nice, vast; verbs -- do, get, come, go, make, fix, ;On the other hand, the hyponyms (or specific words) of the same super-ordinate (or general) terms can be usefully employed to make one's speech or writing more vivid and precise. e.g. With a wild rattle and clatter, and an inhuman abandonment of consideration not easily understood in these days, the carriage dashed through streets and swept round corners, with woman screaming before it, and men clutching each other and clutching children out of its way. At last, swooping at a street corner by a fountain... (Dickens, Charles: A Tale of Two Cities). These specific words not only add much force and clarity but also evoke vivid pictures in the reader's mind. ;7.4 Meronymy – the part- of relation;plant -- tree -- oak P