1. A word which is related to other words is related to them in ______.
sense
[解析] 一个与其他词相关联的词是在什么上与它们相关的?A word which is related to other words is related to them in sense, hence sense relations.答案为sense。
2. The development of word-meaning from monosemy to polysemy follows two courses, traditionally known as ______ and concatenation.
radiation
[解析] 词义从单义向多义发展遵循什么和连锁型两种模式?The development of wordmeaning from monosemy to polysemy follows two courses, traditionally known as radiation and concatenation. 答案为radiation。
3. Ambiguity often arises due to polysemy and ______.
4. Perfect homonyms are words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in ______.
meaning
[解析] 完全同形同音异义词是拼写和读音相同,但什么不同的词?Perfect homonyms are words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in meaning.答案为meaning。
5. One important criterion for differentiation of homonyms from polysemants is to see their ______. The second principal consideration is semantic relatedness.
etymology
[解析] 区别同形同音异义词和多义词的一个重要标准是看它们的什么?第二个重要的标准是语义是否相关。One important criterion is to see their etymology. The second principle consideration is semantic relatedness.答案为etymology。
6. In dictionaries, a polysemant has its meanings all listed under one ______ whereas homonyms are listed as separate entries.
headword
[解析] 在词典中多义词是列在同一个什么下的,而同形同音异义词则列入不同的词条下?In dictionaries, a polysemant has its meanings all listed under one headword whereas homonyms are listed as separate entries。答案为headword。
7. Perfect homonyms and polysemants are fully ______ with regard to spelling and pronunciation.
identical
[解析] 完全同形同音异义词和多义词都是在拼写和读音上怎么样的词?Perfect homonyms and polysemants are fully identical with regard to spelling and pronunciation.答案为identical。
8. The words which are fully identical in meaning are called ______ synonyms.
absolute
[解析] 意义完全相同的词叫做什么词?Absolute synonyms are words which are identical in meaning in all aspects.答案为absolute。
9. Relative synonyms also called ______ are similar or nearly the same in denotation, but embrace different degrees of a given quality.
near-synonyms
[解析] 相对同义词,也称什么,在外延上相近或几乎相同但意义上有细微区别或有程度上区别的词?Relative synonyms also called near-synonyms are similar or nearly the same in denotation but embrace different degrees of a given quality.答案为near-synonyms。
10. Contrary terms are ______ antonyms.
gradable
[解析] 相对反义词是什么样的反义词?Contrary terms are best viewed in terms of a scale running between two poles or extremes. They are gradable and one exists in comparison with the other. 答案为gradable。
11. Some words can have two different types of antonyms at the same time, one being ______ and the other opposite.
12. Hyponymy deals with the relationship of semantic inclusion. That is, the meaning of a more specific word is included in that of another more general word. The general words are called the superordinate terms and the more specific words are called the ______ terms.
subordinates
[解析] 上下义关系涉及语义包容关系。也就是说,一个更为具体词的意义被包含在另外一个更为一般的词义之中。更为一般的词被称为上义词,更具体的词称为什么?Hyponymy deals with the relationship of semantic inclusion.That is, the meaning of a more specific word is included in that of another more general word. The more general words are known as superordinates. The more specific words are subordinates. 答案为subordinates。
13. The massive word store of a language like English can be conceived of as composed around a number of meaning areas. Some large, such as "philosophy" or "emotions", other smaller, such as "kinship" or "color". Viewing the total meaning in this way is the basis theory of ______ theory.
14. Semantically, all ______ are related in one way or another.
words
[解析] 在语义上,所有词都是彼此相关的。答案为words。
15. The vocabulary of a language is in constant change; old items drop out, new items come in, and as the new replace the old, so the internal ______ of the whole set alter.
relations
[解析] 一门语言的词汇处于持续不断的变化中;旧词被废弃,而新词增加进来,而且随着新词取代旧词,所以整个集合内的内部什么也在发生变化?The vocabulary of a language is in constant change; old items drop out, new items come in, and as the new replace the old, so the internal relations of the whole set alter. 答案为relations。
Ⅱ.
1. polysemy
Words that have two or more than two senses.
2. primary meaning
Primary meaning is the only" first meaning that a word had when it was created.
3. radiation
A semantic process in which the primary meaning stands at the centre and the secondary meanings proceed out of it in every direction like rays.
4. concatenation
It refers to a process where each of the later meaning is related only to the preceding one like chains.
5. homonymy
Words different in meaning but either identical both in sound and spelling or identical only in sound or spelling.
6. homographs
Homographs are words identical only in spelling but different in sound and meaning.
7. absolute synonyms
Absolute synonyms also known as complete synonyms are words which are identical in meaning in all its aspects, i.e. both in grammatical meaning and lexical meaning.
8. antonyms
Antonyms can be defined as words which are opposite in meaning.
Ⅲ.
1. What are the two approaches to polysemy?
(1)Diachronic approach. From the diachronic point of view, polysemy is assumed to be the result of growth and development of the semantic structure of one and same word. At the time when the word was created, it was endowed with only one meaning. This first meaning is the primary meaning. With the advance of time and the development of language, it took on more and more meanings. These later meanings are called derived meanings as they are all derived from the primary meaning. (2)Synchronic approach. Synchronically, polysemy is viewed as the coexistence of various meanings of the same word in a certain historical period of time, say, Modern English. In this way, the basic meaning of a word is the core of word-meaning called the central meaning. The derived meanings, no matter how many, are secondary in comparison.
2. To comment on the rhetorical use of homophones in the following ad: Seven days without 7-Up make one weak.
The message is from the fact that seven days make one week. But week and weak are homophones, i. e. the two words share the same pronunciation. Seven days and 7-Up (sevenup) both contain the same word seven. So the sentence can reminds people of the meanings: seven days without Seven-Up make your body weak.
3. How do you understand the statement that true synonyms is nonexistent?
Synonyms can be defined as words different in sound and spelling but most nearly alike or nearly the same in meaning. But if one chooses any group of synonyms and analyze them, one will find different shades of meaning. For example, end, terminate and close are all modes of ending, but to terminate is to "end finally" and to close is to "end gradually". So we see that absolute or true synonyms are rare in natural languages and some people even think that such synonyms are non-existent.
4. What is the sources of synonyms?
(1) Borrowing. The most important source is perhaps borrowing (2)Dialects and regional English; (3) Figurative and euphemistic use of words (4)Coincidence with idiomatic expressions.
5. What is the discrimination of synonyms?
Generally speaking, there is no difference between absolute synonyms whereas relative synonyms always differ in one way or another. The differences between synonyms boil down to three areas: (1) Difference in denotation. Synonyms may differ in the range and intensity of meaning. (2)Difference in connotation. By connotation we mean the stylistic and emotive colouring of words. Some words share the same denotation but differ in their stylistic appropriateness. (3)Difference in application. Many words are synonymous in meaning but different in usage in simple terms.
6. What is the appropriate antonym for acute in the following statement? She got an acute pain in her back.
The appropriate antonym for acute in the sentence "She got an acute pain in her back" is dull.
7. What is the types of antonyms?
Antonyms can be defined as words which are opposite in meaning. They can be classified into three major groups. (1)Contradictory terms. These antonyms truly represent oppositeness of meaning. They are so opposed to each other that they are mutually exclusive and admit no possibility between them. Another distinctive feature of this category is that such antonyms are non-gradable. (2)Contrary terms. Antonyms of this type are best viewed in terms of a scale running between two poles or extremes. Antonyms such as rich/poor, old/young, big/small represent two points at both ends of the pole. The two opposites are gradable and one exists in comparison with the other. (3)Relative terms. This third type consists of relational opposites. The pairs of words indicate such a reciprocal social relationship that one of them cannot be used without suggesting the other.
8. What is the characteristics of antonyms?
(1)Antonyms are classified on the basis of semantic opposition. Therefore, in a language, there are a great many more synonyms than antonyms. (2)A word which has more than one meaning can have more than one antonym. (3)Antonyms differ in semantic inclusion. In many pairs we find that one member is more specific than the other and the meaning of the specific is included in that of the general. (4)Contrary terms are gradable antonyms, differing in degree of intensity, so each has its own corresponding opposite. They each have a different antonym.
9. Decide whether the following statement is true or false, based on your understanding of the characteristics of antonyms. State your reason with one example. Contrary terms are non-gradable and allow intermediate members in between.
False. Contrary terms are gradable antonyms, differing in degree of intensity, so each has its own corresponding opposite. For example, hot and warm are synonyms. Their difference lies in intensity. Correspondingly, they each have a different antonym. The opposite of hot is cold and that of warm is cool. We cannot regard cool as the antonym of hot or cold as the antonym of warm. (more examples: poor/rich, destitute/opulent.)
10. The word "happy" has two different types of antonyms at the same time, one being negative and the other opposite. What are they?
Of the two antonyms of the word "happy", the negative one is "unhappy", the opposite one is "sad".
11. What is the difference between superordinates and subordinates?
Superordinates refer to some general words; subordinates denote those more specific words. Hyponymy can be described in terms of tree-like graphs, with higher-order superordinates above the lower subordinates. But their status either as superordinate or subordinate is relative to other terms.
12. Modify the sentence: He bought a piece of furniture and found it in poor condition.
Furniture is a general word, referring to anything used in the house, so the sentence will be improved if changed this way. He bought a desk and found it in bad quality.
13. Modify the sentence: Trees surround the water near our summer place.
Tree is a superordinate, governing a lot of subordinates such as willow, pine, elm, etc. This sentence can be more vivid if put this way, Willow trees surround the lake near our summer resort. Again, here "water" is also a superordinate, "lake" is specific, and "summer place" is not so specific as "summer resort".
14. What is the remarkable feature of Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English?
(1)compiled on the principle of semantic field; (2)some 15,000 items classified into fourteen semantic fields of a practical everyday nature; (3)subfields also included; (4)semantically related words defining one another.
Ⅳ.
1. Analyze the following dialogue and comment on the rhetoric use of homonym in italicized font. "You're not eating your fish," a waitress said to a customer. "Anything wrong with it?" "Long time no sea, " the customer replied.
As homonyms are identical in sound or spelling, particularly homophones, they are often employed to create puns for desired effect of humor, sarcasm or ridicule. "Long time no see" is usually said as a form of greeting between two friends when they meet after a long time. Here the customer cleverly employed the structure of the idiom to his advantage to criticize in a humorous way the bad quality of the food served at the restaurant. "Long time no sea" implies that sea food kept for a long time is not fit for eating.
2. Use examples to illustrate the similarity and difference between absolute synonyms and relative synonyms.
(1)Absolute synonyms (complete synonyms) are words which are identical in meaning in all its aspects. Absolute synonyms are rare in natural languages and restricted to highly specialized vocabulary, such as scarlet-fever/scarlatina in medicine. (2)Relative synonyms (near-synonyms) are similar or nearly the same in denotation, but embrace different shades of meaning or different degrees of a given quality. For example, to change a thing is to put another thing in its place; to alter a thing is to make it different from which it was before.
3. Analyze and comment, with a diagram, on the italicized words increase, extend and expand in the following three sentences based on the concept of discrimination of synonyms. A. The company has decided to increase its sales by ten per cent next year. B. The owner of the restaurant is going to extend the kitchen by ten feet this year. C. The metal will expand if heated.
Synonyms may differ in the range and intensity of meaning. Some words have a wider range of meaning than others. Increase, extend and expand share a general sense but have different implications. Each of the three terms expresses a different kind of enlargement. This can be illustrated by the following graphs.
4. Analyze and comment on the meanings of the following sentences and then find out the right antonyms for each fast respectively. A. My god, look, this clock is one hour fast, as if we were at Tokyo. B. The colors aren't fast, so be careful when you wash this shirt. C. The delegation paid a fast visit to the United Kingdom last month.
A word which has more than one meaning can have more than one antonym. Sentence A means the clock is one hour ahead of the local time, and the antonym of fast is slow. Sentence B means the colors are resistant to destruction or fading, and the antonym of the word fast is loose. Sentence C means the visit was accomplished in relatively little time, and its antonym is long.
5. Analyze and comment on the following sentences based on the concept that antonyms differ in semantic inclusion. A. How tall is his sister? B. How short is his sister?
Pairs of antonyms are seen as marked and unmarked terms respectively. In many pairs, we find that one member is more specific than the other and the meaning of the specific is included in that of the general. So far as the meaning is concerned, sentence A includes the meaning of B. The use of "tall" does not exclude the possibility of "his sister being very short". But sentence B is much more restricted in sense and is considered semantically abnormal unless the speaker is particularly interested in how short his sister is.
6. Comment on the following two pairs of sentences in terms of superordinates and subordinates: a. He got a piece of furniture recently. b. He bought a cupboard three days ago. a. It is said that a magnificent building was destroyed yesterday. b. The news says that the Royal Hotel was burnt down last night.
In the first group of sentences, "furniture" in sentence a is a superordinate while "cupboard" in sentence b is a subordinate. Sentence a does not tell what specific type of furniture he got recently but sentence b indicates what type of furniture was bought. In the second group, it could be found that "a magnificent building" and "the Royal Hotel" as well as "destroy" and "burnt down" are related in hyponymy respectively. The meaning expressed by sentence b may be more specific than the meaning expressed by sentence a.