Semantics and lexical relations / Provide an analysis of major lexical relations.

major lexical relations

major lexical relations | Provide an analysis of major lexical relations | What is semantics and lexical relations?

(Short points: Definition,Synonym,Antonym,Homonym,Homophone,Hyponym,Acronym,Abbreviation,Polysemy,Metonym)

ANS:

Semantics deals with the study of meaning. It's essential to the study of language acquisition and of language change. Semantics includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, clarified, illustrated and paraphrased.

 
Different lexical relations are discussed below:

Synonym:

 Synonyms are two or more forms with very closely related meanings. 
e.g. Broad - wide, big - huge, answer - reply.

 
 Same meaning is not totally same in synonym. e.g. 'He watches TV'. Here, 'watch' is perfect but 'see' is not perfect.

Antonym: 

A word deals with the opposite meaning of another. 
e.g. long - short, good - bad.

 
 Antonym is made by adding prefix. 
e.g. real - unreal, capable - incapable.

Homonym: 

Homonym is those words which are written and pronounced same but has different meaning. 
e.g. watch - see; watch - clock / Lie - false; lie - horizontal position.

Homophone: Those words which have different spelling but same sound. 
e.g. rain - rein; know - no; maid - made.

  Hyponym: 

Where the meaning of one form is included in the meaning of another is called hyponym. 
e.g. rose - flower, cat - animal, bean - vegetable, banyan - tree.

 
Here, the word 'rose' is included in 'flower' as well as 'cat' is included in the word 'animal'. In the same way, 'bean' is one kind of 'vegetable' where 'banyan' is one kind of 'tree'.

Acronym: 

 It is one kind of abbreviation. It's a word made by taking letters from a long phrase to make it comfortable.
e.g. NGO - Non Government Organization.

Abbreviation: 

Abbreviation is a shortened word.
e.g. fb - Facebook, ad - advertisement, exam - examination.

Polysemy:

 It is a word that has two or more similar meanings. 
e.g. Foot: The building is at the foot of the mountains.
       Foot: The shoe is tight for his foot.
In this illustration, foot is used for meaning the bottom part of the mountain whereas it also relates the bottom part of the body.

Metonym: 

Metonym is a word or phrase that represents something it is closely related with.
e.g. The press - The news media.
       Hollywood - The American film industry.