Lexical Studies

 

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Words are arbitrary symbols and independent identities so far as their spieling and pronunciation are concerned. But semantically all words are related in one way or another way. The meaning of a word can be studied in isolation or in connection with other words. Words are related to each other in sense and this relation is called sense relation. Sense is a distinction that is made when semantics try to define or determine meaning. But it is within this semantic domain that problems are often faced. These problems blur the defining line between two semantic categories. Sense relation makes the reader clear about the meaning of a word and its use within a combination of words. 

DISCUSSION

The meaning of an utterance is often considered, in terms of denotation and connotation but, meaning is more than connotation and denotation. What a word means depends in parts on its association with other words (the relational aspect). Lexemes do not merely have meanings, they contribute to the utterances in which they occur and what meanings they contribute, depends on what other lexemes they are associated with within these utterances. The meaning that a lexeme has because of these relationships is the sense of these lexemes.

Part of this relationship is seen in the way words do or do not go together meaningfully.

For Example

S.No	A	B
1	John walked.	John elapsed.
2	An hour elapsed.	An hour walk.
3	The boy cried.	The boy barked.
4	The dog barked.	The dog cried.

So, the meaning of a word is mainly dependent on its combination with other words in the above table column A consists of words and sentences that sound correct due to suitable combination while in column B almost the same word does not mean correct due to their incorrect combination.

Part of the relationship is seen in the way word meanings vary with context.

For Example

A library is a collection of books. It can be written in different forms such as;

Professor John has a rather large library, (a collection of books).

The library is at the corner of the street (a building that houses a collection of books).

Several English verbs can be used in two different ways, with different grammatical associations and then have slightly different meanings.

For Example:

A window broke.

Tom broke a window.

Here what happened to the window is the same but in the first sentence broken is equivalent to ‘become broken’ and in the second it is equivalent to ‘caused to be broken’.

A lexeme does not merely have meaning, it contributes to the meaning of a larger unit, a phrase or a sentence. Adjectives too can have different senses. If you come across some objects which you have never seen before, and you wonder about its origin and their purpose. We can say that you are curious about it, but we can also call the object a curious kind of object/thing. 

For Example:

A happy child – A happy family

A happy accident – A happy experience 

A happy story – A happy report

When happy combines with a word that has the feature “human” like child and family and in the first line. It is roughly equivalent to who enjoys happiness. A happy child is a child who enjoys happiness. In combination with words that have the feature “event” such as accident and experience. Its contribution is roughly that produces happiness. In combination with words that have the feature “discourse” story or report. Its meaning is roughly containing a happy event /events. Each of these words has a range of meanings, and each meaning is determined by its linguistic context.

TYPES OF SENSE RELATIONS

There are two types of sense relations, syntagmatic relation and paradigmatic relation. These terms were introduced by Swiss Linguist Ferdinand De Saussure, who used them as a model that how language works.

Syntagmatic Relation

Syntagmatic is a Greek word, that means linear, horizontal, put one after another.

Words as used in discourse, stung together one after another, enter into relations based on the linear character of languages (De Saussure).

Syntagmatic is a term that refers to the sequential characteristics of language.it is seen in word combination. when words and sentences are constructed, a certain order is followed in arranging the individual items.

 Linearity prevents the possibility of uttering two words simultaneously. They must be arranged consecutively in spoken sequence. Combinations based sequentially are called syntagmas. The Syntagma invariably comprises two or more consecutive units e.g. re-read, against all, the life of man etc. Syntagma is defined as a coherent sequence of signs. It is horizontal.

Syntagmatic relations hold in praesentia. They hold between two or more terms co-present in a sequence. 

(Cann) (Almuttalibi)The meaning of a lexeme is in parts of its relation to another lexeme of the language. Each lexeme is linked in the same way to numerous other lexemes of the language. The mutual association of two or more words in a sequence, so that the meaning of each is affected by the other and together their meaning contributes to the meaning of the larger units, the phrase or sentence.

For Example:

He got a letter. (to receive)

He got tired. (to become)

He got to London. (to arrive)

So this example shows how a word’s meaning is affected by the context or syntagmatic relationship.

Another example: certain words have a kind of suitability with words like -Sit with chair, read with book or newspaper etc.

PARADIGMATIC RELATION

Paradigmatic relationship of words or word forms means they are of the same kind and can replace one another (with a change of meaning). mostly lexically related words. Paradigmatic is a vertical line crossing the syntagmatic one at a right angle.

A dissimilar thing can be exchanged for the thing of which the value is to be determined.

The paradigmatic analysis is the analysis of paradigms embedded in the text rather than of the surface structure (syntax) of the text which is termed syntagmatic analysis. Paradigmatic analysis often uses commutation tests, i.e. analysis by substituting words of the same type or class to calibrate shifts in connotation.

The paradigmatic analysis looks at sets of signs and how they come to stand for something else. It is vertical.

Paradigmatic relation is also called “a relation of choice”. We choose from among a number of possible words that can fill the same blank, the words may be similar in meaning or have a little in common, but each is different from the others.

For Example:

1	He	got	a	letter.
2	I	received	a	note.
3	She	obtained	an	epistle.

The vertical relation of the words shows their paradigmatic relationship. 

CONCLUSION 

As Ferdinand said that words are arbitrary in their meaning which sometimes depends on the context, speaker and receiver etc. words following and preceding a word, contribute a lot to its meaning. A word cannot be placed everywhere appropriately but accordingly to other connected words. Word relations can be categorized into two categories: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, horizontal and vertical respectively, one is the relation of strip/chain and the latter is the relation of choice.

REFERENCES

Almuttalibi, Nada. "CLASS LOGIC: SENSE AND SENSE RELATIONS." RESEARCH

GATE (2008). Research Paper.

Cann, Ronnie. "Sense Relations." Edinburgh Research Explorer (2014). Document.

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