Exercises

1. Organize each of the following groups of words into a taxonomy in which the superordinate
terms and their hyponyms are properly arranged with respect to each other. Be sure to
identify which terms are superordinate and which are hyponyms (and which are co-
hyponyms). Identify any problems you might have in organizing the data, and supply
additional data if you can think of them. It may be helpful to sketch a tree diagram. Are you
aware of any other disciplines in which such taxonomies are used?
a hammer, screwdriver, wrench, awl, tool, pliers
b carpenter, electrician, craftsman, plumber
c mammal, human, animal, amphibian, reptile, frog, snake
d shatter, crack, break, smash, fracture
e man, woman, husband, bachelor, wife, human, widow
Tool

hammer screwdriver wrench awl pliers

Tool- hyperonym
Hammer, screwdriver, wrench, awl, pliers – hyponyms of tool and co-hyponyms of one
another.

craftsman

carpenter electrician plumber

Craftsman -hyperonym
Carpenter, electrician, plumber - hyponyms of craftsman and co-hyponyms of one
another.

animal

mammal amphibian reptile

human snake frog

Animal - hyperonym
Mammal, amphibian and reptile are hyponyms of animal and co-hyponyms of one
another.
Amphibian is hyperonym of human, human is hyponym of mammal.
Mammal is hyperonym of snake, snake is hyponym of amphibian.
Reptile is hyperonym of frog, frog is hyponym of reptile.

break

shatter crack smash fracture

 Break is the hyperonym
Shatter, crack, smash and fracture are hyponyms of break.
But all these words are synonyms, and it was hard to analyze them and create a table.
human

man woman

husband bachelor wife widow

Human – hyperonym,
Man, woman are hyponyms of human and co-hyponyms of one another.
Husband, bachelor are hyponyms of man and co-hyponyms of one another.
Wife, widows are hyponyms of woman and co-hyponyms of one another.

2. Organize the given words in accordance with their hyponymic relations. enumerate the
general terms (hyperonyms)
1) train, light lorry, bicycle, vehicle, cabriolet, car, heavy lorry, estate car, motorcycle, bus,
lorry, three-door hatchback, three-way dump truck
2) turtle, mammal, squirrel, animal, reptile, seal, tiger, lizard, leopard, fox, wolf, iguana,
bear, snake, feline, panther

vehicle
bus
train
lorry car
Three-way
Light dump truck
bicycle
lorry Heavy Three-door
lorry hatchback
motorcycle cabriolet

Estate car
animal

mammal reptile feline

bear
tiger
squirell wolf iguana panther
seal
snake leopard
fox turtle lizard

3. Explain what it means to say that hyponymy involves entailment. For each sentence below
give another sentence which the first one entails, and then give one which the first does
NOT entail.
a John is a bachelor
 b John is a widower
c Mary is divorced
d This is a tulip
John is a bachelor. Entails John has not been married yet.. Does not entail John is
clever.
John is a widower. Entails John has lost his spouse by death. Does not entail John is
pretty.
Mary is divorced. Entails Mary is not married now. Does not entail Mary is nice.
This is a tulip. Entails This is a flower. Does not entail This is beautiful.

4. Hyponymy is a transitive relation, i.e, if x→y and y→z then x→z. For example, since “dog”
is a hyponym of “mammal” and “mammal” is a hyponym of “animal”, “dog is a hyponym
of animal”. (1) Can you find other examples to prove the relation of transitivity? (2) Is
meronymy a transitive relation like hyponymy? Use examples for illustration.
(1)
“car” is hyponym of “vehicle” which is hyponym of “carl”
“rose” is hyponym of “flower” which is hyponym of “plant”
(2)
A dog is a kind of animal, but not a part of an animal; a body has a
hand, and a hand is a part of a body.

5. Hyponymy and meronymy are often found in language use. It is quite common for a general
term and a specific term, or a part word and a whole word to substitute for each other in both
speaking and writing. The former rhetorical device is called metonymy and the latter one
synecdoche. For example, in the sentence “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, the
specific term “apple” refers to the general term “fruit”; in the sentence “How many mouths
does he have to feed”, the part word “mouth” is used to replace the whole word “person”.
Read the following sentences.
a. He could hardly earn his everyday bread.
Bread” substitutes “food”.
b. I’ve got wheels.
Word “wheels ” is used to replace the word “car”.
c. Last year nearly 6 million vehicles rolled off the assembly lines.
“Vehicles” means “cars”.
d. Put down the steel.
“Steel” means “khife”.

6. Identify the meaning relationship between the following pairs.

a. window house
b. football game
c. Chinese Language
d. New York USA
e. CPU computer
f. scarlet red
a. window house – meronymy;
b. football game – hyponymy;
c. Chinese Language – hyponymy;
d. New York USA- meronymy;
e. CPU computer- meronymy;
f. scarlet red- hyponymy;

7 The following passage is an introduction to “pop”. Please draw a lexical network of “pop”
 constructed by words with semantic relations of hyponymy, meronymy, etc.

Pop
Even if the word “pop” disappears from the English vocabulary, the influence of pop will
remain. Pop has become part of British- and American-history.
There has always been a close cultural link, or tie, between Britain and English-speaking
America, not only in literature but also in the popular arts, especially music. Before the Second
World War the Americans exported jazz and the blues. During the 1950s they exported rock ’n’
roll.
Then in the early 1960s a new sound was heard, very different from anything, which has so
far come from the American side of the Atlantic. This was the Liverpool, or Merseyside,
“beat”. Situated on the River Mersey in the northeastern corner of the industrial Black
Country, Liverpool was not a place which anyone visited for fun. Until the 1960s it was known
only as one of the Britain’s largest ports. Then, almost overnight, it became world famous as
the birthplace of the new pop culture which, in a few years, swept across Britain and America,
and across most of the countries of the western world.
The people responsible for the pop revolution were four Liverpool boys who joined
together in a group and called themselves The Beatles. They played in small clubs in the back
streets of the city. Unlike the famous solo stars who had their songs written for them, the
Beatles wrote their own words and music. The Beatles won the affection and admiration of
people of all ages and social backgrounds. As they developed, their songs became more
serious. They wrote not only of love, but of death and old age and poverty and daily life. They
were respected by many intellectuals and by some serious musicians. Largely thanks to the
Beatles, pop music has grown into an immense and profitable industry.
The influence of British pop in America was immense. American pop groups soon became
as famous as British groups. Both British and Americans are experimenting with new ideas,
and pop is developing and changing, and merging with modern folk music.

The blues

U.S.

music
jazz

Rock

pop

Beatles

Liverpool Britain

8.Arrange the following predicates in the form of a 'tree diagram' showing the hierarchical
relationship among them (the first element in the tree diagram is living things): horse, tiger,
donkey, reptile, equine, leopard, feline, fish, human, living things, animal, insect, vegetable,
bird, vertebrate, invertebrate
9. In order to understand the concept of ‘domain’, fill in the blank spaces in the following text
adapted from Cruse (2000: 142) with one word from the list bellow:

SERVICE, NET, CRICKET BALL, FAULT, SIZE

«To complete this elementary sketch of the relation between concepts
and domains, one further elaboration is necessary. This is that a concept
is typically profiled, not against a single base domain, but against
several, the whole complex going under the name of domain matrix.
As a relatively simple example, take the notion of TENNIS BALL. This
is obviously profiled against BALL, along with sister categories such
as CRICKET BALL , FOOTBALL, BASKET BALL, etc. BALL, in turn is
profiled against SPHERE (then SHAPE and ultimately SPACE, as well
as (at least THING, SIZE , WEIGHT, and ELASTICITY). At some
stage, TENNIS BALL presupposes TENNIS, but the relationship is
perhaps not immediate: we perhaps have TENNIS EQUIPMENT as an
intermediate domain, which also include RACKET, COURT, and NET
and TENNIS ACTIONS (for want of a better name) such as SERVICE
, RETURN, LOB, and so on which will be immediate base
domains for BALL, and probably also TENNIS JUDGEMENTS such AS
IN, OUT, FAULT, LET, and SCORING, all of which crucially
involve BALL, and must be considered additional domains. A lot of this
is speculative and arguable, but it is clear that form the cognitive
linguistic perspective, a full comprehension of the meaning of tennis
ball is going to involve all these things.”
 10 Classify the following words and word-combinations into 1) lexico-semantic groups and 2)
semantic fields under the headings education and feeling.

To bear malice, book, displeased, to teach, intelligent, indifference, classmate, affection, to

coach, frustrated, in a temper, to repeat a year, pedagogical, college, hatred, student, passion,
calm, exercise, satisfaction, to write, reader, course, to supervise, to infuriate, to develop
habits, unrest, shock, methodological, to hurt, to smatter of (in), knowledge, to adore, tuition,
happy, angry, disciplined, methodological.

lexico-semantic groups of education:

to repeat a year, to develop habits, to smatter of ;

methodological, pedagogical,

tuition, course;

to teach, to coach, to supervise;

student, classmate, reader;

knowledge, exercise;

lexico-semantic groups of feelings:

angry, in a temper;

passion, affection, satisfaction;

frustrated, displeased.

Semantic field of feelings: indifference, to bear malice, to hurt, affection, satisfaction, in a

temper, hatred, passion, happy, calm, displeased, to infuriate, unrest, shock, to adore, angry,
frustrated.

Semantic field of education: to teach, book, classmate, to develop habits, intelligent, to

repeat a year, pedagogical, college, student, reader, course, to supervise, to write,
methodological, to coach, to smatter of (in), knowledge, exercise, tuition, disciplined.

11 The following linear structure (egg, larva, pupa, butterfly) is an example of:
a) degree
b) stage
c) sequence
d) rank