3 Lexicology and Lexicography

4/3/2017 MeaningAnditsrelationshiptoForm
AnIntroductiontoLexicography
MeaninganditsRelationshiptoForm
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Referentialordenotative
Relationshipofformandmeaning Connotativemeaning
meaning
Collocationalmeaning Grammaticalmeaning Polysemy
Homonymy Synonymy Antonymy
Hyponymy
Componentialanalysis
3.1Relationshipofformandmeaning:Meaningisthecentralandthemostimportantconcernoflexicography.Thereaderconsultsadictionaryprimarilytoknowthe
meaningofalexicalunit.Theentireworkofadictionaryisorientedtowardsprovidingmeaningsofthelexicalunitsinasclearandunambiguousawayaspossible.
Theword'meaning'itselfhasdifferentmeanings.OgdenandRichardshaveenumerated22definitionsofmeaningintheirworkTheMeaningofMeaning(186187).
AdamSchaffhascollectedvariousmeaningsofmeaningforcriticism(1962,227).Meaninghasbeenstudiedinmanydisciplinesviz.philosophy,psychology,logic
andlinguisticsfromdifferentpointsofviewbutnosimplesolutionstotheproblemastowhatismeaninghavebeenfoundout.
The branch of linguistics which studies meaning is Semantics or Semasiology. The relation between form and meaning, and the place of meaning in linguistic
structurehavebeenvariouslydiscussedbydifferentworksonthesubject.Thereisnoscopefordiscussingindetailallthetheoreticalaspectsofsemanticsinthis
work. Our concern would be mainly to examine the relation between the form and the meaning, the different components of meaning, their interrelationships, the
relation of meaning between different lexical units in the general frame work of the lexical system of a language, all from the point of view of their treatment in a
dictionary.
Theproblemofmeaninghasbeenapproachedindifferentwaysinlinguistics,someofwhicharebrieflyexaminedhere.Thethreemorecommonlyknownapproaches
ortheoriestreatmeaningasathing,asanideaandasabehaviour.1
Inthefirsttheorythemeaningofawordistreatedasthethingnamedbyit.Thing,here,referstoconcreteobjectslikechair,actionslikereadandkill,stateslike
understandandknow,abstractnotionslikehonestyandcourageandqualitieslikegreenorred.
This theory has a number of limitations. It does not cover function and relation words like English no, Hindi se, kaa etc. nor does it account for such objects as
phoenix,unicornetc.whichhaveonlyfictitiousandmysticexistence.Twoexpressionsnamingthesamethingdonotmeanthesame.e.g.themorningstarandthe
evening star both refer to the same object 'the planet Venus' but have different meanings. An object may be referred to differently by different phrases at different
occasions. The same woman may be referred to as a mother, a daughter, a wife by different persons. An apple may be called an apple or a fruit at different
occasions.
Thesecondtheory,calledtheideationalorthementalistictheory,postulatesthatthemeaningofanexpressionistheideaorthoughtassociatedwiththeexpression
inthemindofthespeakerorhearer.Inthistheorythenotionofideasisconceivedasmentalpicturesandimages.Thisaccountsforobjectslikeunicorn,phoenixnot
coveredbytheearliertheory.Butthistheoryisalsonotfreeformshortcomings.Thementalpicturesandimageschangefrompersontopersonandfromoccasionto
occasion.Thesameobjectmayobjectmayevokedifferentideasatdifferentoccasions.tablemaybeassociatedwithapieceoffurnitureforwritingatonetimeanda
presentbeinggivenatthetimeofsomefunction.Thistheorycoversfairlysatisfactorilythephysicalandconcreteobjects.Butwhataboutwordsforabstractnotions
likehonesty,virtue,andchasity?Thesewordsmightbeassociatedwithdifferentmentalimagesindifferentpersons.Grammaticalwordslikeno,howdonotproduce
anymentalpictureinthespeakerhearer.Thistheoryalsofailstocoveralargenumberofsoundformsorexpressions.
http://www.ciilebooks.net/html/lexico/link6.htm 1/40
Thethirdtheory,thebehaviourlorthecausaltheory,holdsthatthemeaningisnotassociatedwithideasormentalpicturesbutwiththemannerinwhichahearer
respondstoaword.Inotherwords,themeaningofanexpressionisthestimulusthatproducestheutteranceandtheresponseitelicitsfromthehearer.Thisagain
failstoaccountforalltheexpressions.Evenanonsenseexpressionmayevokestimulusandmaygetresponsesinthesamewayasameaningfulone.Ahearer
mayrespondtoastimulusinmorethanonewayandallofthemmaybequitedifferentfromtheoneactuallyintendedbythespeaker.Thistheoryagainisnot
adequatetoaccountforacorrectmeaningofmeaning.
3.2Referentialordenotativemeaning:Themostwidelyacceptedtheoryofmeaning,basedonthefirst,isthetheoryofabstractionorreferentialtheory,alsocalled
thetheoryofsignification.Itisbasedontheconceptualorcognitiveaspectofmeaning.Thistheoryrecognisesthefollowingthreecomponentsofmeaning:
(1)thesoundformorthelinguisticsign,
(2)theconceptunderlyingtheform,and
(3)theactualreferent,thatpartoftheextralinguisticworldwhichthelinguisticsignrefersto.
Thesecomponentshavebeengivendifferentnamesbydifferentwriters:
concept soundform referent
reference reference denotatum
sence word thing
signifie signifier/significant signified
designatum sign
meaning
artha abdaorpada vastu
Accordingtothistheorytherelationbetweenthesoundformandreferentisnotdirect.Itisimputedandismediatedbyconceptordesignation.OgdenandRichards
havegiventhefollowingbasicorsemiotictriangletodepictthewaythemeaningisrelatedtotheformandthing/referent.
thoughtorreferenceorconcept
|
_________________|______________
soundformorsymbolreferentorthing
They remark, "between a thought and a symbol a causal relation holds, between the thought and referent there is also a relation more or less direct, between the
symbolandthereferentthereisnorelevantrelationotherthantheindirectone(imputedrelation)".(OgdenandRichards1952,1011)
Howisthisconceptformed?Apersonobservesdifferentobjectsoftheextralinguisticworldandmarksdifferentoccurrencesofthereferent.Hecomparesthesimilar
andcontrastingfeaturesofthisreferentwiththoseoftheotherreferents.Thisenableshimtomakeabstractionsandformageneralideaorconceptofthethingin his
mind.
Whenapersonseesacatatthefirstoccasionhemaynotknowwhattocallit.Butwhenheseesitagainandagain,hefindsthatithascertaincharacteristics,it
mews,itdrinksmilk,ithasalongtailetc.Thesecharacteristicsofthe'referent'makethespeakerformaconceptofitspictureinhismind.Hecomparesthem with
similarother'things'withthesamecharacteristics.Heunderstandsthatallreferentshavingthesecharacteristicsareanimals.Theassociationofthe linguistic form

catwiththethingoftheabovedescriptionmakeshimunderstandthatthisparticularanimalisacat.Informationofthisideahefirstobservesthe general features
andthenspecificfeatures.Theformerhelphiminlocatingitinaclassandthelattertoparticularthing/referent,Heobservesthatthefeaturesassociatedwithcatare
differentfromthoseofadog,thelatterbarks,itisbiggerinsizeetc.
Wemaytakeanotherexample.Whenoneseesachairrepeatedlyhediscoverscertainqualitiesorfeaturesassociatedwithit.Hefindsthatithasfourlegs,itisused
for sitting, it has a backrest and it usually (not always) has hands. He associates these features with the linguistic form chair by hearing it and concludes that all
thingshavingthesecharacteristicsarechairs.Thesefeaturesaredifferentfromthoseofastool,atable,oracot,allpiecesoffurniture,sharingsomefeatures with
chair and not sharing some others. On the basis of these features the person forms the concept of the referent in his mind. These features are, thus, crucial or
criterialfortheformationoftheconcept.Everywordhasabundleofsuchfeatureswhichintheirtotalityarecrucialforthedeterminationofthemeaningofaword.It
isnotonlythepresenceofthesefeatureswhichiscrucialforthedeterminationofthemeaningeventheirabsenceisequallycrucial.e.g.manandchildbothshare
some common features like being human. So this is a positive or plus feature. But whereas man has the feature of adult child does not have it. In the latter case
adultisanegativeorminusfeature(See311).
It is clear from the foregoing discussions that meaning is an abstraction or generalization based on the semantic feature of the events or things. The notion of
abstractionisnotconfinedtotheobjectswhichhaveactualandconcretereferentsintheextralinguisticworldonlybutextendstocoversuchfictitiousandimaginary
referentsasunicorn,fairyetc.itisalsoapplicabletoabstractnotionslikehonesty,virtueandactionsasbeat,killetc.
Someotherclassesoflexicalunitslikeattitudinalsymptomslikehallo,Hindiare,Skt.Hale'o',pragmaticoperatorslikeplease,deicticmarkersH.yah,'thisvah'that'
andabstractrelationsorrelationwordslikeHindimeN'in'Englishfrometc.arealsocoveredbythenotionofabstraction.Theselexicalunits,althoughtheydo not
have actual referents in the extralinguistic world, are comparable to them in that they either carry the information comparable to that conveyed by the denotative
words,ortheystandforthemasyah'this'vah'thatordenotetherelationalfunctionswhichmakethecommunicationpossible.Alltheseclassesoflexicalunitshave
beenstabilizedaspartofthelanguageandhavetheirowncommunicativevalue.Thelexicographerincludesanddescribestheminthedictionaryalthoughthemode
andtypeoftheirdefinitionanddescriptionisdifferentfromthoseofthedenotationalwords.2
Astheconceptsareabstractionsandgeneralizations,theyarebasicallyidenticalforallpeopleataperiodoftime.Buttheyareidentifiedanddescribeddifferentlyin
differentlanguagessothatthefeaturesdeterminingthemeaningbecomelanguagespecific.Whatiscrucialinonelanguagemaynotbethesameinanother.Whatis
denotedbyhandandarminEnglishhasonlyonewordinRusianruka.Bhojpurigor?denotesboththeobjectsdenotedbyEnglishlegandfoot.Theholeoftheneedle
isdescribeddifferentlybydifferentlanguages."Wespeakoftheeyeofaneedle,buttheKekehiIndiansofGuatemalacallitthefaceoftheneedle,theLahuofSouth
EastAsiaandthePirosofPeruspeakofthenostriloftheneedle,theHakaChinsofBurmacallitthemouthoftheneedle,theTiddimsofBurmareferitastheearof
theneedle,theMiltaZapotecsinMexicosaythefaceoftheneedleandtheAmuzgsoslikewiseofMexicotalkabouttheholeoftheneedle.(Nida1958,285)
The most notable lexical items in which languages differ in the organisation of the concepts into linguistic forms are kinship terms, terms for colour and words
denoting time. The English word brotherinlaw has seven equivalent in Hindi, bahanoii. 'sister's husband's big brother', devar 'husband's small brother', nandoii
'husband'ssister'shusband'andsaad?huu'wife'ssister'shusband'.Hindibhaiyaaordaadaa'elderbrother'hasthefollowingwordsinBengalidenotingtheorderofthe
brothersaccordingtoage:
bar?daa'eldestbrother',mejdaa'elderbrother'(youngertotheeldest)'sejdaa'elderbrother(youngertomejdaa)'raangaadaa'elderbrother'elderbrother'(youngerto
sejdaa) and chodaa 'elder brother' (immediately elder to the speaker). Oriya has only niila to denote both blue and green. English has eleven colour terms as
comparedtotwoinJale,threeinTiv,sixinTamilandtwelveinAngami.GarohasforEnglishgoandcomeasingleverbre.Reindicatesmovementonsomebody's
part,butitdoesnotindicateanythingaboutthedirectionofthemovement.Englishhasnoequivalentwordforthis.Garoraacoversareasofbothbringandtake.raa
canoftenbetranslatedbytheEnglishwordcarryalthoughitcannotbeusedforabroaderrangeofbehaviourthancarry.(Burling1970,1011).
ThewordcarryinmanylanguageofIndiadoesnotnaveanexactcorrespondingwordinEnglish.Therearemorethanonewordsreferringtothedifferentmodesand
objectsofcarrying.
Ao apung carry(ababyina
customarymanner)
customarymanner)
Naga

carry(onshoulder)
apu
penlok carry(onhead)
am carry(inhand)
Thesameistrueofcut,shut,blow,break,etc.ComingtothenotionoftimewemaycomparethefollowingtermsdividingthetwentyfourhoursofadayinRussianand
Hungarian.
Russian

morning utro 5a.m.to11a.m.
day den 12noonto4p.m.
evening vecher 5p.m.to11p.m.
night noch 12midnightto4
Hungarian
morning peggel 6a.m.to8a.m.
forenoon deleo 8a.m.to12
afternoon delutian 12to6p.m.
evening este 6p.m.to10p.m.
night ejszaka 0p.m.to4a.m.
dawn hajlnae 4a.m.to6a.m.
ThisisquitecomparabletotheconceptoftimefortwelvehoursfrommidnighttomiddaydenotedbythefollowingsolardivinitiesinSanskrit.
aftermidnight,twopartsthepartinthedarkisatmosphereandthe
1.Avins
partinthelightisthesun,
2.Uas vastoshine)earlydawnwhenitbeginstobevisible,
3.Suuryaa thewifeofSuurya,graduallygettingmorevisibleandmorereddish,
4.Vr,aakapaayii ThewifeofVr,s,aakapi,timenotspecified,
Socalledasitadvancestowardsthesun,comestoanendwiththe
5.Saran,yaa
riseofthesun,
6.Tvar, Temporalpositionnotdefined,
whenthesky,withitsdarknessdispelledisoverspreadbytherays
7.Savitr,
ofthesun,
8.Bhaga previoustosunrise,followedbySuurya,
9.Suurya sr,,/su,/svirallverbsofmotion,
10.Puuan .sunbecomesstrengthenedwiththerays,
11.Vin,u .fullofrays.(Nirukta12118)
Thefeaturesasdescribedearlierwhicharecrucialforthedeterminationofthemeaningarecalledsemanticfeaturesorsemanticcomponents.Someofthese
componentsarebasic,simpleandcommonandareunderstoodbyallspeakersofthelanguage.Thesecomponentsarecalledthedenotativecomponentsandthe
meaningbasedonthemiscalledthedenotativeorreferentialmeaning.Thismeaningformsthebasiccoreofthemeaningandmakescommunicationpossible.
3.3.Connotativemeaning:butthedenotativemeaningalonecannotbeadequatetodescribethetotalmeaningofallthelexicalunits.Letuscomparethefollowing
setsofwords:
Eng.1.kill,murder,assassinate,
2.eat,partake,peck,wolf,devour,
3.Hindimarnaa,svargavaasiihonaa,eNbolnaa,
4.khaanaa,liilnaa,bhakosnaa,
5.Bengalisvaamii,bhaataar.
kill..puttodeathcausetodie
murde+r..killunlawfullyandonpurpose
assassinate.tokill(especiallyanimportantpolitician,ruler)violentlyandtreacherously
especiallyforpoliticalreasons.
eat..totakeintomouthandswallowit
partake..tosharethefood
peck..toeatwithoutappetite.
wolf..toeatquicklyandgreedily.
devour..toeathungrilyandgreedily
Hindikhaanaa.toeat
svargavaasiihonaatogotoheaventodie.
eNbolnaa.todie(vulgar)
Hindikhaanaa.toeat
liilnaa..todevour
bhakosnaa.towolf
Bengalisvaamii.husband
bhaataar.husband(vulgar)
Intheabovesetsofthewords,wefindthatallthewordsofeachsethavesomecommonsemanticfeatures,whichgivetheirbasicordenotativemeaning.Someof
theseviz.kill,eat,marnaa,khaanaaandsvamiihaveonlythecommonfeaturesordenotativemeanings.Wealsoseethatthedenotativemeaningisthesimpleand
factualstatementabouttheobject.Itiscolourlessandneutral.killmeanssimplycausingdeath,whereasinmurdertherearesomeadditionalorsupplementary
featureswhichdetermineitsmeaning.Inthesamewaypartake,peck,wolf,devour,svargavaasiihonaa,t?eNbolnaaandbhaataarhavesomeadditionalfeatures.
Theseadditionalfeaturesaddsomeextrameaningtothebasicdenotativemeanings.Thesefeaturesarecalledconnotationandthemeaningsbasedonthemthe
connotativemeaningorconnotationalcomponentofmeaning.
Weareconnotationsaddedtowords?whenaspeakerfeelsthatthedenotationalmeaningwouldnotbeenoughtoproducesomedesiredadditionaleffectslikeirony,
joke,humour,euphemismandrespectetc.headdsconnotationstothewords.Theconnotationalcomponentofmeaningrelatedtotheemotiveorexpressivenotion
ofthespeakerortostylisticvalues.
The connotational meanings differ from age to age, society to society and individual to individual. The word purdah does not have the same connotation now in a
northIndiancityasithadsomeyearsback.Honestyandvirtuehavedifferentconnotationsindifferentsocieties.Thefollowingconceptof'good'inGuaicamaybe
interestinglycomparedwithasimilarconceptinanysociety:'Goodincludesdesirablefood,killingenemies,chewingdopeinmoderation,puttingfireonone'swifeto
teachhertoobeyandstealingfromanypersonnotbelongingtothesameband'.(Nida1964,79)
Thewordhospitalhasdifferentmeaningstoanarchitectwhobuildsit,toapatientwhoistreatedthereandtothepersonlivingneartothehospitalwhospeaksof it
asanidentificationmarkforgettingtheaddressorroutetohishouse.
The connotative meanings are peripheral and unstable as compared to the denotational meaning which is central and stable. It may be felt as new today and die
tomorrow.
Theconnotativemeaningsareintroducedintothelanguagebyindividuals.Graduallytheybecomesocializedandbecomethepartofthelanguage.Originatingwith
figurativeextensionstheyaregraduallytransferredandarestabilizedinthelanguage.In the beginning these meanings are used occasionally but in course of time
theyattainfrequencyandaregraduallyusedcommonly.WemaytaketheOriyawordmahariiusedforfemaleattendantsintemples.Originallymeaning'thefemale
memberofMaharCaste'andthe'femaleservantofthegod'thewordnowmeanssomethinglikea'keep'or'prostitute'.
Stylisticdifferencesalsocomeunderconnotations.Whenwecomparethewordpitaa'father'paapaawefindthattheformerisstylisticallyneutral,whereasthelatter
iscolloquial.Asimilardistinctioncanbemadebetweenfriendandchum.Theconnotationsincludethefollowingvariationsoflanguage.
Slangs,professionalisms,jargonisms,vulgarisms,dialectalwords,neologisms,formal,peotic,babylanguageetc.
Theconnotativemeaningisvarysignificantforalexicographer.Whenheanalysesthesemanticstructureofindividuallexicalunits,especiallythepolysemousones,
hehastodistinguishbetweenthedenotativeandconnotativemeaningsforfixingthearrangementofmeanings.
3.4Collocationalmeaning:Butthedenotativeandconnotativemeaningsdonotcoverthetotalsemanticpeculiaritiesoflexicalunits.Letusexaminethefollowing:
handsome and beautiful have the same meaning 'giving pleasure or delight to the mind or senses'. But they differ in their lexical valency, or potentiality of being
combinedorcollectedwithotherwords.Wesaybeautifulchairnot*handsomechair.Thewordshaathandpaan?iinHindimean'hand'butwhereaspaan?igrahan?a
andhaathmilaanaaareacceptablecollocations*haathgrahan?aand*paan?imilaanaarenot.
Sanskritmaaandnaarenegativeparticles,maaisusedwithimperativeklaaibyammaasamgama paartha 'O partha! do not be unmanly' na is used with optative

andbenedctive.
InBhojpurithewordsnokar,carwaahandbanihaarhavethesamedenotativemeaningof'servant'butnokarisageneralwordforservant,carwaahisonewholooks
aftercattleandbanihaarisaploughman.
InHalbigoNdh,tulaaandkaamean'tocut'.ButgoNdhisusedforcuttingfirewood,tulaaforcuttingvegetablesandkaafishandforotherobjects.
InthefollowingwordsfromAngamiwefindthesamething.Althoughthemeaningsarethesame,thewordshavedifferentrangesofapplication.
meta. .towash(hands)
kenu. .towash(mouth)
chu. .towash(face)
menyi. .towash(clothes)
khru. .towash(leg,body,head,utensils)
Somewordscanbecollocatedwithonlyonesetofwordsandnotwithotherse.g.
Hindibaasii'stale'canbecollocatedwithroii'bread'sabjii'vegetable'butnotwithgehuuN'wheat'.raman?iik'beautiful'canbecollocatedwithsthaan'place'andnot
withlar?kii'girl'orstrii'woman'.
In the above cases we find that besides the denotative and connotative components the collocation and range of application also govern the meaning of words.
Collocationisalsocalledcooccurrenceorselectiverestriction.
3.5Grammaticalmeaning:Thetypesorcomponentsofmeaningdescribedabovearebasedontheinterrelationoflinguisticformsandthereferents.
In girl, girls, girl's or khanaa 'eat' khaayaa 'ate' khaayegaa 'will eat' we find the same semantic components in all forms of the words.There is a recurring meaning
identicalinallformsofthewords.Thismeaningiscalledthelexicalmeaning
Words do not occur in isolation. They are arranged in some patterns. There is some interrelationship between the linguistic units in these patterns denoted by
morphologicalandsyntacticaldevices.Themeaningdenotedbythesedevicesisthefunctionalorgrammaticalmeaning.
Whenweexaminelar?ke'boys'striyaaN'women',ghor?e'horses'wefindthatthesewords have some lexical meanings, which are quite different for each of them.
But they have some feature which is common in all of them. This feature is the function of plurality and the meaning denoted by this function is called the
grammaticalmeaning.Certainclassesofwords,mainlythemajorpartsofspeechhaveboththelexicalandgrammaticalmeanings.Theminorpartsofspeeche.g.
articles,prepositionsetc.haveonlygrammaticalorstructuralmeaning.thewordswithlexicalmeaningarethecontentwordsorthelexicalitemsandthosewithonly
grammaticalmeaningarefunctionwordsorgrammaticalitems.
Thelexicalmeaningoperatesonlyatthelevelofword.Thegrammaticalmeaning,onthecontrary,operatesatdifferentlevelse.g.themorphemelevel,thepartsof
speechlevelorintermsofgrammaticalfunctionetc.
Thenumberofgrammaticalitemsinalanguageislimited.Nothingispracticallyaddedtothisclassofwords.Thenumberofprepositionsremainsalmostconstantin
alanguage.Asthereislittleaddedtothem,thegrammaticalitemsformtheclosedsetinalanguage.Ontheotherhand,thelexicalitemsareindefinitelylarge.There
isaconstantincreaseintheirnumbertofulfillthecommunicationneedofthespeechcommunity.Thelexicalsetbecauseofitsbeingopentoanyadditionbelongsto
theopenset.
Thelexicographerhastokeepinviewnotonlyalltheabovecomponentsofthelexicalmeaningbutalsothegrammaticalmeaningwhiledefininghiswords.
3.6Polysemy:
Whenoneopensadictionaryhefindsthatmostofthewordshavemorethanonemeaningsgiveneitherwithorwithoutnumbers.e.g.
(1)apartofhumanbody
English mouth
(2)anyopeningetc.
(1)tobreak,
Hindi tor,naa
(2)toplucketc.
(1)woman
strii
(2)wife
(1)empty,
Bengali khaalii
(2)vacantetc.,
acommonfeaturednotedinthemeaningsofthesedifferentwordsisthisthattheyarerelatedtoeachother.Wordshavingrelatedmeaningsarecalledpolysemous
words and the phenomenon is called polysemy. The larger part of the vocabulary of a language consists of polysemous words. Monosemantic words are
comparativelyveryfewinnumber.Theyaregenerallyscientificandtechnicalterms,e.g
'gaswithoutcolour,tasteorsmell,thatcombineswithoxygen
.Hydrogen
toformwater.
English
.
'smallestunitintowhichasubstancecouldbedividedwithouta
Molecule
changeinitschemicalnature'.
svanima 'phoneme'
Hindi
alpapraan,a 'nonaspirate'
Themorecommonlyusedwordsaremorepolysemousthanthelessfrequentlyusedones.RandomHouseDictionaryCollegeedition1969gives134meaningsofthe
wordrun.Thewordtor?naa'tobreak'has16meaningsinManakHindiKosh.Agnihas19mainmeanings in the Sanskrit Dictionary (Poona). We may examine the
differentmeaningsofheadhere.
headofaperson .apartofthebody.
headofabed .upperend
thatsideofthecoinonwhichtheheadofaruler
headofacom.
appears
headofacane.. top
headofan
chief,positionofcommand
organisation.
headofthecattle. unitofaflockoraherd,
headofaglassof
foamonliquidthathasbeenpouredout.
beer.
WemayalsoexaminethedifferentmeaningsofaaNkheyeinthefollowing.

aadmiikiiaaNkh theeyeoftheman
aaNkhbacaanaa toavoidattention
suiikiiaaNkh theholeoftheneedle
gannekiiaaNkh thesproutatthejointofasugarcane
In the same way the words hand, eye, ear, nose, tongue, leg, take, break, drink, etc., have more than one meanings. Not only the content words, the functional
wordsareequallypolysemouse.g.
Englishinhasdifferentmeaningsinthefollowingastatueinmarble,themanintophat,womeningreen,boundinleather,writteninink,ateacherinhim,inferiorin
physiqueetc.,
Hindikiiofhasdifferentmeaningsinthefollowing:
Premchndkiikitaab thebook(written)by
Premchand
Pustakaalayaki
thebookinthelibrary
kitaab
Mohankiikitaab thebookbelongingtoMohan
Raajkamalkii thebookpublishedbyRaj
kitaab Kamal.
Fromhistoricalpointofviewpolysemyisthechangeinthegeneralsemanticstructureofaword.Awordmighthaveretaineditsoriginalmeaning and added some

moremeaningstoit.Itmayalsohappenthatsomeofthemeaningshavebeenlostandnewonesareadded.Sowhenalexicographerdealswithapolysemousword
hestudiesandanalysestheinterrelationandinterdependenceofitsdifferentmeaningsinthesemanticstructureofaword.
Nowletusexaminethefollowingwords:H.gharhasthefollowingmeanings:
1.theplacesurroundedbywallwithroofwhere
peoplelive,livingplace.
2.birthplace,motherland,nativeplace.
3.family,
4.office,
5.room,apartment,
6.compartment,
7.case,
8.aplaceforaccommodatinganything,
9.mainreason,
10.hole.
Whenwe compare all these meanings we find that (1) is direct or central in an tie meanings. The other meanings are derived form it and are indirect or secondary
havingsomeadditionalsemanticfeatures.(2)isasemanticextensionasthehomeofbirthofwhichoneisnativei.e.thepermanentorancestralhome,(3)isbased
onthenotionoftheinhabitantsofahomewhoarerelated(mayormaynotlivetogether),(4)istheplacethathousesanoffice.Othermeaningsarealsorelatedto(1)
inthesameway(9)isafigurativeone,meaninghouseorabodeofsomeeventwhichwhenextendeddenotesthemainreason(10)isusedincombinationwill bat?an
'button'andactuallysignifiesthehouseofabutton.
Bengalikaal
1.time,
2.occasion,
3.age(asinaayukaal'timeofage')
4.death,
5.yama'thegodofdeath'
Therelationbetween(1),(2)and(3)isclear.(2)and(3)aredevelopedfrom(1),(4),denotestheendofthetimeoflife,and(5)isonewhocausesit.Hereagain,we
findthat(1)isthedirectorcentralmeaningandothermeaningsarederivedfromit.Wemayexaminesomefurtherexamplesandfindouttherelationshipof
meanings.
reedysugarcane,
Tamil munci girdleformedofreedwornbyBrahmin
celibatestudents
powder,
Malto akhunak
flour
toawake,
toawake,
Malayalam unaruka
tounderstand,toknow,
towatch,
tobevigilant,
torise.
Sanskritkathaa
(1)atale,story,
(2)afable,feignedstory,
(3)anaccount,elusion,
(4)talk,conversation,speech,
(5)avarietyofprosecomposition.
Teluguaaku
(1)leafofaplant,
(2)ediblegreens,
(3)betelleaf,
(4)leafthatisusedasaplatetotakefood,
(5)apalmleaf,
(6)apageofmanuscript,
(7)anearornament,
(8)aplayingcard,and
(9)thespokeofcartwheel.
Themeaningsarerelatedtoeachother(Reddy1966.72).
Inallthesecaseswefindthatonemeaningiscentralordirect.Thismeaningisthedenotativemeaningandhasnosupplementaryoradditionalsemanticfeatures.Theother
meaningsarederivedandhaveadditionalsemanticfeatures.
Manywordsareusedtodenotetheseterms:
directordenominative indirect
mainorprimary subsidiaryorsecondary
mainorprimary peripheral
general particular
All these words are used synonymously and are based on the logical relationship of the multiple meanings of a word. Other terms viz. 'dominant' and 'basic' or
'original'forcentralmeaningarecloselyrelatedtothosenotedabove.Theformerisbasedonfrequencyparameterandthelatterontheetymologicaland historical.
Theyarealsogenerallyusedfortheearlierterms.
Thedeterminationoftheprimaryorcentralordominantmeaningisabasicproblemfacedbythelexicographer.Hehastofixthem,interrelatethedifferentmeanings,
findoutthedifferentsubsensescharacteristicofeachmeaningandarrangetheminhisdictionaryinsomesystematicway.Differentcriteriamaybeusedtofindout
thebasicmeaning.
Onecommonlyusedandwidelyacceptedasreliablecriterionisthatofetymology.Themeaningwhichisetymologicalorisnearesttotheetymologicalisconsidered
thebasicorthecentralmeaning:e.g.,
Hindi aag
(1)fire,
(2)burningsensation,
(3)thefireoflove
(4)love,affection,
(5)jealousy,hatred.
aagisderivedformSktagnifireandthatisthecentral,basicanddirectmeaning.

Eng. father maleparent,
ancestor,
founderor
firstleader
god,
priest,
titleusedin
personificationetc.,
inthese(1)istheetymologicalandthecentralmeaning.

Marathi anga (1)bodyofhumanbeing
/aNg esp.trunkasopposedtohead
(withitssubmenaingsbreastofa
woman,uterogenitalcanal,
selfhood),
(2)natureofaperson,
aptitude,talent,flair,
(3)part,portion,branch,a
specificdirection,aspect,
(4)suchparticipation(and
othercollocationalsubmeanings)
(Kelker,1969,5364)
Of these meanings, (1) is the central. All others are extended and transferred from (1) which is the etymological meanings. All the meanings of Skt. kathaa are
derivedfromthe(1)whichisderivedfromkathtotellrelate. Butthisisnotalwaysthesituation.Sometimestheetymologicalsenseisrelegatedto a secondary
meaningandthederivedmeaningattainsthestatusofthecentralmeaning.
Hindi kharaa (1)good,pure,

(2)sharp,
(3)madecrispofbakingor
roasting,
(4)hardetc.
ThewordisderivedformSanskritkharasharpmeaning(2)here

Khojaa (1)aneunuch(esp.oneemployed
tobeinattendanceinaroyalharem),
(2)servant,
(3)arespectedman,chief,
(4)AcasteoftheGujarati
Muslims.
Thewordhasitsoriginfromkhwaja(Persian)meaningchief(3).
Suchadeterminationofprimaryandsecondarysensesispossibleonlywhentheetymologicalandhistoricalsensescanbedeterminedwiththehelpofcomparative
reconstructionandhistoricalattestationofthewords.Thisispossiblegenerallywithwrittenlanguagesonly.Whataboutthefollowing?
angami 1.shelter,
keya
2.shade.
Ao ayung 1.call(togetattention)
Naga
2.invite.
1.win(inacontest),
akok
2.succeed(inanattempt).
1.eat,
Khasi bam 2.corode,
3.efface.
Inalanguagewheretheetymologicalandhistoricalstudieshavenotbeendoneitisimpossibletoapplythiscriterion.Even in the languages with written literature,

manyatimethehistoricalsenseislostandthespeakerceasestodiscriminatebetweenthebasicandnonbasicsenses.Thewordcraneinthemeaningof(1)bird
and(2)amachineisanoftquotedexample.Sometimestherelatednessofeventhesewordsisnotperceivedbythenativespeaker.Thisleadstothedevelopment
ofhomonymy.
Besidestheetymologicalcriterion,thelexicographermayapplycontextualandstatisticalcriteriatohelphimdeterminethecentralmeaning.
The statistical criterion to determine the central meaning of words pertains to the frequency of its occurrence in the language. A frequency count of meanings has
shownthattheindividualmeaningsofaworddifferinfrequency.Themorefrequentlyoccurring meaning is taken as the basic meaning. The frequency of the word
tableinitsmeaning'apieceoffurniture'ishighest(52%)ofalltheusesofthiswordthemeaning'anorderlyarrangementoffacts'(asincensustables)is35%and
allothermeaningshaveonly13%ofuse.Anotherexamplefromthesamesourcewouldmakethispointclearer.(West.1959).
Room(space)takeslessroom,notenoughroomtoturn
round.(in)makeroomfor(figurative),roomforimprovement.12%
cametomyroom,bedroom,sittingroom,drawing
room,bathroom(pluralsuite,lodgings).Myroomincoll83%
ege,toletrooms...2%
The basic meaning is the one which occurs to us when we hear or see the word. For example when we hear the word head in isolation without any context the
meaning which occurs to us instantly is 'part of body_______'. When we hear the word aag the meaning 'fire' comes first. This meaning is thought of as the
representativemeaningofthewordwithoutcontextbythemajorityofspeakers.Thesecondarymeaningsoccuronlywhenusedinacontext.
In the Hindi examples aag, the meaning 'fire' is generally thought of by the speaker. The other meanings like 'burning sensation' occur only when we hear them in
contextsliketumharibaatnemeresariirmeNaaglagaadii'Yourwordshaveproducedburning(sensation)inme'.
puujaa (1)worship,adoration,veneration,
(2)bribe,
(3)punishment
Here,thefirstmeaningoccurswheneveroneuttersthewordorhearsit,theothertwomeaningarefoundonlywhenusedinsuchcontextsas:piih
puujaakarnaatogivepunishment
usaneapnaakaambanaanekeliyesaahabkokaaphiipuujaacar,haaii.Hegavebigamountofbribetotheofficertogethisworkdone.
Thecentralmeaningoccursinvariousandvastlydifferentcontextsespeciallyindifferenttypesoffreecollocations.Thesecondarymeaningsoccurinsome
contextsonly.Whereastableasapieceoffurnitureoccursinmanycontextsandcombinations,inthemeaningofthepersonsseatedatatableitoccursonlyina
fewcontextslikekeepthetableamusedandinthemeaningoffoodprovidedatalsoinlimitedcontextslikehekeepsagoodtable.Bothofthesemeaningsare
notverycommon.
aaginthesenseoffireoccursinmorecontextsandhasmanysubmeaningslikehungeretc.,butinthesenseoflustofloveitoccursinlimited
contextsonly.
Manyvocablesdevelopspecialsensesforsometechnicallanguages.Thecentralmeaning is used for the general sense and the derived meaning is used for the
technicalsenseandforspecializedcontexts.
pieceoffurniture,
bottomofsea,ariver,lakeetc.,layerofrockstoneetc.
Eng. bed (geography),
gardenplot,pieceofground(forflowers,vegetablesetc.,)as
inseedbed(geography)
voice,
svar
vowel(grammar)
Hindi
juice
ras
sentiment(aesthetics)
Bengali papertaggedbyathread,
natthinathi
certifiedpaper(legal).
Anotherpeculiarityofthecentralmeaningisitsuseinthegenerallanguage.Specialmeaningisusedforrestrictedlanguageviz.slang,jargonetc.,
donkey
Eng. ass
buttocks(slang)
teacher,
Hindi guru
cunningfellow(restricted)
athing,
Bengali maal girl(slang),
wine(slang)
water,
Kannada tiirtha
wine(slang)
villagegoddess,
Telugu ammavaaru
smallpox(taboo)
Treatment of polysemy in a dictionary: How does a lexicographer find multiple meanings of a lexical unit and make sense discrimination among the different
senses?Heanalysesallthecontextsinwhichalexicalunitoccursandbycomparingthedifferentusagessimilaranddissimilarindifferentcontextsheextractsthe
differentmeanings.forthishehastocollectafairlylargeselectionofcontexts.e.g.
(1)abkyaasamyhEwhatisthetimenow?
(2) uskaa samay aajkal kharaab cal rahha
hENowadaysheishavingbadtime,
Hindi (3)samayaaneparsabhiikhojaayegaa
Everythingwillbealrightwhentimecomes,
(4)samaymilneparmeraakaamkardiijiyega
pleasedomyworkwhenyougettime.
Whenthelexicographercomparesallthesecontextshefindsthatthewordsamayhasbeenusedinthefollowingsenseshere:
(1)time,
(2)condition,
(3)occasion,
(4)leisure.
Similarlyfromthefollowingcontexts,thelexicographerextractsthedifferentmeaningsofmakenotedagainsteachsentence:
(1)clothismadefromcotton.manufacture
(2)whydontyoumakeyourselfusefulcausetobeorbecome
(3)makealivingfromoneswritingsearn
(4)theymademerepeatthestorycompel,force,cause
WemayexaminethefollowingusagesoftheTeluguwordmancifromwhichitsdifferentmeaningsareextracted.
mancivaad,uagoodfellow
manciniil(udrinkingwater
mancipuulufreshflowers
mancimanasuakindheart
mancisarukugoodqualitygoods
manciveelaopportunetime
manciuunegingelyoil
mancidiyes(Reddy1966,84)
The determination of different meanings involves the analysing of all the contexts and all the combinatorial possibilities of a lexical unit. The sum total of the
meaningsandsubmeaningsofalexicalunitformsthesemanticrangeofaword.Fromthistotalsemanticrangethelexicographerexaminesthewordinaparticular
context and finds out that in such and such situation a word has such meaning. In other words the context individualizes the relevant meaning form the total
semantic range of a word and eliminates the possibilities of other meanings. Thus in usne apnii patnii ko patra likhaa he wrote a letter to his wife, the meaning
letterofthewordpatraisbroughtforthandothermeaningsviz.leafetc.,arelimited.
Similarlyfromthefollowing,
hehaspaidtheelectricbillthemeaningofbill an account of money owed is abstracted and the other meanings viz. written on printed notice, poster, placard
andproposedlawtobediscussedbyaparliamentareeliminated.
Themultiplicityofmeaningsisasourceofambiguityinalanguage.Thelexicographerfacesthisproblemwheneverhehastodealwithpolysemouswords.Sohe
hastodefinehislexicalunitinsuchawaythatthereisnopossibilityofitsbeinginterpretedinonewayortheother.
Theambiguityofmeaningisremovedbycontextwhich,asstatedearlier,determinestherelevantmeaninginthatparticularsituation.
Thatthecontextremovesambiguityofmeaninghasbeenstressedbymanyl8inguistsandgrammarians.Bhar,tr,harienumerates15contextualfactorswhichhelpin
determiningmeaning.(Raja1969,48ff).hesaysthatthevkyathesentencecontextandtheprakaran,acontextofsituationhelpindisambiguatingthepolysemy
ofaword(Raja1969,53alsoReddy1966,72).Theroleofcontextindeterminingthemeaningofawordhasbeenoneofthebasicprinciplesofsemanticsinmodern
linguistics 3.
Theambiguitycreatedbypolysemyismorefrequentlyseeninwhatwemaycalldepletedorincompletecontexts.Letusexaminethefollowing:
(1)Itisadifficultcase
(2)Hehasgonetobringpaper

(3)uskoiikaa acchaalagtaahEthemarkoranornamentsuitsher.
Inthesesentencesthewordscase,paperandt(iikaaarepolysemous.
Casehasthefollowingmeanings(besidesothers)
(1)instanceorexampleoftheoccurrenceofsomething,actualstateofaffairs.
(2)(med.)personsufferingfromadisease,
(3)(law)questiontobedecidedinalawcourt.
Paperhasthefollowingmeanings(besidesothers)
(1)substancemanufacturedfromwood,fibre,ragsetc.,informofsheetsusedforwriting,printing.,
(2)newspaper,
(3)asetofprintedexaminationquestionsonagivensubject.
t)iikaahasthefollowingmeanings
(1)amarkontheforehead,
(2)anornamentwornbyladiesontheforehead.
Theambiguityinsuchsentencescanberemovedbyquotingfullercontextsasthefollowing:
(1)Thedoctorsaiditisadifficultcase,
(2)Hehasgonetobringtodayspaper,
(3)uskosonekat)iikaaacchaalagtaahE.goldenornamentonforeheadsuitsher.
Asamatteroffactthatthemajorandthemostimportanttaskofthelexicographeristofindoutthedifferentmeaningsofawordandpresenttheminadictionary.In
ordertopresentthemeaninginanumambiguouswayhegivesillustrativeexamples.
Differentmeaningsofawordcouldalsobediscriminatedbytheinterpretationofthesemeaningsintermsoftheirsynonymsinadictionary.
blood. lohit,rakta
Bengali khuun
murder, hatyaa,badh
time vakta
periodorepoch yug,kaal
Hindi samay
condition sthiti,haalar
leisure phursat.
congregation,gathering,
assembly
meeting convention,conference
duel collision
English little,trivial,triffling,paltry,
small
insignificant.
slight
slim slender
weak feeble,frail,delicate
Marathi gosta [accountofanincident, story,tale,kathaa,kahaanii,

eitherfictitiousorfiction hakiikat,kissa,etc..
likeininterestwhethertold
informally]
(2)theincident,theaction,
thing,matter,bhaag,prasanga,
thefactinquestion___,
vastu,ciz.
(fromKelkar1969.57)
hill, parvata,giri,meru
Sanskrit naga tree vr,ka,padapa
sun ravi,maartan,d,a,etc.
Anotherwayofsensediscriminationofpolysemouswordsisbyapplyingantonymstothedifferentsensesofapolysemousword.
(1)hard(antonymnaram,mulaayam)
kar,aa (2)difficult(antonymaasaan)
(3)cruel(antonymsaday)
Hindi (1)goingalongwaydownformthetop
(oppositeofshallow)
deep
(2)(ofcolour)strong,dark(oppositeoflight)
(3)profound(oppositeofsuperficial)
Whilegivingmeaningstothelexicalunits,thelexicographerusesallthecriteriadescribedinchapter5forthesensediscriminationofapolysemousword.Hemay
notuseallofthematatimeanovertmanner,buthehastokeepaclearpictureofalltheseinhismind.
Butsometimesmorethanonesenseappearstobedominantorcentral.e.g.
Hindi patra (1)leaf,

(2)writtenletterordocument,note,
(3)newspaper,
(4)page.
Here both the meanings (1) and (2) appear to be central. Which of the two should be given first in arrangement of meanings and how should the subsenses be
grouped? For the arrangement of meanings the basic meaning which is either etymological or is determined by frequency etc. may be given first, and the related
sensesmaybegroupedtogetheronthebasisoftheirlogicalrelationship.
OfthefivemeaningsofBengalikaal,givenearlier,(1)and(4)maybetreatedbysomeasalmostequallydominant.Inthatcasethelexicographerhastorelatethe
differentsensestothesetwo.(2)and(3)gowiththemeaning(1),and(5)with(4).Theyaretobearrangedinthatorder.
Thewordkalamhasthefollowingmainmeanings:
(1)pen,
(2)apainter'sbrush,
(3)aschoolorstyleofpainting,
(4)graft,
(5)cuttingorchopping.
Ofthese(2)and(3)willberelatedwith(1)and(5)with(4).
Thearrangementofthesemeaningsisgovernedbythetypeofthedictionary.
3.7.Homonymy:inpolysemythedifferentmeaningsofawordarerelatedandhavedevelopedfromonesource.Thelexicographerisfacedwithquiteadifferenttype
ofproblemwhenhecomesacrossthefollowingsituation:
TheHindiwordmanhasthefollowingmeanings:
(1)mind(2)desire,wish(3)maund.Herewefindthatthemeanings(1)and(2)arerelated,(2)isdevelopedfrom(1)butthe(3)cannotberelatedtoanyofthetwo.
Thefirsttwomeaningsareetymologicallyconnected,whilethethirdisnot.
TheEnglishwordsealhasthefollowingmeanings:
(1)kindoffisheatingseaanimal.,
(2)tohuntaseal,
(3)apieceofwax,leadetc.,stampedwithadesign
(4)somethingusedinsteadofaseale.g.apaperdisc,stuckto,oranimpressionstampedonadocument,
(5)toputaseal.
Inthese(1)and(2)arerelatedinthesensethat(2)isderivedform(1).Inthesameway(3),(4)and(5)arerelated.(4)and(5)aredevelopmentsofthe(3).But there
isnosuchrelationshipbetween(1)and(2)ontheonehandand(3),(4)and(5)ontheother.Noneisadevelopmentformeither.
Socanalexicographercallthemthedifferentmeaningsofthesameword?theyarenotrelated.Rathertheyarethedifferentmeaningofdifferentwords.Insteadof
treatingmanasonewordwith3meaningsthelexicographertreatsitastwowordsonewithonemeaningandtheotherwithtwoe.g.
mind
man1
desire
man2 maund.
Alsoseal.

(1)akindoffisheatingsea
seal1n. animal
(2)tohuntafish
seal2n. (1)pieceofwax,leadetc.,
seal n.
stampedwithdesign.
(2)somethingusedinsteadof
aseal
(3)toputaseal
Wemayexaminethefollowingwordsandseethesamepoint:
barkn.'thenoisemadebyadog'barkn.'theskinofa
English
tree'barkn.'asailingship'
Hindi bar?aan.'aplusecake':bar?aaadj.'big'
Tamil maalain.'garland':maalain.'evening'
Manipuri tupron.'he':tun.'ditch'
Bengali kaanaan.'oneeyed'kaanaan.'bank,side'
naad?un.'day','time',naad?uv.'toenter'naad?un.a
Telugu
country.
aakalpam'tilltheendoftheworld':aakalpam'ornamental
Malayalam
decoration'
Kuvi kaadin.'loadofacart',kaadiv.'toscorch'
AoNaga akipp'by','with'akiv.'own','possess'
Malto andap.'then'andan.'hunchofabull'
Acommonthingfoundinthesepairsofwordsisthattheirspellingsandpronunciationareidenticalandthemeaningsarenotrelated.Suchwordswhichareidentical
inspellingandpronunciationandhavedifferentunrelatedmeaningsarecalledhomonymsandthephenomenoniscalledhomonymy.
Butwhenweexaminethefollowingwordswefindadifferentsituation:Eng.lead'guide'or'take'andlead'softheavyfeasilymeltedmetal'tear'topullsharplyapart'
andtear'dropofthesaltywatercomingformtheeye'.Althoughidenticalinspellingtheyarepronounceddifferently(li:d)and(led),(tEa)and(tia).
Suchwordsarecalledhomographs.Closelyrelatedtothemarethewordsofthefollowingtype:
Right,write,ritebye,byreign,rain
Althoughdifferentinspellingtheyarepronouncedidentically(rait),(bai),(rein).
Suchwordsarecalledhomophones.
When we compare all these three types of words described above, we find that the homonyms are words identical in both spelling and pronunciation and have
differentunrelatedmeaningsthehomographsarewordsidenticalinspellingbutdifferentinpronunciation,theseagainhavingdifferentmeaningsandhomophonesare
wordsdifferentinspellingbutidenticalinpronunciationalsohavingdifferentmeanings.
Homographsandhomophonesarenotofmuchimportancetothelexicographer,becausetheyarequitedifferentlexicalunitsandposenoproblemofrelatednessof
meaningortheirarrangement.Thehomographsbecauseoftheidentityoftheirspellingaretreatedlikehomonymsinthedictionary.4
ThisproblemisrareinmanyIndianlanguagesbecauseofthesyllabicscriptusedbythem.
While treating homonymy the lexicographer has to keep in view the different types of homonyms. In some cases there may be total identity in all the forms of a
paradigmanditscolocationalpossibilities.Inothersitmaybeonlypartial.
Letusconsiderthefollowingexamples:

English seal1 animal wax
seal2
pl. seals seals

possessive
seals
seals

Hindi god
sur1 sur2 tune
of of
obl.pl. suroN suroN
gods tunes
Wefindherethatalltheformsintheparadigmsofthewordsseal1andseal2,sur1andsur2areidenticalandfromtheirformsonedoesnotgetanyindicationoftheir
belongingtoonewordortheother.Suchhomonymsarecalledfullhomonymsorwordhomonyms.Theyaregenerallyfoundinwordsbelongingtothesamepartsof
speech.
Anothertypeofhomonymsalexicographerhastomarkisfoundinthefolloingcases:
Hindisenaan.armysenaav.tohatchanegg
dir.pl.senaaeNarmiessene
obl.pl.senaaoNofarmiessetaadifferentinflectedformsofsenaa
sonaan.goldsonaav.tosleep
sotaa,differentinflected
soneetc.formsofsonaa
parbutparwingparoNwings
Intheseexamplesonlyafewwordformsareidentical.Suchhomonymsarecalledpartialhomonymsorhomonymsofwordforms.Inpartialhomonymygenerallythe
canonicalformsandsomeformsareidenticalandsomeotherformsarenotidentical.
Thelexicographermaymeetsomeothercasesofthefollowingtypewhichappearaspartialhomonyms:
Hindijiitaaalive(presentparticipleofjiinaatolive),
jiitaaconquered(pasttenseofjiitnaatowin)
soneobliqueformofsonaagold,
soneaninflectedformofsonaatosleep.
sotaaastream
sotaasleepinganinflectedformofsonaatosleep
Thefirsttwopairsofwordsdonotpresentanydifficultybecausetheyareonlysomeinflectedandregularandpredictableformsofthewords.Sincethelexicographer
enters only canonical forms these words are not considered for the dictionary entry. But the last example is a little different. In this sotaa 'a stream' is itself a
canonical form and deserves an entry. The identity of spelling of this form with the second word may tempt a lexicographer to enter the second one also a head
word5.Butwhentheformsareminutelyexaminedsuchdifficultydoesnotarise.
While treating homonyms, the lexicographer has to see if the difference in the meaning of these words is only lexical or also grammatical. When we compare Eng
sealn.'animal'andsealn.'wax'andHindibaaln.'boy'andbaaln.'hair'wefindthatboththewordsbelongtothesamepartsofspeech.Thedifferenceliesonlyin
theirlexicalmeaning.Suchhomonymsarelexicalhomonyms.Alexicographermaybetemptedtogivetheseunderoneentry6.
WhenwecomparesuchpairsasHindisenaan'army'andsenaav.'tohatcheggs'Maltoulaadv.'indaytime',AoNagaakipp.'by'andakiv.'possess',wefindthat
the difference is not only confined to the lexical meaning but the grammatical categories are also different. Such homonyms are called lexicogrammatical
homonyms.
Somedictionaries7treatpolysemouswordsoccurringinmorethanonepartsofspeechashomonymousandgiveseparateentriesforthem.Suchcasesarecalled
partial homonyms or grammatical homonyms. In these cases the words have the same canonical form but different paradigms and structural patterns e.g., verbs
occurringbothastransitiveandintransitive,lexicalunitsoccurringasnoun,verb,adjectiveetc.,
Eng.sealn.wax:sealv.toputaseal
Drinkv.:drinkn.
Cutv.cutn.cutadj.
Angamikekhrevitobefoldedkekhrevttofold
Kekhren.fold.
AbujMadiaidadj.this:idpron.this
Hindigaanaav.tosinggaanaan.song
Although etymologically related, such words are given in the dictionaries separate entries form the practical point of denoting the grammatical
features and distributional characteristics of these words. This would be more helpful for a common reader especially for learning the generating
powerofthelanguage.
The lexicographer should look at homonyms from the point of view of their origin. How do homonyms appear in a language? This will help the lexicographer in
establishingtherelatednessofmeaningsanddistinguishinghomonymsfrompolysemouswords.Thehomonymshavethefollowingsourcesinalanguage:
(1)Homonymscomeinalanguagebecauseoftheconvergentphoneticdevelopmentoftwoormoredifferentlexicalunits.Mostofthehomonymsinalanguagehave
their origin in this way. Phonetic changes pertaining to the loss of affixes, simplification of conjunct consonants, loss of syllables etc. affecting either one of the
wordsorbothofthemleadtocreationofhomonymy,e.g.
Hindikaam'work'<Sktkarma:kaam'desire'
Sonaa'gold'<Sktsvarn?a:sonaa'sleep'<Sktsup.
Punjabisat'powder'<Sktsattva:sat'seven'<Sktsapta.
Englishsoundn.'strait'OE.Sund.'swimming'
Sound'healthy'OE.Zesund'healthy'.
HomonymsofthistypesareinplentyinPaliandPrakrits.
Homonymsappearingbythisprocess are etymologically unrelated. But in these cases also, even after the phonetic convergence, the two words may be taken as
polysemous e.g., English ear 'organ of hearing' and ear 'spike of corn' are etymologically unconnected, but the two words are treated as related by some persons
becausethespikeofthecornisconsideredastheearofthecorninthesamewayaseyeofneedle,mouthorriver,footofhilletc.(Ullmann1957,128Zgusta1971
77).
(2)Divergentsensedevelopmentofpolysemouswords:
Incourseoftimethedifferentrelatedmeaningsofawordbecomesoverydifferentthattherelatednessofmeaningsisnolongerperceivedandthewordsaretreated
ashomonyms.Butthisisveryfluidanduncertainfield.Muchdependsonthespeaker'sjudgementwhichisnotinfrequentlysubjective.e.g.
OE.cestchest'largebox'
Chest'partofhumanbody'
Thehomonymsalsohavetheirorigininthelanguagebyborrowingformdifferentlanguages.Theseborrowingsmayalsoundergophoneticchanges.Thehomonyms
ofthistypemaybeofdifferenttypes:
(a)Onewordisborrowedfromanotherlanguage:e.g.
Hindiaamn.mango<Skt.Aamra
Aamadj.general<Pers.aamgeneral
piirn.pain<Sktpiid,aa
piirn.asaintPers.piir.
Bengalitiirn.bankSkt.
tiirn.arrowPersain
Tamilmaalain.eveningDravidian
Maalain.garlandIndoAryan
EnglishmeanaverageLatinmedianus
meanthinkOE.marnan
Teluguraajuking<Skt.raajaa
raajutokindlefireTelugu
(b)Sometimesboththewordsofthepairofhomonymsareborrowed:
Tamilkavin.poet<Skt.kavi
kavin.monkey<Skt.kapi
HindikamaanbowPersian
kamaanorderEng.command
gallaanoiseArabic.Gul
gallaacrowdPers.galla.
Malayalamvaatamargument<Skt.vaada
Vaatambreeze<Skt.vaara
Bengaliaaminanemployee<Arabicamin
Aaminamen<Englishamen
Sometimeswhenthenumberofhomonymsislargermorethanonewordsareborrowed.e.g.
Malayalamarienemy<Skt.ari
arilion<Skt.hari
aririceMalayalam
A particular type of homonyms found in Sanskrit are those formed by sabhangaleas. These words are split differently for different meanings. These words are
etymologicallydifferent.e.g.
ajapaonewhodoesnoworshipajapaprotectorofgoats
samudrawithseal:samudrasea
sutapathedrinkerofsoma:sutapapracticinggreatausterity8.
Oneofthemostcontroversialpointsinsemanticshavingadirectbearingonlexicographyhasbeenthedifferentiationbetweenpolysemyandhomonymy.Thegeneral
principle of differentiation has been the relatedness of the meanings. If the meanings are related it is a case of polysemy, if not, it is a case of homonymy. The
questionofrelatednessofmeaningscanbeviewedformtwopointsofview:historicalandsynchronic.Historicallyrelatedmeaningsarethosewhichcanbetraced
backtothesamesourcethatisthemeaningsareetymologicallyconnectedoronemeaningcanbederivedformtheother.Iftheyarenotetymologicallyconnected
theyarenotrelatedandarehomonyms.
Synchronicconsiderationhastheintuitionofthespeakersofthelanguageasitsbasis.Ifthespeakersperceiverelationshipbetweenthemeaningsofaworditcan
be said that the meanings are related and form the semantic structure of one and the same word. if the speaker feels the meanings are not related it is a case of
homonymy. But the intuition is not always a reliable guide. It can be quite subjective. The speakers may establish relatedness of meaning where there is none
etymologically.Wehavenotedtheexampleofearearlier.
Thespeakermayfindthemeaningsunrelatedinspiteofthefactthatthesearederivedformthesamesource.Englishcrane'bird''crane'a'machine'maybetreated
as unrelated although the latter is a figurative extension of the same. Zgusta (1971, 85) In such cases the etymology is not relevant. An example from Nida may
makeitclearer.Theformstockmayoccurinthreeverydifferenttypesofcontexts,e.g.hehasalotofstockinthewarehouse,hesellsstocksandbonds,hefeeds
thestockonhisfarmwell.Thoughhistoricallythesethreesetsofmeaningsarerelated,formanypresentdayspeakersofEnglishthereseemtobenomeaningful
connections.(Nida,1975,13)
Similarly,theHindispeakermaynotfindthetwomeaningsofartha'meaning'and'wealth'related,althoughtheyareetymologicallyrelated.ThetwomeaningsofHindi
kar'hand'and'tax'mayagainbetreatedasunrelated.
Insomecasesthefigurativeextensionsofthemeaningmaynotberecognisablebythespeakerse.g.inhewillfootthebillthemeaningoffootmaynotberelatedto
foot'thepartofthebody'.Butifthemeaningoffootwhichoccursinthefootofthecolumnistakenintoconsiderationarelationmaybeestablishedinthesensethat
apersonpaysthesumatthefootofthebill.(Nida,1975,128)
ThetwomeaningsoftheTamilwordmiin'fish'and'star'maybetreateddifferentlybydifferentspeakers.Somespeakersmaynotfindanyrelationshipbetweenthese
two.
WeobserveformtheabovediscussionthatdistinctionbetweenpolysemyandhomonymyisveryuncertainandasobservedbyLyons(1968,406)is'inthelastresort
indeterminateandarbitrary'.
What can a lexicographer do then? If etymological evidence is available he can depend on it. But in such cases where the etymological sense is lost he has to
dependontheinterpersonalimpressionsofthenativespeakers.
The etymological relationship can be established generally in respect of languages where some studies have been done. But in case of languages where such
studiesarenotavailablethelexicographerhastodependeitherontheintuitionofthenativespeakeroronhisownintuitions.
3.8.Synonymy:Inpolysemyonewordhasmorethanonemeaning.Asopposedtothis,thereisasituationinwhichmorethanonewordshavethesameornearly
the same meaning. Such words are called synonyms and the phenomenon is called synonymy or paryaava. Here, at times, different words which could have
otherwisemeantsomethingelseareusedtodenoteonethinge.g.amara'notdying',nirjara'notaging'andvivudha'learned'areusedasepithets/synonymsofdeva
'god'.
Indianlanguageshavealongtraditionoflexicographiworkonsynonyms.FromNighant?utothepresentdaythereisalonghistoryofdictionariesofsynonyms.The
originofdictionarymakingitselfmaybetracedbacktothestudyofthesynonymsAmarakosahasnotonlyinspiredmanylexicographicalworksofthistypeinIndia,
ithasbeenusedforpreparationofdictionariesofforeignlanguagesalso.Roget'sThesaurusreferstothiswork.
Arethererealsynonymsinalanguage?Thisquestionhasbeenwidelydiscussedinbooksofsemantics.Ourconcernherewillbetodealwithsynonymsformthe
pointoftheirsensediscriminationandrepresentationinadictionary.
Wemayexaminethefollowingsetsofwords:
pati husband
husband(insenseofthemasterofthe
svaamii
house)
husband(inpejorativesenseusedin
bhataar
abuses)
Hindi
khasam husband(usedasbhataar)
husband(themostbeloved,in
praan,anaath
dialoguesinintimatesituation)
husband(companionoflife,usedin
jiivansaathii
phraseslikejiivansaathiikiitalaas)
impliesmakinganessentiallysingle
Attempt
effort.
stresseseffortorexperimentmadein
Try thehopeoftestingorproviding
something.
hightenstheimplicationofexertion
English Endeavour
anddifficulty.
impliesdifficultbutalsosuggests
Essay
tentativetryingorexperimenting.
impliesgreatexertionagainstgreat
Strive difficultyandspeciallysuggests
persistenteffort.
strii wife(asinaamaarstriimywife)
strii wife(asinaamaarstriimywife)
Bengali
ladyusuallywithbhadra
mahilaa (bhadromahilaagentlelady)butnot
*aamaarmahilaa
pr,thvii earth(inthesenseofbroad)
earth(inthesenseoftheplaceof
Skt. vasudhaa
jewels)
bhuumi earth(inthesenseofsubstance)
kita usedforthingslittlefurtheroff
Khasi kitei usedforthingsatahigherplace
kitie usedforthingslowerorbelow.
jaga usedforanyplace
Kannada
niveana asiteforbuildingahouse
verythickforestspeciallyused
ran
Halbi whensomeonegoesforhunting.
ban nearbyforest.
Whenweanalysethesemanticfeaturesofwordsofeachsetwefindthatthereisnoindentityinallthesemanticfeaturesofallthewords.Allthewordsofeach set
have some common feature (or a denotational meaning). One word in the set has only this feature while others have some additional features also. If two words
haveidentityinalltheirsemanticfeaturestheyarecalledabsolutesynonyms.Theoccurrenceofabsolutesynonymsnotonlydependsonthelexicalmeaning but
alsoonthedistributionalcharacteristicsofthewords.Howtofindouttheabsolutesynonyms?
Onecommontestappliedtoknowwhethertwolexicalitemsareabsolutesynonymsornotisthetestofinterchangeabilityandsubstitution.Twolexicalunitscanbe
absolutesynonymsifandonlyiftheyareinterchangeableforoneanotherinallcontextswithouttheslightestchangeintheirmeaning.Butthisisrarelyfoundina
language.Wordssimilarinmeaningmaybesubstitutedinsomecontextsbutnotinallcontextse.g.Englishexceptionalandabnormalinthesenseofunusualcan
beinterchangedforoneanotherinthefollowingsentencewithoutanychangeintheirmeaning.
TherainfallinAprilwasabnormal/exceptional.Butinthefollowingsentence:
Mysonisexceptionalthesubstitutionofexceptionalbyabnormalgivesjusttheoppositemeaning.
Hindilie,vaaste,hetuformaybeinterchangeableinthefollowingsentence:
Usneyahkitaabapniilar,kiikelie/vaaste/hetukhariidiihE.Hehasboughtthisbookforhisdaughter.
Butinthefollowingsentencestheycannotbeinterchanged:
Vahkalkalkattaakeliee(*vaaste,*hetu)jelgayaa.hewenttojailforfourmonths.
jagha:sthaanplacemaybeinterchangedinmanycontextsbutinthefollowingsentencetheycannotbeinterchanged.UnhoNnemakaankeliejagahkhariidlii hE.
Hehaspurchasedasiteforahouse.
Thistakesustothefieldofselectiverestrictionsorcollocationalpotentialitiesofwords.Somesynonymscanbecollocatedwithsomewordsandnotwithothers.
Eng.broad:wide,broadestsenseofawordisthesameasthewidestsensebutwecannotsay*widetranscriptioninplaceofbroadtranscription*wideideain place
ofbroadidea.Againwecansaycountrywidenetworkandnot*countrybroadnetwork.
Bengali:khaas:vieaspecialcanbeinterchangeableinkhaaskhabaarandvieakhabarbutkhaascannotbesusbstitutedbyvieainkhaasmahaal.
Kannada:gr,ahandmanehouse.Wehavegr,hapraveanot*manepraveaandmanekat(t(unot*gr,ahakat(t(u
Hindi:jaasuusandguptacarspyareinterchangeableinjaasuus/guptacarkaakaam.Butwehavejaasuusiiupanyaasspynovelandnot*guptacariiupanyaas.
ava,laa,murdaa,mr,takmeancorpsebuttheycannotbeinterchangedinthefollowingconstructions:
ava(*laa,*murdaa,*mr,tak)daah,murdaa(*ava,*laa,*mr,tak)ghaa/saraay.
Asamatteroffact,noninterchangeabilityoftheircomponentsisoneofthecharacteristicfeaturesofthesetcollocations.
Anotherthingtobeconsideredbyalexicographeristhedistributionpatternsofsynonyms.Eveniftheyareinterchangeableinsomecontexts,thereisadifferencein
theirsyntacticalvalencies.(Apresjan1973,181)
e.g.toanswer:toreply
Theformerdoesnottakeaprepositionbutthelattertakesoneinthefollowing:
toansweraquestion:toreplytoaquestion
Anxious,uneasyandconcernedhavesomecommonmeaning,butanxiousanduneasytakeaboutwhereasconcernedtakesat,for,withalsobesidesabout.
Hindi:adhik:bahut,muchbahuttakessewhereasadhikdoesnottakeit.AdhiklogaayehENbutbahutselogayehEN
manypeoplehavecome
dekhnaa:taaknaatosee
dekhnaa:takesbothkiiorandkopostpositionsbuttaaknaatakesonlykiior
usko/uskiiordekholookathimanduskiiortaakobeholdhim,
butnot*uskotaako.
Besidesthissomesynonymshavedifferentparadigms,e.g.sapharandyaatraa refer to traveling form one place to another. saphar emphasizes the distance and
yaatraaimpliesdestination.Onlyyaatraacanbepluralized.(Bahl,1974,20).
Ahsaan,upkaar,saluuk,hit,hitsaadhan,bhalaa,bhallaiiallrefertosomethingdonewhichisdirectlyorindirectlybeneficialtocomeone.ahsaanformsActionNoun
Phrasewithpostpositionskesaath,keuuparandparupkaarwith ke saath, par, ke prati and kaa saluuk with ke saath hit, hitsaadhan and bhalaa with kaa and
bhalaaiiwithkesaathandkii(Bahl1974,47).
Whileanalysingthesynonymsthelexicographerwouldseethattheprincipleofsynonymycannotbeappliedtopolysemanticwords.Twowordsmaybesynonymous
insomeoftheirmeaningsbutallthemeaningsoftwopolysemnaticwordscannotbesynonymouse.g.
Hindi
karandhaathhand
karhasthefollowingmeanings
(1)hand,
(2)thetrunkofanelephant,
(3)theraysofthesun.
haathmeans
(1)hand,
(2)measurement,
(3)abet.
Wefindthatthesewordsaresynonymousinonlyoneoftheirmeanings.
Thelexicographerwouldalsonotethatallthemeaningsofapolysemanticwordhavedifferentsynonyms.
dekhnaa
(1)tosee
(2)toreadbaaNcnaa,adhyayankarnaa
(3)toenquiremuaaymaakarnaa
(4)tosearchkhojnaa,talaakarnaa
(5)toexamineaajmaanaa,parkhanaa
(6)tounderstandsocnaa,samajhnaa
(7)tofeelbhognaa
Herewefindthatthereisnosynonymybetweenthesynonymsofthedifferentmeaningsoftheworddekhnaa.
Bhognaa,samajhnaa,khojnaaandbaaNcnaaarenotsynonyms.
Wemaycomparethefollowingsetofsynonymstothefivemeaningsoftheword.fresh(Arnold,1973,180).
fresh(asinfreshmetaphor)fresh,original,novel,striking
fresh(asintobeginafreshparagraph)fresh,another,different,new
fresh(asinafreshair)fresh,pure,invigorating
fresh(asinafreshman)fresh,inexperienced,green,raw
fresh(asintobefreshwithsub.)fresh,impertinent,rude.
Wefindthatthereisnosynonymybetweenrude,green,new,striking,thedifferentmeaningsoffresh.
Theoccurrenceofcompletesynonymsinalanguagecanfurtherbetestedbyassigningantonymstothem.Thesynonymouswordshavedifferentantonymsfortheir
differentmeanings
English:firmandhardhavethesamemeaning.
firm:oppositeofloose(asinfirmorloosedecision)
hard:oppositeofsoft(asinhardorsoftwords)
deepandprofoundalsohavethesamemeaning
deep:oppositeofshallow(asindeeporshallowwater)
profound:oppositeofsuperfluous(asindeeporsuperfluousknowledge)
Hindi:kahinandkar,aadifficult
kahin:oppositeofaasaaneasy(asinkahinoraasaankaam)
kar,aa:oppositeofmulaayam(asinkar,aaormulaayaumhaath)
Fromtheabovediscussionthelexicographercanfindoutthatitisimpossibletogetcompletesynonymsinalanguage.ToquoteUllmannabsolutesynonymyisan
extremelyrareoccurrence,aluxurythatalanguagecanillafford.(FromLyons1968,437).
However,absolutesynonymsarefoundonlyinafewmonosemanticwordswhichhavetechnicalmeanings.Buthereagainthetermsarenotusedbythesamewriter
orschool.Theyareusedbydifferentschoolse.g.
Spirant:fricative
Flexion:inflexion
ailiivijn0aana:riitivijn0aanastylistics
svanima:dhvanigraamaphoneme
Therearesomeveryrarecaseswherewemayfindcasesofabsolutesynonyms.e.g.Hydrogen:H2,ViceChancellor:VC.
Butsuchcasesarenotfoundinthegenerallanguage.
Sowhenalexicographerdealswithsynonymsinhisdictionaryheactuallydescribesortreatsthepartialsynonymsorhomoionyms.Insynonymythelexicographer
has to observe the overlapping of meanings. That is to say that some meanings are identical in some of their semantic features and can be substituted for each
otherinsomecontextsandnotinallthecontexts.
Thelexicographerusesthesynonymsmostlyfordefininglexicalunits.Synonymsorsemanticallysimilarwordsareusedforequatinglexicalunitsinamonolingual
dictionarybyalexicographer.
Wecanexaminethefollowingsetsofsynonyms:
khaanaa,jiimnaa,bhakosnaa,liilnaa,huurnaa,bhojankarnaa.
khaanaatoeat(usedasageneralword)
jiimnaatoeat(formal)
bhakosanaatodevour
liilnaatowolf
huurnaatoeatwithforce
bhojankarnatoeat(formal)
We observe that in these words khaanaa is the only word which has a simple denotative meaning. All the other words have this meaning as also some other
additionalconnotativemeanings.
Inthissetofsynonymsthewordwiththedenotativemeaningisneutral.Fromthepointofviewofitsuse,itisusedmorefrequently.Itcanbecalledthedominant
synonyminthegroup.Letusexaminesomemoreexamples.Englishhope,expectationandanticipation.Allthesewordsmeanhavingsomethinginmindwhichis
likelytohappen.Hopeisnot only a belief but a desire that some event would happen. Expectation may be either of good or of evil. Anticipation is, as a rule, a
pleasurableexpectationofsomethinggood.Inthisgrouphopeistheneutralword.Thewordsexpectationandanticipationareused by educated speakers whereas
hopeisawordofgeneraluse.Sointhisgrouphopeisneutralanddominant.(Arnold,1973,179)
Hindisamay,kaal,velameaningtime
Samay has the general meaning of time kaal is the extent of time from one point to another, vela is a definite point of part of time as in saandhyavelaa evening
time,milankiivelathetimeofmeeting.
Inthissetsamayisusedmorefrequentlyandindifferentcontextsandisthedominantandneutralsynonym.
Sanskritsvarn,a,hema,hiran,ya,haaaka,loham,kanaka,kaan0canameaninggold
svarn,a:goldingeneral
hema:ithasattractiveness
hiran,ya/haaaka:ithasyellowstuff
loham:ithasrednessincolour
kanaka:itisshining
kaan0cana:itisfreshincolour
Ofthesewordssvarn,aismorefrequentlyusedandisdominantorneutralofallthesynonyms.
Thelexicographerusesthedominantortheneutralsynonymformthesettodefineorequatethenondominantornonneutralsynonymsinhisdictionary.
The synonyms can be discriminated in a dictionary by analysing their different semantic features and usages. The following possibilities of discrimination of the
synonyms 9maybeutilizedbythelexicographe
(1)Onewordisgeneralanotherisspecific:
Eng.refuse:reject.
Hindikhaalii:uunya.empty
(2)Onewordhasmoreemotivevaluethantheother:
Eng.politician:statesman
reject:decline
Hindi
Marnaa:dehaantahonaatodie
(3)Onewordhasamorepoliteexpressionthantheother.
Hindidekhnaa:darsankarnaatosee
Telugutind,i:bhojanamfood
(4)Onewordisusedbyonesocialclass:
Hindiarthii:janaajaadeadbody
vrat:rojaafast
kaakii:caaciiaunt
(5)Indiglotticsituationsonewordisusedforthehighervariety,theotherforthelower:
Bengalimanjan:maaNjantoothpowder
Tamililai:ileleaf
kud,dam:kud,oavessel
veekamaka:veekamaafast
(6)Onewordisborrowedtheotherisnative:
Hinditelephon:duurbhaa
red,io:akaavaan,ii
Telugubhojanam:tind,Ifood
aaim:samaytime
(7)Onewordismorecolloquialthantheother:
Hindiskuul:paat(haaalaaschool
muus:cuuhaamouse
saaNp:sarpasnake
paanii:jalwater
Eng.refuse:turndown
(8)Onewordmaybemoreprofessionalthantheother:
Eng.ophthalmologist:eyedoctor
Paedriatician:childspecialist
(9)Onewordistatsamaandtheotheristadbhava.
Hindikarn,a:kaanear
kuha:kor,haleprosy
Teluguadbhutamugreatwonder,abhuramwonder
(10)Onewordismoreliterarythantheother:
Eng.passingaway:death
Hindipadhaarnaa:aanaatocome
lahnaa:paanaatoget
yaaminii:raatnight
bhojan:khaanaafood
uunya:khaaliiempty
(11)Onewordmaybelongtochildtalk:
Eng.daddy:father
Hindisusu:peaaburine
Telugubaayii:paalumilk
jijji:nidraasleep
Malayalammaamunnu:coorunnutohaverice
Uvvaavu:muruvawound
(12)Onewordmaybelocalordialectal:
HindibEgan:bhanaabrinjal
aaaa:pisaanflower
Eng.lift:elevator(American)
flat:apartment(American)
(13)Onewordmaybemoreeuphemisticthantheother:
TeluguuppuisataboointhenightsoSkt.lavan,amisusedbysomeclasses,luttabasketisusedbyotherscavitasteisalsoused.
Manylexicalitemsrelatedtohumananatomyandactivitiesrelatedtothemaretreatedastabooinmanysocieties.Therefore,someotherwordsareusedforthem.
Hindihagnaa:taikarnaatosecrete
Telugudod,d,ikelu:venakkellu`toanswerthecallofnature
Inthesamewaywordsrelatingtosomediseasesanddeathetc.arealsotaboo.Otherwordsareusedintheirplace.
Hindicecak:iitalaasmallpox
hEjaa:mahaamaariicholera.
Thesespecificationswillhelpthelexicographertodefinethelexicalunitsinamoreclearway.
3.9Antonymy:Anothertypeofmeaningrelationshipiswhatistraditionallycalledantonymy.Thetermbroadlysignifiestheoppositenessofmeaning.Butitisopen
to criticism and allows different interpretations. What is the antonym of kind? cruel and unkind both can be good candidates for becoming antonyms of kind but
unkinddoesnotmeancruel.Nordoesnotbeautifulmeanugly.Girlormancanbeequallysuitablecandidatesforbecomingantonymsofwoman. The relationship
denotedbyantonymymaybeanalysedintermsofoppositionsandcontrastsinthemeaningofthefollowingtypes:
(1) Extreme opposites or reversives or contradictories or binary opposites: this is the relationship of either, or i.e. the positive and negative features of the
meaning.e.g.
English.dead:alive
tie:untie
Hindimarnaadiejiinaalive
Thesewordsshowbinarytaxonomyorabsolutenessofboundary(Leech1974,106)anddonotallowanythingbetweenthem.Inotherwords,theyarenotgradable.
Deadmeansnotalive.Therecannotbedegreesofdeadnessandaliveness.
(2)oppositesorpolaroppositesofcontraries:thiscontrastcanbeexplainedintermsofscalesrunningbetweentwopolesorextremese.g.richand poor. good

andbad,muchandlittle.Hindit(han,d,aacoldandgaramhot,uuparupandniicedown.Onecanbeneitherrichnorpoorbutnotneitherdeadnor alive. There is
apossibilityofvariabilityintermsofdegreesbetweentheopposites.Betweencoldandhottherearecoolandwarm.Goodandbadcanbejudgedformthedegrees
ofgoodnessandbadness.Inotherwords,theseoppositesallowgrading.Richandpoormaybejudgedfromthedegreeofrichnessorpoverty.
(3) Incompatibles: this is the relation of meaning exclusiveness and not of contradiction. Two meanings are incompatible if one contains at least one feature
contrastingwithafeatureintheother.e.g.red,black,blue,yellow,dayandnight,morningandevening.Tosayday is to say not morning, or noon etc. man and
womanareincompatiblebecausemanhas+malefeatureandwomandoesnothaveit.Othermeaningsincompatiblewithwomanareboy,cowetc.becausetheydo
notsharefeatures+adultand+humanrespectively.
(4)Conversives:thisistherelationshipthatexistsbetweenwordslikeEnglishbuyandsell,askandreply,Hindipuuchnaaaskanduttardenaareply.
Besidesthesethereareotherrelationshipsofmeaninglikerelationale.g.fatherandson,hierarchicale.g.inch,foot,yard.
Asinthecaseofsynonymscompleteorabsoluteantonymsarealsorareinalanguage.Awordmayhavemorethanoneantonymeachrestrictedtosomecontext
inalanguage
Thewordthinhastoantonyms(1)thickasinthinsliceandthickslice(2)fatasinthinmanandfatman.
Theworddrymayhavethefollowingantonyms,wet,moistanddamp.eg.
drylip:moistlip
dryair:dampair
dryclothes:wetclothes
Sothecriteriaofinterchangeabilitycannotbeappliedfortheantonymsalso.Goodhaspoorasitsantonyminsomecontextse.g.good result and poor result and

badinotherse.g.goodboyandbadboy.
Inlexicographytheantonymsareusedforthepurposesofdefinitions.Themeaningofpolysemouswordscanbedisambiguatedbyantonyms.Theantonymsare
also useful for discriminating the senses of polysemous words and synonyms. (3.6 and 3.8). The lexicographer should examine the semantics features of the
antonymswhilegivingthemasapartofthedefinition.
3.10.Hyponymy:anotherapproachtothestudyofmeaningrelationshipisintermsofmeaninginclusionorhyponymy.Itrelatestotheanalysisofthehierarchical
relationshipbetweenmeanings.Manylexicalunitsinalanguageincludethemeaningofotherunitsinthem.Forexamplevehicleincludesinitthemeaningsofbus,
carandmotorcycle,animalincludesinitthemeaningsofcat,dog,elephantetc.Thelexicalunitwhosemeaningisincludedformsthelowerrungofthehierarchical
structure of meanings and is called hyponym (Sanskrit upa+naama). The lexical unit in which this meaning is included is the superordinate term or hyperonym
(Sanskritupari+naama),sometimesreferredtoasclassifieralso.Thehyponym,someadditionalmeaningswhichdistinguisheditfromtheclass.Forexampledog
containsbesidesthemeaningofanimalalsoanadditionalmeaningwhichdistinguishesitfromotheranimalslikecow,cat,horseetc.Thishierarchicalstructurecan
beshownbythefollowingdiagram:
figure
Anotherwaytodescribethisrelationshipisintermsofgenusanddifferentia.Thehyperonymisthegenusorthegeneralterm.Thehyponymisthespecificterm.
Manyofthetermsinahierarchicalstructureoccuratboththelevelsthehyperonymandthehyponym.Englishdogisahyponymofanimalbuta
hyperonym for dog, bitch and pup. In other words, it occurs both for the class as well as the specific. We can illustrate this by the following
diagram:
figure
Herethewordkuttaaisbothasuperordinateaswellasanincludedterm.
Thehierarchicalstructureofmeaningisusedinlexicographyforthedefinitionofwords.Ahyponymisdefinedintermsofahyperonyme.g.
Bengalijonaakiiglowwormdiiptiyuk%tapokaavies$aaparticularshiningworm.
Englishtigerlargefierceanimalofthecatfamily
Intheseconddefinitiontherearetwohyperonymsanimalandcatfromtwolevelsofthehierarchicalstructureofthemeanings.
Taxonomy:thehierarchicalstructureofmeaningdescribedaboveisoftenreferredtoastaxonomy.Taxonomyhasbeenconsideredasagoodmethodoforganizing
the description of meaning of the lexical units of semantic domains dealing with the phenomenon of the visible world. It can also be used for description of the
mannerinwhichthemindperceivestheoutwardreality.OneofthebestknownanalysisofsetsoftermsintotaxonomyhasbeenCharlesFrakestreatmentof the
terminologyofvariousskindiseasesknowntotheSubanum,atribelivinginMindanaointheSouthernPhillipines.
Speciallynotablehasbeentheapplicationoftheprincipleoftaxonomicstructureinethnosemanticstudiesinwhatiscalledfolktaxonomies.Appliedtothestudyof
aparticularsubclassoflexicaldomainsdisplayingcertainformalrelatedpropertiesithasshownthattaxonomicstructureisprobablyauniversalcharacteristicsof
languages. Even the most primitive languages have elaborate taxonomies to classify and describe objects of their environment. Although there is difference in
detailsofcategorizationsamonglanguagesthereisnolanguagewhichhasaninferiorsystemofcategorizationtotheother.
Theprincipleoffolktaxonomycanbeusedinlexicography,especiallyforprimitiveandunwrittenlanguages,forclearlydefininglexicalunitsbelongingtosuchsub
setsasfloraandfaunaetc.
3.11 Componential Analysis: we have seen that the meaning of a lexical unit is not an unanalysable whole. It could be decomposed into its minimal distinctive
featuresorcomponentswhichcontrastwithothercomponents.Forexamplethesensesofthewordsman,woman,boyandgirlmight be expressed in terms of the
presenceorabsenceofcertainfeaturescharacterizingthem.Thesefeaturescanbewritteninaformofformulaasgivenbelow:
+human=human+male=male
human=animalmale=female
Sothesensesoftheabovewordscouldbeexpressedinthefollowingway:

human male adult

man + + +
woman + +
boy + +
girl +
The method of analysis called componential analysis has been mainly used for the purpose of describing sets of semantically related words. It was evolved by
anthropologicallinguistsforthestudyoftherelationsinthekinshipterminology 10.Therelationsinkinshiphavebeenanalysedintermsofvariousfeatures,likethe
followingwhichaccountfortheirdistinction.
(1)Sexoftherelativemaleorfemalee.g.fatherandmother
(2)GenerationoftherelativewithEgo()=Egosgeneration+1=Egosparentsgeneration1=Egoschildrensgeneration.
(3)Consanguinealorbloodrelationvs.affinalrelationortherelationbymarriage.
(4)Linealornonlinealinaconsanguinealrelationship(fatherandsonarelineal,uncleandnephewarenot)
(5)Degreeofcollateralityamongnonlinealrelationsbasedonthenumberofgenerationsseparatingkinsmenfromtheircommonancestors.(SouthworthandDaswani
1974,203204)
Thesefeaturesarelanguageandculturespecificandmaybemoreorlessinnumberindifferentlanguagesdependingonthenatureoftheorganisationofthekinship
relationshipinthatlanguage.
Thecomponentialanalysishasalsobeenappliedextensivelyforthestudyofcolourtermsandpronouns.
Inlexicographycomponentialanalysiscouldbeusedfordiscriminationofsynonyms(explainingoftheoverlappingofmeanings),distinguishingthedifferentsenses
ofapolysemousword(byexaminingtheadditionalsemanticfeaturesandtheirlinksintheextendedmeanings)andthestudyofotherrelationshipsofmeaninglike
antonymy, hyponymy etc. The application of componential analysis has some advantages. Some unexpected features or distinctions in meaning are often
discoveredintheprocessofathroughapplicationofsuchasystem.Itrevealsthefunctioningofthesysteminitssimplestform.
Butthisapproachhascertainlimitationsalso.Itisapplicabletoarestrictedsetofwordswhichcontainthesimilarandcontrastingfeatures.Componentialanalysis
cannotbeapplicabletotheanalysisoftheconnotativeandemotivemeaningsofthelexicalunitbecausetheyanalyseonlytheminimalfeaturesofdistinctiveness.
(SouthworthandDaswani1974,205).Forexamplethewordbhaaiiisusedinthesenseofmatchormateinthefollowingvahkumbakarn,akaabhaaiihE.Heisa
match for Kumbhakarna. This meaning may perhaps not be explained in terms of componential analysis so the componential analysis explains only part of
meanings.
Inspiteoftheshortcomings,thecomponentialanalysiscanbehelpfulinframingdefinitionsinthehierarchicalorderofthecomponents.
Hereitisworthwhiletomakeadistinctionbetweenmarkedandunmarkedwordsinthesamelexicalset.Onewordmightbemarkedforsomefeaturewhiletheother
mightnotbemarked.Forexamplebitchis+femaleforsexanddogisnot.
MentionmayalsobemadeoftheclassificationofsemanticfeaturesintosemanticmarkersandsemanticdistinguishersasusedbyKatzandFodor(1963,170210)
fortheanalysisofpolysemouswords.Thesemanticmarkersarefeaturespresentalsointhelexicalmeaningsofotherwords.Theyputthelexicalunitina class.
Thedistinguishers,ontheotherhand,areindividualfeaturesnotoccurringinthelexicalmeaningsofotherwords.Thedistinguisherparticularizesthemeaningofa
lexicalitemanddifferentiatesitfromtheother.
NOTES
1.FordetailsFodor,J.D.(1977,p.9ff)andSouthworthandDaswani(1974p.171ff.)andotherworksonsemantics.
2.Zgusta(1971,36.37)givesadetailedtreatmentofthesubject.
3.SpeciallytheFirthianSchoolofLinguistics.
4.ForarrangementofhomonymsinadictionaryseeArrangementofEntries
5.SeeTiwariandChaturvedi1970.
6.Ibid.
7.Hornby,COD,HSS,SanskritDictionary(Poona),SanskritEnglishDictionary(MonierWilliams)etc.
8.ExamplesfromGhatage(197678,p.XVI).
9.TheAmericanCollegeEncyclopaedicDictionarygivesthefollowing18waysinwhichsynonymscanbediscriminated:
a.Betweengeneralandspecific
b.Betweenshadesofmeaning
c.Inemphasis
d.Inimplication
e.Inapplication
f.Inconnotation
g.Inemotionaleffect
h.Inlevelsofusage
i.Betweenliteracyandcolloquialusage
j.Effectsofprefixesandsuffixes
k.Inidioms
l.InBritishandAmericanusage
m.Betweenborrowedandnativewords
n.Betweenliteralandfigurativeusage
o.betweenconcreteandabstractness
p.Betweentechnicalused(oroccupationaluses)andpopularuses
q.Inrespectofaction
r.Betweenlocalorprovincialusageandgeneralusage.Collinsonhastabulatedthemosttypicaldifferencesbetweensynonymsandhasdistinguishedbetweennine
possibilities(Ulmann1962,Chapter6)
10.Goodenough(1956),Lounsbury(1956),WallaceandAtkins(1960)etc.

3 Lexicology and Lexicography

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4/3/2017 MeaningAnditsrelationshiptoForm

similarother'things'withthesamecharacteristics.Heunderstandsthatallreferentshavingthesecharacteristicsareanimals.Theassociationofthe linguistic form

Sanskritmaaandnaarenegativeparticles,maaisusedwithimperativeklaaibyammaasamgama paartha 'O partha! do not be unmanly' na is used with optative

Fromhistoricalpointofviewpolysemyisthechangeinthegeneralsemanticstructureofaword.Awordmighthaveretaineditsoriginalmeaning and added some

Hindi kharaa (1)good,pure,

Inalanguagewheretheetymologicalandhistoricalstudieshavenotbeendoneitisimpossibletoapplythiscriterion.Even in the languages with written literature,

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Hindi patra (1)leaf,

(2)oppositesorpolaroppositesofcontraries:thiscontrastcanbeexplainedintermsofscalesrunningbetweentwopolesorextremese.g.richand poor. good

Sothecriteriaofinterchangeabilitycannotbeappliedfortheantonymsalso.Goodhaspoorasitsantonyminsomecontextse.g.good result and poor result and

human male adult

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