Semantic Relations: Monosemy, Synonymy, Polysemy, and Antonymy
Semantics: The Study of Word Meaning
Semantics is the science that studies the meaning of words.
Fundamental Semantic Relations
A signifier having only one meaning is called monosemy.
When a signifier corresponds to multiple meanings, we encounter the semantic phenomena of synonymy, polysemy, and homonymy.
1. Synonymy
Synonymy occurs when multiple signifiers share the same meaning.
For example, the words cold and ice are presented as having the same meaning.
Few words are perfect synonyms. Significant variations often depend on context and levels of language.
For example, the words dentist and dental are synonymous (in certain contexts). However, the technical term (implied) is often reserved for technical jargon, while the common term is used in colloquial language.
Regional synonyms for light rain include:
- drizzle (general use)
- calabobos (Cantabria)
- Guru (America)
- drizzles (Asturias)
- shawm (Navarre)
- chipochipi (Mexico)
2. Polysemy and Homonymy
These phenomena occur when a single signifier corresponds to different meanings.
Polysemy
Polysemous words have a single origin and different meanings that relate, directly or indirectly, to the oldest of them.
Polysemy is a resource the language uses to avoid an excess of different words. However, its abuse leads to severe depletion, resulting in the use of general-purpose words (or “wild words”). These are used for so many applications that they end up losing their specific significant power and becoming vague: do nothing, that, etc.
Homonymy
Homonyms are words that match in form, resulting from the evolution of two originally distinct terms. Sometimes they do not belong to the same grammatical category.
We should bear in mind that there are two classes of homonyms: homographs and homophones.
Homographs
Coincidence in spelling and pronunciation. Example: spring (delicate, soft, white) and spring (work built on the seaside).
Homophones
Matches the pronunciation but not the spelling. Examples include:
- wave (wave)
- hola (Family Health)
- wave (curve formed on flexible materials such as hair)
- deep (deep)
Hierarchical and Oppositional Relations
1. Hyponymy and Hyperonymy
Hyperonymy occurs when a word’s meaning includes that of other words.
Hyperonymy
A hyperonym has an extensive meaning, including others whose meaning is less extensive. The word furniture is the hyperonym for chair, table, bed, and so on.
Hyponymy
A hyponym’s meaning is included in another wider significance. The words chair, table, bed, etc., are hyponyms of furniture.
2. Antonymy
Antonymy, in traditional semantics, is an established relationship between words that express opposite meanings. For example: hot / cold, open / close, sell / buy.
However, the relationship between antonyms is not always identical, so we must speak of three different types of antonyms:
Gradable Antonyms
There is a gradation in between the two terms. Example: hot / cold (intermediate: temperate). Another example: white / black.
Complementary Antonyms
The denial of one term implies the other. Example: open / closed. If a door is open, it cannot be closed (even if ajar, it is not closed). Another example: on / off.
Reciprocal Antonyms
One term implies the existence of the other. Example: sell / buy. If there is no sale, there can be no purchase, and vice versa. Another example: win / lose.