Cas LX 02 Semantics 3a. Word meaning 6ish Lexical semantics

Dimensions of relatedness

• Bank1 (the river-side) and bank2 (the financial institution) are homonyms. Two basically unrelated words that sound the same. And are written the same. And are pronounced the same.
• Subdivisions are possible: homographs are written the same, homophones are pronounced the same. They (very well) might vary by dialect (bury, berry, Barry; Mary, merry, marry). They might share a category (wring, ring) or not (knot).

Polysemy

• Where different senses are judged to be related, we have polysemy rather than homonymy. Sometimes a tough call.
• Bat1 : implement for striking in certain games
• Bat2 : furry mammal with membranous wings
• Sole1 : A sort of flat fish
• Sole2 : Bottom of a foot or shoe
• < solea (Latin) via French.

Synonymy

• A thesaurus provides synonyms—different words that share (nearly) the same meaning.
• True synonyms may not exist, there is pretty much always a difference in register, attitude, dialect, collocation, or lexical relations.
• Lawyer, attorney, counsel, …
• Couch, sofa, futon, …
• Little sister, small sister, …
• Police, cop, pig, fuzz, …

Antonyms

• Antonyms are in opposition, and come in a number of different flavors.
• An animal might be alive or dead, but not both. You might pass or fail a test, but not both.
• Though we can make sense of undead and half-dead in fanciful ways.
• Reversing the perspective: come/go, ascend/descend, up/down, in/out (reverses for motion, converses for more static relations) above/below, before/after/behind.