THEME 11:

THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN. HOMONYMY. SYNONYMY.

ANTONYMY. LEXICAL CREATIVITY.

1. THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN

a). Definition for ‘Word’

b). The Word as a Linguistic Sign
c). Word Analysis: Orthographic
Phonological
Morphological
Grammatical
Lexicographical
Semantic

2. HOMONYMY, SYNONYMY AND ANTONYMY

a). Homonymy
b). Synonymy: In Different Dialects
Formality
Technicality
Connotation
Euphemism
c). Antonymy: Gradable
Complementary
Converses

3. LEXICAL CREATIVITY

a). Word-Formation or Neologism

b). Conversion
c). Semantic Transfer

4. ‘FALSE FRIENDS’
1. THE WORD AS A LINGUISTIC SIGN

a). Definition for ‘Word’:

Several definitions have been given to the linguistic term ‘word’ and not all of
them have been satisfactory. One of the most accepted and, at the same time,
clearest definitions is the one given by Bloomfield: “The word is the minimum free
form of a language”. Nevertheless, many linguists say that in a communicative act,
the sentence is the minimum free linguistic form in communication, and the word is
its minimal version. In this case we would have a sentence consisting of one single
word.

b). The Word as a Linguistic Sign:

What do we mean when we say that the word is a linguistic sign? First of all, we
have to regard the language as a communication system where we associate the
‘message’, that is the meaning or ideas we have in our minds, with a set of symbols,
that is to say the representation of these ideas in the form of words, either
written or spoken.

If we take this into account, we can consider the word as an entity made up of:

a signifier that is, the external form

a signified that is, the meaning of that word

Saussure used the term ‘sign’ in this sense to refer to a linguistic entity,
consisting of signifier and signified. Nevertheless, linguists nowadays prefer to
use the term ‘sign’ to refer only to the signifier.

This view of the word expressed by Saussure has been criticised, and the word is
seen by some linguists not as an entity, made up of signifier and signified, but as a
triangle made up of three elements:

thought or reference

symbol _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ referent

There is no direct link between the symbol (signifier) and referent (signified).
The link is established through the thought or reference; that is, not the signified
itself but the mental concept we have in our mind.

c). Word Analysis:

A word can be analysed from different points of view, as it can be regarded as the
following:

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  An Orthographic Entity:

A word can be regarded as being made up of different graphic signs with space
around them, that is to say, letters. In some cases the word as an orthographic
entity has different versions. For example, the word colour in British English is
spelt color in American English.

 A Phonological Entity:

The word is regarded in terms of sounds, subject to stress, rhythm, etc. This
phonological entity has nothing to do with the orthographic one, and words or
groups of words that are spelt in a completely different manner can be
pronounced in the same way. If I say //, it is not clear whether I have said a
notion or an ocean, and only the context can clarify this.

 A Morphological Entity:

In this case, the word is regarded as being made up of morphemes, that is to say,
the minimal unit having meaning in language. For example, the word unbearable can
be divided into three morphemes: un bear able.

 A Grammatical Entity:

A word can also be analysed regarding the function it has. In this case, words are
divided into two groups:

I. Lexical Words:

They are those words which have a full meaning and refer to actions, things or
states. The classes of words which belong to this group are nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs.

II. Grammatical Words:

They are those words which only have a linking function, for example prepositions,
conjunctions, articles, determiners, etc.

 A Lexicographical Entity:

This is the way in which a word is presented in dictionaries. For example, if we

look up the word did in a dictionary, it will make a reference to do. For this reason
the forms do, does, did, done, doing form a lexicographical entity, meaning that
they belong to the same entry in the dictionary.

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  A Semantic Entity:

The word, irrespective of its external form or component parts, is primarily a

carrier of meaning.

2. HOMONYMY, SYNONYMY AND ANTONYMY

The word, apart from the different points of view we have mentioned, can also be
analysed from a semantic point of view. In this point, we are going to deal with
this aspect, analysing the semantic relations of homonymy, synonymy and
antonymy.

a). Homonymy:

A definition of Homonymy could be that of ‘a single word form which has different
meanings not closely related’. In other words, when we have the same spelling but
different meanings:

file: a box or case for keeping papers in order

a tool for smoothing surfaces
a line of people or things, one behind the other

The term ‘homonymy’ must not be confused with ‘polysemy’; the latter refers to a
word with different but closely related meanings. For example, branch of a tree, a
family, a railway line or a bank

So, in order to make this clearer, we can say that polysemy is the same word with
different meanings, whereas homonymy refers to different words with the same
spelling.

It is also important not to confuse homonymy with ‘homophony’. We have

‘homophony’ when two words are pronounced in the same way, as with see and sea.

Homonyms have to do with spelling, and they may be pronounced differently:

polish // from Poland

polish // to brighten a surface

They can also have the same pronunciation:

bear // animal / ‘stand’ (verb)

In this latter case, they are not only homonyms, but also homophones.

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b). Synonymy:

The term synonymy derives from the Greek syn (meaning ‘same’) + nym (meaning
‘name’). Therefore, synonymy deals with words that have either the same meaning
or the same meaning that can be expressed by more than one word.

Strictly speaking, two words are synonyms if they can be used interchangeably in
all sentence contexts. Now we will analyse the following pairs of words:

discover / find
keep / retain
busy / occupied

discover and find are synonyms in a sentence like:

We found / discovered the boys smoking in the bathroom.

However, find cannot be a substitute for discover in the sentence:

Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.

keep and retain are synonyms in the sentence:

You should keep / retain your ticket for inspection.

But retain cannot replace keep in the sentence:

We kept the door locked all night.

busy and occupied are synonyms in the sentence:

I’m afraid Mr. Murphy is busy / occupied at the moment.

But busy cannot be a substitute for occupied in:

I’m afraid this seat is occupied.

Therefore, are these words we have been dealing with synonyms or not? At this
point, we have to make an important distinction between strict or absolute
synonymy and ‘loose’ synonymy.

Strict synonymy would be that when two words are interchangeable in all sentence
contexts, so the words we have seen above would not be strict synonyms. The
problem is that many linguists deny the existence of strict synonyms in a language,
and they do this for a very clear reason: economy. It is useless to have two words
in the language with exactly the same meaning, and the language will not tolerate it
except perhaps for a very short time. After this period we have two possibilities:

i). One of the words specialises from the semantic point of view. This has
happened many times in the history of the English language, usually with
borrowings coming from other languages. In some cases English has had an Anglo-

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Saxon term, a French term and a Latin term for the same meaning, with one of the
words eventually being preferred.

For example, the word mouton was borrowed from French in the medieval period
and was an absolute synonym for sheep, but it had to specialise and nowadays the
word mutton refers only to the meat of the animal.

ii). The second possibility is that one of the words becomes obsolete and in
many cases disappears. This happens, for instance, with foe/enemy. The former
only appears in some literary contexts and is no longer used in conversation.

For all these reasons, we have to deal with ‘loose’ synonyms that probably cannot
be interchangeable in all contexts. Now we will analyse different types of
synonyms:

 Synonymy in Different Dialects:

In many cases, speakers of the same language use different words to refer to the
same entity because they belong to different dialects, although the speakers
themselves do not regard them as synonyms as they only use one of the forms.
The best known case is that of British and American English:

British English American English

lift elevator
pavement sidewalk
flat apartment

These types of synonyms also exist within the same country. For example, in
Liverpool a butty is a synonym for sandwich, although many of these terms are
slang forms.

 Synonymy and Formality:

A second way in which synonyms can be differentiated is by style or the level of

formality. In most cases, words of Anglo-Saxon origin are more colloquial, while
those derived from French or Latin are more formal. Some examples are:

begin commence (French)

climb ascend (Latin)
go in enter (French)

 Synonymy and Technicality:

Synonyms can also be differentiated by technicality. Many professions, trades,

sports, hobbies, etc. have developed vocabularies which contain words appropriate

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to that activity, but which are not used in everyday language. This is called
technical vocabulary or jargon and it is especially frequent in medicine, as the
following examples will show:

Everyday Language Technical Vocabulary

heart attack cardiac arrest
skull cranium
eye ocular/optic
anxiety neurosis

 Synonymy and Connotation:

It is also possible to differentiate synonyms by connotation, that is to say, one

member of a pair of synonyms may have connotations not shared by the other. For
example:

love and adore may be considered to be synonyms, but adore has the connotation
of worship and passion.

modern and up-to-date are very similar, but up-to-date has the connotation of
fashionable as well as the idea of modernity.

Within this group we can include partial synonymy, where there is an overlap in
their meanings but not a complete identity. Thus, if we take the three words
mature, ripe and adult, we could say that they all refer to ‘growth having been
achieved to a certain point’. However, they refer to something more than that:

ripe means ‘ready to eat

mature can mean ‘ready to eat’, but also ‘wise’ when referring to people
adult means ‘responsible, no longer a child’ as well as ‘physically mature’

 Synonymy and Euphemism:

A fifth way to differentiate synonyms is by euphemism. The reason for the

existence of these euphemisms is that there are some taboo words, usually
related to subjects like death, sex and lavatory functions. Therefore, these
euphemistic synonyms are used in order not to refer so directly to them. Some
examples are:

Taboo Euphemisms
die pass away (formal) kick the bucket (colloquial)
kill do in (colloquial) liquidate (formal)
drunk intoxicated (formal) pissed ( slang)
urinate pass water (formal) piss (colloquial)

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c). Antonymy:

The term also derives from the Greek words ‘ant’ (meaning opposite) and ‘nym’
(meaning name). Therefore, antonymy deals with words which have the opposite
meanings. We can find different kinds of antonymy:

 Gradable:

This refers to adjectives which have qualities that are gradable:

narrow wide
tall short
weak strong

 Complementary:

They imply that if we deny one member of the pair, we assert the other member:

alive dead ‘not alive’ means ‘dead’

male female
open shut

 Converses:

One member of the pair refers to the converse of the other member:

over under
sell buy
wife husband If you are my wife, then I am your husband

3. LEXICAL CREATIVITY

It is clear that language is not static and new words are introduced every day; by
means of the mass media they then become familiar to many people in a short
period of time. This lexical creativity is achieved by means of three mechanisms:
word formation, conversion and semantic transfer.

a). Word Formation or Neologism:

Very often, word formation condenses in one word the same meaning that could be
expressed in a whole phrase:

copywriter the person who writes advertising or publicity material

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This word formation is achieved by means of derivation (using prefixes and
suffixes), as with:

Blairism a way of policy associated with Tony Blair

It can also be achieved by compound formation (joining two stems), as in the case
of:

sun-kissed a place which receives sunlight in a gentle way

We must be careful, however, not to invent ‘nonsense’ words. A good case would be
if someone wanted to shorten the sentence ‘ Mary borrowed my typewriter’ to
something like ‘Mary left me typewriterless’.

b). Conversion:

By means of conversion one class of word is changed into another class without
the help of affixes:

noun-verb she basketed the fruit (she put the fruit into the basket)
adjective-noun she told me a lot of funnies (funny things)

c). Semantic Transfer:

In this case, there is no change in the morphology or syntax of the word and it
only has semantic implications. The most important example of semantic transfer
is metaphor; here, because of the similarity between two concepts, we use a word
that refers to one concept to refer to the other:

I love the whiteness of your pearls (teeth)

In some cases we can use metonymy, where a whole expression is replaced by part
of it:

The bomb changed their lives (either the invention of the bomb or the explosion
of the bomb).

4. ‘FALSE FRIENDS’

When a student is learning a second language, a phenomenon which often appears

is ‘lexical transfer’, by which the learner attributes to a word of the foreign
language all the characteristics that a very similar word of his own language has
(semantically and morphologically). For example, Spanish learners of English would
associate:

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English Spanish

frequent frecuente
dictionary diccionario
contai contener

These examples we have seen are ‘positive transfers’ and are extremely useful
when learning a language. But lexical transfer can also be negative; in this case, we
encounter ‘false friends’.

A ‘false friend’ is a word which has a similar or identical form in spelling in both
languages, often the same syntactic function, but whose meanings are completely
different. Naturally, these ‘false friends’ are responsible for important
misunderstandings. Some typical examples are:

Word Usual Wrong Right English Word

Translation Translation for the Wrong
Translation

carpet carpeta alfombra folder

large largo grande long
success suceso éxito event
actual actual real present
notice noticia anuncio news
library librería biblioteca bookshop
sensible sensible sensato sensitive

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