CHAPTER 4:

SYNONYMY – ANTONYMY
POLYSEMY – HOMONYMY
GROUP 2
 GROUP MEMBERS
1. TRUE SYNONYMS 5. POLYSEMY
• TRAN THI MY KIEN – 187NA15782 • PHAM LINH CHI – 187NA00077
2. PARTIAL SYNONYMS 6. AMBIGUITY
• DO THU HA – 187NA23267 • NGUYEN TUONG VY – 187NA00893
3. BINARY/ GRADABLE/ 7. ANOMALY
RELATIONAL OPPOSITES • NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN –
• NGUYEN THU THAO – N173543 187NA00830
4. HOMONYMY/HOMOPHONY/
HOMOGRAPHY
• TRAN MAI HOANG – 187NA23543
 TRUE
SYNONYM
GROUP 2
TRAN THI MY KIEN – 187NA15782
Synonym: Synonymy is a relation in
which various words have different
(written and sound) forms but have the
same or nearly the same meaning.

Classification: true synonym, partial synonym.

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. TRAN THI MY KIEN – 187NA15782
 DEFINITION
True synonym is a relation in which
are words that can replace the
original word in all cases without
changing the meaning of the
sentence (Matthews, 2014).
 same meaning + used interchangeably in all situations

TRAN THI MY KIEN – 187NA15782

EX1:
I’ve brought a lot of baggage/luggage and
can’t manage on my own. I need a porter.
EX2:
Groundhog / woodchuc
Furze / gorse (a species of
(marmots live in North
grass in Europe)
America)

TRAN THI MY KIEN – 187NA15782

 EX3: Movie, film, flick and motion picture may be
considered as synonyms
They all refer to the same set of referents in the real world, hey have
the same denotative meaning.
However, these lexical items differ in their connotative meanings:
Movie may strike you as American
Film may strike you as British or as appropriate for movie
classics or art movies
lickis used chiefly in very informal contexts whereas
Motion pictureis quaintly outdated and has connotations as a
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term from the thirties orFlaticon,
including icons by forties of the &20th
and infographics images bycentury.
Freepik
.
In brief, movie,film, flick and motion picture are NOT true synonyms.

TRAN THI MY KIEN – 187NA15782

 PARTIAL
SYNONYMY
GROUP 2
DO THU HA – 187NA23267
I. DEFINITION
Partial synonymy is a relation in which a
polysemous word shares one of its
meanings with another word.

DO THU HA – 187NA23267
II. EXAMPLE:
“Deep” is synonymous with “Profound”
(1):
You have my deep sympathy. 
You have my profound sympathy. 
 Interchangeably
(2):
The river is deep.  ("deep" refers to the depth)
The river is profound.  (“profound” means on an emotional
level, not depth.)
 Not interchangeable

DO THU HA – 187NA23267
 Example 2:
“Funny” is synonymous with “Comical”
(1):
Anna told a seriously funny joke. 
Anna told a seriously comical joke. 
 Interchangeably
(2):
My tummy feels a bit funny.  (“funny” means “strange
feeling”)
My tummy feels a bit comical.  ("comical" only means
"funny”)
 Not interchangeable
DO THU HA – 187NA23267
Exercise: Identify “Interchangeably” and “Not interchangeable”
of Partial synonymies in the following cases:

1 This cheese is ripe enough for us to eat.

This cheese is mature enough for us to Interchangeably
eat.
2 He loves strong coffee.
He loves powerful coffee. Not interchangeable
3 I will be on your side.
I will be on your edge. Not interchangeable
4 The Thames is a broad river.
The Thames is a wide river. Interchangeably
5 We can plant the trees on this good soil.
We can plant the trees on this good
earth. Interchangeably

DO THU HA – 187NA23267
ATONYMY
GROUP 2:
NGUYEN THU THAO - N173543
 Definition

Antonymy is a relation in which two words have

different (written and sound) forms and are
opposite in meaning.

NGUYEN THU THAO - N173543

 BINARY GRADABLE RELATIONAL
ATONYMY ANTONYMY ANTONYMY

NGUYEN THU THAO - N173543

 Binary Gradable
Alive/ X Dead Hot/Cold
●Excluesive  Hot- warm- tepid- cool-
●Can not use in a comparative cold
or superlative sense ●Gradable
More dead/ more alive ●Can use in comparative or
superlative sense
Hotter/ colder

NGUYEN THU THAO - N173543

RELATIONAL ANTONYMY
●Relational antonymy or also called converses: display
symmetry in their meaning.
●Describe the same situation from opposite vantage points
Example:
●Student/ Teacher
IF Amy is Mike’s student, then Mike is Amy’s teacher.

NGUYEN THU THAO - N173543

HOMONYMY/ HOMOPHONY/
HOMOGRAPHY
GROUP 2
TRAN MAI HOANG – 187NA23543
 I. Homophony
Definition:
• Homophony is a relation in which various words have the
same pronunciation but have different meanings and
writting.
Examples:
1. hour >< our /ˈaʊə(r)/
2. flour >< flower /ˈflaʊə(r)/
3. place >< plaice /pleɪs/

TRAN MAI HOANG – 187NA23543

 II. Homography
Definition:
• Homography is a relation in which various words have the
same writting but have different meanings and pronunciation.
Examples:
1. mean (1): cruel  I am not trying to be mean.
mean (2): imply  I don't know what you mean.
2. the bare infinitive form read /ri:d/
the past tense form read /red/
3. bass (1): /bæs/  They caught bass in this river
bass (2) /beis/  He always sings bass
TRAN MAI HOANG – 187NA23543
 III. Homonymy
Definition:
• Homonymy is the total of all Homophony and Homography, in
which various words have the same pronunciation and writting
but have different meanings.
Examples:
1. bank (1): a financial institution >< bank (2): the
shore of a river
2. bear (1): animal >< bear (2): tolerate
3. buy /bʌɪ/ (1) >< bye /bʌɪ/ (2) 

TRAN MAI HOANG – 187NA23543

 HOMONYMY HOMOPHONY HOMOGRAPHY

hear/here

rose/rose

know/no

too/too

weak/week

present/present

bat/bat
POLYSEMY
GROUP 2
PHAM LINH CHI – 187NA00077
 I. DEFINITION:
Polysemy is a relation in which a single word
has two or more slightly different but closely
related meanings.

PHAM LINH CHI - 187NA00077

 II.
EXAMPLES:

PHAM LINH CHI - 187NA00077

 1. Chip
- A small cut piece of
potato which is fried
- A small piece of for eating: Can I try
 The
some three meanings
hard substance are
one of your chips? closely
- A related
small but vital
because they all contain the semantic feature
which has been piece of a computer:
broken off from This computer has
something larger: A [+small piece]. got a faster chip
chip of wood/glass. than the old one.

PHAM LINH CHI - 187NA00077

 2. Break
- Separate into two - Become unusable
or more parts as a by being damaged;
 Theresult
twoofmeanings
force or are(something)
make closely related
because both contain the semantic
strain (but not unusable by
cutting): He broke damaging: My watch
feature [+can
that cup. no longer
is broken. be used].

PHAM LINH CHI - 187NA00077

 MAIN
DIFFERENCE

DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN
POLYSEMY &
HOMONYMY

Cre: Pediaa.com
PHAM LINH CHI - 187NA00077
 HOMONYMY OR POLYSEMY.
1. Fine  HOMONYMY 3. Key  POLYSEMY
“superior in quality” “answer sheet”
“a sum of money paid as a “instrument that unlocks a
penalty” lock”
 HOMONYMY
2. Note  POLYSEMY 4. /preɪ/
“something written down in “to speak to God, especially to
just a few” give thanks or ask for help”
“take note of someone’s “an animal, a bird, etc. that is
comment” hunted, killed and eaten by
another”
PHAM LINH CHI - 187NA00077
AMBIGUITY
GROUP 2
NGUYEN TUONG VY – 187NA00893
I. STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY :
A sentence is ambiguous if it has two (or
more) paraphrases which are not
themselves paraphrases of each other.

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. NGUYEN TUONG VY – 187NA00893
 The chicken is ready to eat.
a broiled chicken
p l e : a hungry chicken
Exam

NGUYEN TUONG VY – 187NA00893

 II. LEXICAL AMBIGUITY :
In the case of words and phrases, a word or
phrase is AMBIGUOUS if it has (or more)
SYNONYMS that are not themselves synonyms of
each other.

NGUYEN TUONG VY – 187NA00893

 They were waiting at the bank.
→ two different ways : bank
- Means 1 : financial institution
mpl e :
Exa - Means 2 : shore of the river

— bank is ambiguous

NGUYEN TUONG VY – 187NA00893

ANOMALY
GROUP 2:
NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN
187NA00830
 I. Definition

II. Anomaly
and contradiction

NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830

 I. Definition
Anomaly is “a violation of
semantic rules to create
nonsense.”

NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830

- Ex1: That bachelor is pregnant.
• Bachelor: [+male]
• Pregnant: [+female]
• That bachelor is pregnant
 Semantically anomalous
- Ex2: Puppies are human.
• Puppies: [+animate]
• Human: [+human]
• Puppies are human
 Semantically anomalous

NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830

 - Ex3: My sister-in-law is a spinster.
• Sister-in-law: [+married]
• Spinster: [+stay single]
• My sister-in-law is a spinster
 Semantically anomalous
- Ex4: My brother is the only child in the family.
• Brother: [+having at least one sibling]
• The only child in the family: [+having no other sibling]
• My brother is the only child in the family
 Semantically anomalous

Contradiction
NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830
 II. Anomaly
and contradiction
Anomaly involves us in the notion
contradiction in the sense that
semantically anomalous sentences
constitute a type of contradictory
sentences.

NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830

- Ex1: John killed Bill, who remained
alive for many years after.
• Kill: [+making somebody or
something die]
• Remain alive: [+continuing living]
• No living organism can remain alive
after being killed
• Bill died right at the moment John
killed him

NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830

- Ex2: The boy swallowed the
chocolate and then chewed it.
• Swallow: [+taking something
through the mouth and esophagus
into the stomach]
• Chew: [+biting food into small
pieces in your mouth with your
teeth]
• No one can chew food again after
swallow it
• The boy had to chew the chocolate
before swallowing it
NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830
 Which of following sentences has semantically
anomalous? If the sentence has semantically anomalous,
explain its anomaly.
1. My brother is spinster.
 Anomalous
• Brother: [+male]
• Spinster: [+female]
2. That snake is walking on the ground.
 Anomalous
• Snake: [+no legs]
• Walk: [+using legs to move or go
somewhere]
NGUYEN NGOC HOANG UYEN - 187NA00830
3. My aunt is one of my mother’s sister.
 No anomalous
4. That kitten is counting from 1 to 10.
 Anomalous
• Kitten: [+animate]
• Count: [+human action]
5. I have a niece whose mother is my
sister.
 No anomalous