CAMBODIAN UNIVERSITY FOR SPEICIALTIES, CUS

An Introduction to
English Semantics and Pragmatics

Chapter III

NOUN VOCABULARY
BY: Tho Danny

BY: THO DANNY Master’s Degree 1

Noun Vocabulary

The “things” denoted by some nouns have parts, which may figure in
the nouns’ meaning.
For example:
 squares – has four equal sides and it has 90° angles
Nouns are grouped into semantic categories.
For Example, Squares, circles and triangles belong together as
shapes. In semantic terms are hyponyms of the superordinate word
shape.

The chapter ends with a discussion of meaning differences between count

and mass nouns.

BY: THO DANNY 2

3.1 The has-relation
Technical terms in geometry, where they have tight
definitions.
This underpins entailments such as:
- That figure is a triangle ⇒ That figure has three sides.

For many words, however, we can only be sure that all

the parts are there if the has-relation is stated in terms of
prototypes.

BY: THO DANNY 3

The has – Relation (Con’t)
Prototypes are clear, central members of the denotation of a word.
When we think ones thing and we can prototypes. Prototypes
among the things denoted by the English word face have eyes, a
nose and a mouth. These semantic facts are listed;

A prototype face has two eyes.

A prototype face has a nose.
A prototype face has a mouth.
A prototype house has a roof.
A prototype house has a door.
A prototype house has windows.

BY: THO DANNY 4

Restricted to prototypes, the has-relation makes available entailments. Some
examples are given in (3.2).
(3.2) There’s a house at the corner ⇒ ‘If it is like a prototype for house
then it has a roof ’
The child drew a face ⇒ ‘If the face was prototypical, then the
child drew a mouth’

BY: THO DANNY 5

3.1.1 Pragmatic inferences from the has-relation

A noun phrase that first brings something into a conversation is usually

indefinite (for example, marked by means of an indefinite article, a or an),
but on the second and subsequent mention of the same thing in the
conversation it will be referred to by means of a definite noun phrase
(marked by, for example, the definite article the), as in (3.3a, b).

(3.3) a.  A: “I’ve bought a house.”

  B: “Where’s the house?” (not: "Where's a house?”)
b.  C: (a child showing off a drawing): “I drew a face.”
D: (responding to the child and commenting on the drawing): “I like the
face you drew.” (not: “I like a face you drew.”)

BY: THO DANNY 6

3.1.1 Pragmatic inferences from the has-relation

This can be seen in a switch from indefinite to definite articles.​A noun phrase
that first brings something into a conversation is usually indefinite (for
example, marked by means​​ of an indefinite article, a or an), but on second
and subsequent mention of the same thing in the conversation it will be
referred to by means of a definite noun phrase (marked by, for example, the
definite article the), as in (3.3a, b).

(3.3) a. A: “I’ve bought a house.”

B: “Where’s the house?” (not: “Where’s a house?”)
b. C: (a child showing off a drawing): “I drew a face.” D: (responding to
the child and commenting on the drawing): “I like the face you drew.” (not: “I
like a face you drew.”)

BY: THO DANNY 7

3.1.2 Parts can have parts (See, 3.1)

a suburb

has has
streets houses
a street a house
has has
kerbs (curbs) windows
a window
has
panes
Figure 3.1 Suburbs and houses: parts can have parts

BY: THO DANNY 8

3.1.3 Spatial parts
A prototype thing, such as a rock, can be said to have a
top, a bottom (or base), sides and a front and back. Two
points need to be noted about these words. One is that
they are general: very many different kinds of thing –
windows, heads, faces, feet, buses, trees, canyons , to
randomly name just a few – have tops, bottoms, sides,
fronts and backs.

BY: THO DANNY 9

3.1.4 Ends and beginnings
Long thin things have ends, and sometimes two different kinds of
end are distinguished: beginnings and ends. A list of some of the
things that prototypically have ends is given in (3.5).
(3.5) ropes
(pieces of) string
ships (though mariners have special words for them, stern and
bows)
roads
trains
planks

BY: THO DANNY 10

Nouns denoting periods of time have beginnings and ends. They
also have middles. Some examples are listed in (3.6a).
(3.6) a. day, week, month, era, term, semester, century
b. conversation, demonstration, ceremony, meal, reception,
process

(3.6b) do not denote concrete entities, could touch or stub your

toe on, but the events and processes can be used to refer to are
nonetheless located in time and space (when and where
conversations…..etc) that can also have beginnings, middles and
ends.

BY: THO DANNY 11

3.1.5 Some other parts
The body is a source of metaphors (see Chapter 5),
For instance
- lose one’s head, meaning ‘panic’.
The has-relation applies between various words denoting body
parts. Person is an ambiguous word denoting either a physical
person – who can, for instance, be big or ugly – or the
psychological individual – who can be kind or silly and so on. The
physical person prototypically has a head, has a torso, has arms,
has legs, has genitals and has a skin. These parts and some of
the parts that they, in turn, prototypically have are set out in (3.7).

BY: THO DANNY 12

(3.7)
a person has a head, a torso, arms, legs, genitals, skin
a head has a face, hair, forehead, jaw
a face has a mouth, nose, chin, eyes, cheeks
a mouth has lips
a torso has a chest, back, belly, shoulders
an arm has an upper arm, forearm, biceps, elbow, wrist, hand
a hand has a palm, fingers, knuckles
a person’s skin has pores

BY: THO DANNY 13

3.2 Hyponymy
Sub-categories of a word’s denotation: what kinds of Xs are there and what
different kinds of entities count as Ys. For example, a house is one kind of
building, and a factory and a church are other kinds of building; buildings are
one kind of structure; dams are another kind of structure.

The pattern of entailment that defines hyponymy is illustrated in (3.8).

(3.8)
a. There’s a house next to the gate.
b. There’s a building next to the gate.
c. (3.8a ⇒ 3.8b) & (3.8b ⇒ 3.8a)

BY: THO DANNY 14

Hyponymy
A semantic relation of inclusion.
- car, bus, taxi  vehicle;
- oak, pine  tree
- horse, cow  animal.

Purple
- crimson
- violate
-lavender

BY: THO DANNY 15

3.2.1 Hierarchies of hyponyms
House is a hyponym of the superordinate building, but building is, in turn, a
hyponym of the superordinate structure; and, in its turn, structure is a
hyponym of the superordinate thing. A superordinate at a given level can
itself be a hyponym at a higher level, as shown in Figure 3.2.
thing superordinate of structure

structure hyponym of thing; superordinate of building

building hyponym of structure; superordinate of house

house hyponym of building

BY: THO DANNY 16

3.3 Incompatibility
A small hyponym hierarchy is shown in Figure 3.7. There are alternative
labels and perhaps even different kinds of meals that could have been
included (for example, supper, high tea and brunch), but the ones given will
do for present purposes.

Meal

breakfast lunch dinner

Figure 3.7 Some hyponyms of meal
Hyponymy is about classification: breakfast, lunch and dinner are kinds of
meal. Incompatibility is about contrast: breakfast, lunch and dinner are
different from each other within the category of meals; they are eaten at
different times of day.
BY: THO DANNY 17
 Superordinate Hyponyms
drinking vessel glass, cup, mug
glass wineglass, martini glass, tumbler
cup coffee cup, tea cup
mug coffee mug, beer mug

A tea cup is not only not a coffee cup or any other kind of cup. It is also not a
glass or a mug, nor any of the hyponyms of glass or mug. It might seem that
this is boringly obvious: no given thing can be something else. That is not
true, however. A cup can be a present, a possession, a piece of crockery and
various other things.

BY: THO DANNY 18

Table 3.2 Distinguishing between count and mass nouns
Count nouns Mass nouns
This is a loaf. ?This is a bread.
This is a coin. *This is a money.
How many loaves are there? ?How many breads are there?
How many coins are there? *How many monies are there?
a large number of loaves ?a large number of breads
a large number of coins *a large number of monies
six loaves ?six breads
six coins *six monies
*How much loaves are there? How much bread is there?
*How much coins are there? How much money is there?

BY: THO DANNY 19

 Thanks

BY: THO DANNY 20