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Acta Linguistica Hafniensia: International Journal of

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M. Lynne Murphy. 2003. Semantic relations and the

lexicon: antonymy, synonymy, and other paradigms
a
Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen
a
Department of Romance Studies , University of Copenhagen Njalsgade , 128, Build. 24,
DK, Copenhagen S., Denmark E-mail:
Published online: 24 Nov 2011.

To cite this article: Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen (2004) M. Lynne Murphy. 2003. Semantic relations and the lexicon:
antonymy, synonymy, and other paradigms , Acta Linguistica Hafniensia: International Journal of Linguistics, 36:1, 185-189,
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antonymy, synonymy, and other paradigms. Cambridge: Cambridge
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MAJ-BRITT MOSEGAARD HANSEN

T h e o v e r a r c h i n g t o p i c o f t h e v o l u m e u n d e r r e v i e w is t h a t o f t h e i n t e r n a l s t r u c ­
t u r e - if a n y - o f t h e m e n t a l l e x i c o n . I t is u n c o n t r o v e r s i a l t h a t w e i n t u i t i v e l y p e r ­
c e i v e p a r a d i g m a t i c r e l a t i o n s o f m e a n i n g s u c h a s s y n o n y m y ( e . g . hide - conceal),
c o n t r a s t ( e . g . war-peace), i n c l u s i o n ( e . g . dog - schnauzer), a n d part-whole rela­
t i o n s ( e . g . house - roof) between words. But must we then assume that paradig­
m a t i c r e l a t i o n s a r e r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e l e x i c o n itself, s u c h t h a t t h e l a t t e r is s e -
mantically o r g a n i z e d ? S o m e w h a t differently put, are the relational properties
o f w o r d s a n e s s e n t i a l p a r t o f t h e i r l i n g u i s t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , a n d if s o , t o w h a t
e x t e n t ? N o t o n l y these, b u t also a g r e a t m a n y o t h e r fascinating q u e s t i o n s a b o u t
w o r d m e a n i n g s a n d the n a t u r e of the relations that obtain a m o n g t h e m are ex­
haustively d i s c u s s e d in this i n s p i r i n g n e w m o n o g r a p h .

T h e b o o k f a l l s i n t o t w o p a r t s : I Paradigmatic relations, generally, containing

t h r e e c h a p t e r s ( " W h y l e x i c a l r e l a t i o n s ? " , "A p r a g m a t i c a p p r o a c h to s e m a n t i c
relations", a n d " O t h e r a p p r o a c h e s " ) , a n d II Paradigmatic relations, specifically,
containing four chapters ("Synonymy a n d similarity", "Antonymy and con­
trast", " H y p o n y m y , m e r o n y m y , a n d o t h e r relations", a n d t h e c o n c l u d i n g "Lexi­
c o n a n d m e t a l e x i c o n : i m p l i c a t i o n s a n d e x p l o r a t i o n s " ) . I t is r o u n d e d o f f b y a n
a m p l e References section a n d a very t h o r o u g h Index.
I n c h a p t e r 1, t h e a u t h o r (henceforth MLM) p r e s e n t s t h e issues to b e ex­
p l o r e d a n d lays o u t t h e t h e o r e t i c a l f r a m e w o r k a n d b a s i c a s s u m p t i o n s o f h e r
w o r k . S h e s t a t e s t h a t t h e g o a l o f t h e m o n o g r a p h is t o " p r o v i d e a p s y c h o l o g i c a l ­
ly p l a u s i b l e m o d e l o f t h e k n o w l e d g e a n d p r o c e s s e s i n v o l v e d i n s e m a n t i c r e l a ­
tions p h e n o m e n a in h u m a n l a n g u a g e b e h a v i o r " (p. 4f). In o t h e r w o r d s , the
p e r s p e c t i v e i n f o r m i n g h e r s t u d y is a p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c a n d p r a g m a t i c o n e . S h e
 186 M. LYNNE MURPHY

a s s u m e s , a s a w o r k i n g h y p o t h e s i s , t h a t t h e h u m a n m e n t a l l e x i c o n is m o d u l a r i n
n a t u r e , a n d t h a t , a s s u c h , it r e p r e s e n t s o n l y i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t is a r b i t r a r y and
n e c e s s a r y f o r l i n g u i s t i c c o m p t e n c e . T h i s w o r k i n g h y p o t h e s i s o f m o d u l a r i t y is
m a d e p a r t l y f o r m e t h o d o l o g i c a l r e a s o n s , a s it p r o v i d e s t h e " o p p o r t u n i t y t o d i s ­
p r o v e t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a m o d u l a r l e x i c o n by s y s t e m a t i c a l l y s h o w i n g t h a t e a c h
p o t e n t i a l p i e c e of lexical i n f o r m a t i o n s h o u l d n o t b e i n c l u d e d " (p. 13), and
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partly b e c a u s e of t h e existence of various types of e m p i r i c a l (including psy­

c h o l i n g u i s t i c ) e v i d e n c e t h a t l e x i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n is n o t r e p r e s e n t e d a s p a r t o f
n o n - l e x i c a l , c o n c e p t u a l k n o w l e d g e . Finally, in this i n t r o d u c t o r y c h a p t e r , MLM
m a k e s f o u r b a s i c a s s u m p t i o n s , n a m e l y 1° t h a t w o r d s a r e p o l y s e m o u s ; 2 ° t h a t a
s e n s e is a s e t o f c o n d i t i o n s o n a w o r d ' s d e n o t a t i o n ; 3 ° t h a t full s e n s e s a r e not
represented i n t r a - l e x i c a l l y ; a n d 4 ° t h a t s e n s e s a r e d y n a m i c , i.e. t h e y c a n be
a d a p t e d to t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s of particular c o n t e x t s .
In t h e c e n t r a l s e c o n d c h a p t e r of the b o o k , M L M p r e s e n t s h e r m a i n claims,
n a m e l y t h a t s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s o b t a i n a m o n g w o r d s in u s e , a n d a r e n o t in-
tralexically specified. Rather, they constitute - at best - metalinguistic (more
specifically, " m e t a l e x i c a l " ) , a n d h e n c e c o n c e p t u a l , k n o w l e d g e a b o u t w o r d s , as
o p p o s e d t o s p e c i f i c a l l y l i n g u i s t i c k n o w l e d g e o f w o r d s . T h a t is, s h e d e f i n e s the
knowledge of semantic r e l a t i o n s as a s u b t y p e of encyclopedic knowledge,
which involves a c o m b i n a t i o n of w o r d forms a n d their associated concepts. (In
s o m e c a s e s , in facts, o n l y c o n c e p t s a p p e a r to b e i n v o l v e d , a n d t h e k n o w l e d g e o f
s u c h r e l a t i o n s is t h u s n o t e v e n t r u l y m e t a l i n g u i s t i c i n n a t u r e ) . T h e j u s t i f i c a t i o n
f o r t h i s c l a i m is t h r e e - f o l d : 1° s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s a r e n o t r e l e v a n t t o l i n g u i s t i c
c o m p e t e n c e ; 2° t h e y a r e c o n t e x t d e p e n d e n t ; a n d 3° t h e y c a n b e p r e d i c t e d by
m e a n s of a single Relation-by-Contrast Principle (henceforth R C P ) , of a cru­
cially p r a g m a t i c n a t u r e .
I n its m o s t g e n e r a l f o r m , t h i s p r i n c i p l e s t a t e s v e r y s i m p l y t h a t l e x i c a l i t e m s
a r e s e m a n t i c a l l y r e l a t e d if t h e y a r e p e r c e i v e d a s m i n i m a l l y d i f f e r e n t i n c o n t e x -
tually a p p r o p r i a t e ways. T h e R C P b e i n g of a n essentially q u a n t i t a t i v e , as o p ­
p o s e d to a qualitative n a t u r e , t h e s t i p u l a t e d " m i n i m a l d i f f e r e n c e " c a n b e in­
s t a n t i a t e d i n v a r i o u s w a y s : i n t h e c a s e o f s y n o n y m y , it w i l l b e a d i f f e r e n c e of
f o r m , w h i l e , i n t h e c a s e o f o t h e r t y p e s o f r e l a t i o n s , it w i l l r e f e r t o c o n t e n t p r o p ­
erties, for i n s t a n c e a d i f f e r e n c e in polarity o r level of c a t e g o r i z a t i o n . N o t e t h a t
t h e p r i n c i p l e m a k e s n o claims a b o u t t h e n a t u r e of t h e similarities b e t w e e n t h e
lexical i t e m s involved in any given relation. Further, since the difference is
s p e c i f i e d a s " c o n t e x t u a l l y a p p r o p r i a t e " , t h e r e is i n p r i n c i p l e n o requirement
t h a t a n y l e x i c a l i t e m b e p e r c e i v e d as r e l a t e d t o t h e s a m e s e t o f p a r a d i g m a t i c al­
t e r n a t i v e s in d i f f e r e n t c o n t e x t s . T h u s , to take a s i m p l e e x a m p l e , o n e context
m a y p r i v i l e g e sad a s a n a p p r o p r i a t e a n t o n y m o f happy, while a different context
 REVIEW 187

m i g h t r a t h e r e v o k e angry. N e v e r t h e l e s s , in t h e c a s e o f a n t o n y m s in p a r t i c u l a r ,
s p e a k e r s m a y - in the a b s e n c e of a c o n t e x t , a n d d u e to their f r e q u e n t co-oc­
c u r r e n c e - r e c o g n i z e c e r t a i n b i n a r y p a i r i n g s ( e . g . happy : sad) as " c a n o n i c a l " .
T h e R C P is s a i d t o b e c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g o b s e r v a b l e p r o p e r t i e s o f
s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s : 1° t h e y a r e p r o d u c t i v e ; 2 ° b i n a r y r e l a t i o n s a r e p r i v i l e g e d ; 3 °
t h e y a r e c o n t e x t u a l l y v a r i a b l e ; 4° t h e y e x h i b i t p r o t o t y p i c a l i t y a n d c a n o n i c i t y ; 5 °
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t h e y a r e o n l y s e m i - s e m a n t i c , in as m u c h as g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y a n d a s p e c t s of
f o r m a l s o p l a y a r o l e ; 6 ° t h e n u m b e r o f r e l a t i o n t y p e s is n o t o b j e c t i v e l y s p e c i f i ­
a b l e ; 7 ° t h e y a r e p r e d i c t a b l e ; a n d 8 ° t h e r e l a t i o n t y p e s , if n o t t h e s p e c i f i c t o ­
k e n s , a r e u n i v e r s a l . All of w h i c h s u g g e s t s t h a t s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s a r e n o t s t o r e d
a s fixed, i n t r a - l i n g u i s t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s , b u t a r e r a t h e r s u b j e c t t o d e r i v a t i o n b y
general cognitive principles.

C h a p t e r 3 is M L M ' s Stand-der-Forschung c h a p t e r , in w h i c h s h e critically dis­

cusses past a n d p r e s e n t a p p r o a c h e s to p a r a d i g m a t i c relations, f r o m t h e p o i n t s
of view of p h i l o s o p h y , t h e o r e t i c a l (primarily, b u t n o t exclusively, s t r u c t u r a l ) lin­
guistics, a n t h r o p o l o g y , psychology, a n d c o m p u t e r science. She situates those
a p p r o a c h e s o n a c o n t i n u u m from holist (or associationist) to analytical (or
c o m p o n e n t i a l ) c o n c e p t i o n s of t h e lexicon, the f o r m e r of which m e t a p h o r i c a l ­
ly e n v i s a g e s t h e m e n t a l l e x i c o n a s a t h e s a u r u s , w i t h s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s a s t h e
p r i m a r y d e t e r m i n a n t s o f w o r d m e a n i n g , w h i l e t h e l a t t e r s e e s it i n t e r m s o f a
d i c t i o n a r y m e t a p h o r , w h e r e b y individual lexical items a r e a s s u m e d to b e e n ­
d o w e d with i n h e r e n t semantic substance, analyzable into smaller components
of m e a n i n g , w h i c h t h e n allow for t h e d e r i v a t i o n of their interrelations. T h e au­
t h o r a r g u e s convincingly that n o t only are purely holistic m o d e l s quite u n t e n ­
able, b u t even partially associationist a p p r o a c h e s to the lexicon are u n n e c e s ­
sary, g i v e n t h a t a p u r e l y c o m p o n e n t i a l m o d e l of t h e l e x i c o n , while n o t in itself
sufficient to a c c o u n t for t h e p a r a d i g m a t i c r e l a t i o n s w e perceive a m o n g lexical
i t e m s , is n e v e r t h e l e s s f u l l y c a p a b l e o f d o i n g s o if s u p p l e m e n t e d b y t h e p r a g ­
m a t i c p r i n c i p l e s e m b o d i e d in t h e m e t a l e x i c a l treatment.

C h a p t e r s 4-6 d e a l in d e p t h w i t h t h e p r o p e r t i e s of specific s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s
( i n c l u d i n g s u c h issues as c o n t e x t d e p e n d e n c e , logical p r o p e r t i e s , canonicity, bi-
narity, m a r k e d n e s s , a n d lexical g a p s ) , d e m o n s t r a t i n g in detail h o w t h e R e l a t i o n -
o f - C o n t r a s t P r i n c i p l e w o r k s i n e a c h c a s e . P a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n is p a i d t o s y n ­
onymy and antonymy/contrast. Hyponymy and meronymy, on the other hand,
a r e a r g u e d to b e r e l a t i o n s a m o n g c o n c e p t s , as o p p o s e d to w o r d - c o n c e p t s , a n d
h e n c e l e s s i n t e r e s t i n g a s o b j e c t s o f a m e t a l e x i c a l t r e a t m e n t . ( I t is p o i n t e d o u t ,
h o w e v e r , t h a t t h i s o b s e r v a t i o n d o e s n o t p r e c l u d e t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e R C P , giv­
e n t h a t instantiations of any type of c o n c e p t s can e n t e r into relations of con­
trast.) I n all c a s e s , M L M p r o v i d e s a w e a l t h o f e m p i r i c a l a n d e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a t o
 188 ML L Y N N E MURPHY

s u p p o r t h e r view, s h e b r i n g s u p p o t e n t i a l o b j e c t i o n s t o t h a t view, a n d s h e c a r e ­
f u l l y c o n s i d e r s a l t e r n a t i v e c o n c e p t i o n s b e f o r e r e j e c t i n g t h e m . T h e r e a d e r is
t h u s left w i t h a s t r o n g i m p r e s s i o n o f s o l i d i t y a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l h o n e s t y .
The final c h a p t e r restates the most i m p o r t a n t general conclusions of the
s t u d y : t h e m e n t a l l e x i c o n s h o u l d c o n t a i n o n l y i d i o s y n c r a t i c i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t is
n e c e s s a r y f o r l i n g u i s t i c c o m p e t e n c e ; t h e full r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of w o r d meanings
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t r a n s c e n d s t h e m e n t a l linguistic faculty; s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s a r e derived, a n d in

s o m e c a s e s , s t o r e d , n o t i n t r a l e x i c a l l y , b u t m e t a l e x i c a l l y ; h e n c e , t h e r e is n o r e a ­
s o n to c o n c e i v e of t h e l e x i c o n as s e m a n t i c a l l y o r g a n i z e d . F u r t h e r , this c h a p t e r
takes u p t h e issue of m o d u l a r i t y , a n d p o s e s t h e q u e s t i o n w h e t h e r a n d to w h a t
e x t e n t t h e m e t a l e x i c a l t r e a t m e n t o f s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s is c o m p a t i b l e w i t h n o n -
m o d u l a r t h e o r i e s o f l i n g u i s t i c s . T h e a n s w e r is t h a t o n l y t h e o r i e s w h i c h p o s e s e ­
m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s as a n i n t e g r a l p a r t of a m o d u l a r l e x i c o n a r e in p r i n c i p l e i r r e c ­
o n c i l a b l e w i t h M L M ' s m o d e l . A q u e s t i o n l e f t o p e n f o r f u t u r e r e s e a r c h is t h e
possibility of b r i n g i n g t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of p a r a d i g m a t i c a n d syntagmatic re­
lations closer t o g e t h e r within the f r a m e w o r k s of those r e c e n t linguistic t h e o ­
ries w h i c h p r o p o s e t h a t g r a m m a r a n d lexicon exist o n a c o n t i n u u m .
T h e b o o k is i n m a n y w a y s a n i m p r e s s i v e a c h i e v e m e n t : w e l l w r i t t e n a n d c o ­
g e n t l y a r g u e d , it d e m o n s t r a t e s s h a r p a n a l y t i c a l s k i l l s , m e t h o d o l o g i c a l aware­
ness a n d stringency, a n d a d e p t h of s c h o l a r s h i p of t h e highest international
s t a n d a r d . A p a r t i c u l a r l y c o m m e n d a b l e f e a t u r e o f t h e s t u d y is t h e w a y t h e a u ­
t h o r m a n a g e s to a t t e n d to detail w i t h o u t l o s i n g s i g h t o f t h e b i g p i c t u r e .
T h e m e t a l e x i c a l a p p r o a c h t o p a r a d i g m a t i c r e l a t i o n s is s i m p l e , e l e g a n t , and
w i d e - r a n g i n g . N o t o n l y d o e s it a c h i e v e a s i g n i f i c a n t s i m p l i f i c a t i o n o f t h e l e x i ­
c o n , it a l s o d o e s away w i t h t h e e n d l e s s , a n d i n c r e a s i n g l y s u b t l e , d i s t i n c t i o n s b e ­
tween s u b t y p e s of s e m a n t i c relations t h a t have b e e n characteristic of m u c h p r e ­
v i o u s w o r k , a n d , m o r e i m p o r t a n t l y , it a l l o w s f o r t h e o b s e r v a b l e o p e n - e n d e d n e s s
a n d context d e p e n d e n c e of w o r d senses. N o m a t t e r w h e t h e r senses or relations
are s e e n as p r i m a r y , a n y t h e o r y t h a t r e q u i r e s s e m a n t i c relations to b e listed in
t h e l e x i c o n will h a v e t o c o u n t e n a n c e t h e p o t e n t i a l e x p l o s i o n o f t h e l a t t e r u n ­
l e s s s e n s e s a r e d e f i n e d a s fixed o n c e a n d f o r a l l , b e c a u s e f o r a n y p o t e n t i a l n e w
s e n s e , t h e r e is a n e q u a l p o t e n t i a l f o r n e w s e m a n t i c r e l a t i o n s t o b e c o n t r a c t e d ,
a n d h e n c e l i s t e d . T h e m e t a l e x i c a l t r e a t m e n t is t h u s c a p a b l e o f d e a l i n g w i t h
b o t h the synchronic a n d the diachronic dynamicity of word meanings. More­
over, it p r o v i d e s for t h e possibility t h a t l a n g u a g e u s e r s m a y f u n c t i o n adequate­
ly w i t h a v o c a b u l a r y i n w h i c h s o m e l e x i c a l i t e m s d o n o t c o n t r a c t a n y r e l a t i o n s
with o t h e r lexical i t e m s , e i t h e r b e c a u s e n o c o n t r a s t i n g t e r m s exist, o r b e c a u s e
a given l a n g u a g e u s e r possesses a n (as yet only) i m p e r f e c t k n o w l e d g e of t h e
target idiom.
 REVIEW 189

T h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t t h e R e l a t i o n - b y - C o n t r a s t P r i n c i p l e is a v e r y p o w e r f u l
o n e , a n d it m a y w e l l s t r i k e s o m e r e a d e r s as t o o p o w e r f u l . T h u s , g i v e n a suffi­
ciently favorable context, t h e p r i n c i p l e will s a n c t i o n p a r a d i g m a t i c relations
t h a t w o u l d b e h i g h l y unlikely to b e c o u n t e n a n c e d by a n y d i c t i o n a r y m a k e r . F o r
i n s t a n c e , i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e f o l l o w i n g e x c h a n g e : A . I'm so sick of that Kay and
her stupid little doggy that she's always calling her "little baby-waby "... B . Little Baby-
Downloaded by [The University of Manchester Library] at 02:37 03 December 2014

Waby is a kitty, not a doggy. A. 'Doggy', 'kitty', whatever. It's all the same to me. It's a stu­
pid little spoiled beast with a stupid little spoiled mistress, (p. 142), the words doggy
a n d kitty w i l l f u n c t i o n a s s y n o n y m s o n M L M ' s d e f i n i t i o n , g i v e n t h a t t h e i r c o n -
textuaHy relevant c o n t e n t properties (including, prominently, connotations,
affect, a n d r e g i s t e r ) a r e t h e s a m e , r e s u l t i n g in a c o n t e x t u a l l y r e l e v a n t m i n i m a l
difference which is o n e o f f o r m only. T h a t they can hardly be considered
c a n o n i c a l s y n o n y m s is a n o t h e r m a t t e r : t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t a n y c a n o n i c a l r e l a t i o n
o b t a i n s b e t w e e n doggy a n d kitty a t a l l , o n e w o u l d i n t u i t i v e l y t a k e it t o b e o n e o f
c o n t r a s t . G i v e n t h e m a n i f e s t possibility of u s i n g t h e w o r d s as e x e m p l i f i e d , in a
c o n t e x t w h e r e t h e c o r e features of d e n o t a t i o n a l m e a n i n g h a p p e n to b e con­
textually largely irrelevant, this, however, actually p r o v i d e s s u p p o r t for M L M ' s
c o n t e n t i o n that s e m a n t i c relations are n e i t h e r objective, analytic properties of
lexical items, n o r stable across contexts, b u t that they are r a t h e r a m a t t e r of
"language users' idiosyncratic mental representations" (p. 5).

U l t i m a t e l y , r e a d e r s will h a v e t o m a k e u p t h e i r o w n m i n d s a b o u t t h e a c c e p t ­
ability of e x a m p l e s s u c h t h e o n e cited a b o v e , b u t w h a t e v e r their feelings in t h e
m a t t e r (I h a s t e n t o a d d t h a t t h e l a r g e m a j o r i t y o f M L M ' s e x a m p l e s a r e o f a f a r
l e s s c o n t r o v e r s i a l n a t u r e ) , t h e r e c a n b e l i t t l e d o u b t t h a t Semantic relations and
the lexicon m a k e s a very significant c o n t r i b u t i o n to c u r r e n t t h i n k i n g a b o u t lexi­
c a l s e m a n t i c s , a n d t h a t f u t u r e s c h o l a r s h i p w i l l find t h e b o o k d i f f i c u l t t o i g n o r e .
I t is h e r e b y w a r m l y recommended.

Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen

Department of Romance Studies
University of Copenhagen
Njalsgade 128, Build. 24
DK-2300 Copenhagen S.
Denmark
e-mail: [email protected]