Linguistics Chapter 9 Some More Examples May Include How Talshort How Darklight How Hardeasy

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82 • PART 2 Answer Key

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9

9.1 Deciphering Meaning: American English Vocabulary

We can derive meaning from the morphology and syntax of a word even if we’ve never seen it

before. We can also derive meaning from context. Here are some words from different dialects of

English, words you may or may not be familiar with (these are words taken from the Dictionary of

American Regional English). Can you match each word with its meaning? Check your answers with

the key at the end of this section. How did you come up with your answers? What clues did you use?

Which words were the most difficult to match to meanings, and why?

(To explore the DARE web site, go to http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dare/dare.html)

pinkie a. a tomato

princeton b. a man’s short hairstyle

poison apple c. a nickname for an unimportant or out-of-the-way place

pirok d. a water faucet placed on the outside of a building

sill cock e. a main-dish pie, frequently containing fish and rice

Skunk’s Misery f. a trick, deception

prairie g. a vacant lot or city block

sandy h. a small sailing vessel with a sharp stern

Answers:

9.2 Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia can be used as a rhetorical device to create the illusion of sound in a text, as in the

following example:

And ere three shrill notes the pipe he uttered, / You heard as if an army muttered; / The mutter–

ing grew to a grumbling; / And the grumbling grew to mighty rumbling; / And out of the house

the rats came tumbling. (Browning 1888.)

Find at least three examples of onomatopoeia in poetry or prose. You might find examples in

unlikely places such as the newspaper and e-mails.

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9 • 83

9.3 Etymological Clues

Sometimes we use etymology (word origins) to help us decipher meanings. As you know, many

English words have Latin and Greek roots. Below is a list of Greek and Roman gods’ names. See

if you can list words that have these names as roots. How does the meaning of the god’s name help

you decipher the meaning of the words on your list?

Luna—goddess of the moon. At one time, people believed that the moon had the power to drive

some people out of their minds.

Hypnos—Greek god of sleep

Gaea—goddess of the earth; Greek word for earth.

Terra—Roman goddess of the earth

Gratiae—the Graces, three sisters who were goddesses of all that is charming in women

Hygeia—Greek goddess of health

9.4 Count or Noncount Nouns?

Many nouns can have both count and noncount interpretations. For example:

noncount: Love is patient.

84 • PART 2 Answer Key

Consider whether the following words are count or noncount, and give evidence (use them in

sentences) to support your analysis.

truth, courage, music, fish, money

Answers:

To determine whether a noun is count or noncount, students can see whether the noun

Examples:

truth

There are many truths. (count)

There is much truth to that. (noncount)

9.5 Semantic Features of Nouns

Write out the feature specifications of each of the following nouns. Remember that each noun is

specified for three features: concrete/abstract, count/mass, and proper/common. Be prepared to jus-

tify your answers, as not all of you will agree on the features you assign to each noun.

kitten, homework, beer, the president of the United States, music, river, light, Santa Claus

Answers will vary, because many nouns can be count or noncount, abstract or concrete,

and common or proper:

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9 • 85

9.6 Children’s Semantic Fields

Children do an amazing job of acquiring word meanings quickly and accurately. However, most

children do make errors; most commonly, they overgeneralize the meaning of a word. Here are some

typical examples:

Word Child’s meaning

sweet all things sweet (syrup, cookies, donuts, sugar, etc.)

apple all fruits that are recognizable to child (round)

hot light, bright objects (fire, lights, lamps, etc.)

Describe how these examples illustrate how the children are constructing semantic fields and how

those are different from adult versions.

9.7 Antonyms: Find the Opposites

Give antonyms for the following terms, and label each pair as gradable, relational, or complemen-

tary. Compare your answers. Did everyone come up with the same pairs?

Discuss why or why not.

• over

• hello

• quickly

• now

• chicken

• near

• black

9.8 Antonymy and Markedness

Antonyms come in different forms: gradable, relational, and complementary. Nevertheless, we

tend to think of antonyms as opposites. Markedness is a related concept involving binary opposi-

tions, highlighting how we tend to consider one member of a pair of antonyms typical and the other

marked. Markedness is illustrated by the following pairs of antonyms, with the “typical” member of

the pair on the left and the “marked” member on the right.

a. How high/*low is it? (height)

b. How long/*short is it? (length)

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What are three or four other pairs of adjectives that illustrate this markedness relation?

Answers:

9.9 Synonyms

Write a short paragraph (four or five sentences) on a topic of your choice. Use at least four Anglo-

Saxon terms from Table 9.2. Then rewrite the paragraph, replacing the Anglo-Saxon terms with their

Latin/Greek synonyms. How does this substitution change your paragraph? Explain briey.

Answers will vary.

9.10 Ethnic Slurs

Research the origins of four or five ethnic slurs you are familiar with. Trace how those terms have

evolved in meaning over time. Why do you think such terms are so powerful? Do you think that by

changing terms (by using politically correct language or euphemisms) we can also change attitudes

and reduce discrimination? Will changing how we talk also change how we think about ourselves

and about groups other than our own?

Answers will vary.

9.11 Hyponymy

Here are four semantic categories:

cars students jobs dogs

Come up with at least four hyponyms for each category. What criteria did you use to decide? Are

your hyponyms distinguishable in terms of semantic features? Compare notes with your classmates.

Why might your hyponyms for these categories differ from person to person?

9.12 Polysemy

Explain how each of the following words is polysemous. The first example is done for you.

a. finger (lift a finger, give someone the finger, finger something—steal or touch)

b. lip

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9 • 87

Now, find as many examples of polysemy in the following poem as you can. (Polysemous words in bold.)

Things

What happened is, we grew lonely

living among the things,

so we gave the clock a face,

the chair a back,

the table four stout legs

which will never suffer fatigue.

We fitted our shoes with tongues

9.13 Homonyms

Recall the following distinctions between homonyms, homophones, and homographs:

homonyms: sound same, same spelling

Supply a homonym, homophone, or homograph for each of the following words. Label your

examples.

compact, bat, see, pupil, refuse, aisle, pail, bank, race, job, entrance, alter, braid

Answers will vary. Some examples are given here.

Homonyms

compact (agreement/cosmetics container)

bat (baseball bat/ying rodent)

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Homophones

pail/pale

Homographs

réfuse (noun, ‘garbage’) – refúse (verb, ‘reject’)

9.14 Ambiguity

Label each of the following newspaper headlines as lexically ambiguous (ambiguous because of

a word) or syntactically ambiguous (ambiguous because of the structure of the sentence). Briey

explain each of your answers. If the sentence is both lexically and syntactically ambiguous, label it

as such and explain why.

a. Grandmother of Eight Makes Hole in One

b. Quarter of a Million Chinese Live on Water

c. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

d. Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung

e. Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be Belted

f. Milk Drinkers Are Turning to Powder

g. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

h. Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter

i. Doctor Testifies in Horse Suit

j. Police Discover Crack in Australia

a. Grandmother of Eight Makes Hole in One

Syntactically ambiguous: hole in one can be a noun phrase referring to golf score, or a

noun phrase followed by a prepositional phrase, with a literal meaning.

b. Quarter of a Million Chinese Live on Water

c. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

d. Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9 • 89

e. Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be Belted

f. Milk Drinkers Are Turning to Powder

g. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

h. Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter

Syntactically ambiguous:

i. Doctor Testifies in Horse Suit

Syntactically ambiguous:

doctor [testifies [in horse suit]]

j. Police Discover Crack in Australia

Lexically ambiguous due to the ambiguity of crack.

Also, choose two lexically ambiguous words that you find in these headlines. How do you know

these words are ambiguous rather than simply vague?

To check for vagueness; a vague word will not necessarily have the same interpretation

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a. Iraqi head (body part) seeks arms (body part) and the president seeks arms

(body parts) too.

9.15 Meaning Change in Progress

The American Heritage Dictionary gives the following definitions for aggravate:

2. To rouse to exasperation or anger; provoke

Many usage experts believe only the first definition should be used. Here’s the dictionary’s usage

note: “Aggravate comes from the Latin verb aggravare, which meant ‘to make heavier,’ that is, ‘to

add to the weight of.’ ” It also had the extended senses ‘to annoy’ and ‘to oppress.’ Some people

claim that aggravate can only mean ‘to make worse,’ and not ‘to irritate,’ on the basis of the word’s

etymology. But in doing so, they ignore not only an English sense in use since the seventeenth cen-

tury but also one of the original Latin ones. Sixty-eight percent of the American Heritage Usage

Panel approves of its use in It’s the endless wait for luggage that aggravates me the most about air

travel. Look up the following words to see what the experts have to say about them; then discuss

your own usage and attitudes about the words and their meanings.

anxious

hopefully

orientate

comprise

literally

Answers will vary depending on sources consulted, and personal usage. A sample

answer for anxious is provided below:

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9 • 91

9.16 Historical Shifts in Meaning

Below are a number of words from Old English (and a few that came into Old English from Old

French) that still exist in Present-Day English, though each has shifted in meaning. Identify the type

of meaning shift for each word. Choose from amelioration, pejoration, narrowing, broadening, and

shift (in denotation—a completely new meaning).

PDE word Original word Meaning

dream dréam ‘mirth’

bead bedu ‘prayer’

dizzy dysiʒ1 ‘foolish’

bird bridd ‘young bird’

tide tíd ‘time’

PDE word Old French Meaning

butcher bocher ‘one who slaughters goats’

accident accident ‘an event’

carry carier ‘transport by cart’

Answers: amelioration (A), pejoration (P), narrowing (N), broadening (B), and shift (S)

PDE word Original word Meaning Answers

dream dréam ‘mirth’ S

bead bedu ‘prayer’ S

dizzy dysiʒ ‘foolish’ (to feel faint) S

bird bridd ‘young bird’ B

tide tíd ‘time’ N

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PDE word Old French Meaning

butcher bocher ‘one who slaughters goats’ B

9.17 Shifts in Meaning: Slang Words

The changes in meanings of English slang and taboo words are particularly interesting to study

because these meanings have often changed rather dramatically over time. For example, the slang

word crapper has its origin in one Thomas Crapper, who was in some way associated with the

originator of the ush toilet (the “Silent Valveless Water Waste Preventer” patented in 1819, Albert

Giblin).

9.18 Metaphors We Live By?

What are some of the metaphors we use in talking about the following concepts, and do they fall

into a particular category? If so, do you think that category accurately represents our cultural

perceptions of that concept? Explain briey.

love marriage illness life

Answers will vary.

9.19 Human Qualities: Personification

Personification involves ascribing human attributes to inanimate or abstract concepts:

High gas prices are killing us, and they are the enemy of commuters.

The bad weather is truly treacherous and might cheat farmers out of some of the growing

season.

In a text of your choice, find five examples of personification. Examples can come from a newspa-

per, poem, story, TV news report, magazine, radio program, or other medium. (Hint: sports com-

mentary abounds with personification and metaphor.)

Answers will vary.

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 9 • 93

9.20 Semantic Classes of Idioms

Idioms can be classified by the concepts they express. For example, there are many idiomatic

expressions for anger, work, love, and sex.

Anger: ip your lid, blow your stack, bite someone’s head off, let off steam

Love: fall for, be crazy about, dig, have a crush on, hit it off with, get hung up on, make eyes at

someone

Come up with two classes of idioms on your own, and give three or four examples of idioms that fall

into each class.

Answers will vary.

9.21 The Semantics of Jokes

Many jokes are funny for semantic reasons, relying on ambiguous words, synonyms, antonymy, and

various types of figurative language to create humor. We also use our knowledge of other grammati-

cal components (syntax, morphology, phonology) to create humor. Explain the humor in each of the

following jokes using your grammatical knowledge. What contributes to the humor in each joke? Be

as specific and detailed as you can.

Q: What’s the difference between Cheerios and Georgia Tech (insert team of your choice)?

A: Cheerios belong in a bowl.

Q: What lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches?

A: A nervous wreck.

Q: Why do chicken coops have two doors?

A: Because if they had four doors, they would be chicken sedans.

Q: What does a skeleton get when he goes to a bar?

A: A beer and a mop.

Q: How many men does it take to wallpaper a room?

A: About two, if they’re thinly sliced.

Q: How many ears did Davy Crockett have?

A: Three—his left ear, his right ear, and his wild front ear.

Q: Why don’t cannibals eat clowns?

A: Because they taste funny.

Answers will vary.