Semantics: a coursebook, second edition

Comment Note that the superordinate term, red, is more general or inclusive in
meaning than its hyponym scarlet, which is much more speci
fic in the kind of
colour it describes. In other words, the predicate red describes a particular
region in colour space whose prototype (or focal) examples are fairly distinct
from those of other colours, though we have seen that more peripheral
members of the extension of red tend to fade into other colours. But the term
also subsumes (includes) more speci
fic kinds of red within this region of
colour space, some of which have their own predicates to describe the
narrower sort of hue, including scarlet, crimson, etc. In  general, sense
relationships involving hyponymy are usually structured in this way, with the
superordinate term more abstract, general, or schematic than its hyponyms.
This will become apparent as we examine more examples of hyponymy.
Practice Look at the following, and 
fill in some missing hyponyms.
(1)
pig
sow
.........................
.........................
.........................
(2)
tree
beech
.........................
.........................
.........................
(3)
virtue
honesty
.........................
.........................
.........................
(4)
emotion
fear
.........................
.........................
.........................
(5)
strike (transitive verb)
.........................
.........................
.........................
(6)
pleasant
.........................
.........................
.........................
Feedback
(1) piglet, boar (2) oak, ash, sycamore,
fir, etc. (3) patience, wisdom, prudence,
generosity, etc. (4) love, anger, happiness, sadness, etc. (5) kick, hit, butt,
thump, etc. (6) tasty, pretty, soothing, etc.
Comment We have dealt with the clear cases. Note that even in the case of abstract
nouns, there are some quite clear things that we can say about their
meanings, or senses.
Before we leave the discussion of hyponymy, a note should be made of its
relationship with extension (Unit 8). Hyponymy is a sense relation. Another
term for sense, preferred by logicians, is intension, a term deliberately chosen
for its implicit contrast with extension. Hyponymy is de
fined in terms of the
inclusion of the sense of one item in the sense of another. We say, for example,
that the sense of animal is included in the sense of cow. This inclusion can be
PA RT   T H R E E
. . . to  sense
110

U N I T   1 0
Sense relations (1) 
111
shown roughly by a diagram giving a list of the ‘sense-components’ of cow. It
will be seen that this list includes the component ‘animal’. But paradoxically
ANIMAL
sense of cow
BOVINE
sense of animal
FEMALE
perhaps, if we draw a diagram of the extensions of cow and animal, the
inclusion relationship appears the other way around.
the set of all animals
the set of all cows 
Practice (1) Which of the following descriptions is the more speci
fic?
(a) A man, 5ft 8in tall, with black hair, moustache, no beard,
wearing a beige du
ffle coat, blue jeans, and lace-up shoes
(b
A man in a du
ffle coat
(a) / (b)
(2) Which of the above descriptions gives more information?
(a) / (b)
(3) Which of the above descriptions describes more men?
(a) / (b)
(4) In general, does giving more information increase or reduce 
the range of things described?
.............
Feedback
(1) (a) (2) (a) (3) (b) (4) It reduces the range of things described.
Definition We de
fine HYPONYMY in such a way that SYNONYMY counts as a special
case of hyponymy. For example, given two synonyms, such as mercury and

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