Editing Lexical semantics (section)

== Lexical relations ==

Lexical items contain information about category (lexical and syntactic), form and meaning. The semantics related to these categories then relate to each lexical item in the [[lexicon]].<ref name="Glossary" /> Lexical items can also be semantically classified based on whether their meanings are derived from single lexical units or from their surrounding environment.

Lexical items participate in regular patterns of association with each other. Some relations between lexical items include [[Hyponymy and hypernymy|hyponymy, hypernymy]], [[synonym]]y, and [[antonym]]y, as well as [[homonym]]y.<ref name="Glossary">{{cite web|last1=Loos|first1=Eugene|last2=Anderson|first2=Susan|last3=H. Day, Jr.|first3=Dwight|last4=Jordan|first4=Paul|last5=Wingate|first5=J. Douglas|title=What is a lexical relation?|url=http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsALexicalRelation.htm|website=Glossary of linguistic terms|publisher=LinguaLinks}}</ref>

=== Hyponymy and hypernymy ===
[[Hyponymy and hypernymy]] refer to a relationship between a general term and the more specific terms that fall under the category of the general term.

For example, the colors ''red'', ''green'', ''blue'' and ''yellow'' are hyponyms. They fall under the general term of ''color'', which is the hypernym.
[[File:Colortaxonomy.png|thumb|Taxonomy showing the hypernym "color"]]
{|
|-
| 
 ''Color (hypernym) → red, green, yellow, blue (hyponyms)''
|}

Hyponyms and hypernyms can be described by using a [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]], as seen in the example.

=== Synonym ===
[[Synonym]] refers to words that are pronounced and spelled differently but contain the same meaning.
{|
|-
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 ''Happy, joyful, glad''<ref name="Glossary" />
|}

=== Antonym ===
[[Antonym]] refers to words that are related by having the opposite meanings to each other.
There are three types of antonyms: [[Opposite (semantics)#Gradable antonyms|graded antonyms]], [[Opposite (semantics)#Complementary antonyms|complementary antonyms]], and [[Converse (semantics)|relational antonyms]].
{|
|-
|  
 ''Sleep, awake''<ref name="Glossary" />
 ''long, short''
|}

=== Homonymy ===
[[Homonymy]] refers to the relationship between words that are spelled or pronounced the same way but hold different meanings.
{|
|-
|  
 ''bank (of river)''
 ''bank (financial institution)''
|}

=== Polysemy ===
[[Polysemy]] refers to a word having two or more related meanings.
{|
|
 ''bright (shining)''
 ''bright (intelligent)''
|}
[[File:Semantic Net.svg|thumb|An example of a semantic network]]

=== Semantic networks ===
Lexical semantics also explores whether the meaning of a lexical unit is established by looking at its neighbourhood in the [[semantic network]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Segev |first1=Elad |title=Semantic Network Analysis in Social Sciences |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9780367636524 |url=https://www.routledge.com/Semantic-Network-Analysis-in-Social-Sciences/Segev/p/book/9780367636524 |access-date=5 December 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205140726/https://www.routledge.com/Semantic-Network-Analysis-in-Social-Sciences/Segev/p/book/9780367636524 |url-status=live }}</ref>  (words it occurs with in natural sentences), or whether the meaning is already locally contained in the lexical unit.

In English, [[WordNet]] is an example of a semantic network. It contains English words that are grouped into [[Synonym Ring|synsets]]. Some semantic relations between these synsets are [[meronymy]], [[hyponymy]], [[synonymy]], and [[antonymy]].