PARADIGMATIC

REL ATIONS
What is a Paradigmatic Relation?
A paradigmatic relation is a relation between lexical. A paradigmatic
relationship refers to the relationship between words that are the same
parts of speech and which can be substituted for each other in the same
position within a given sentence.
A paradigmatic lexical relation is a determined pattern of association
between lexical units that
• share one or more core semantic components
• belong to the same lexical category
• fill the same syntactic position in a syntactic construction, and
• have the same semantic function.
Synonym Lexical Relation
A synonym lexical relation is a relationship between two or more lexical units which
have identical core semantic components, and which differ only with respect to
their supplemental or peripheral components.

Synonym type Definition Example

Stylistic (most common) A lexical unit that has a {happy, glad, joyful}
similar range of reference
but is differentiated by
speaker intention, the
audience, and the situation.

Loan word A nearly synonymous lexical Genre

unit borrowed from another In French, this word means
language to fill what is “kind” or “style.”
perceived to be a semantic
gap.

Dialectal Different lexical units that {fall (American English),

are part of the vocabulary autumn (British English)}
of different dialects but
have very similar ranges of
reference.
Generic-Specific Lexical Relation
A generic-specific lexical relation is a hierarchical association between a lexical unit
with a broader, more general meaning and other lexical units with a narrower, more
precise meaning.
Another name for the generic-specific lexical relation is Hyponymy. Hyponymy
involves the association between a:
• Hyponym—a more semantically complex, specific lexical unit.
• Hypernym (superordinate)—a less semantically complex, general lexical unit.

Hypernym Hyponym

Colour Pink, Purple, Blue, Red, Orange,

Green

Hypernym Co-Hyponym Hyponym

Colour Red Crimson, Violet,

Lavender
Whole-Part Lexical Relation
The whole-part lexical relation is an association between a lexical unit representing
a part and a lexical unit representing its corresponding whole.
Another name for the whole-part lexical relation is Meronymy. A Meronymy is a
non-hierarchical relationship between lexical units that deals with the significant
parts of a whole.
Example: "An arm has an elbow. An elbow is a part of an arm."

Whole Parts
• Arm • Elbow, forearm,
• House wrist
• Head • Roof, wall
• Trunk • Eyes, mouth, nose
• Chest, back
Individual-Group Lexical Relation
An individual-group lexical relation is an association
between two lexical units in which one lexical unit is a
collective term of the other.

Individual Group
• lion • pride
• sheep • flock
• bee • swarm
• wolves • pack
Opposite Lexical Relation
An opposite lexical relation is an association between two lexical units
which have the opposite core meanings in some contexts.
Kind Definition Example
Complements Opposites that have mutually {(dead, alive), (true, false), (open,
exclusive properties. For shut), (male, female)}
example, if people are not dead,
they must be alive.
Antonyms Opposites that are at two {(long, short), (good, bad), (hot,
corresponding points or ranges cold), (warm, cool)}
of a scale. For example, if
something is not long, it is not
necessarily short.
Directional Converses Opposites marking the two {(east, west), (up, down), (convex,
directions along an axis. concave)}
Relational converses Opposites which specify the {(above, below), (in front of,
relative positions of two entities behind)}; {(doctor, patient),
on opposite sides or poles of a (teacher, pupil), (master,
spatial or relational axis. servant), (husband, wife)}
Rank Lexical Relation
A rank lexical relation is an association between lexical units which have different
relative values based on some shared underlying semantic property. A rank set has the
structure of a scale.
Example:
{priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal, pope}

Development Lexical Relation

A development lexical relation is an association between lexical units which refers to
stages or steps in a process involving change such as. A development set has the
structure of a scale.
Process
• {ember, spark, flame, blazing fire}
• {planning, design, implementation, production, evaluation}
Growth
• {new-born, infant, toddler, child, adolescent, adult}
• {seed, bud, flower}
Hierarchical Lexical Relation
A hierarchical lexical relation is an association between lexical units
that have a system of arrangement into levels of increasing. A
hierarchical set has the structure of a scale.

Sets related to analytic paradigms​

{morpheme, word, phrase, clause,
sentence, discourse}
Scalar Property Lexical Relation
A scalar property lexical relation is an association between sets of lexical units
which refers to the relative values for a property of an object or event as
determined against a qualitative standard. A scalar property set has the structure
of a scale.

Scalar Property Example

Relative distances {here, there, yonder}

Relative force {nudge, push, bulldoze}

Relative size {tiny, small, medium, large,

huge}
Relative time {immediately, soon, later}

Relative temperature {cold, cool, lukewarm, warm,

hot}
Relative velocity {crawl, walk, run, drag}
A Scale Structure
A lexical relation with a scale structure is a pattern of association between lexical
units in a fixed order or progression. They represent successive values of some
variable property.