Sinonímia e hiperonímia: das relações entre palavras para as relações de sentido

Abstract

This research investigates the characterization of the lexical-semantic phenomena of hypernymy and synonymy when treated as relations between meaning established by words in written textuality. Synonymy and hypernymy are defined, respectively, as relations of equivalence and of inclusion. In order to consider two words synonyms, the following criteria must be observed: the equivalence of meaning, and the referential identity. Hypernymy, on the other hand, is closely related to the processes of categorization: the more superordinate term, broader from the referential point of view (fruit, animal, furniture), is given the name of hypernym; the more specific element is given the name of hyponym (pear, cat, table). The relation between hypernym and hyponym is characterized by specific properties, such as transitivity and unilateral implication. Our purpose is to test the defined criteria for synonymy, and the properties that can be applied to relations of hypernymy in the treatment of isolated words, for words employed in a specific context, in order to verify how these relations are mantained. To perform our analyses, texts were selected from digital and printed versions of scientific magazines with national circulation; through the corpus, the main characteristics of these phenomena in textual context are analyzed. The methodological framework on which these analyses are built is that of Componential Semantics, in which the meaning of a word can be described in minimal traits of significance. We believe that the relations of hypernymy and synonymy, on the sentence/text level, can be explained via erasure and highlight of these traits, in accordance to the meaning that the context establishes for these words. This way, we observe that, in certain lexical substitutions for the hypernyms, a relation of synonymy is established, and not one of hyponymy/hypernymy anymore. Both words are used, in this case, to reference the same entity, and are both equivalent in meaning. This research was subsidized by FAPESP/CAPES.