Friday 25 September 2015

Misconstruing Ellipsis Of Repetition As Relational Hyp(er)onymy

Martin (1992: 299):
Depending on the field the relationship between hyponym and hyperonym has different names.  These are commonly realised through Pre-Classifier structures (for which see Martin 1988): a class of noun, a make of car, a breed of dogs etc.  And they are used cohesively as well: Like my new car? — Yes, what make is it?  A cohesive relationship between one of these items and the hyponym it relates to a hyperonym will be referred to as relational hyponymy/hyperonymy.  Typical realisations include: class, kind, type, form, breed, make, sort, style, species, order, family, variety, genre, grade, brand, caste, category.

Blogger Comments:

[1] In SFL theory, this nominal group function is termed 'extended Numerative: variety', which is the cross-classification of 'collective' and 'type'.  See Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 333).

a
make
of
car
Numerative: variety
Thing
Premodifier
Head
Postmodifier


[2] The cohesion in the response includes ellipsis of an entire clause, and anaphoric personal reference of it to my new car.  But most pertinent here is the ellipsis of the potential lexical repetition of car.

do
you
like
my new car
Finite
Subject
Predicator
Complement

yes
I
do
like
your new car
mood Adjunct: polarity
Subject
Finite
Predicator
Complement


what make of car
is
it
Subject
Finite
Complement

[3] The notion of a 'relational hyponymy/hyperonymy' therefore arises from not recognising a cohesive relation.