Editing Hypernymy and hyponymy

{{Short description|Semantic relations involving the type-of property}}
[[File:Hyponym and hypernym.svg|thumb|300px|An example of the relationship between hyponyms and hypernym]]
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}

'''Hypernymy''' and '''hyponymy''' are the [[wikt:Wiktionary:Semantic relations|semantic relations]] between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Umbrella Term Law and Legal Definition |url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/u/umbrella-term/ |access-date=December 11, 2018 |work=uslegal.com |quote=Umbrella term is also called a hypernym |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323120213/https://definitions.uslegal.com/u/umbrella-term/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Alexander Dhoest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDklDwAAQBAJ&q=hypernym+umbrella&pg=PA165 |title=LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2016 |isbn=9781317233138 |page=165 |quote=Hypernym can also be called an "Umbrella term" |access-date=December 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Robert J. Sternberg |author-link=Robert Sternberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Og8rJGaXCDwC&q=hypernym+umbrella&pg=PA73 |title=Handbook of Intellectual Styles |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |year=2011 |isbn=9780826106681 |page=73 |quote=umbrealla term, or hypernym |access-date=December 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Frank W. D. Röder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_MJkq-3scQC&q=hypernym+umbrella&pg=PA77 |title=The Roeder Protocol |publisher=Books on Demand |year=2011 |isbn=9783842351288 |page=77 |quote=Synaptic plasticity is a hypernym (umbrella term) |access-date=December 11, 2018}}</ref> The hyponym names a [[subset|subtype]] of the hypernym.  The [[semantic field]] of the hyponym is included within that of the hypernym.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brinton |first=Laurel J. |author-link=Laurel J. Brinton |year=2000 <!--NO_PREVIEW: |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cqhef3mfhXQC--> |url-access=limited |title=The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction |url=https://archive.org/details/structuremoderne00brin |edition=Illustrated |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-90-272-2567-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/structuremoderne00brin/page/n134 112]}}</ref> For example, "pigeon", "crow", and "hen" are all hyponyms of "bird" and "animal"; "bird" and "animal" are both hypernyms of "pigeon", "crow", and "hen".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fromkin |first1=Victoria |author-link1=Victoria Fromkin |last2=Rodman |first2=Robert |author-link2=Robert Rodman|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontola00from_1 |title=Introduction to Language |publisher=Harcourt Brace College Publishers |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-03-018682-0 |edition=6th |location=Fort Worth |url-access=registration}}{{page needed|date=January 2014}}</ref>

A core concept of hyponymy is ''type of'', whereas ''instance of'' is differentiable. For example, for the noun "[[city]]", a hyponym (naming a type of city) is "[[capital city]]" or "capital", whereas "[[Paris]]" and "[[London]]" are instances of a city, not types of city.

== Discussion ==
In [[linguistics]], [[semantics]], [[general semantics]], and [[ontology components|ontologies]], hyponymy ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|ὑπό}}'' ({{grc-transl|ὑπό}})|under||''{{wikt-lang|grc|ὄνυμα}}'' ({{grc-transl|ὄνυμα}})|name}}) shows the relationship between a generic term (hypernym) and a specific instance of it (hyponym). A hyponym is a word or phrase whose semantic field is more specific than its hypernym. The semantic field of a hypernym, also known as a superordinate, is broader than that of a hyponym. An approach to the relationship between hyponyms and hypernyms is to view a hypernym as consisting of hyponyms. This, however, becomes more difficult with abstract words such as ''imagine'', ''understand'' and ''knowledge''. While hyponyms are typically used to refer to nouns, it can also be used on other parts of speech.  Like nouns, hypernyms in verbs are words that refer to a broad category of actions. For example, verbs such as ''stare'', ''gaze'', ''view'' and ''peer'' can also be considered hyponyms of the verb ''look'', which is their hypernym.

The meaning relation between hyponyms and hypernyms applies to lexical items of the same [[part of speech|word class (that is, part of speech)]], and holds between [[Word sense|senses]] rather than words. For instance, the word ''screwdriver'' as most immediately understood refers to the [[Screwdriver|screwdriver tool]], and not to the [[Screwdriver (cocktail)|screwdriver drink]].

{{Anchor|Transitivity of hyponymy}}
Hypernymy and hyponymy are [[Converse relation|converse relations]]. If X is a kind of Y, then X is a hyponym of Y and Y is a hypernym of X. <ref name="Maienborn">{{cite book |title=Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language Meaning |publisher=[[De Gruyter Mouton]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-11-018470-9 |editor-last=Maienborn |editor-first=Claudia |editor-link=:de:Claudia Maienborn |editor-last2=von Heusinger |editor-first2=Klaus |editor-link2=:de:Klaus von Heusinger |editor-last3=Portner |editor-first3=Paul |location=Berlin}}</ref>  Hyponymy is a [[transitive relation]]: if X is a hyponym of Y, and Y is a hyponym of Z, then X is a hyponym of Z.<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Lyons |author-link=John Lyons (linguist) |title=Semantics |url=https://archive.org/details/semantics00lyon|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0-52-129165-1 |year=1977 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref> For example, ''[[Violet (color)|violet]]'' is a hyponym of ''[[purple]]'' and ''purple'' is a hyponym of ''[[color]]''; therefore ''violet'' is a hyponym of ''color''. A word can be both a hypernym and a hyponym: for example ''purple'' is a hyponym of color but itself is a hypernym of the broad spectrum of shades of purple between the range of ''crimson'' and ''violet''.

The hierarchical structure of semantic fields can be seen in hyponymy.<ref name="Gao">{{cite journal|last1=Gao|first1=Chunming|last2=Xu|first2=Bin|title=The Application of Semantic Field Theory to English Vocabulary Learning|journal=Theory and Practice in Language Studies|date=November 2013|volume=3|issue=11|pages=2033-2034|doi=10.4304/tpls.3.11.2030-2035|url=http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/tpls/article/viewFile/tpls031120302035/8042|access-date=6 October 2014|doi-access=free|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010143851/http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/tpls/article/viewFile/tpls031120302035/8042|archive-date=2014-10-10}}</ref> These can be conceptualized as a vertical arrangement, where the higher level is more general and the lower level is more specific.<ref name="Gao" /> For example, ''living things'' will be the highest level followed by ''plants'' and ''animals'', and the lowest level may comprise ''dog'', ''cat'' and ''wolf''.<ref name="Gao" />

=== Taxonymy ===
Taxonymy (not to be confused with, though related to, ''[[taxonomy]]'') is a sub-variety of hyponymy. Within the structure of a taxonomic lexical hierarchy, two types of hyponymic relation may be distinguished: the first—exemplified in "An X is a Y"—corresponds to so-called "simple" hyponymy; the second—that which is exemplified in "An X is a ''kind/type of'' Y"—is more discriminating, and functions as the "vertical" relation in the taxonomy. This latter relation is that which may be termed ''taxonymy''.<ref name="The Semantics of Relationships: An Interdisciplinary Perspective">{{cite book|last1=Green|first1=Rebecca|last2=Bean|first2=Carol A.|last3=Sung|first3=Hyon Myaeng|title=The Semantics of Relationships: An Interdisciplinary Perspective|date=2002|publisher=[[Kluwer Academic Publishers]]|location=Netherlands|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JgplkZbZ2zwC&pg=PA3|access-date=2014-10-17|isbn=9781402005688}}</ref>

(Note that a taxonomic lexical hierarchy is structured by, in addition to the above inclusion relations, their corresponding relations of exclusion: "A Z is not a Y", or ''incompatibility''; and "A Z is a different kind/type of Y than X", or ''co-taxonymy''.)<ref name="The Semantics of Relationships: An Interdisciplinary Perspective"/>

=== Co-hyponyms ===
If the hypernym Z consists of hyponyms X and Y, then X and Y are identified as co-hyponyms, also known as coordinate terms. Co-hyponyms are labelled as such when separate hyponyms share the same hypernym but are not hyponyms of one another, unless they happen to be synonymous.<ref name=Maienborn /> For example, ''screwdriver'', ''scissors'', ''knife'', and ''hammer'' are all co-hyponyms of one another and hyponyms of ''tool'', but not hyponyms of one another: *"A hammer is a type of [[knife]]" is false.

Co-hyponyms are often but not always related to one another by the relation of incompatibility. For example, ''apple'', ''peach'' and ''plum'' are co-hyponyms of ''fruit''. However, an ''apple'' is not a ''peach'', which is also not a ''plum''. Thus, they are incompatible. Nevertheless, co-hyponyms are not necessarily incompatible in all [[word sense|senses]]. A ''queen'' and ''mother'' are both hyponyms of ''woman'' but there is nothing preventing the ''queen'' from being a ''mother''.<ref name="Meaning in Language">{{cite book|last1=Cruse|first1=D. A.|title=Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics|date=2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=162|edition=2|url=http://www.personal.uni-jena.de/~mu65qev/wikolin/images/d/d0/Cruse_ch9.pdf|url-status=dead|access-date=2014-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017101534/http://www.personal.uni-jena.de/~mu65qev/wikolin/images/d/d0/Cruse_ch9.pdf|archive-date=2014-10-17}}</ref> This shows that compatibility may be relevant.

=== Autohyponyms ===
[[File:Autohyponyms.svg|thumb|300px|Three varieties of autohyponym]]
A word is an autohyponym if it is used for both a hypernym and its hyponym:<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Synthese|volume=85|issue=3|pages=391–416|language=en|jstor = 20116854|last1 = Gillon|first1 = Brendan S.|title=Ambiguity, generality, and indeterminacy: Tests and definitions|year=1990|doi=10.1007/BF00484835|s2cid=15186368}}</ref> it has a stricter [[word sense|sense]] that is entirely a subset of a broader sense. For example, the word ''dog'' describes both the species ''[[Canis familiaris]]'' and male individuals of ''Canis familiaris'', so it is possible to say "That dog isn't a dog, it's a bitch" ("That hypernym Z isn't a hyponym Z, it's a hyponym Y"). The term "autohyponym" was coined by linguist [[Laurence R. Horn]], in his 1984 paper "Ambiguity, negation, and the London School of Parsimony". Linguist [[Ruth Kempson]] had already observed that if there are hyponyms for one part of a set but not another, the hypernym can complement the existing hyponym by being used for the remaining part. For example, fingers describe all digits on a hand, but the existence of the word [[thumb]] for the first finger means that fingers can also be used for "non-thumb digits on a hand".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286695474|title=Ambiguity, negation, and the London School of Parsimony|last=Horn|first=Laurence R|date=1984|pages=110–118}}</ref> Autohyponymy is also called "vertical [[polysemy]]".{{Efn|In part because the term autohyponymy is ambiguous because it is itself an autohyponym (see Koskela)}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=ak-metonymy.pdf&site=1|title=On the distinction between metonymy and vertical polysemy in encyclopaedic semantics|last=Koskela|first=Anu|date=2015-01-23|website=www.sussex.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-date=2019-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927182553/http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/24023/1/ak_metonymy.pdf|url-status=live}}{{void|Fabrickator|comment|replaced url "http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/24023/1/ak_metonymy.pdf" which requires a series of clicks, replacement url goes to the content directly}}</ref>

Horn called this "licensed [[polysemy]]", but found that autohyponyms also formed even when there is no other hyponym. [[Yankee]] is autohyponymous because it is a hyponym (native of New England) and its hypernym (native of the United States), even though there is no other hyponym of Yankee (as native of the United States) that means "not a native of New England".{{Efn|Horn identifies up to four layers of hyponym for Yankee: native of the United States, native of the northern United States, native of New England, or [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant|WASP]] native of New England.}}<ref name=":0" /> Similarly, the [[verb]] to drink (a beverage) is a hypernym for to drink (an alcoholic beverage).<ref name=":0" />

In some cases, autohyponyms duplicate existing, distinct hyponyms. The hypernym "smell" (to emit any smell) has a hyponym "stink" (to emit a bad smell), but is autohyponymous because "smell" can also mean "to emit a bad smell", even though there is no "to emit a smell that isn't bad" hyponym.<ref name=":0" />

== Etymology ==
''Hyperonym'' and ''hypernym'' mean the same thing, with both in use by linguists. The form ''hypernym'' interprets the ''-o-'' of ''hyponym'' as a part of ''hypo'', such as in ''hypertension'' and ''hypotension''. However, etymologically the ''-o-'' is part of the Greek stem ''ónoma''. In other combinations with this stem, e.g. ''synonym'', it is never elided. Therefore, ''hyperonym'' is etymologically more faithful than ''hypernym''.<ref>Pius ten Hacken, [http://euralex.org/wp-content/themes/euralex/proceedings/Euralex%202018/118-4-2974-1-10-20180820.pdf "On the Interpretation of Etymologies in Dictionaries"]</ref> ''Hyperonymy'' is used, for instance, by [[John Lyons (linguist)|John Lyons]], who does not mention ''hypernymy'' and prefers ''superordination''.<ref>[[John Lyons (linguist)|Lyons, John]] (1977), ''Semantics'', Vol. 1, p. 291</ref> The nominalization ''hyperonymy'' is rarely used, because the neutral term to refer to the relationship is ''hypernymy''.

== Usage ==
[[Computer science]] often terms this relationship an "[[is-a]]" relationship. For example, the phrase "Red is-a color" can be used to describe the hyponymic relationship between ''red'' and ''color''.
<!--*''autohyponyms'' (Horn, [[1994]]) ?? -->

Hyponymy is the most frequently encoded relation among [[Synonym ring|synsets]] used in lexical databases such as [[WordNet]]. These semantic relations can also be used to compare [[semantic similarity]] by judging the distance between two synsets and to analyse [[anaphora (linguistics)|anaphora]].

As a hypernym can be understood as a more general word than its hyponym, the relation is used in [[semantic compression]] by generalization to reduce a level of [[Specialization (linguistics)|specialization]].

The notion of hyponymy is particularly relevant to [[language translation]], as hyponyms are very common across languages. For example, in Japanese the word for older brother is {{nihongo||兄|ani}}, and the word for younger brother is {{nihongo||弟|otōto}}. An English-to-Japanese translator presented with a phrase containing the English word ''brother'' would have to choose which Japanese word equivalent to use. This would be difficult, because abstract information (such as the speakers' relative ages) is often not available during [[machine translation]].

== See also ==
* {{annotated link|Contrast set}}
* {{annotated link|Has-a}}
* {{annotated link|Is-a}}
* {{annotated link|Genus–differentia definition|Genus proximum}}
* {{annotated link|Lexical semantics}}
* {{annotated link|Meronymy and holonymy}}
* {{annotated link|-onym}}
* {{annotated link|Polysemy}}
* {{annotated link|Subcategory}}
* {{annotated link|Synonym}}
* {{annotated link|Taxonomy (general)|Taxonomy}}
* {{annotated link|Type–token distinction}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal|last=Snow |first=Rion |first2=Daniel |last2=Jurafsky |author-link2=Dan Jurafsky |first3=Andrew Y. |last3=Ng |author-link3=Andrew Ng |title=Learning syntactic patterns for automatic hypernym discovery |journal=Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems |volume=17 |year=2004 |url=http://www.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/paper887.pdf }}
* {{cite journal |last=Hearst |first=M. |title=Automatic acquisition of hyponyms from large text corpora |year=1992 |journal=Proceedings of 14th International Conference on Computational Linguistics |doi=10.3115/992133.992154 |volume=2 |pages=539|doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|hyponymy|hypernymy|hyperonymy}}
* [http://everything2.com/title/Hypernym Hypernym] at Everything2.com

{{Lexicography}}
{{Lexicology}}

[[Category:Hierarchy]]
[[Category:Semantic relations]]

[[de:Oberbegriff]]<!-- for Hyperonym and [[de:Unterbegriff]] for Hyponym -->