What is a lexical relation with 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.

A scale can be represented mathematically as

Here are some examples of lexical relations with a scale structure in English arranged in decreasing order of discreteness:

• Rank

  • {private, corporal, sergeant, general}
  • {Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2 …}

• Hierarchy

  • {county, state, country}
  • {phoneme, word, sentence, discourse}

• Numeric

  • {one, two, three …}
  • {first, second, third …}
  • {single, double, triple …}
  • {singleton, twins, triplets …}

• Units of measurement

  • {inch, foot, yard, mile}
  • {millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer}
  • {second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, decade, century, millennium}

• Calendar

  • {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday … Saturday}
  • {January, February, March … December}

• Development

  • {newborn, infant, toddler, child, adolescent, adult}
  • {planning, design, implementation, production, evaluation}

• Scalar properties

  • {cold, cool, lukewarm, warm, hot}
  • {minuscule, tiny, small, big, huge, gigantic}
  • {slightly, moderately, fairly, very, extremely}

Context for this page:

• Concept module: lexical relation with a scale structure
• In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): L
• In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
• In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 26 March 2002

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