Microsoft Word Revised Syllabus Ver doc

Semantic Relationship
Studying the semantic relationship that exists between words is more important than 
studying the meaning expressed by the words, as far as translation is concerned. The property 
of words having more than one meaning is not a problem at all since they are distinct and 
don't overlap. But the relationship held by different words among them pose severe problem, 
and, therefore, needs special attention. The word chair in English may be used in different 
meanings as illustrated below.
1.
He bought a chair
2.
He was condemned to the (electric) chair
3.
Please address the chair
4.
He will chair the meeting
5.
He was appointed to the chair of Linguistics at the University"
In the above sentences, we find that the word chair has been used in different senses. 
As far as translation is concerned, analyzing the different words which are related to chair 
will be more beneficial than analyzing the different meanings expressed by these words. Let 
us compare the meaning of the word chair with the meaning of the related words like stool, 
bench and hammock. Here we have to bear in mind that only those words which have 

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comparable meanings alone are taken up for comparison. We have not taken up other words 
like bus, house which have no similarity at all for comparison. In other words we do not 
compare the different meanings of the word chair with the meanings of the words like stool, 
bench and hammock. On the other hand, we limit our comparison to semantic range that 
covers the tools used for the purpose of sitting. The common feature among these words is 
that all are man-made tools and used for the purpose of sitting. We can join both of these two 
features and refer it by the common name 'seat'.
If we compare the above mentioned four words and analyze the contrasting or 
distinguishing feature among them we get the following details.
With the help of these three distinguishing features we could identify the difference 
among these words. There are some more common features that are not listed here. For 
example, all the four objects are man-made tools and meant for the purpose of sitting. These 
common features do not help in distinguishing these objects. These features, however, can 
function as distinguishing features if our comparison is at a different level. Let us assume that 
we are comparing a stone used for sitting with these words. In this case these features serve 
as diagnostic features because stones are not man-made.
All these words have so many auxiliary features also and with the help of these also 
the meanings are realized. For example, a chair may be manufactured in different shapes, in 
different sizes and with or without arms. The foot of a chair may have varying shapes and 
numbers. In the same manner each word had certain auxiliary features.