What is a whole-part lexical relation?

Definition

The whole-part lexical relation is an association between a lexical unit representing a part and a lexical unit representing its corresponding whole.

Source:

Cruse 1986 157

Discussion

Another name for the whole-part lexical relation is meronymy. A meronymy is a non-hierarchical relationship between lexical units that deals with the significant parts of a whole.

Meronymy may be represented by the following frame:

Y has X(s). An X is a part of Y.

Example:

"An arm has an elbow. An elbow is a part of an arm."

Source:

Cruse 1986:160, 178

Examples

Whole	Parts
Arm House Head Trunk	Elbow, forearm, wrist Roof, wall Eyes, mouth, nose Chest, back

Underlying structure
	The underlying structure of a whole-part lexical relation set is a tree.

Frames
	Here are some frames for testing and eliciting a whole-part lexical relation:
	A Y has an X and an X is a part of Y. A Y has Xs and an X is a part of Y. The parts of a Y include the X(s), the Z(s), etc. The X(s) and the Z(s) are parts of a Y.

Context for this page:

Concept module: whole-part lexical relation
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): W
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: 5 January 2004