ANALYSIS ON THE ADJECTIVE EXCITING AND ITS
NOMINAL PAIRS
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillments of the Requirements to obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum) Degree
in English Language Studies
by PURWANTO
Student Number: 056332010
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
!!
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : PURWANTO
Nomor Mahasiswa : 056332010
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
ANALYSIS ON THE ADJECTIVE EXCITING AND ITS NOMINAL PAIRS
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 26 Agustus 2011
Yang menyatakan:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I realized that the process of writing this thesis cannot be independently
free from the role of certain individuals who help me in the form technical
guidance, moral support, and useful advice. Firstly, thanks to Allah, who has
enabled me to accomplish the writing of this thesis.
My deep gratitude goes to my advisor, FX. Mukarto, Ph.D., his
understanding and consideration has rekindled the motivation within me,
moreover, his wise advice and technical direction in the process of my research.
Alongside I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo for his
valuable inputs, his time and his support.
I would like to thank to all lectures in the Graduate Program of English
Language Studies: Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A., Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A., Dr.
J. Bismoko, Dr. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A.(Hons), who have given me useful
suggestions during their lectures and the thesis writing.
I dedicate this thesis to my late parents who had raised me with
unconditional love.
I would direct my thankfulness to all my colleagues at FISE department
for their implied attentiveness and encouragement regarding my thesis writing.
Thanks to GB crew for their friendship through the nights we occasionally spent
by eating out somewhere. Lastly, I thank all my classmates in the English
Language Studies of Sanata Dharma University for their friendship and solidarity.
Yogyakarta, 22 August 2011
“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……….. .i
APPROVAL PAGE ………. ii
BOARD OF EXAMINERS ………... iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ………. . iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………...viii
LIST OF TABLES ………..xiii
ABSTRACT ……….xiv
ABSTRAK……….xv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background ... 1
1.2 Problem Formulation ... 5
1.3 Problem Limitation ... 5
1.4 Research Goals ... 6
1.5 Research Benefits ... 6
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ... 8
2.1 Theoretical Review ... 8
2.1.1 Adjective ... 8
2.1.2 Noun ... 10
2.1.3 Componential Analysis ... 11
2.1.4 Semantic Domain ... 12
2.1.6 Collocability ... 14
2.1.7 Semantic features ... 14
2.1.8 Words and Concepts ... 15
2.1.9 The adjective exciting ... 16
2.1.10 Sense relations………...17
2.2 Theoretical Framework ... 17
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 19
3.1 Research Data... 19
3.2 Data Collection... 20
3.3 Research Procedure ... 20
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS ... 23
4.1 Semantic domain and features of the adjective exciting ... 23
4.2 Semantic domain and features of the nominal pairs of the adjective exciting ... ..27
4.3 Lexical synonymy and the features of the nominal pairs of the adjective exciting ... 33
4.3.1 Synonyms of adventure ... 33
4.3.2 Synonyms of challenge ... 34
4.3.3 Synonyms of climax ... 34
4.3.4 Synonyms of contest ... 35
4.3.5 Synonyms of development ... 35
4.3.6 Synonyms of discovery ... 35
4.3.8 Synonyms of life ... 36
4.3.9 Synonyms of news ... 36
4.3.10 Synonyms of programme ... 37
4.3.11 Synonyms of story ... 37
4.3.12 Synonyms of game ... 37
4.3.13 Synonyms of time ... 38
4.3.14 Synonyms of performance ... 38
4.3.15 Synonyms of experience ... 38
4.3.16 Synonyms of competition ... 39
4.3.17 Synonyms of project ... 39
4.4 The application of context in relation to the nominal pairs………...39
4.4.1 The noun adventure in context with other lexical items ... 40
4.4.2 The noun challenge in context with other lexical items ... 42
4.4.3 The noun climax in context with other lexical items ... 44
4.4.4 The noun contest in context with other lexical items ... 44
4.4.5 The noun development in context with other lexical items ... 45
4.4.6 The noun discovery in context with other lexical items ... 46
4.4.7 The noun film in context with other lexical items... 47
4.4.8 The noun life in context with other lexical items ... 48
4.4.9 The noun news in context with other lexical items ... 49
4.4.10 The noun programme in context with other lexical items ... 50
4.4.11 The noun story in context with other lexical items ... 51
4.4.12 The noun game in context with other lexical items ... 52
4.4.14 The noun performance in context with other lexical items ... 53
4.4.15 The noun experience in context with other lexical items ... 54
4.4.16 The noun competition in context with other lexical items ... 55
4.4.17 The noun project in context with other lexical items ... 56
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 58
5.1 Conclusions ... 58
5.2 Suggestions ... 60
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 62
APPENDICES………...65
Appendix 1 exciting + adventure. ... 66
Appendix 2 exciting + challenge. ... 67
Appendix 3 exciting + climax. ... 68
Appendix 4 exciting + contest. ... 69
Appendix 5 exciting + development. ... 69
Appendix 6 exciting + discovery. ... 71
Appendix 7 exciting + film. ... 71
Appendix 8 exciting + life. ... 72
Appendix 9 exciting + news. ... 73
Appendix 10 exciting + programme. ... 74
Appendix 11 exciting + story. ... 75
Appendix 12 exciting + game. ... 76
Appendix 13 exciting + time. ... 77
Appendix 15 exciting + experience. ... 79
Appendix 16 exciting + competition. ... 80
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Common and diagnostic features of exciting and other lexemes
ABSTRACT something that merely completing the understanding of grammatical structure of language. The lexical aspect is like the other side of the coin of which the other one is the grammatical. One of the lexical problems frequently faced by English language learners is word pairs. This study attempted to investigate the semantic aspects of the adjective exciting and the number of particular nouns which are commonly paired and collocate with the adjective exciting. The pairing of
exciting and the particular nouns was in the attributive pattern. The research focused on finding the answer concerning the semantic features possessed by the adjective exciting and the semantic features possessed by the nouns which collocate with the adjective exciting.
This research was a descriptive qualitative one. The data of this study was collected from British National Corpus in 2008. The theories used to analyze the collected data among others were semantic domain, semantic features, word association, and componential analysis.
Based on the analysis, this research found particular features or characteristics of the adjective exciting and its nominal pairs. The adjective
ABSTRAK
Purwanto. 2011. Analisis atas Kata Sifat Exciting dan Pasangan Nominanya
Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Program Magister, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Selain tata bahasa, pemahaman tentang leksikal adalah salah satu faktor penting dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Pemahaman tentang kata dan kosa kata tidak dapat dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang remeh atau hanya sebagai bagian periferal dari struktur gramatika sebuah bahasa. Aspek leksikal seperti sisi lain dari koin mata uang dimana sisi yang lainnya adalah tata bahasa. Salah satu masalah leksikal sering dihadapi oleh pembelajar bahasa Inggris adalah pasangan kata. Penelitian ini berusaha menyelidiki aspek-aspek semantik dari kata sifat
exciting dan sejumlah kata benda tertentu yang biasanya dipasangkan dan berkolokasi dengan kata sifat tersebut. Pola pasangan kata sifat dan kata benda yang diteliti merupakan pola atributif. Penelitian ini difokuskan untuk mencari jawaban mengenai fitur semantik yang dimiliki oleh kata sifat exciting dan fitur semantik yang dimiliki oleh nomina yang berkolokasi dengan kata sifat tersebut.
Penelitian ini bersifat kualitatif deskriptif. Data yang dijadikan obyek pada penelitian ini diperoleh dan dikumpulkan dari British National Corpus pada tahun 2008. Teori-teori yang digunakan untuk menganalisis data yang dikumpulkan antara lain teori domain semantik, fitur semantik, asosiasi kata, dan analisis komponensial.
Berdasarkan analisis yang dilakukan, penelitian ini menemukan fitur atau karakteristik tertentu kata sifat exciting dan pasangan nominanya. Kata sifat
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Jeffries (1998: 121) mentions, “…part of the knowledge that speakers have
about English words is their possible combination with other words.” Thus,
combining words is a process we do in speaking. However, a knowledgeable
speaker would do more than just putting words together. He or she would take
into account the notion of selectional restrictions. Jeffries (ibid: 122) states:
Selectional restrictions tend to be defined as restrictions on verbs, or sometimes on adjectives … They usually restrict a word, or group of words, to occurring with another semantically defined group of words. For example, there are verbs that occur only with animate subjects”.
Furthermore, a language speaker should consider whether one word is suitable to
the other word or not. For instance, in combining an adjective with a noun we
should consider whether the adjective collocates with the noun and vice versa.
Accordingly, that leads to the notion of collocability or the ability of particular
words to collocate with other words.
Collocability knowledge is important since English word combination can
pose a special problem particularly to non-native learners. According to Martin
cited in Carter (1998: 73-74), the common problem is a collocational mismatch.
Martin, (as cited by Carter) notes:
The understanding of word combinations will avoid the occurrence of
inapropriate combination as exemplified by Chomsky through the famous
sentence “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”, which shows that a
grammatically correct sentence can be nonsensical semantically. The same applies
to combinations of words or word pairings such as; *large mistake*, *large deal*,
*large issue*, etc. These combinations are grammatically correct in that the
adjectives are placed before a noun as part of a noun phrase and function as
attributive adjectives. However, from the semantic sense point of view these
adjectives are unlikely appropriate since the suitable adjective should be big.
Hence, the notions of collocation harmony and collocational mismatch
should be noted when combining or pairing particular adjectives with other words.
Adjectives like big and large, for instance, though at first glance have the same
meaning but they actually differ in the choice of words that can be used as a
proper pair of each.
Adjectives with similar meaning may ‘choose’ their own partners. The
adjective large having similar meaning with big cannot be simply paired with any
word since each has its own preferences in choosing a ‘partner’. For example, the
combination of a big mistake would be more familiar and avoid collocational
mismatch than a large mistake.
The examples above show that learning a language is not that simple when
it comes to picking and choosing the right word. Choosing the right word to pair
with another word is not just a matter of grammaticality since language deals with
sense of meaning as well as structure. When an English learner lacks the
mismatches and collocational errors, which can cause disruption in
communication.
According to Schmitt (2005: VII):
“Learning a word entails more than knowing its meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. There are a number of other types of word knowledge, including a word's collocations, grammatical characteristics, register, frequency, and associations. In order to use a word with confidence, a learner must have some mastery of all of these types of word knowledge.”
This suggests that diction or word choice plays a crucial role since the use of
appropriate diction is closely related to one’s level of mastery of the language
concerned. Choosing the correct word to be paired with a particular word is an
important part of knowing how to use the language. In line with Schmitt’s
proposition is Snaith’s as cited in Stott and Avery (2001: 35):
Another useful term when talking about word choice is collocation. Words collocate when they commonly appear next to or near one another in texts. They can be two words which are commonly and predictably found together,…Collocation means that some words will sound right together while others will sound unfamiliar.
There might be particular factors concerning the familiarity and
unfamiliarity of the lexical partnership. A phrase or word combination which
grammatically correct will sound strange or odd if it violates the collocation rule.
The phrase a large problem though grammatically correct, may sound awkward. It
also explains about a collocational preference or collocability that operates within
certain words. According to Carter (1998: 38):
In other words, certain words ‘prefer’ other certain words to be their pairs
or partners. The ability of words to combine or co-occur and the suitability of their
‘partnership’ so that they will ‘get along in harmony’ apparently require particular
kinds of semantic features. Taking into account semantic features of certain words
that would suit or collocate with other words is important in observing lexical
collocability.
A word that inappropriately paires with another word would cause what is
called as a semantic clash, as Cruse (2000: 222) notes, “If a collocational
preference is contravened, we may say that inappropriateness results:
inappropriateness is then the lowest degree of clash”.
Without considering the notion of collocability, local English learners can
make odd combination of words, which sound funny as in the following examples
where the bracketed pairs are the appropriate version: large mouth (big mouth),
large deal (big deal), tall price (high price), wide smile (broad smile), course
followers (course attendants/participants), etc.
These odd word pairs are in accordance to what is hinted at by Cruse
(2000: 221) as creating a semantic clash. Elementary level learners who try to
translate Indonesian texts into English often face common problems or difficulties
in finding the right word in order to avoid the semantic clash.
The adjectives like big and large are just the examples. Many other
English adjectives dealing with the problem of collocability are interesting to
observe. One of these adjectives is exciting. One reason to choose exciting as the
research topic in this thesis is that the word exciting is used in a tagline of a local
uncommon. There is an impression that the word exciting on the tagline might
refer to the programs on the radio. If so then the tagline should be written
‘exciting programs’ and be put under the name of the radio station. Another
reason for choosing the word exciting is that it has a sort of resonance with the
public sphere as the word is uncommonly used on the radio tagline More
importantly is that Collins (1954: 146-147) includes exciting as one of the
vogue-words. Collins explains:
Vogue-words is the term invented by Fowler for a class of words that spring into popularity and later become overused and sometimes misused. ….”
1.2 Problem Formulation
Based on the previous discussion this thesis attempts to answer the
following questions:
1. What features does the adjective exciting have?
2. What features do the noun pairs of exciting have?
1.3 Problem Limitation
There are, in fact, many linguistic aspects surrounding the issue of
collocability. These aspects are indeed interesting to explore from many and
different views of linguistics. Theoretically, word combination classifies itself
into grammatical and lexical types. However, this study focuses only on lexical
combination and specifies in the word exciting functions as attributive adjective
modifying its nominal collocates or nominal pairs. This study focuses on the
This study explores some semantic theories related to word meaning and
applies lexical decomposition as a tool to dissect the collected data. In discussing
the issue, another theory such as word association is also referred in order to
explore corresponding concepts contained in the nouns which may collocate and
may not collocate with the adjective exciting.
1.4 Research Goals
The aim of this research is to explore the theories of word meaning and the
theories of collocation in particular to find theoretical grounds for the collocability
of the English adjective exciting and the nouns that goes with it. The theories
referred in this research are semantics and componential analysis. Understanding
the notion of semantic characteristics of words is like having the knowledge about
the unique characteristics or traits that are contained in words. This research
explores the correlation of semantic traits and collocability that occurs in the
adjective exciting and its nominal pairs.
1.5 Research Benefits
Theoretically, the research in this study should contribute more to the
study of English semantics dealing with word meaning, lexical compositionality,
and the like. Practically, the research in this research should contribute more to the
understanding of English dealing with word combination, collocation, word
choice used in conversations, reading and writing composition, or even in
In addition, this research will help EFL learners particularly in Indonesia
in minimizing errors in combining adjectival and nominal words. Schmitt (2005)
states:
“An understanding of collocations is equally important for the natural use of words. These word partnerships are difficult to teach, but collocations are so important to the appropriate use of vocabulary that we have included a section on collocations in each chapter.”
Hopefully, for English teachers in particular, this research should enrich
their insights and contribute to the teaching and learning of English word
combination and collocation. By knowing appropriate acquisition of word
combining, teachers could do more to make English learners competent socially at
the level of personal and technical communications.
In addition, this research would be useful for students who study English
linguistics especially those who concentrate on the field of semantics. The
findings in this research may be used as a reference or may be criticized in the
hope that other enhancing researches concerning the same issue would be
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Related theories used as theoretical base for this research are discussed in
this chapter. Two major sections namely theoretical review and theoretical
framework are covered in the discussion. The theories discussed in the first
section of this chapter among other are adjective theories, noun theories, and
componential analysis theories. There are other theoretical propositions covered in
this section.
2.1 Theoretical Review
2.1.1 Adjective
Propositions concerning this word class are given, among others, by Finch
(2000: 82) who writes a definition of adjective as follows:
Adjectives are words which specify the attributes of NOUNS.
Typically, they give information about the size, colour, shape and appearance of entities. In formal terms adjectives are usually defined by their distribution, that is, where they can occur in word strings. We characteristically find them in two places: first, in an attributive position within a noun PHRASE, as in the lovely book; and secondly, in a post-verbal, or predicative position, as in The book is lovely.
Finch suggests that there are four aspects which an adjective can modify. These
four aspects are size, color, shape, and appearance. These aspects are contained
within an object to be described by the adjective either in attributive or predicative
position. In his proposition above, Finch did not touch on the issue of
classification concerning the objects that contain the four aspects, but apparently
the four aspects actually there are others that can be perceived and described
through the use of adjectives, such as sound, speed, and sensation.
Another definition of adjective proposed by Murcia (1999: 17):
The semantic definition of an adjective is that it describes or denotes the qualities of something. Adjectives commonly occur between a determiner and a noun, or after be or other linking verbs, although they can also follow a noun… The function of adjectives is to modify or complement nouns. There are two adjective types:
attributive, which precede nouns, and predicative, which follow linking verbs.
Both definitions concerning the nature of adjectives generally consider
adjectives from the functional aspect either in attributive or predicative position.
In terms of functionality, then the words which do not naturally belong to the
class of adjectives could become adjectives that serve to qualify or modify other
words. The word excite for instance, is a verb but when the verb is used to modify
a noun as in exciting game, the verb functions as an adjective.
One thing that should be noted when using attributive adjective is the
potential oddness of meaning that can occur on certain derivative adjectives, for
example, a phrase such as the writing book, cannot be rewritten in a predicative
form as *the book is writing* . The oddness in terms of meaning could arise since
the adjective writing derives from the verb write and the noun is inanimate.
Therefore, before rewriting an attributive form in a predicative form one should
check whether the adjective used is simple or verb derivative and whether the
2.1.2 Noun
Downing and Locke (1992: 406) use the word ‘nominal’ as another term
to refer to noun. As stated by them, noun class or nominal groups refer
semantically to those aspects of our experience which we perceive as ‘thing’ or
‘entities’. Downing and Locke elaborate:
The term ‘thing’ refers here not only to concrete entities such as persons, objects, places, institutions and other ‘collectives’, but also the names of actions (reading, laughter), abstractions (thought, experience) relationships (friendship, obedience), qualities (beauty, speed), emotions (anger, excitement), phenomena (thunder, success) and many classes of entities.
Thus, instead of referring to concrete objects, nouns also refer to ideas or concepts
that have no physical existence or abstract nouns. Most of the nominal pairs of the
adjective exciting discussed in this research refer to things and ideas which are
also classified as abstract nouns.
As compiled by Loos (2004), a noun is a member of a syntactic class that
includes words which refer to people, places, things, ideas, or concepts. Dixon
(2005: 82) states that are there five major types associated with the grammatical
class of noun in English. Three of these types include abstract reference, states,
and activities. Murcia (1999: 15) mentions that “…a noun is the name of a person,
place, or thing. Some linguists add “idea” to account for abstract nouns such as
democracy, environment, and life.” According to Leech and Svartvik (2002: 29):
but in I dislike idle talk, the noun talk is a mass noun. Similarly, the abstract noun
such as experience can be uncountable and countable. In I have no experience in
medical operation, the noun experience is uncountable and refers to the
knowledge or skill, but in I had an exciting experience last week, the noun
experience is countable and refers to an event or activity. Abstract nouns are
intangible and conceptual since they cannot be physically perceived. The
intangibility also applies to their plural form which is mentally perceived.
2.1.3 Componential Analysis
Aitchison (1999: 92) mentions that componential analysis is the attempt to
divide lexical items into component parts since word meanings were assumed to
be made up out of a stock of basic components. The basic components are also
termed as semantic features as stated by Jeffries (1998: 87):
One model of word meaning that has been proposed is known as 'componential analysis'. This approach to word meaning relies on an assumption that the meaning of a word can be analyzed in terms of a set of semantic features, many of which will form part of the description of other words in the same language.
Jeffries’ statement conforms to the notion about componential analysis proposed
earlier by Simpson (1997: 81):
One of the first attempts by linguists to explain semantic compatibility (and by imputation, semantic incompatibility) between lexemes is known as componential analysis. This type of analysis involves the sifting out of the subcomponents of meaning that make up the overall sense of a lexical item.
What is interesting here is that Simpson also note the aspect of sense made up by
the subcomponents of meaning, which leads to the next notion namely sense
relations. In other words, the sense of a word is correlated with other words that
According to Nida (1975: 32) in conducting the componential analysis two
important kinds of components or features should be identified. These
components are common component and diagnostic or distinctive component. The
common component, as mentioned by Nida, is the central component shared by
all the lexical items in the same semantic domain. The diagnostic or distinctive
components or features serve to distinguish the meaning of certain lexical items
from others within the same domain. Accordingly, the componential analysis can
be carried out to identify distinctive features of a lexical item.
2.1.4 Semantic Domain
Semantic domain is another term for semantic field. Semantic field as
suggested by Crystal (2008: 429) is an area or field where particular words are
organized, interrelated and defined each other in various ways. Hence, each of the
words which belong to the same semantic domain is studied in relation to other
words. The term semantic field is referred by Lehrer (1985: 397) as “a set of
lexemes which cover a certain conceptual domain and which bear certain
specifiable relations to one another.”
According to Nida (1975: 174) semantic domain consists essentially of a
group of meanings which share certain semantic components. Nida elaborates that
there are four principal semantic domains. These four domains are entities, events,
abstracts, and relationals. Nida points out that in terms of English parts of speech,
the domain of entities corresponds with nouns, events with verbs, abstracts with
adjectives, and relationals with prepositions.
Thus, each of these four domains is like a big division where certain
systematic and useful for the purpose of analysis especially in relation to lexical
aspects. Accordingly, the classification of lexical units based on their semantic
domains can be carried out initially before stepping into further analysis related to
the identification of semantic features to find out distinctive features of each
lexical unit.
2.1.5 Collocative Meaning
Leech (1981: 17) mentions, “COLLOCATIVE MEANING consists of the
associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to
occur in its environment.” Following is the exemplification given by Leech
concerning the notion of collocative meaning:
Pretty and handsome share common ground in the meaning 'good-looking', but may be distinguished by the range of nouns with which they are likely to co-occur or (to use the linguist's term) collocate:
girl boy
boy man
woman car
pretty flower handsome vessel garden overcoat colour airliner
village typewriter
Leech adds, “…handsome woman and pretty woman are both acceptable, although
they suggest a different kind of attractiveness because of the collocative
associations of the two adjectives.” The examples and illustration above suggest
semantic domain are crucial in determining their lexical partners to which they
collocate.
2.1.6 Collocability
Carter (1998: 38) states:
”Collocability describes the company a word keeps; that is, single words operate in a lexical environment of other words. We often know a word like lean because it collocates with meat. And some words can only be differentiated by citing their normal collocability range; for example, strong tea-- *powerful tea”
In the examples above, Carter suggests that the collocability of certain words with
their pairs, though apparently already established by frequent occurrences, seems
to be determined by the degree of lexical coreness, as he adds that, “..the more
core a lexical item is, the more partnerships it will contract with other lexical
items.” (1998: 38). In the examples above the word lean is more core or essential
than thin, and the word strong is more core than powerful. However, it seems that
Carter simply points out lexical coreness as the factor in relation to lexical
collocability. Carter barely discusses another factor such as the role of semantic
features in lexical collocability.
2.1.7 Semantic features
Wardhaugh (1977: 250) defines semantic feature as “a distinguishable
element of meaning in a lexical item; such as animate, human, or male.”
Richards et al (1985: 254) defines semantic features or semantic
components:
feature <+ adult> but other features are needed to make up the whole CONCEPT or SENSE of father. Often, semantic features are established by contrast and can be stated in terms of <+> and <—>, e.g.:
child <+ animate> <— adult>
man <+ animate> <+ adult> <+ male>
woman <+ animate> <+ adult> <— male>
The principle is in accordance with the notion concerning conceptual
meanings and contrastive features as Leech previously mentioned. Adding the
notion regarding semantic feature, Bolinger (1975: 198), states:
Feature analysis makes a fundamental assumption about meaning that is highly debatable: that features are contained in words. It is no
Bolinger suggests that examining lexical features is based on the assumption that
there are features contained in words. Identifying certain features can be carried
out by contrasting the meaning of two or more words. Hence, as well as using
synonymous words, antonymous words are also included for the purpose of
finding distinctive features of a lexical item.
Another term for semantic feature is semantic property as mentioned by
Fromkin (2000: 537), “A component of meaning of a word (e.g., ‘young’ is a
semantic property of baby, colt, puppy)”.
2.1.8 Words and Concepts
Leech (1981: 23) mentions that linguistic meaning can be broken into
seven types: conceptual, connotative, social, affective, reflected, collocative, and
23) defines conceptual meaning as logical, cognitive or denotative content. He
adds that conceptual meaning is the overt or face-value meaning of a text (1981:
43). Thus, it can be said that conceptual meaning usually derived from definitions
found in dictionaries. According to Leech (1981: 10),”…the conceptual meanings
of a language can be studied in terms of contrastive features, so that (for example)
the meaning of the word woman could be specified as + HUMAN, — MALE, +
ADULT…”
In line with Leech is the illustration by Cruse (2000: 128) concerning the
importance of concepts, “Each full lexical item directly activates a concept and
indirectly activates linked concepts…” Consequently, concepts seem to deal with
another aspect of a word, i.e. properties, as Cruse (2000: 129) adds “…the
meaning of a word consists of word-specific properties plus the properties of
associated concept”.
From the above proposition it is clear that there is a close connection
between words and concepts. In other words, a word is the concrete form of a
concept that is related with several other concepts. Hence, one word can contain
more than one concept. The understanding of the concepts contained in a word
will help us to fully comprehend about the meaning of a particular word.
2.1.9 The adjective exciting
The word exciting is an adjective derived from the verb excite. Hornby
(2005: 528) defines exciting as “causing great interest or excitement”. However,
the use of exciting should be carefully observed since in certain contexts it may
also lead to ambiguity as in the sentence: Exciting electrical machines is one of
functioning as a noun. The adjective exciting should be also differentiated from
excited as stated in Longman Language Activator (2009: 387). It is noted that
exciting is used to refer to things or situations that make someone feel excited,
while excited refers to how someone feels, as in these sentences: The adventure
was exciting. They were all excited.
2.1.10 Sense relations
According to Cruse (2000: 145), sense relations refer to semantic relation
between units of meaning. Cruse elaborates that sense relations can be viewed
from one of three major axes namely paradigmatic, syntagmatic, or derivational.
Paradigmatic relations as stated by Cruse (2000: 148) reflect the semantic choices
available at a particular structure point in a sentence. In other words, paradigmatic
relations concern in the lexical aspect while syntagmatic relations deal with syntax
or sentence structure.
This research applies paradigmatic relation of inclusion concerning the
aspect of synonymy. The application of synonymy is important particularly for
analyzing semantic features of lexical items. Cruse (2000: 159) emphasizes that
common features of certain synonyms are more salient when they are being
compared with one another.
2.2 Theoretical Framework
All of the semantic principles in the theoretical review apparently suggest
some kind of correlations underlying the nature of collocability of particular
words. Accordingly, this research focuses on finding the nature underlying the
particularly in accordance with their semantic features. Some semantic principles,
aspects and conditions may also play significant roles in generating such
collocability.
The notion of componential analysis of meaning combined with
paradigmatic sense relations provides a vision concerning the nature of concepts
consisted in words that consequently also lead to other aspects namely semantic
domains, semantic features, and lexical synonymy. In this research, componential
analysis, semantic domains, semantic features and lexical synonymy serve as
fundamental approaches to study the nature of the adjective exciting and its
nominal pairs.
Further examination on componential analysis, semantic domains,
semantic features, and lexical synonymy of the collected data should reveal
significant findings concerning the aspect of collocability of the adjective exciting
and its nominal pairs. In analyzing the research data, componential analysis is
used particularly to break down the lexical items into constituent components
where semantic features be identified.
Another essential point in accordance with the analysis is the principle of
collocational range and collocational restriction. These notions are important to
enrich the discussion concerning the partnership of the adjective exciting, in
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research deals with the field study of linguistic semantics concerning
lexical combination, especially the correlation of particular features contained in
the adjective exciting and its nominal pairs in determining their collocability.
3.1 Research Data
This research obtained the data from the British National Corpus (BNC).
In the process, a keyword was typed in the searching interface provided by the
BNC software. The used keyword was exciting. One reason of obtaining the data
from the BNC relied on Aston’s statement (1998: 5) concerning the BNC:
The British National Corpus (BNC) consists of a sample collection which aims to represent the universe of contemporary British English. Insofar as it attempts to capture the full range of varieties of language use, it is a balanced corpus rather than a register-specific or dialect-specific one; it is also a mixed corpus, containing both written texts and spoken ones — transcriptions of naturally-occurring speech.
As implied from the name of the corpus used as a source of data, all the collected
research data are from British English. Besides using separate software in
collecting the data, accessing the data was also done through the online site of the
BNC.
The nature of this research was a descriptive qualitative using a
corpus-based analysis. Biber, Conrad, and Reppen (1998: 4) mention about the essential
characteristics of corpus-based analyses, which among others are: empirical,
analyzing the actual patterns of use in natural texts; utilizes a large and principled
3.2 Data Collection
In determining the data used in this research, the dictionary research was
done initially. Since the research deals with the problem in regard to the
attributive use of the adjective exciting, the dictionary definition of the adjective
in concerned was studied to find its meaning and the examples which show the
pairing of exciting with certain nouns.
The data from BNC were searched and collected to confirm the data in the
dictionary. In searching the data, this research used BNC software which
displayed the data in the form of sentences containing the adjective exciting that
followed immediately by the noun pairs or the noun pairs were preceded by
clauses that came after the adjective exciting. These data were downloaded and
converted into the Microsoft word document.
The next step was finding particular combinations of the adjective exciting
and its pairs. The searched combinations varied from the familiar ones to the odd
ones. This research picked out the common combinations to be analyzed. This
research treated the data consisting less familiar and odd combinations as
comparative items in the course of discussion.
3.3 Research Procedure
The elaboration of this research procedure is as follows:
1. Studying the theories regarding the semantics and semantic features along with
the notion of collocation, collocability, semantic clash, word combination, sense
2. Studying the meaning of exciting as found in English dictionary and other
corresponding adjectives which share similar concepts.
3. The semantic domain and features contained in the adjective exciting and other
corresponding adjectives are studied and discussed.
4. Studying the English collocation dictionary to find the definition of the
adjective exciting and the attributive use of the adjective exciting along with the
nouns that paired with it.
5. Making a list of the nouns which commonly paired with the adjective exciting
as found in the dictionary or heard in everyday life.
6. Searching common attributive combination containing exciting and particular
nouns in the British National Corpus. The attributive combinations of exciting and
its noun pairs were found within lines of sentences.
7. Sorting out the BNC data in the form of sentences and arranged them in tables.
The phrases which showed attributive use of exciting and its noun pairs were
highlighted.
8. The phrases which showed the attributive use of exciting and its noun pairs
were arranged in a separate table. The adjective exciting and the nouns were
analyzed to find the semantic features and the noun category.
9. Some theories that included word association, sense relations, and
componential analysis were referred and applied to analyze the nouns which
collocate with the adjective exciting.
10. The nouns that collocate with the adjective exciting were explored and
11. The semantic domains of the nominal pairs or collocates of the adjective
exciting were identified.
12. The lexical items that occur in the texts and provide positive context for the
nominal collocates of exciting were explored.
13. The semantic features or characteristics of the nominal pairs that determined
their collocability with exciting were discussed.
14. Conclusions regarding the analysis on exciting and its nominal collocates of
CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS
The discussion in this chapter focuses on finding the answers for the two
questions presented in the problem formulation. The answers of these questions
will be the particular semantic features possessed by the adjective exciting and its
nominal pairs. As part of the process toward achieving the answers, this section
will discuss the semantic domain of the adjective exciting and the particular
features of exciting. The semantic domain and features of the nominal pairs of
exciting will also be discussed.
4.1 Semantic domain and features of the adjective exciting
According to Cruse (2000: 128) “each full lexical item directly activates a
concept and indirectly activates link concepts...” Cruse’s proposition suggests that
there is at least a concept contained in a word. The notion concerning
word-concept relation is noted by Langacker as cited by Cruse that word-concepts only make
sense when viewed against the background of certain domains, which are usually
themselves concepts of a more general and inclusive nature. Langacker suggests
that a concept is covered by a bigger concept.
Nida (1975: 174) previously proposed the term semantic domain in
discussing the issue concerning word-concept relation. Semantic domain, as stated
by Nida, consists essentially of a group of meanings which share certain semantic
components. Nida mentioned that there are four main semantic domains namely
entities, events, abstract, and relationals. Under these main domains are
The first step in this analysis is identifying the semantic domain that
covers the adjective exciting before proceeding to further discussions that concern
with the semantic features of the adjective exciting. Several semantic domains
presented by Nida among others include the domain of Abstracts (1975: 186).
This domain has some sub domains, and one of them is Attractiveness where the
adjective exciting belongs to. The figure below shows the relation of the domain,
sub domain, and its member.
Figure 1.
Other lexemes which belong to the same sub domain (Attractiveness) as
exciting can be put in the member box above. Referring to dictionary definition
there are several lexemes which belong to the sub domain of Attractiveness and
share similar concepts or common components with exciting. However, there are
diagnostic components or features contained in each of these lexemes that make
them distinctive to one another. These lexemes are interesting, fascinating,
provoking, stimulating, enticing, thrilling, exhilarating.
Following are the meanings of each of these lexemes as stated in Oxford
Learner’s Thesaurus (2008); exciting: causing great interest or excitement,
enthusiasm and eagerness, interesting: attracting your attention because it is
exciting, unusual or full of good ideas; fascinating: extremely interesting or
attractive; provoking: causing reaction in an angry way; stimulating: making Abstracts
Attractiveness
something develop or become more active, encouraging something; enticing:
attractive and interesting that one want to have it; thrilling: exciting and
enjoyable, is used particularly to talk about contests and stories where the ending
is uncertain; exhilarating: very exciting and enjoyable, is used particularly to talk
about physical activities that involve speed and/or danger. According to Oxford
(2008: 260) the adjective exciting can be used to talk about any activity,
experience, feeling or event that excites someone. It notes that exciting is the most
general compared to thrilling and exhilarating.
Based on the definition above the common components and diagnostic components of the adjective exciting and other lexemes which belong to the same semantic domain of attractiveness can be illustrated by the following table.
Table 1.
fascinating, provoking, stimulating, enticing, thrilling, and exhilarating,
[attractiveness] is the common component or features. These adjectives are
[involving visual attention], [degree adverb: extremely], [causing reaction
negatively], [causing development], [attractive], [offering reward], [exciting and
enjoyable], [related to events], [related to experience], [involving physical
activity], [usage: general word], [encouraging], [motivating activeness],
[involving speed], [involving danger], [involving uncertainty], [full of good ideas]
Using the semantic features notation, the meanings of each lexical item can be presented by combining the common components and diagnostic components or features, as follows:
exciting [+ attractiveness] [+enthusiasm] [+ eagerness] [+ related to events] [+ related to experience] [+ usage: mostgeneral word]
interesting [+ attractiveness] [+ involving visual attention] [+ full of good ideas]
fascinating [+ attractiveness] [+extremely interesting] [+ degree adverb:
extremely]
provoking [+ attractiveness] [+causing reaction negatively]
stimulating [+ attractiveness] [+ causing development] [+ encouraging] [+ motivating activeness]
enticing [+ attractiveness] [+ attractive] [+ offering reward]
thrilling [+ attractiveness] [+ exciting and enjoyable] [+ related to events] [+ related to experience] [+ involving uncertainty]
exhilarating [+ attractiveness] [+ involving physical activity] [+ involving speed] [+ involving danger]
The presentation shows that there are distinctive features contained in the
adjective exciting which are enthusiasm, eagerness, event and experience related,
and its attribute of usage as being the most general word compared to other
4.2 Semantic domain and features of the nominal pairs of the adjective
exciting
This research collects a number of nouns from the British National Corpus
(BNC) as the research data. These nouns are adventure, challenge, climax,
contest, development, discovery, film, life, news, programme, story, game, time,
performance, experience, competition, and project. The complete data are placed
in the appendices of this thesis. In this section, the semantic domains and
components of these nouns will be identified. The identification of the semantic
domain of each noun is obtained through the reading on dictionary definitions of
the meaning contained in each noun.
As stated in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (2005), the definitions
of these nouns are as follows.
adventure: 1. [c] an unusual, exciting or dangerous experience, journey or series of events. 2. [u] excitement and the willingness to take risks, try new ideas, etc.
challenge: 1. a new or difficult task that tests somebody’s ability and skill. 2. an invitation or a suggestion to somebody that they should enter a competition, fight, etc. 3. challenge (to something) a statement or an action that shows that somebody refuses to accept something and questions whether it is right, legal, etc.
climax: 1.the most exciting or important event or point in time. 2. the most exciting part of a play, piece of music, etc. that usually happens near the end. 3. the highest point of sexual pleasure.
development: 1. [u] the gradual growth of something so that it becomes more advanced, stronger, etc. 2. [u, c] the process of producing or creating something new or more advanced. 3. [c] a new event or stage that is likely to affect what happens in a continuing situation.
discovery: 1. [c, u] discovery (of something), an act or the process of finding somebody/something, or learning about something that was not known about before. 2. [c] a thing, fact or person that is found or learned about for the first time.
film: 1. [c] a series of moving pictures recorded with sound that tells a story, shown on television or at the cinema/movie theater. 2 [u] moving pictures of real events, shown for example on television.
life: 1. [u] the ability to breathe, grow, reproduce, etc. which people, animals and plants have before they die and which objects do not have. 2. [u, c] the state of being alive as a human; an individual person’s existence. 3. [c, u] the period between somebody’s birth and their death.
news: 1. new information about something that has happened recently. 2. reports of recent events that appear in newspapers or on television or radio. 3. a regular television or radio broadcast of the latest news.
programme: a plan of things that will be done or included in the development of something. 2. something that people watch on television or listen to on the radio. 3. a thin book or a piece of paper that gives you information about a play, a concert, etc. 4. an organized order of performances or events. 5. a course of study.
past events or of how something has developed. 4. a report in a newspaper, magazine or news broadcast.
game: 1. [c] an activity or a sport with rules in which people or teams compete against each other.
time: 1. [u] what is measured in minutes, hours, days, etc. 2. [u] the time shown on a clock in minutes and hours. 3. [u, c] time (to do something), the time when something happens or when something should happen. 4. a period of time, either long or short, during which you do something or something happens. 5. [u, pl.] a period of history connected with particular events or experiences in people’s lives. 6. [c] an occasion when you do something or when something happens. 7. [c] an event or occasion that you experience in a particular way.
performance: 1. [c] the act of performing a play, concert or some other form of entertainment.. 2. [c] the way a person performs in a play, concert, etc. 3. [u, c] how well or badly you do something; how well or badly something works. 4. [u, sing.] the act or process of performing a task, an action, etc. 5. an act that involves a lot of effort or trouble, sometimes when it is not necessary.
experience: 1. [u] the knowledge and skill that you have gained through doing something for a period of time; the process of gaining this. 2. [u] the things that have happened to you that influence the way you think and behave. 3. [c] experience (of something) an event or activity that affects you in some way.
As shown by Table 2, in the semantic domain of adventure, challenge,
climax, contest, development, discovery, film, life, news, programme, story, game,
time, performance, experience, competition, and project, [event] and [activity] are
the common components or features. Each of these nouns is distinguished by the
diagnostic components which are [involving experience] [involving journey]
[evoking excitement] [risky] [related to difficult task]
[related to competition] [testing ability and skills] [related to a play, a show]
[highest point of a period] [related sexual pleasure] [involving struggle]
[related to growth and process] [process of finding][moving pictures][related to
living things] [information, report] [involving planning] [related to the past]
[involving rules] [related to sport] [related to entertainment] [involving quality]
[related to the present]
Using the semantic features notation, the meanings of each lexical item can be presented by including the common components and diagnostic components or features, as follows:
adventure [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving experience] [+involving journey] [+ evoking excitement] [+ risky]
challenge [+ event] [+ activity] [+ related to difficult task] [+ related to competition] [+ testing ability and skills]
climax [+ event] [+ activity] [+ highest point of a period] [+ evoking excitement] [+related to sexual pleasure]
contest [+ event] [+ activity] [+ related to competition] [+ testing ability and skills] [+involving struggle]
development [+ event] [+ activity] [+ related to growth and process]
film [+ event] [+ activity] [+ moving pictures][+ related to a play, a show]
life [+ event] [+ activity] [+ related to living things]
news [+ event] [+ activity] [+ information, report]
programme [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving planning]
story [+ event] [+ activity] [+ related to the past]
game [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving rules][+ related to sport]
time [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving experience] [+ related to the past] [+related to the present]
performance [+ event] [+ activity] [+ related to entertainment] [+ involving quality]
experience [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving experience] [+ involving journey]
competition [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving struggle]
project [+ event] [+ activity] [+ involving planning]
4.3. Lexical synonymy and the features of the nominal pairs of the adjective
exciting
As stated previously by Cruse (2000: 159) that common features of certain
synonyms are more salient when being compared with one another. Therefore the
application of synonymy is important for analyzing semantic features of lexical
items.
4.3.1 Synonyms of adventure
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of adventure as defined in
Synonyms: enterprise, experience, happening, hazard, incident, jeopardy, occurrence, trip, undertaking, venture
Antonyms: inaction, inactivity, inertia, latency, passiveness, stillness
Referring to Simpson’s pattern of componential analysis, the lexeme
adventure can be broken down into components which include some of its
synonyms and antonyms:
adventure [+event] [+activity] [+motion] [+experience] [+venture] [-inactivity] [-passiveness] [-stillness]
4.3.2 Synonyms of challenge
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of challenge as defined in
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: confrontation, defiance, demanding, protest, provocation, summons to contest, threat
Antonyms: submission, surrender
The lexeme challenge then can be broken down into the following
components:
challenge [+event] [+activity] [+motion] [+confrontation] [+defiance] [-submission] [-surrender]
4.3.3 Synonyms of climax
The following are the synonyms of climax as defined in Roget's 21st
Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: ascendancy, intensification, orgasm, pitch, turning point
The lexeme climax can be broken down into the following components:
4.3.4 Synonyms of contest
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of contest as defined in
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: challenge, game, match, meet, meeting, proving, sport,testing, tournament, trying, action, conflict, striving
Antonyms: calm, peace, quiet, stillness, tranquility
The lexeme contest can be broken down into components as follows:
contest [+action] [+activity] [+motion] [+challenge] [-calm] [-passiveness] [-stillness]
4.3.5 Synonyms of development
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of development as defined
in Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: advancement, buildup, expansion, flowering, improvement, increasing, progression, spreading
Antonyms: decline, decrease, stoppage
The lexeme development can be broken down into components:
development [+advancement] [+activity] [+motion]
[-stoppage] [-inactivity] [-passiveness] [-stillness]
4.3.6 Semantic features of the noun discovery
The following are the synonyms of discovery as defined in Roget's 21st
Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: experimentation, exploration, invention, sighting
The lexeme discovery can be broken down into components:
4.3.7 Synonyms of film
The following are the synonyms of film as defined in Roget's 21st Century
Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: cinema, motion picture, moving picture, show
The lexeme film can be broken down into components:
film [+event] [+show] [+motion] [+entertainment]
4.3.8 Semantic features of the noun life
The following are the synonyms of life as defined in Roget's 21st Century
Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: activity, energy, enthusiasm, excitement, impulse, vigor, vitality, period, course
Antonyms inanimacy, death
The lexeme life can be broken down into components as follows:
life [+period] [+activity] [+liveliness] [+vitality] [-death] [-inactivity] [-inanimacy]
4.3.9 Synonyms of news
The following are the synonyms of news as defined in Roget's 21st
Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: information, announcement, broadcast, enlightenment, message, narration, report
The lexeme news can be broken down into components:
4.3.10 Synonyms of programme
The following are the synonyms of programme as defined in Roget's 21st
Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: broadcast, presentation, production, show, agenda, plan, happenings
The lexeme programme can be broken down into components:
programme [+event] [+activity] [+show] [+plan] [+presentation]
4.3.11 Synonyms of story
The following are the synonyms of story as defined in Roget's 21st
Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: article, drama, information, narration, news item
The lexeme story can be broken down into components:
story [+event] [+article] [+drama] [+narration] [+information]
4.3.12 Synonyms of game
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of game as defined in
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: competition, contest, match, meeting, round, tournament
Antonyms: idleness, inaction, inactivity, inertia, rest, stoppage
The lexeme game can be broken down into components:
4.3.13. Synonyms of time
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of time as defined in
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: chronology, continuance, duration, life, moment, occasion, pace, stage
Antonyms: inaction, inactivity, inertia, latency, passiveness, stillness
The lexeme time can be broken down into components:
time [+event] [+activity] [+motion] [+duration] [+occasion] [-inactivity] [-passiveness] [-stillness]
4.3.14 Synonyms of performance
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of performance as defined
in Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: accomplishment, achievement, act, work, concert, display, drama, exhibition, presentation, show
Antonyms: failure, lack of success
The lexeme performance can be broken down into components:
performance [+event] [+activity] [+achievement] [+work] [+show] [-failure] [-unsuccessful]
4.3.15 Synonyms of experience
The following are the synonyms and antonyms of experience as defined in
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (Thesaurus.com, 2011):
Synonyms: adventure, episode, event, incident, ordeal, test, trial, trip
Antonyms: inaction, inactivity, inertia, latency, passiveness, stillness
