A lexical pragmatic analysis of the sense relations in Kimeru

Abstract

The focus of this study is to analyze sense relation III Kimeru. The analysis was based on lexical pragmatics as proposed by Blutner Reinhard in 1990. This study aimed at finding out differences and similarities in the sense relations involving corresponding lexical items in English and Kimeru. The investigation was done to test the claims about universality of sense relations. The study takes account of the relevant context, which is very important in interpreting meanings of words, sentences and utterances. Relevant contexts have been used to disambiguate the various lexical items occurring in Kimeru. This is explained in chapters two, three and four. Chapter two discusses synonymy III Kimeru, which IS realized through similarities of word meaning. Chapter three examines homonyms and polysemy in Kimeru with differences between the two closely related senses being discussed. A major finding in this chapter is that lexical items in Kimeru are cultural bound. Chapter four analyses hyponymy, which involves the inclusion of sense components. In the analyses we employed context to disambiguate various levels of meaning demonstrated as super-ordinate, basic and subordinate levels in Kimeru. The super¬ordinate terms create ambiguity thus the subordinate terms are employed to disambiguate the sentences. Chapter five concludes the study, pointing out that semantics IS inadequate in analyzing sense relations in Kimeru. In our analysis we established that a pragmatic enrichment through an appropriate context is adequate in analyzing the sense relations. Kimeru does not demonstrate any absolute lexical relations. It, for instance does not have absolute synonyms or absolute homonyms. The principles at work in the analysis were economy principle, compositionality principle and maxim of quantity.