A3. Lexical Relations - Tree

✅ Summary: Lexical Relations – Tree Structure (Lesson A3)

This lesson introduces lexical relations that follow a tree structure — one of four foundational types in lexicography (along with simple set, scale, and pair structures). Tree-based lexical relations are characterized by hierarchical or inclusion relationships among lexical entries.

🔹 Types of Tree-Structure Lexical Relations

1. Generic-Specific (Hyponymy)
   
   

   • A general term (generic/hypernym) relates to more specific terms (hyponyms).
     
     

   • Example: animal → {dog, cat, lion, mouse, tiger}
     
     

   • Predefined in FLEx as a Sense Tree.
     
     

2. Whole-Part (Meronymy)
   
   

   • A “whole” concept is linked to its components or parts.
     
     

   • Example: house → {window, wall, door, roof}
     
     

   • Also predefined in FLEx at the sense level.
     
     

3. Classifier-Classified Noun
   
   

   • Common in languages with classifiers (e.g., Chinese, Vietnamese).
     
     

   • Example: grain(s) of {rice, salt, sand}; slice(s) of {bread, meat}
     
     

   • Supported in FLEx using Sense Tree reference.
     
     

🔧 Practical Activities in FLEx

• Adding specifics to a generic (e.g., adding tiger under animal)
  
  

• Linking from a specific back to a generic (e.g., from mouse to animal)
  
  

• Creating whole-part relationships (e.g., window, roof as parts of house)
  
  

• Deleting elements from a tree structure either partially or entirely
  
  

• Adding classified nouns via predefined relation types
  
  

🧠 Key Concepts

• All three tree-based relations are predefined in FLEx and use the Sense Tree reference type.
  
  

• Deleting the generic/whole removes the entire tree, while deleting a specific/part removes only that item.
  
  

• FLEx auto-sorts parts alphabetically in the preview pane, regardless of the order they were entered.
  
  

📘 Further Reading & Resources

• SIL Glossary:
  Lexical relation: tree structure
  
  

• Recommended sources: Bartholomew & Schoenhals (2019), Coward & Grimes (2000), Roberts et al. (2014)
  
  

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