Generic-Specific Lexical Relation

Another name for the generic-specific lexical relation is hyponymy. Hyponymy involves the association between a:

• hyponym—a more semantically complex, specific lexical unit (X)
• superordinate—a less semantically complex, general lexical unit (Y)

X is a hyponym of Y if:

• the sentence "X is necessarily Y" is normal, but
• the sentence "Y is necessarily X" is not normal.

Example: "Parrot" is a hyponym of "bird" since:

• the sentence "A parrot is necessarily a bird" is normal, but
• the sentence *"A bird is necessarily a parrot" is not normal.

(English)

Natural (taxonomic)	Nominal
For animate things: Appaloosa Arabian Tennessee walker	gelding mare stallion
For artifacts: Baldwin Steinway Yamaha	grand upright
For actions: crawl run walk	dance drive travel
For attributes: blue red yellow	crimson pink scarlet