Taxonomy

A taxonymy is a specific type of hyponymy. It holds only between pairs of predicates that stand in a 'type of' or 'sort of' relation to each other. For example, the relationship between the hyperonym 'animal' and the hyponyms 'dog' and 'cat' in an instance of a taxonymy because a dog as well as a cat is a type of animal. By contrast, the the relationship between the hyperonym 'woman' and the hyponyms 'queen' and 'mother' does not instatiate a taxonymy, as neither a queen nor a mother is 'a type of woman'.

References

• Cruse, A. 2004. Meaning in Language. An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.