Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Development Lexical Relation

Definition: 

A development lexical relation is an association between lexical units which refers to stages or steps in a process involving change such as

  • expansion, and
  • growth.

 

Underlying structure:
 

A development set has the structure of a scale.

 
See:

What is a lexical relation with a scale structure for other examples of similar lexical relations in English.

 

Introduction: 

Understanding the development lexical relation is important for using words which refer to the

  • natural stages of growth and change in living things, and
  • evolvement or expansion of nonliving things of which humans are the agents.
Examples: 

(English)

Growth

  • {newborn, infant, toddler, child, adolescent, adult}
  • {seed, bud, flower}

Process

  • {ember, spark, flame, blazing fire}
  • {planning, design, implementation, production, evaluation}