Semantic field

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In linguistics, a semantic field is a lexical set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.[1][2] The term is also used in anthropology,[3] computational semiotics,[4] and technical exegesis.[5]

Definition and usage

Brinton (2000: p. 112) defines "semantic field" or "semantic domain" and relates the linguistic concept to

hyponymy
:

Related to the concept of hyponymy, but more loosely defined, is the notion of a semantic field or domain. A semantic field denotes a segment of reality symbolized by a set of related words. The words in a semantic field share a common semantic property.[6]

A general and intuitive description is that words in a semantic field are not necessarily synonymous, but are all used to talk about the same general phenomenon.[7] Synonymy requires the sharing of a sememe or seme, but the semantic field is a larger area surrounding those. A meaning of a word is dependent partly on its relation to other words in the same conceptual area.[8] The kinds of semantic fields vary from culture to culture and anthropologists use them to study belief systems and reasoning across cultural groups.[7]

Andersen (1990: p.327) identifies the traditional usage of "semantic field" theory as:

Traditionally, semantic fields have been used for comparing the lexical structure of different languages and different states of the same language.[9]

History

The origin of the field theory of semantics is the

Sue Atkins and Charles J. Fillmore in the 1990s proposed frame semantics as an alternative to semantic field theory.[12]

Semantic shifts

Main article: Semantic change

The semantic field of a given word shifts over time. The English word "man" used to mean "human being" exclusively, while today it predominantly means "adult male," but its semantic field still extends in some uses to the generic "human" (see Mannaz).

Overlapping semantic fields are problematic, especially in

polysemous words) are often untranslatable, especially with all their connotations. Such words are frequently loaned instead of translated. Examples include "chivalry" (literally "horsemanship", related to "cavalry"), "dharma" (literally, "support"), and "taboo
".

Anthropological discourse

Semantic field theory has informed the discourse of Anthropology as Ingold (1996: p. 127) relates:

Semiology is not, of course, the same as semantics. Semiology is based on the idea that signs have meaning in relation to each other, such that a whole society is made up of relationally held meanings. But semantic fields do not stand in relations of opposition to each other, nor do they derive their distinctiveness in this way, nor indeed are they securely bounded at all. Rather, semantic fields are constantly flowing into each other. I may define a field of religion, but it soon becomes that of ethnic identity and then of politics and selfhood, and so on. In the very act of specifying semantic fields, people engage in an act of closure whereby they become conscious of what they have excluded and what they must therefore include.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-8264-6096-8
  2. ISBN 3-11-016416-7
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-415-15020-0. Source: [1]
    (accessed: Sunday May 2, 2010), p.127
  4. ISBN 978-0-521-39336-2. Source: [2]
    (accessed: Sunday May 2, 2010), p.327
  5. ^ DA Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, section "Expansion of an Expanded Semantic Field"
  6. ^ Brinton, Laurel J. (2000). The structure of modern English: a linguistic introduction. Illustrated edition. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    ISBN 9789027225672. Source: [3]
    (accessed: Sunday May 2, 2010), p.112
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-262-51123-1
  8. ISBN 0-7923-2786-1
  9. ISBN 978-0-521-39336-2. Source: [4]
    (accessed: Sunday May 2, 2010), p.327
  10. ^
    ISBN 0-7923-3711-5
  11. ISBN 0-262-19439-2
  12. ISBN 3-11-016416-7
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