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The Linguistic Structure of Modern English

The document discusses lexical fields, which are groups of related words that share a common semantic property and refer to a segment of reality. Lexical fields can be organized based on subject matter, hierarchy, sequence, or other relationships. Examples of lexical fields provided include parts of the face, stages of life, types of water, articles of clothing, and types of jewelry. Each field contains both marked and unmarked members.

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481 views4 pages

The Linguistic Structure of Modern English

The document discusses lexical fields, which are groups of related words that share a common semantic property and refer to a segment of reality. Lexical fields can be organized based on subject matter, hierarchy, sequence, or other relationships. Examples of lexical fields provided include parts of the face, stages of life, types of water, articles of clothing, and types of jewelry. Each field contains both marked and unmarked members.

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6/13/2019 The Linguistic Structure of Modern English

CHAPTER 6

Lexical Semantics

Exercise 6.4 Lexical Fields

Related to the concept of hyponymy, but more loosely defined, is the notion of a
lexical field. A lexical field denotes a segment of reality symbolized by a set of
related words. The words in a semantic field share a common semantic property.
Most often, fields are defined by subject matter, such as body parts, landforms,
diseases, colors, foods, or kinship relations. Internally, these may be organized as a
hierarchy (e.g., royalty, military ranks), as a meronymy (e.g., body parts), as a
sequence (e.g., numbers), or or as a cycle (e.g., days of the week, months of the
year), as well as with no discernible order. A thesaurus is generally organized
according to substantive fields (although it also makes use of hyponymy and
synonymy).
The words which are part of a lexical field enter into sense or meaning
relationships with one another. Each word delimits the meaning of the next word in
the field and is delimited by it; that is, it marks off an area or range within the
semantic domain. However, there may be a fair amount of overlap in meaning
between words in a domain, and it is often difficult to find mutually delimiting
terms. Within a domain, some words are marked, while some are unmarked; the
unmarked members are more frequent, more basic, broader in meaning, easier to
learn and remember, not metaphorical, and typically one morpheme or single
lexical item. The marked members often consist of more than one lexical item and
may denote a subtype of the unmarked member.
Let's consider some examples of lexical fields. The field of “parts of the face”
(see the table below, part a) is a substantive field of part to whole. Terms within the
field are arranged spatially and quite clearly delimited, though there is some
overlap between terms such as forehead and temple. Terms such as bridge of the
nose or eyelids would constitute marked members of the field. The field of “stages
of life” (see b) is arranged sequentially, though there is considerable overlap

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6/13/2019 The Linguistic Structure of Modern English

between terms (e.g., child, toddler) as well as some apparent gaps (e.g., there are
no simple terms for the different stages of adulthood). Note that a term such a
minor or juvenile belongs to a technical register, a term such as kid or tot to a
colloquial register, and a term such as sexagenarian or octogenarian to a more
formal register. The semantic field of “water” (see c) could be divided into a
number of subfields; in addition, there would appear to be a great deal of overlap
between terms such as sound/fjord or cove/harbor/bay. The semantic field of
“clothing” (see d) is a particularly rich one, with many unmarked terms (such as
dress or pants) as well as many marked terms (such as pedal-pushers or smoking
jacket). The field of clothing might be organized in many different ways – by sex of
wearer, by occasion of wearing, by body part covered, and so on. Finally, the field of
“jewelry” (see e) would seem to include quite well-delimited terms, with a number
of unmarked terms.
Examples of lexical fields: (a) Parts of the Face, (b) Stages of Life, (c) Water, (d)
Clothing, and (e) Jewelry
a. parts of the face
forehead brow temples
nose nostrils bridge/tip of the nose
septum mouth lips
eyes eyebrows eyelids eyelashes
chin cheeks jaw jowls
b. stages of life

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new-born young adult


infant adult
nursling, suckling grown up person
baby, babe middle aged person
child, kid senior citizen
toddler, tot mature person
preschooler aged person
youngster senior citizen, senior
adolescent old {lady, man, person}
youth sexagenarian
lad/lass septuagenarian
preteen octogenarian
teenager, teen nonagenarian
juvenile, minor centenarian
c. water
forms: ice, water, steam, vapor, sleet, rain, snow, hail
bodies of water: ditch, slough, swamp, narrows, strait, inlet, bight, ___bayou,
brine, deep, firth, loch, tarn, well, reservoir, firth, pool, sea, ___ocean, lake,
pond, bay, inlet, estuary, fjord, sound, gulf, lagoon, ___cove, harbor
water in motion: creek, river, waves, billows, stream, rain, brook, ___rivulet,
tributary, spring
frozen water: ice, snow, crystal, sleet, hail, icicle, iceberg, rime, ___hoarfrost,
glacier
gas: vapor, steam
d. clothing

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dress (cocktail-, strapless-, shirtwaist-) gown (evening-, ball-)


toga shift jumper smock
jumpsuit suit pantsuit sports coat
vest pajamas nightgown smoking jacket
bathrobe tee-shirt shirt blouse
undershirt turtleneck pants/slacks trousers
shorts knickers cut-offs skorts
culottes skirt peddle-pushers bloomers
underwear panties brassière girdle
hat cap beret tam
toque scarf headband earmuffs
belt tie suspenders gaiters, spats
socks tights pantyhose stockings
gloves mittens muff muffler
shawl cape coat (sports-, rain-, over-, top-, lab-)
jacket parka wind-breaker anorak
sweater pullover cardigan apron
e. jewelry
ring earring nose-ring brooch
watch wristwatch pocket-watch stud
pin pendant necklace choker
crown tiara bracelet anklet
cufflinks stick-pin tie-clasp belt buckle

Now try to list the possible members of the following semantic fields:
1. vocalization
2. types of roads
3. personality traits

Show Key

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