Class BPD Group: 3 Subject :

SEMANTICS
Topic :

SEMANTICS FIELDS
Group 1: o Trn Th M Thun o L Th M Trc o Trn Thu Trang o L Th Kim Phng Content:
1.

Definition Ways of organising semantically similar items into semantic fields Exercises

2. 3.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.

DEFINITION: a. A semantic field (also referred to as a lexical field or a lexical set.) is the organization of related words and expressions into a system which shows their relationship to one another. Ex1. The semantic field of kinship terms: father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, etc. Ex2: The semantic field of adjectives describing human emotional states: angry, sad, happy, depressed, afraid, etc. Ex3: The semantic field of parts of the face: forehead, temple, brow, nose, bridge of the nose, mouth, ect b. Each word delimits the meaning of the next word in the field and is delimited by it; that is, it mark off an area within the semantic domain. However, there is a lot of overlap in meaning between words in a domain. Ex: The field of "parts of the face" is a field of part to whole. Terms within the field are quite clearly delimited, though there is some overlap between terms such as forehead and temple. c. Within a domain, some words are marked, while some are unmarked. The unmarked members are more basic, broader in meaning, easier to learn and remember and single lexical item. The marked members often consist of more than one lexical item and may show a subtype of the unmarked members
1

Ex: The field of "parts of the face" is a field of part to whole. Terms within the field are quite clearly delimited, though there is some overlap between terms such as forehead and temple. Terms such as bridge of the nose or eyelids are marked members of the field.

2. WAYS

OF ORGANISING SEMANTICS FIELDS.

SEMANTICALLY

SIMILAR

ITEMS

INTO

There are various ways according to which semantically similar items are related to one another: a. Items related by topics: Types of fruit: apple, orange, grape, banana, pear, plums, etc. Pieces of furniture: seats, tables, beds, storage, etc. Terms of colour: blue, red, yellow, green, black, white, etc. b. Items similar in meaning: Ways of cooking: stew, boil, fry, steam, roast, grill, smoke, etc. Ways of looking: gaze, glance, stare, etc. c. Items which form pairs of antonyms: long/short, light/heavy, alive/dead, love/hate, approve/disapprove, approve/disapprove, begin/end, inside/outside, upstairs/downstairs, etc. d.Items which form pairs or trios of synonyms: smart/bright/intelligent, conserve/preserve/safeguard, fix/repair/mend, kind/sort/type/variety, happy/glad, etc. e. Items grouped as an activity or a process: Do the housework: clean the rooms, do the washing, iron the clothes, get the food, prepare a meal, wash up, etc. Do research: make hypotheses, collect data, analyze data, get results and come to conclusions. f. Items classified according to: Sex: Male: waiter, tiger, actor, host, landlord, sir, etc. Female: waitress, tigress, actress, hostess, landlady, madam, etc. Age: grown-ups, adults, elderly people, middle-aged people, teenagers, children, infants, babies, etc.

3.

EXERCISES:
2

a. Organise the given words (and probably those of your own) into three semantic fields: shirts, end, forward(s), new, hats, lend, coats, shorts, beginning, trousers, amble, out, limp, tiptoe, plod, socks, trudge, borrow, stomp, stump, old, backward(s), and tramp. b. List the possible members of the following semantics fields

1. Weather 2. School subjects 3. Stages of life