基于语义学理论的英语词汇学习及引力波的实验探测给我们的启示

基于语义学理论的英语词汇学习摘要：词汇学习在外语学习中的重要性不言而喻。现在，词汇学习已经成为了所有语言学习的一个非常重要的部分。语义学是一门崭新的学科，把语义学用于英语学习更是一个全新的内容。本论文主要试图从语义学中两个重要理论，即语义场理论和语义成分分析出发把语义学理论引入英语学习之中，用语义学的原理认识词汇，从而运用更加科学有效的方法提高词汇学习，并从中总结和找出一定的规律，这对提高我们学生学习英语的兴趣，提高掌握英语词汇的能力，进而更好地、恰当地并且得体地使用词汇，都有重要的现实意义。这种理论与实践的结合是很有意义的。关键词：英语词汇学习；语义学；语义场理论；语义成分分析CONTENTSIntroduction 11. BackgroundofVocabularyLearninginEnglishStudy 21.1TheImportanceofVocabularyinEnglishLearning 21.1.1TheDefinitionandFunctionofVocabulary 21.1.2TheImportantStatusofVocabularyinLearningEnglish 21.2ThePresentSituationofVocabularyLearninginChina 31.2.1SomeResearchaboutVocabularyLearning 31.2.2TheMainProblemsinLearningVocabulary…………….…..31.3SomeTraditionalMethodologiesaboutHowtoLearnVocabulary 41.3.1ToLearntheMeaningofWordsThroughNaturalContext 41.3.2PayAttentiontotheChangeofWordMeaning—MultimeaningWords 51.3.3FollowtheMemoryRule 61.3.4Don’tLearnEnglishWordsinOne-to-OneCorrespondencetoChineseWords 62.VocabularyLearningfromaSemanticPerspective 72.1TheRelationshipofSemanticsFieldTheoryandVocabularyLearning 72.1.1HomonymyRelations 92.1.2PolysemyRelations 92.1.3SynonymyRelations 92.1.4Opposites(Antonymy)Relations 102.1.5HyponymyRelations 112.1.6MeronymyRelations 112.2TheRelationshipofComponentialAnalysisandVocabularyLearning 122.2.1TheDefinitionofComponentialAnalysis 122.2.2TheFunctionofComponentialAnalysis 123.Conclusion……………13Bibliography……………16IntroductionLanguageisasystemofvocal-auditorycommunicationinteractingwiththeexperienceofitsusers,employingconventionalsignscomposedofarbitrarilypatternedsoundunitsandassembledaccordingtosetrules.Andvocabularyseemstobeanessentialelementofalanguage.Ofthefourbasicskill:listening,speaking,readingandwriting,vocabularyplaysanindispensablepartinthedevelopmentofall.Vocabularyservesalltheothersyllabuses.Wilkins,afamousBritishlinguist,onceclaimthat“withoutgrammar,verylittlecanbeconveyed;withoutvocabulary,nothingcanbeconveyed”(1972).Therefore,vocabularystudyinghasbecomeaveryimportantpartinanylanguagelearning.Notbeingabletofindthewordsyouneedtoexpressyourselfisthemostfrustratingexperienceinspeakinganotherlanguage.ForChineseEnglishlearnersincollege,thelimitationinvocabularyisthemajorobstacleinEnglishlearning,fortheimprovementoftheirlanguagecompetencelargelydependsontheenlargementofandfamiliaritywithvocabulary,therefore,mostEnglishlearnersagreethatthemostdifficultandimportantthingislearningvocabulary.However,thissituationhaschangedgreatlywiththedevelopmentofthesemanticssince60sintheU.S.The1960switnessedarapiddevelopmentinSemanticsinthewesterncountries.Semantics,onebranchoflinguisticsthatcentersaroundthestudyofmeaningsoftheword.,hasfounditsimportantapplicationsinthefieldofvocabularylearning.ThetermsemanticswasfirstusedbytheFrenchlinguistMichaelBrealinthe19th.Atthattimethetermwasnotsimplytodealwithmeaningbutwiththedevelopmentandchangeofmeaning.Semanticstodaymainlystudiesthemeaningsofwords,thechangeofmeanings,therelationshipbetweenwordsandtherelationshipbetweenmeaningandstructure.Sinceitsstudy,semanticshasbeengaininggroundinvocabularylearningandteaching.TheappearanceofdifferentSemantictheoriessuchasGeneralSemantics,SemanticsFieldTheoryandComponentialAnalysishavehelpedpeopletoknowthewordsbetterthaneverbefore.Inthispaper,wewillfocusonsemanticsfieldtheoryandcomponentialanalysis,andtrytoillustratehowtoapplythesesemantictheoriestoEnglishvocabularylearning.BackgroundofVocabularyLearninginEnglishStudy1.1TheImportanceofVocabularyinEnglishLearning1.1.1TheDefinitionandFunctionofVocabularyThevocabularyisoneofthreemajorelementsofthelanguage,andtheconstructionmaterialofthelanguage.Thecultivationoftheabilitytouselanguageisanessentialringinthecultivationoftheabilitytocommunicate.Thevocabularyisoneofthekeypartoflanguageabilityofmakingcommunicationbecarriedon.Theabilitytousevocabularycaninfluencesdirectlyaperson'sabilityinlistening,speaking,reading,writing,andtranslating.Onlyyouhavegraspedthesufficientvocabularies,couldyouunderstandothers’talkandarticles,couldheexpresshisownthoughtfreely,couldhedoinanexpertwayincommunicationtoo.1.1.2TheImportantStatusofVocabularyinLearningEnglishAsiswidelyknown,vocabulary,thebuildingmaterial,isessentialtoalanguage.Itisoneofthethreebasiccomponents(pronunciation,vocabularyandgrammar),andisofutmostimportancetopeople’scommunicationandlanguagelearning.Languageemergesfirstaswords,andthecoiningofnewwordsneverstops.Pronunciationandgrammararepresentedbyvocabulary.ThelinguistDavidWilkins(1972)oncesummeduptheimportanceofvocabularyinhisbookLinguisticsandLanguageTeaching:Withoutgrammarverylittlecanbeconveyed,withoutvocabularynothingcanbeconveyed.AccordingtoHockingD,spendingmostofone’stimeonwordsandexpressionsratherthangrammarwillimproveone’sEnglishverymuch.Withoutenoughwordsonecannotcommunicatewithothers,nomatterhowwonderfulhisgrammarandpronunciationare(McCarthy1990),becausevocabularyisthecarrierforpeopletocommunicatewitheachother.Toachievethepurposeofcommunication,peopleneedtolearnvocabularyfirst.Wordsenablepeopletospeak,readandwritewithclarity,confidenceandcharm.Furthermore,tolearnanewlanguageistosomedegreetobuildanewnetwork,whichisexpressedbyvocabulary.Theseleadtothefactthatvocabularyformstheverybackboneandessenceofanylanguage.Therefore,acquiringadequatevocabularyisofcriticalimportancetolanguagelearners.Itisclearenoughthatwithoutaknowledgeofwords,languagelearningwillturnouttobeacastleintheair.Generallyspeaking,thevocabularythatalearnerownsmostconspicuouslyreflectshisorherEnglishlevel,whichinfersthat,tomasteralanguage,alargevocabularyisnecessaryanditisveryimportantforlearnerstomemorizeagreatmanyEnglishwords.Therefore,theimportanceofvocabularyestablishesitabasicandcrucialpositioninlanguageteachingandlearning.ScholarsrepresentedbyLewis(1993)evenputforwardthatvocabularyshouldbethecenteroflanguageteachingandlearning.1.2ThePresentSituationofVocabularyLearninginChinaAtpresent,ManystudentsinChinawhobegintolearnEnglishoftenfeelfrustratedinanattempttolearnandrememberEnglishwords.Inaddition,eventhoughtheyareabletoremembersomewords,theyoftenusethemincorrectlyorinappropriately.AlthoughvocabularyisaveryimportantpartofEnglishteaching,ithasbeenneglectedforalongtimeunderthetraditionalteachingmethodologyinChina.LanguageteachershavesometimestendedtooverlooktheimportanceofthelexicalsystembyoveremphasizinggrammaticalandsoundsystemsinChina.Somanylearnerscan’tfindthewordtheyneedtoexpressthemselves.ActuallythelimitationinvocabularyformsthemajorobstacleinESL/EFLlearning.1.2.1SomeResearchaboutVocabularyLearningLaufer’sexperimentofthethresholdvocabularysuggeststhattheturningpointofvocabularysizeforeffectivereadingcomprehensionisabout3,000wordfamilies(approximately5,000words).Mostresearchersfoundthatalargevocabularywillprovideagoodlexicalcoverageofatext:1,000frequentwordscover80.5%ofatext;2,000wordscover89%;3,000wordscover93%;4,000wordscover95%and5,000wordscover97%(WangRongpei2021).Thehigherthecoverageis,thelowerthedensityofunknownwordsis.1.2.2TheMainProblemsinLearningVocabulary(a)Thelearnerhasgraspedthebasicmeaningofthewordbutdoesnotknowitscollocations(whichwordsitwillgowith):forexample:toputupacampaignshelaughedbroadlyagood-lookingviewtoestimatetheevidence(b)native-languageinterference—learnerassumesthedistributionisthesameasthatofthetranslationequivalent.(c)insufficientgeneralisation:Thelearnerknows'prettygirl',butdoesnotknowthatprettymayalsocollocatewith:bird,flower,landscape,view,picture,andevenmess.Thushedoesnotrealisethepotentialofthewordshedoesknow.1.3SomeTraditionalMethodologiesaboutHowtoLearnVocabulary1.3.1ToLearnTheMeaningofWordsthroughNaturalContextWhatiscontext?Contextcanbeviewedasmorphological,syntactic,anddiscourseinformationinagiventextwhichcanbeclassifiedanddescribedintermsofgeneralfeatures.Tounderstandthemeaningofaword,itisessentialtostudyitinnaturalcontext,foritisinthenaturalcontextthatmanyotheraspectsofaword--collocation,connotationandstyle--arepresented.Guessingvocabularyfromcontextisconsideredasthemostfrequentwaywediscoverthemeaningofnewwords,andtodoit,wehavelearnedtolookforanumberofclues.Firstofall,ourguessesareguidedbythetopic,whichinconversionisobviousfromthetypeofsocialinteractioninvolved,andwhichinreadingmaybesignaledbyanabstractoroutlineofwhatweareabouttoread.Evenatitleprovidesaneffectivesourceofcluesforguessing.Secondly,weareguidedbyotherwordsinthediscoursetohelpusguess.Discourseisfullofredundancyandparallelismandeachofferscluesforunderstandingnewvocabulary.Thefollowingexamplesofferthelearnerssometypesofcontextswhichcanprovidethemeaningofanunfamiliarword.：1.Synonyminapposition:Ourunclewasasoldier,abravearmyman,whofoughtagainsttheenemyfearlessly.2.Antonym:WhiletheauntlovedMartydeeply,shehatedhistwinbrotherSmarty.3.Causeandeffect;Becauseofthehightemperatureswatercanbeturnedintovapor.4.Associationbetweenanobjectanditspurposeoruse:Thescientistgotthearticlefromtheshelfandbegantoread;5.Description:Tomreceivedanewroadsterforhisbirthday.Itisasportsmodel,red,capableofreachingspeedsofmorethan150mph.;6.Wordmorphology:Heisacarelessman.Unluckily,hedidn'tpasstheexam.1.3.2PayAttentiontotheChangeofWordMeaning—MultimeaningWordsAmultimeaningwordisverycommoninEnglishlearning,especiallythefollowingtwotypes:Oneisthatthesamewordmayhavetwoormoredifferentmeanings,buthavethesamepronunciation.Suchwordsinourlanguageexhibitavariablequality,thevariationinmeaningposesyetanotherproblemtothelearners.Forinstance:a.Verbfunction:Plantthesetreesearlyinautumn.b.Nounfunction:Theplantyousentmeislovely.c.Verbfunction:Sheiswateringtheflowersinthegarden.d.Nounfunction:Thewaterinthelakebecomesmuchcleanerthanbefore.Theotheristhatthewordmayhavethesameformbuthavedifferentpronunciationandmeanings(Itisalsocalledahomograph).Forinstance:a.Verbfunction:Pleaseclosethedoor.b.Adjectivefunction:Themoonisclosertousthananystar.c.Verbfunction:Excuseme,howcanIgettothepostoffice?d.Nounfunction:Iwon'tlistentoanyofyourexcuses.Thesemultimeaningwordsoftenconfusedthelearners.Theveryimportantreasonisthattoomanysight-wordlistscontainonlytheprintedwordwithoutadescriptionofitsfunctionormeaningsofwordsusedincontext.Manysight-wordlistscontainsuchwordsaswater,return,saw,plantandback.Butbecausethelistsarebasedonwordcountsratherthanwordmeanings,theusersofsuchlistsarenotsurewhichmeaningisintended.Inotherwords,manymultimeaningwordsprobablywouldn'tbefoundonsight-wordlistsinthefirstplace.theword“back”hasfollowingdifferentmeanings,whichcanbeshowntothelearnersbyusingillustrativesentences:a.Nounfunction:Shehasastrongback.b.Adverbfunction:Whenwillshecomeback?c.Adjectivefunction:Youarenotallowedtositinthebackseat.d.Verbfunction:Shebackedhercarintothegarage.Themeaningsofthekeyword(back)areclearlydeterminedbythecontextofeachsentence.1.3.3FollowTheMemoryRuleTherearetwotypesofmemoryprocessesshort-termmemoryandlong-termmemory.Short-termmemorymeansthatthestorationofinputonlystayinyourmemorytemporarily;whilethelong-termmemorymeansthestorationofinputcanstayinyourmemoryformorethan10days,everforthewholelife.Infact,ourmemoryprocessisarecyclingprocess.Accordingtothesurveyoflinguists,themoretimesthewordisused,thebetteryourememberit.Butmanylearnerspartiallyemphasizethefunctionofshort-termmemory.Theyseemtocaremoreabouttheamountofvocabularyinputthanthoseactuallystayintheirmemory.Beingforcedtorememberalargeamountofvocabularyinthisway,learnersaretreatedasiftheywereafunnel.Inappearancetheytakeinthousandsofnewwords,butineffectonlyafewwhicharefrequentlyusedreallystayintheirstoreandcanbeexploited.Itisnotamazingthataseniormiddleschoolstudentwhoisrequiredtomaster3000wordshasmisusedormademistakesin60wordswhenaskedtowritedownapassageof100wordsbecauseofhispoorvocabularystoration.Soweshouldfollowthememoryrules.1.3.4Don’tLearnEnglishWordsinOne-to-OneCorrespondencetoChineseWordsManylearnerstendtolearnEnglishwordsinone-to-onecorrespondencetoChinesewords;forexample,English“glass”is“玻璃”inChinese,English“cup”is“茶杯”inChinese,andsoon.Thistraditionaltranslationlearningmethodwhichhasbeenadoptedinchinaforalongtimeisconsideredtobehelpful.Butinthelongruntheoveruseofthismethodisharmfultothedevelopmentoflearners’languagecompetence.Especiallyintheelementarystage,thismethodshouldbeavoidedaspossibleasitcanbe.WhenwesaythatweknowthemeaningofanEnglishword,weusuallymeanthatwehavefoundanequivalentwordinChineselanguage,butthisequivalentwordmaybemisleading.Let’staketheword“with”forexample.Inthesentenceof“Ihavemilkforbreakfast”,theword“milk”inChineseculturereferstohotmilk,becauseChinesepeopleareusedtodrinkmilkhot;whiletheword“milk”intheAmericanculturereferstocoldmilk,becauseAmericansneverdrinkboiledmilkasweChinesedo.Thisexampleshowsusthatthesameword“milk”hasdifferentsocialmeaningsindifferentcultures.Infact,manylinguistsbelievethatnowordcanbeexactlytranslatedintoanotherlanguage.Learningthevocabularyofasecondlanguageisnotjusttomemorizetheequivalentwordsoflanguageone,buttolearnthemeaningrelationshipbetween“milk”andallotherwordsinEnglishwithinthecontextofculturallife.2.VocabularyLearningfromaSemanticPerspectiveVocabularystudyinghasbecomeaveryimportantpartinanylanguagelearning,andsemantics,onebranchoflinguisticsthatcentersaroundthestudyofthemeaningsofthewords,hasfounditsimportantapplicationsinthefieldofvocabularylearning.Instudyingalanguage,thelinguist'sgoalistoprovideadescriptivemodelwhichcorrectlyproducesallthepossiblesentencesofthatlanguage,andwhichreflectstheintuitionsofitsnativespeakersaboutwhenandhowthosesentencesshouldbeused.Whilethelanguagelearnerisnot,ofcourse,consciouslyinterestedinprovidingadescriptionofthelanguageheislearning,itisobviousthathemustacquire,insomesense,alltheinformationwhichwouldenablehimtodoso,sinceitisthissameinformationwhichwillenablehimtospeakthelanguagecorrectly.Thenativespeakerisinpossessionofalltheinformation'andhecanuseittojudgetheacceptabilityofanysentence.Forhim,thesubtledistinctionsbetweenanattractivegirl/aprettygirl/abeautifulgirl/agood-lookinggirl/anicegirlarethingshemakesuseofinhiseverydayconversationwithoutgivingthemasecondthought.Thesedistinctionsare,however,thedespairofanyforeignlearnerunlessthereexistsasystematicwayofrepresentingthem,andthereforeofbeingabletolearntwoaspectsofsemantictheoryofferjustsuchapossibility.TheyareSemanticfieldtheory,andcomponentialanalysis.2.1TheRelationshipofSemanticsFieldTheoryandVocabularyLearningSemanticfieldisanimportantorganizationalprincipleinthelexicon.Thisisagroupoflexemeswhichbelongtoaparticularactivityorareaofspecialistknowledge,suchasthetermsincookingorsailing;orthevocabularyusedbydoctors,coalminersormountainclimbers.Semanticfieldtheoryoutlinedinthesemanticfieldofsemanticsisanewconcept,thetraditionalsemanticsdonotincludesemanticfieldtheory.Sosomepeoplethink:"Thisdoesnotbelongtoscience,astheygenerallydonotstudysemantics".Theso-calledsemanticfieldisknownasfieldvocabulary.Semanticfieldtheorystartsfromthepremisethatthevocabularyofalanguageconsistsnotofalongrandomlistofwords,butratherofmanyinterrelatingnetworksofrelationsbetweenwords.Thesenetworksarecalledsemanticfields.Averysimpleexampleofasemanticfieldisthesetofkinshipterms:mother,father,son,daughter,brother,sister,aunt,uncle,etc.Clearlyallthesewordssharesomeaspectofmeaningwhichisnotpresent,in,say,theitemtree.Anotherexampleoffieldwouldbe'verbsofmovement':walk,run,stroll,amble,trot,jog.Butthisfielddiffersfromkinshiptermsinthesensethatherewemaywanttosaythatstrollisalsopartofanotherfieldconsistingofwander,stroll,roam,ramble.Equally,runisamemberofthefield'movingfast':run,sprint,canter,gallop,dash.Itisinthissensethatthevocabularyofalanguageshouldbeseenasasetofinterrelatingnetworks.Byanalysingvocabularyintofields,wearenolongerdealingwithrandomlists,butwithasystematicstructure,andonewhichcanbepracticallypassedontolearners.Thereis,inaddition,evidencefrompsycholinguisticstosuggestthatthemindtakesaccountofsemanticsimilarity.Forexample,speecherrorsmadebynativespeakers(oftencalledslipsofthetongue)showthatmanywrongwords,farfrombeingrandommistakes,infactcomefromthesamesemanticfieldastheintendedword(thatis,theintendedwordsharessomemeaningwiththewrongword).Forexample:Ihavemybookandmyjigsaw...ImeanmycrosswordWeinvitedhimto...askedhimtobuycrispsInsomecasesthe'wrong'wordisablendoftwowordsfromthesamesemanticfield:Iswindged(switched/changed)momentaneous(instantaneous/momentary)herrible(terrible/horrible)Whilethisevidenceisfarfromconclusive,itdoessuggeststronglythatthemindusessemanticsimilarityinclassifyingwords.Oneeffectoflexicalfieldisthatlexicalrelationsaremorecommonbetweenlexemesinthesamefield.Followingare6typesoflexicalrelations.2.1.1HomonymyRelationsHomonymsareunrelatedsensesofthesamephonologicalword.Someauthorsdistinguishbetweenhomographs,sensesofthesamewrittenword,andhomophones,sensesofthesamespokenword.Herewewillgenerallyjustusethetermhomonym.Wecandistinguishdifferenttypesdependingontheirsyntacticbehaviour,andspelling.2.1.2PolysemyRelationsThereisatraditionaldistinctionmadeinlexicologybetweenhomonymyandpolysemy.Bothdealwithmultiplesensesofthesamephonologicalword,butpolysemyisinvokedifthesensesarejudgedtoberelated.Thisisanimportantdistinctionforlexicographersinthedesignoftheirdictionaries,becausepolysemoussensesarelistedunderthesamelexicalentry,whilehomonymoussensesaregivenseparateentries.2.1.3SynonymyRelationsSynonymsaredifferentphonologicalwordswhichhavethesameorverysimilarmeaning.AsPalmer(1981)notes,thesynonymsoftenhavedifferentdistributionsalonganumberofparameters.Theymayhavebelongedtodifferentdialectsandthenbecomesynonymsforspeakersarefamiliarwithbothdialects,likeIrishEnglish“press”andBritishEnglish“cupboard”.Orthewordsmaybelongtodifferentregisters,thosestylesoflanguage,colloquial,formal,literary,etc.Thatbelongtodifferentsituations.Thus“wife”and“spouse”aremoreformalthan“oldlady”or“missus”.Thesynonymsmayportraypositiveornegativeattitudesofthespeaker.Finally,asmentionedearlier,oneorotherofthesynonymsmaybecollocationallyrestricted.Caremustbetakentounderstandnotonlyhowsynonymsarerelated,butalsohowtheydifferfromeachother.Factorsthatdistinguishsynonymsinclude:Intensitye.g.reject–repudiateImplicationsofapprobationorcensuree.g.thrifty-meanUsebyprofessionalse.g.dead-deceasedLiterarinesse.g.ere-beforeFormalitye.g.telly–televisionCollocatione.g.consequence–result2.1.4Opposites(Antonymy)RelationsIntraditionalterminology,antonymsarewordswhichareoppositeinmeaning.Itisuseful,however,toidentifyseveraldifferenttypesofrelationshipunderamoregenerallabelofoppsition.Thereareanumberofrelationswhichseemtoinvolvewordswhichareatthesametimerelatedinmeaningyetincompatibleorcontrasting.Oppositesincludingbinary,gradable,reverses,converses,andtaxonomic.Antonymscanbe:gradablee.g. big–littlewet–dry hot–coldcomplementarypairs(binaryantonyms)e.g. alive–dead male–female mobile–immobile Heaven–Hellconversepairse.g. husband–wife parent–child buy-selle.g. upstairs–downstairs left–right come-goculturaloppositese.g. Labour–Tory,red–greenlocalopposites,e.g. flute–tuba2.1.5HyponymyRelationsHyponymyisarelationofinclusion.Ahyponymincludesthemeaningofamoregeneralword.Themoregeneraltermiscalledthesuperordinateorhypernym.Muchofthevocabularyislinkedbysuchsystemsofinclusion,andtheresultingsemanticnetworksfromthehierarchicaltaxonomies.Forexample,scarlet,vermilion,carmine,andcrimsonareallhyponymsofred(theirhypernym).Wecancomparefollowingexamples.Example1:a)Jacksentthegirlabunchofflowers.(superordinate)b)Jacksentthegirlabunchofroses.(hyponymy)Example2:a)MissLindawaslookingatthatfamouspainting.(superordinate)b)MissLindawasglancingatthatfamouspainting.(hyponymy)Theexamplesaboveprovethedifferenceofsuperordinateandhyponymy,ifwedon’tnoticeit,we’llbeconfused.2.1.6MeronymyRelationsMeronymyisatermusedtodescribeapart-wholerelationshipbetweenlexicalitems.Thus“cover”and“page”aremeronymsofbook.Wesanidentifythisrelationshipbyusingsentenceframeslike“XispartofY”,or“YhasX”,asin“Apageispartofabook,orAbookhaspages”.Meronymyreflectshierarchicalclassificationsinthelexiconsomewhatliketaxonomies.Meronymicalsodiffersfromhyponymyintransitivity.Oneimportantpointisthatthenetworksidentifiedasmeronymyarelexical:itisconceptuallypossibletosegmentanitemincountlessways,butonlysomedivisionsarecodedinthevocabularyofalanguage.ItincludesMember-collectionandPortion-mass.Forexample,fingerisameronymofhandbecauseafingerispartofahand.Similarly'wheel'isameronymofautomobile.2.2TheRelationshipofComponentialAnalysisandVocabularyLearning2.2.1TheDefinitionofComponentialAnalysisSomesemanticistshavehypothesizesthatwordsarenotthesmallestunitsbutarebuiltupofsmallercomponentsofmeaningwhicharecombineddifferentlytoformdifferentwords.Thus,totakeperhapsthecommonestexamplesintheliterature,wordslike“woman,bachelor,spinsterandwife”havebeenviewedasbeingcomposedofelementssuchas[ADULT],[HUMAN]etc:Woman[FEMALE][ADULT][HUMAN]Bachelor[MALE][ADULT][HUMAN][UNMARRIED]Spinster[FEMALE][ADULT][HUMAN][UNMARRIED]Wife[FEMALE][ADULT][HUMAN][MARRIED]Theelementsinsquarebracketsabovearecalledsemanticcomponents,orsemanticprimitivesandthiskindofanalysisisoftencalledcomponentialanalysis(CAforshort)Oneuseforsemanticcomponentsisthattheymightallowustodefinethelexicalrelationswelookedatearlier.Take,forexample,hyponymy(inclusion).Componentialanalystsalsooftenmakeuseofbinaryfeaturesandredundancyrules.Thestatementofsemanticcomponentsisalsomoreeconomicalifweincludesomeredundancyruleswhichpredicttheautomaticrelationshipsbetweencomponents.2.2.2TheFunctionofComponentialAnalysisManylinguistsuseabinaryfeatureformatforthesecomponents,similartothatusedinphonologyandsyntax.Wordscanbesaidtobelongtothesamesemanticfieldwhentheyshareormoredetail,see,forexample,walkandrunaresimilarinbothbeingverbsdescribingwaysinwhichanimatebeingswithlegsmove,yettheydifferinthatrunimpliesadifferent,usuallyfaster,movementofthelegsthanwalk.Componentialanalysisoffersasystematicwayofdescribingsuchsimilaritiesanddifferences.Itconsists,simply,ofbreakingdownthemeaningofawordorwordsintodifferentpie