SEMANTICS FIELD THEORY
SEMANTICS is derived from French word sémantique, applied by MICHEL BRÉAL (1883) to the psychology of language, from Greek semantikos "significant," from semainein "to show by sign, signify, point out, indicate by a sign," from sema "sign, mark, token; omen, portent; constellation; grave". Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. Every language has the source of expression of meaningful ideas. This term refers to the study of meaning and the systematic ways those meanings are expressed in language.
The structure of a language expresses the meaning which exists in one's mind. The idea may be conveyed through the written and spoken forms of a language. As semantics is the study of meaning in language and language is used to express meanings which can be understood by others. So, semantics is that level of linguistics analysis where meaning is analyzed. It is the most abstract level of linguistics analysis since one cannot see or observes meaning as one can observe and record sounds. Meaning is related very closely to the human capacity to think logically and to understand. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics by JACK C. RICHARDS and RICHARD SCHMIDT defines Semantics as:
“The study of meaning. There are many different approaches to the way in which meaning in language is studied.”
A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by DAVID CRYSTAL defines it as:
“A major branch of linguistics devoted to the study of meaning in language.”
According to A Dictionary of Literary Terms by MARTIN GRAY:
"The study of the meaning of words: how words express their meanings, and how their meanings have changed in time."
Regarding this level of linguistics, many theories are introduced, one of which is Semantic Field Theory.
“In linguistics, a semantic field is a set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject. The term is also used in anthropology, computational semiotics, and technical exegesis.”
Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics by JACK C. RICHARDS and RICHARD SCHMIDT defines Semantic Field Theory as:
"The organization of related words and expressions into a system which shows their relationship to one another."
Different linguists define Semantic Field Theory in different ways. ADRIENNE LEHRER defines Semantic Field Theory in these words:
“A semantic field is a group of words closely related in meaning, often subsumed under a general term"
And JOHN LYONS describes it as:
“. ......A field of whose members are lexemes is a lexical field"
The theory of semantic field assumes that lexemes that are semantically related, whether paradigmatically or syntagmatically within a given language system belongs to some semantic field. The lexical items of language can be classified into sets, which are related semantically and divide up the semantic field in various ways. For example, the field of "TRANSFER OF POSSESSION" includes such lexemes as sell, buy, trade, exchange, give, receive, lend, borrow, hire and rent.
Basic to this theory is the concept of FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE that each word in a language is surrounded by a network of associations which cannot with still other terms. It explains the vocabulary or lexicon of a language as a system of interrelated network or semantic fields. Words that are interrelated may belong to the same semantic field, for example, tree, branch, root, flower, stem and fruit. Sometimes, we see overlap between fields, for example, the field of flower, and tree may overlap in relation to plant and grow. This theory provides the situation of collocation. The items for collocation are selected from the lexicon of the same field. For example, plant collocates with growing, flower with bloom, letters with writing etc.
These networks and collocations are built on sense relations in a language. The figure green below shows the network of associations of terms which converge to a certain point.
Plant. → Grow, Bloom
Plantation, Irrigation, Cultivation
Planting, Reeping, Binding, Collecting
Fertilizer, Pesticides, Seeds
Farmer, Cultivator, Peasant
Thus the associative field of a word formed by an intricate new network of associations on the basis of similarity, contiguity, sensation, name, collocation etc.
"The associative field is a halo which surrounds the sign whose exterior fringes become merged."
The associative field is by any definition opens that is no finite limits can be assigned to any given field. Hence, the aptness of concept “field" which serves an analogue purpose in physics.
According to this theory, the meaning is classified into two broad categories. Contextual and Formal Meaning.
Contextual meaning relates a formal item or pattern to an element of the situation. There is a regular association between a linguistic item and something which is extra-linguistic something (which is part of the situation language rather than part of the language itself) contextual situation wider situation.
In Formal Meaning, the relationship between a linguistic item, pattern or term from a system and other linguistic items, patterns, or items from the system belonging to the same level by language. Formal meaning can be understood by collocating and contrasting a lexical item with other lexical items. The lexical item "cat" for instance, has the potentiality for collocating with, mew, parr, lap, milk, fur, tail etc. It also contrasts with dog, mouse, kitten etc. Such items which fall into a context or set of contexts are referred to as an association field.
In recent years, a lot of work has been done in relation to the semantic field. Scholars have investigated lexical systems in the vocabularies of different languages with particular reference to such fields as kinship, colour, weights, and measures military ranks and various kinds of knowledge.
The etymologist, the lexicographer, and the student of semantic change stand to benefit most from this approach to meaning. This theory has been described as Neo-Humboldt. Some of its ideas are surely from Humboldt according to whom, each separate language should be looked upon as an organic whole.
TRIER’s paradigmatic semantic field
The semantic field theory was brought into its puberty by German scholar J. Trier in the 1930s, whose version is seen as a new phase in the history of semantics. Wu (1988: 94-95) summarized Trier’s semantic field theory as follows:
a. The vocabulary in a language system is semantically related and builds up a complete lexical system. This system is unsteady and changing constantly.
b. Since the vocabulary of a language is semantically related, we are not supposed to study the semantic change of individual words in isolation, but to study vocabulary as an integrated system.
c. Since lexemes are interrelated in sense, we can only determine the connotation of a word by analyzing and comparing its semantic relationship with other words. A word is meaningful only in its own semantic field.
Trier’s semantic field is generally considered paradigmatic. It deals with paradigmatic relations between words such as hyponymy, synonymy and antonymy.
PORZIG’s syntagmatic semantic field
In contrast with Trier’s theory, another German linguist Porzig developed a notion of the semantic field which is called syntactic field by some scholars. Porzig’s study was based on the analysis of the internal relation of the co-occurrence between words. It studied the probability for a lexical item to co-occur with others in the same context, e.g., bite and teeth, lick and tongue, bark and dog, etc. They are bound together by what Porzig called essential meaning-relations. The general nature of these relations is like this: What does one bite with? With the teeth, of course. What does one lick with? With the tongue, obviously. What is it that barks? A dog. This is illustrated by a few examples which are so banal that one may be inclined to overlook it and above all to underestimate its importance. However, because the appearance of one word in a syntagmatically-related lexical system always predicts the occurrence of the other and because there is a kind of expectancy and prediction between them, this syntagmatic relationship is essential to the acquisition of the depth of word knowledge. The Application of the Semantic Field Theory in College English Vocabulary Instruction The core point of syntagmatic semantic field is that the components in a phrase are not only grammatically related but also semantically related. For example, in the phrases “open the door” (to make open or become open), “open an envelope” (to unfold or spread out), “open a shop” (to begin business), “open a road” (to make it possible to use a passage by removing the things that are blocking it), and “open a conference” (to start), open has different meanings in different contexts, and these meanings are determined by its collocation. A word has one of its meanings only when it collocates with a certain word or words, and in this way, specific collocations are constituted, which constrains the appearance and existence of a certain meaning of one word. The syntagmatic semantic field is always used to analyze collocation, polysemy and metaphorical meanings.
Working definition
The different versions of the semantic field theory have one general feature in common: lexical items are grouped in certain fields under various criteria. According to Zhao (2001: 55, things in the objective world are in disorder, so in order to fully understand them, our human mind must deposit and memorize them through analyzing, judging and classifying. As far as vocabulary learning is concerned, learners remember words by a sound clot or by semantic links. Adult college students have already had an existing schema about the world and language. When new second language (L2) words appear, what they should do is to find a suitable place for the words in this schema by certain links. It seems that a semantic interrelationship is an effective choice. Therefore, it seems feasible to enlarge vocabulary gradually and deepen the understanding of vocabulary items on the basis of the semantic field. The discussion of semantic relations leads to semantic fields grouped under certain unifying features. In this paper, both paradigmatic relations of synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy and syntagmatic relations of collocation, polysemy and metaphorical meaning will be studied. It is predicted that constructing semantic fields by paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations can be a teaching approach that is effective in helping learners develop an interrelated system of vocabulary.
In the one can say that semantics is the study of meaning and semantic field theory is the concept in which by a network of associations are based on collocation similarity contiguity, sensation, name etc. and include terms such as synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, polysemy etc.
REFERENCES
Ø A Dictionary of Literary Terms, Second Edition by MARTIN GRAY
Ø Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, Eight Edition Published by Oxford University Press
Ø Various Education Websites for Online Search
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