Componential analysis (feature analysis or contrast analysis) is the analysis of words through structured sets of
semantic features, which are given as "present", "absent" or "indifferent with reference to feature". The method thus departs from the
principle of compositionality
In semantics, mathematical logic and related disciplines, the principle of compositionality is the principle that the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them. ...
. Componential analysis is a method typical of
structural semantics
Structural semantics (also structuralist semantics) is a linguistic school and paradigm that emerged in Europe from the 1930s, inspired by the structuralist linguistic movement started by Ferdinand de Saussure's 1916 work "'' Cours De Linguistiq ...
which analyzes the components of a word's meaning. Thus, it reveals the culturally important features by which speakers of the language distinguish different words in a
semantic field
In linguistics, a semantic field is a related set of words grouped semantically (by meaning) that refers to a specific subject.Howard Jackson, Etienne Zé Amvela, ''Words, Meaning, and Vocabulary'', Continuum, 2000, p14. The term is also used in ...
or domain (Ottenheimer, 2006, p. 20).
Examples
''man'' =
MALE MATUREor ''woman'' =
�� MALE MATUREor ''boy'' =
MALE �� MATUREor ''girl'' =
�� MALE �� MATUREor ''child'' =
/– MALE �� MATURE In other words, the word ''girl'' can have three basic factors (or
semantic properties
Semantic properties or meaning properties are those aspects of a linguistic unit, such as a morpheme, word, or sentence, that contribute to the meaning of that unit. Basic semantic properties include being ''meaningful'' or ''meaningless'' – for ...
):
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
,
young, and
female
An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...
. Another example, being
edible is an important factor by which plants may be distinguished from one another (Ottenheimer, 2006, p. 20). To summarize, one word can have basic underlying meanings that are well established depending on the cultural context. It is crucial to understand these underlying meanings in order to fully understand any language and culture.
Historical background
Structural semantics
Structural semantics (also structuralist semantics) is a linguistic school and paradigm that emerged in Europe from the 1930s, inspired by the structuralist linguistic movement started by Ferdinand de Saussure's 1916 work "'' Cours De Linguistiq ...
and the componential analysis were patterned on the phonological methods of the
Prague School
The Prague school or Prague linguistic circle is a language and literature society. It started in 1926 as a group of linguists, philologists and literary critics in Prague. Its proponents developed methods of structuralist literary analysis and ...
, which described sounds by determining the absence and presence of features. On one hand, componential analysis gave birth to various models in
generative semantics
Generative semantics was a research program in theoretical linguistics which held that syntax, syntactic structures are computed on the basis of meaning (linguistics), meanings rather than the other way around. Generative semantics developed out ...
,
lexical field theory and
transformational grammar
In linguistics, transformational grammar (TG) or transformational-generative grammar (TGG) was the earliest model of grammar proposed within the research tradition of generative grammar. Like current generative theories, it treated grammar as a sys ...
. On the other hand, its shortcoming were also visible:
* The discovery procedures for semantic features are not clearly objectifiable.
* Only part of the vocabulary can be described through more or less structured sets of features.
* Metalinguistic features are expressed through language again.
* Features used may not have clear definitions.
* Limited in focus and mechanical in style.
As a consequence, entirely different ways to describe meaning were developed, such as
prototype semantics
Prototype theory is a theory of categorization in cognitive science, particularly in psychology and cognitive linguistics, in which there is a graded degree of belonging to a conceptual category, and some members are more central than others. It ...
.
See also
*
Ethnoscience
*
Structural linguistics
Structural linguistics, or structuralism, in linguistics, denotes schools or theories in which language is conceived as a self-contained, self-regulating semiotic system whose elements are defined by their relationship to other elements within th ...
*
Word-sense disambiguation
Word-sense disambiguation is the process of identifying which sense of a word is meant in a sentence or other segment of context. In human language processing and cognition, it is usually subconscious.
Given that natural language requires ref ...
References
* Bussmann, Hadumod (1996), ''Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics'', London: Routledge, s.v. componential analysis.
* Ottenheimer, H. J. (2006). ''The Anthropology of Language''. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Componential Analysis
Semantics