A semantic field is made up of lexical units that share certain characteristics linked to their meanings.
Semantic field is a notion used in the field of linguistics to name the series of lexical units that share various characteristics in terms of their meanings . In other words, the semantic field is made up of different words whose meanings have a certain relationship since they have some semantic feature in common .
Before delving into the meaning, it is necessary to know the etymological origin of the two words that give it shape:
- Campo is a word that comes from the Latin campus , which can be translated as “flat land.”
- Semantic , on the other hand, is a term that derives from the Greek semantikos, which is equivalent to “relevant meaning.”
The concept
At a general level, it can be said that words are composed of minimal units called monemes , which are sequences of phonemes (the minimal articulation of consonant and vowel sounds). Dependent monemes, called morphemes , express meaning.
This meaning of morphemes is called sememe . The constituent element of the sememes, in turn, is called a semantic feature or seme .
Returning to the definition of semantic field, it is a lexical network that develops from words that share some seme.
Orchestra, conductor and violinist are terms that are part of the semantic field of music.
Examples of semantic field
Soccer, basketball, volleyball y handball, por ejemplo, son términos que pertenecen a un same semantic field. Todos comparten un sema vinculado a los sports que se disputan con un balón o pelota, mientras que también tienen semas que los distinguen entre sí (el fútbol se juega con los pies mientras que en el hándbol se utilizan las manos; en el básquetbol hay aros o canastas y en el vóleibol, una red que divide el terreno de juego).
There are many other examples of semantic field that can be used to understand it. Thus, if we establish the semantic field of music in it, we can include singer, pianist, composer, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, saxophonist, conductor, violinist, chorister ...
On the other hand, if we focused on the world of cinema we could shape a semantic field, for example, about genres. Thus, we would include comedy, horror films, fantastic films, thrillers, suspense, adventures, drama, action ...
The relationships between the terms
In addition to everything indicated, we must know that, within a semantic field, different relationships are established between the terms that give it shape. Two types of relationships are usually distinguished:
- Linear , which occur when one element establishes a relationship with the next and the previous one.
- Branching . These can be of two kinds: meronymy , when each of the terms comes to designate the part of another, and hyponymy , which occurs when one of the elements contains in itself the meaning of another.