Page 414 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes Difference between Collocation and Set
Collocation is outside grammar; it has no connection with the classes of the word. It is syntagmatic.
Set is the closest analogy to the grammatical system; it is a set of possible terms available for choice
under the same grammatical conditions. In collocation the choice is limited, in lexical set the
choice is not limited. The former is an open system, the latter closed. The one is syntagmatic,
horizontal; the other paradigmatic, vertical.

32.10 Componential Analysis

The study of collocation, sets, synonyms, opposites and classification, polysemy, homonymy enables
a useful grid of internal relationships between lexical items to be drawn up. But there still remains
a problem. How in a semantic analysis, can one account for the fact that lexical items overlap ?
Cow, and woman and tigress, for example, all contain some element of femaleness. Bull and cow
both contain some element of bovineness. Calf and puppy and baby all contain an element of
non-adultness.
Such reasoning has led to attempts to split items up into their component parts, or features.
Woman, for example, is said to contain the semantic features of FEMALE, HUMAN, ADULT. Cow
has the features of FEMALE, BOVINE, ADULT. The list of features is inexhaustive.

This type of analysis is comparable to distinctive feature analysis in phonology. This technique
has only been exploited recently by linguists, and is known as componential analysis.

Hierarchical Structure of Semantic Features
Several attempts have been made recently to classify the semantic features in certain fields into a
hierarchy, in which more general features appear near the top and more specific ones lower down.
The following diagram is widely used to illustrate this point in linguistic circles :

ANIMATE
NON-ANIMATE
ANIMAL
NON-ANIMAL
VERTEBRATE
NON-VERTEBRATE
QUADRUPED
NON-QUADRUPED
EQUINE
NON-EQUINE
NON-HUMAN
HUMAN

HORSE (LION ETC.)
MAN (GORILLA ETC)

It is obvious from the above drawing that the number of semantic features varies from lexical item
to lexical item. Fairly general items such as human being, animal, foodstuff have relatively few
components. But more specific items such as bus-conductor, giraffe, cheese have a larger number.

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