FORMING NOMINATIVE FIELD OF A CONCEPT: STAGES AND UNITS

Abstract

The article deals with the suggested methods of linguocognitive analysis of a concept, which necessarily is preceded with linguosemantic analysis of the verbal field nominating the concept. The principles of forming such nominative field are being discussed. We suggest that a fairly representative empirical basis for further cognitive analysis should be created in five separate consecutive stages. The first stage aims at selection from several concise dictionaries all the nominative units which are semantically cognate to the key lexeme – the name of the concept. The term nominative unit covers linguistic entities beginning with sememes via free and bound word combinations up to idioms and proverbs. The point is that sememes are selected together with their dictionary definitions which are regarded as independent verbal units participating in the field forming process. The second stage is connected with component analysis of all the nominative units. It results in a total compendium of semes – ideal, purely semantic entities, materialized in definition components – parts of dictionary definitions naming separate aspects of lexical meaning of a unit. Notably compendium of semes is smaller than that of definition components, as far as a single seme may be verbalized differently in different dictionary definitions. Seme proves to be the handiest operational unit in linguosemantic analysis. We suggest that seme may be subjected to a further, more profound analysis of the second or sometimes the third degree. Which means that the definition component naming a seme is treated as a free linguistic unit and is subjected to an independent definitional analysis. The tiniest particles of lexical semantic structure are thus explored. The third stage of forming nominative field of a verbalized concept aims at arranging the most valid semes as to their meaningful and word forming potential: the researcher finds out and explains WHAT is being named, HOW it is qualified, WHICH semantic transformations take place with the semes under analysis within the boundaries of the investigated field. The three abovementioned stages of analysis are exemplified with samples of suggested analytical procedures on the material of a verbalized concept FRUIT. The fourth and the fifth stages are postulated as structuring the field into nucleus, medial and peripheral zones(the fourth stage) as well as etymological analysis of nucleus sememes (the fifth one).