[Lexicog] domain templates

[Ron Moe]

Peter Kirk wrote:

"I am surprised not to see in this template a distinction made between
accidental, destructive fires and deliberate fires usually for warmth or
cooking. Quite different words are used for these types of fire in the
languages I was working with...."

Thanks for this input. I've incorporated Peter's observation into the
template. I appreciate any and all help in refining the Dictionary
Development Program. Essentially I am trying to compile a list of semantic
domains and produce a template for each domain. Sue Atkins suggested that a
lexicographer do this for each domain of a language in order to facilitate
and standardize the investigation of the words in the domain. I took her
suggestion and thought maybe it would be possible to do a "universal"
template for each domain. Since many linguists feel that the search for
universals is one of our primary tasks, I felt this might be a worthwhile
goal. But the task is far too large for any one person to manage. I'm
looking for cross-linguistic studies of domains. Quite a lot of work has
been done in some domains like 'Color' 'Emotion' and 'Kinship'. But I've
never seen anything on 'Fire'. If you have done such a study on a domain, I
would appreciate getting your findings.

There are obviously some rather severe theoretical problems in what I'm
doing. Perhaps the most serious is that semantic domains are not going to be
equal from language to language. So I see what I'm doing as roughly
comparable to the development of the IPA for phonetics. Each domain will
have to be adjusted for a particular language. But at least we have a
starting point and a means of doing cross-linguistic comparison. Some
English domains will not exist in other languages. So a list based on
English will not be universal. But I believe that some domains will be
universal. Everyone has to eat and sleep. So I would expect a domain 'Eat'
in every language. There will be variation in what is included. Some
languages will include 'drink, smoke a cigarette, chew betelnut' because
'eat' is defined as 'put something into the mouth'. That's OK. Eventually we
will discover what is universal and what kinds of variation occurs.

In order to do the research that I envision, we need a number of extensive
dictionaries from different language families. These dictionaries need to be
large, with good quality definitions. Then we need to classify the words
according to a standardized list of domains, such as the one I'm developing.
Then anyone could look at all the words that belong to a particular domain
and do a cross linguistic comparison of the semantics. For instance here is
my analysis of the semantic components that I have identified in the
defintions of words belonging to the domain 'Divide into pieces' and its
sub-domains. I took the components from definitions proposed by a speaker of
Lunyole (Bantu, Uganda). As you can see, they also apply to English.

7.7 Divide into pieces
7.7.1 Break
7.7.2 Crack
7.7.3 Cut
7.7.4 Tear, rip
7.7.5 Make hole, opening
7.7.6 Dig
7.7.7 Damage
7.7.8 Tear down
7.7.9 Destroy

Use this domain for words referring to dividing something into parts or
pieces.

Semantic components:
The shape of the object: split (something long).
The material of the object: break (something brittle), tear (something
flexible).
Specific object: dig (ground/dirt) tear down (structure) thresh (grain, with
a sledge) tread (grain, with the feet).
Completeness of the action: crack (not a complete break) damage (not
complete destruction)
How many pieces: split (into two) quarter (into four) smash (into many).
The size of the pieces: pulverize (into extremely small pieces), chip (one
piece is small).
The shape of a piece: slice (thin piece).
The instrument used: cut (with a knife) chop (with an axe) crush/smash (with
a hammer or other blunt instrument).
Intentional, accidental, or with care: break (vi) (by accident).
Sudden or slow: snap (sudden).
Direction of the force: tear (pull apart) crush (apply pressure toward)
burst (internal pressure).
The amount of force: pulverize (with strong force).
The effect on the usefulness of the object: destroy (not useful and cannot
be repaired) damage (not completely destroyed).

Ron Moe
SIL, Uganda




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