[Lexicog] semantic domains AND frames?

[Wayne Leman]

--- In lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com, "Ron Moe" <ron_moe at s...>
wrote:
I'm finding that semantic domains are of various types. Some are
directly
related to real life, such as 'Sun' 'Eat' or 'Sleep'. Others are
abstract
and culturally defined, such as the Philippine concept of 'utang',
roughly
'indebtedness', which governs interpersonal relationships. The domain
'Utang' would be cultually specific and may not correspond to any
domain in
another language. The concrete real-life domains are more likely to be
universal or at least common to many languages. In either case the
boundaries of semantic domains are fuzzy and deciding what words to
include
becomes fairly subjective. Just as there are prototypical members of
a class
such as 'bird', so there are central members of a semantic domain.
For the
domain 'Sleep', the word 'wake up' would be more central
than 'pajamas',
although I would include both. If you asked 10 people to list the
members of
the domain, I would suspect that more people would think of 'wake'
than
'pajamas'. So I would take issue with the statement that semantic
domains
are defined (arbitrarily or not) by linguists. Semantic domains are a
real
aspect of the mental organization of the lexicon. The Dictionary
Development
Program that I've been developing is based on the assumption that
everyone
organizes the words of their language into groups. I've had tremendous
success using the method with unsophisticated relatively uneducated
mother
tongue speakers. I give them a list of domains and they start listing
the
members of each domain. Although there is some discussion, there is
general
agreement as to what words belong to each domain. I take this as
evidence of
the reality of domains and the tendency of a linguistic community to
share
the same organization.

Ron Moe
  -----Original Message-----
  From: David Gray [mailto:sozlukyazajy at y...]
  Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 2:31 PM
  To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [Lexicog] semantic domains AND frames?


  I was reading an article recently that suggested that all lexical
entries
should be keyed to semantic domains so that the entries can be sorted
by
them. What about keying them to frames as well, as defined by
cognitive
linguistics? This would make just as much sense to me, as semantic
domains
are (arguably) defined arbritrarily by linguists, whereas frames are
more
directly related to real life...

  sozlukyazajy


----------------------------------------------------------------------
------
--
  Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends
today!
Download Messenger Now

----------------------------------------------------------------------
------
--
  Yahoo! Groups Links

    a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

    b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

    c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
--- End forwarded message ---