Semantic field

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The semantic field of a word is the set of sememes expressed by the word.

The semantic field of a given word shifts over time — see "semantic shift." For example, the English word "man" used to mean "human being" exclusively, while today it predominantly means "adult male," but its semantic field still extends in some uses to the generic "human" (see Mannaz).

Overlapping semantic fields are problematic especially in translation. Polysemous words, with all their connotations, are often untranslatable and are frequently loaned instead. Examples include "chivalry" (which literally translates to "horsemanship"), "dharma" (literally, "support"), and "taboo."

Further semantic shifts of loaned terms may lead to further complications. For example, the Arabic "islām" has a generic meaning of "peaceful submission, piety". The term as loaned into English, "Islam," has a meaning strictly confined to the religion (deen) initiated by Muhammad, replacing the now deprecated term Mohammedanism. This state of affairs may lead to misunderstandings in discussions on the origin or nature of "Islam".

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