Structural semantics

Cognitive linguists often refer to the traditional types of semantics as Structural semantics even though some of them might not be based on Structuralism as such. Cognitive linguists, and many other functionally oriented linguists, have criticized structural semantics for being insufficient and idealistic.

Objectivism
Traditional semantics is often labeled objectivist, and it is argued that, in accordance with the Aristotelian model of categorization, its basic assumption is that meaning refers directly to, or denotes objects and relations in the exterior world.

Semantic features
In the approaches labelled "Structural semantics" by cognitive linguists, word meanings, or lexical meanings can be broken down into atomic semantic features, which are in a way the distinctive properties of the meaning of a word.

In accordance with the objectivist bias of structural semantics, semantic features are believed to refer to actual properties, objects or relations in the expterior world.

Some simplified examples of semantic features are (Croft and Cruse 2004: 8, 76):

Concept          Semantic features *MAN             [MALE], [ADULT], [HUMAN] *BOY             [MALE], [YOUNG], [HUMAN] *BACHELOR        [MALE], [UNMARRIED], [HUMAN] *WOMAN           [FEMALE], [ADULT], [HUMAN] *GIRL            [FEMALE], [YOUNG], [HUMAN] *SPINSTER        [FEMALE], [UNMARRIED], [HUMAN] *STALLION        [MALE], [ADULT], [EQUINE] *MARE            [FEMALE], [ADULT], [EQUINE] *FILLY           [YOUNG], [EQUINE]

Each of the concepts would be defined by, or indeed consist, of those semantic features.

Structural relations based on semantic features
Word concepts are related to each other by structural lexical relations like synonymy and antonymy. These relations are often attributed to the relations between the semantic features.

Synonymy
In the framework of structural semantics, synonymy is when two or more words share all semantic features:

Form    Walk                                Perambulate Features MOTION             =              MOTION BY FOOT            =              BY FOOT SELF-PROPELLED     =              SELF-PROPELLED MED. VELOCITY      =              MED. VELOCITY

Form    Girl                                Lass Features FEMALE             =              FEMALE YOUNG              =              YOUNG HUMAN              =              HUMAN

Antonymy
In the framework of structural semantics, antonomy is when two or more semantic features of two words are opposite each other:

Form    Walk                                Run Features MOTION             =              MOTION BY FOOT            =              BY FOOT SELF-PROPELLED     =              SELF-PROPELLED MED. VELOCITY      ≠             HIGH VELOCITY

Form    Girl                                Boy Features FEMALE             ≠              MALE YOUNG              =              YOUNG HUMAN              =              HUMAN

Symmetry of structural relations
As seen above, relations defined by semantic features, such as sysonymy and antonymy, are presented as totally symmetric in structuralist semantics.

Problems in structuralist semantics
Many linguists, such as Fillmore (1982) have pointed out phenomena that present severe problems to the structuralist approach to lexical (and other areas of) semantics.

Asymmetric antonymy
Fillmore observes a number of cases where additional connotative facts appear to influence words that are normally considered antonymous such that the relation of anotonymy is asymmetric and more complicated than presented in structuralist semantics.

For example in the boy vs. girl case, it is argued that their semantics involve not only the biological properties captured by the semantic features, but also sociocultural connotative influences. Fillmore points at observations of English in which boy and girl are used differently, reflecting underlying cultural gender attitudes. The difference is that speakers generally stop referring to males as boys at a much younger age than when they stop using girl for females.

Another observation is that certain adjectives, such as the ones expressing vertical extent of entities, differ in terms of antonymy in accordance with the nature of the entity they modify. For example tall and short are anotonyms if the entity is a human, whereas low is antonymous of tall if the entity is a building. In relations to scales that have bottom baselines, the antonymous pair is high vs. low. Again, it seems that additional connotative meaning influences the understanding and use of certain words.

Complex synonymy
As with antonymy, Fillmore presents some cases in which synonymy appears to be much more complex than presented in structuralist semantics - again due to connotative factors.

For example, shore and coast would be total synonyms in structuralist semantics because they refer to the same entity in the exterior world, thus sharing all semantic features. There is, however, an important difference - namely, perspective. Shore refers to the LAND BORDERING A LARGE BODY OF WATER AS SEEN IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SEA, while coast refers to the LAND BORDERING A LARGE BODY OF WATER AS SEEN IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE INLAND. Thus additional non-denotative meaning actually makes the two words differ in semantics.

A similar case is land and ground which both refer to the DRY SURFACE OF THE EARTH and would share all semantic features, but again perspective causes them to actually differ semantically. Land refers to the DRY SURFACE OF THE EARTH AS SEEN IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SEA, whereas ground refers to the DRY SURFACE OF THE EARTH AS SEEN IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE AIR.

Relation that have nothing to do with semantic features
Some word concepts are related in ways that cannot be explained in terms of semantic features. They are related because they are parts of the same experiences.

CUSTOMER, MENU, WAITER, ORDERING, EATING, BILL etc. are related each other and to RESTAURANT, because they are all part of our experience of GOING TO A RESTAURANT. TICKET, CHECK-IN, LUGGAGE, BOARDING PASS, PILOT, STEWARDESS, etc. are all related to each other and to AIR TRAVEL, because they are all part of our experience of TRAVELLING BY AEROPLANE. SELL, BUY, PAY, COST, SELLER, MONEY, GOODS etc. are all related to each other and to the event of COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION, because they are all part of our experience of engaging in COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION.

Encyclopaedic meaning
Pointing to such observations, cognitive linguists and other functionally oriented linguists argue that the understanding of words and other linguistic signs involves social and cultural and general information about the world (based on our experiences in it and interactions with it) – information which the semantic features do not account for. Without access to this connotative information, or encyclopaedic meaning of language, which part of encyclopaedic knowledge, one would not understand those signs properly.

Arguing that structural semantics fails in capturing the way language really works, cognitive linguists propose theories of semantics based on encyclopaedic knowledge rather than semantic features, such as frame semantics, scope of predication, and windowing of attention.