Functionally salient features in the semantics of lexical items

Alyona Budnikova

Minsk State Linguistic University

Abstract

The aim of the present research is to work out and test a model of lexical meaning in terms of the functional salience of its constituents, i.e. the frequency of profiling of semantic features in different aspects of word functioning: as an element in the language system (paradigmatic salience), in context (syntagmatic salience), and in the formation of derived units (derivational salience). These parameters, viewed as objective criteria to assess feature weights, are used to reconstruct the organization of semantic features in the meanings of some common English animal names.

Keywords:

functional salience, lexical meaning, feature weights, profiling