COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS AS A METHODOLOGY IN LINGUISTIC SEMANTICS

Abstract

This article provides a rigorous epistemological and methodological investigation into Componential Analysis (CA) within the paradigm of structural and lexical semantics. The research evaluates the historical development, structural mechanics, operational algorithms, and empirical validity of decomposing lexical meanings into atomic semantic features, conventionally termed semes or semantic components. By operationalizing binary algebraic matrices across distinct closed-class and open-class semantic fields (kinship, culinary lexemes, and motion verbs), this study contrasts the North American anthropological onomasiological tradition with the European semasiological approach. The findings confirm that while CA yields high mathematical precision, objective systematicity, and optimal utility for computational lexicography, its classic binary formulation encounters distinct empirical boundaries when confronted with non-discreet, fuzzy, and culturally shifting boundaries. The study argues for an integrated structural-cognitive framework to maximize the descriptive adequacy of modern semantic models.