Do you know what a lexical field is?
We call a lexical field the set of words in a language that are related by conceptual affinities, as if they were, in this way, part of the same family. Our lexicon, a kind of virtual vocabulary we use when we communicate, is made up of an infinite number of words. Throughout our lives, as we are exposed to different contacts with language, it receives new elements.
In this set of words that are linked through meaning relations, new lexemes are constantly incorporated, proving that the lexical field is not something fixed and immutable. It may seem like a complex definition, but we all know exactly what it is, because according to the area of knowledge in which we operate — whether you are a student, car mechanic, soccer player or astronaut, we have a very specific vocabulary, used in moments suitable. Look at some examples of different lexical fields:
? Lexical field of computing: hardware, software, programs, byte, browser...
“(...) Create my Web site
make mine home page
How many gigabytes
if you make a raft
a boat that sails
May you sail on this infomar (…)”.
(Excerpt from the song Through the Internet - Gilberto Gil)
? Lexical field of football: corner, goal, penalty area, crossbar, boot...
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
“(...) My club has team At first
Your attacking line é gunner
THE medium line it's like a barrier
O center-forward runs well in
forward
The ddefense it is safe and has a rocket
It's the goalkeeper it's like a wall
And my club only plays to win (...)”.
(Excerpt from the song One by one - The Paralamas do Sucesso)
? Lexical field of civil construction: concrete, cement, walls, bricks, foundation...
“(...) The construction went up as if it were machine
Raised on level four walls solid
Brick with brick in a magical design
his blunt eyes of cement and tear
He sat down to rest as if it were Saturday (...)”.
(Excerpt from the song Construction - Chico Buarque)
? Lexical field of feelings: love, sadness, melancholy, joy, longing...
“(...) Enough of longing, the reality is that without it
There is no peace, there is no beauty
it's just sadness and the melancholy
That doesn't leave me, doesn't leave me, doesn't leave (...)”.
(Excerpt from the song Enough of homesickness - Vinicius de Moraes)
We can conclude that the language lexicon belongs to the community in which it is inserted. For this reason, its users act on it according to the social and cultural practices they develop, thus configuring the notion of lexical field.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "What is a lexical field?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/portugues/o-que-e-campo-lexical.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
