Semantic network: content words connected by lines as the starting point of the production model¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The semantic network is the first of Labov's five segments of linguistic description. In the production model it "starts with a semantic network which is a connection of content words connected by lines," with two kinds of lines described so far, including object relations. Co-reference problems are handled by drawing more than one line from the appropriate noun rather than by grammatical machinery.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Content words connected by lines, with relation types such as object relations, to represent an utterance's content

Constraints¶

• So far Labov only talks about two kinds of lines; co-reference is sidestepped rather than formally resolved

Target Learners¶

• linguists and language researchers

Target Learning Goals¶

• modeling the content structure underlying utterances

Affordances¶

• Labov Style As Function Of Grammar Theory

Claims¶

Related Elements¶

• Grammaticalization component: supplies function words and labeled bracketings that make utterances sound smooth
• Oriented semantic network: linear ordering of the semantic network treated as psychological rather than grammatical
• Phonologization: final segment applying phonology to the bracketed utterance

Examples¶

• Word-net exercises linking lexical knowledge to grammatical awareness

Key Sources¶

• Legum, Stanley E. (1970). On the Facts of the Language in Question or a Conversation with W. Labov. Southwest Regional Laboratory Technical Note TN-2-70-47. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED108215