TERM SEMANTIC CORE: CONCEPTUAL UNITY AND ASPECTS OF ITS REALIZATION

Abstract

The proposed study examines the structure and properties of the semantic core of a terminological word. The conceptual unity of the semantic core and the aspects of its realization are being studied. Particular attention is focused on the application of various perspectives and approaches to analyzing the processes of isolating and investigating complexes of discrete integral and differential semantic components, as well as the corresponding non-discrete concept-images of the semantic core. Combining the study of the development of a terminological word and its semantic core, in both diachronic and synchronic terms, is a key aspect of the research. The processes of inextricable interaction between the extralinguistic and linguistic levels of the formation and development of a term are examined as the basis for the creation and continuous expansion of terminological fields and domains. An analysis of the formation and expansion of the system of meanings within the structure of a polysemous term-lexeme takes into account their parallel development across several dimensions, the nondiscrete and the discrete. Both the explicitly expressed conceptual imagearchetype and the extensive system of implicit semantic components and their complexes are defined and analyzed in the course of the research. We have elicited that the complexity of the conceptual structure of the semantic components within the identified feature complexes also lies in the fact that the system of connotative parameters constantly interacts with each of the defined semantic features. Moreover, each semantic feature has its own logic of development and may manifest varying degrees of realization across the different senses of a polysemous term-lexeme. The degrees of intensity with which the identified semantic features manifest, both in their various combinations and at different levels of the semantic core’s hierarchical structure, have been analyzed. The functioning of the phenomenon of semantic component neutralization is also examined. Such a structure of the semantic core of a term creates virtually unlimited potential for designating various classes and types of referents. Thus, the structure of the semantic core finds its expression in the internal logic and developmental trajectories of the lexemic structure of the term. The process of actualizing semantic features and their complexes has been examined across various types of discourse.