| the analysis of a set of related linguistic items, esp. word meanings, into combinations of features in terms of which each item may be compared with every other, as in the analysis of man into the semantic features "male,' "mature,' and "human,' woman into "female,' "mature,' and "human,' girl into "female,' "immature,' and "human,' and bull into "male,' "mature,' and "bovine.' |
| Main Entry: | componential analysis1 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | the analysis of the meaning of an expression by looking at its semantic components |
| Usage: | grammar |
| Main Entry: | componential analysis2 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | in linguistics, the analysis of aspects of language into contrastive components or distinctive features |
| Usage: | grammar |