Sememic stratum

The sememic stratum or semological structure or conceptual system in neurocognitive linguistics is the highest level of the linguistic information system. It may also be the highest level for various other modalities. Certainly it is connected with the system for visual perception and other kinds of perception and to various motor areas. Elements in this stratum are realized by elements in the lexemic stratum.

Comments

A speaker's sememic stratum is not a frozen, static network. As a result of experience, changes take place daily in most individuals.

Example

Take the meaning of a word like "red". We may call it the concept "red", an element in the sememic system. It is connected to other concepts within the sememic system, such as subtypes of "red" and the supertype "color". It is also directly connected to a point in the visual system where we have the visual image of "red". Thus, part of the meaning of "red" to a human being is the visual image of what "red" looks like.

Sources

• Language and Reality: Selected Writings of Sydney Lamb, Continuum, 2004.