ARCHIVÉE 2.4.2. Concepts and semantic Features

 

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A concept is recognized as a unit of knowledge for a given class of individual objects when it systematically shares the same properties or characteristics with each individual object in that class wherever it is referred to in a given set of documents.

For instance, "lead pencil" is recognized by the following characteristics, or semantic features (taken from ISO/FDIS 704, 2000:3-4):

The specific object designated by the visual representation below has the following specific properties:

image of lead pencil example and its specific visual properties

  • Made of a long, thin piece of graphite;
  • The graphite core is surrounded by a wood casing;
  • The casing is yellow;
  • At one end there is an eraser;
  • At the other end, the graphite and casing have been sharpened to a point;
  • It is used for writing or making marks

object (visual representation) Concept designation (term)
image of lead pencil example and its specific visual properties abstraction based on the set of all lead pencils Lead pencil

Lead Pencil – Terminological Description

Category Property Characteristic
Level of abstraction Concreteness Concreteness
Composition Made of a long, thin piece of graphite Graphite core
Composition Wood casing surrounds graphite Graphite core is encased in wood
Colour Casing is yellow Casing may be any colour
Composition At one end there is an eraser One end may have an eraser
Shape Other end is sharpened to a point One end may be sharpened to a point
Medium Graphite is the writing medium Graphite is the writing medium
Function Used for writing or making marks Used for writing or making marks

Also, new concepts evolve through the combination, in different ways, of the characteristics of established concepts, and are in turn recognized through the repeated occurrence of the new combination of characteristics in various sources.

Example

Distance Learning + Online Learning + University = Virtual University

Virtual University + Campus = Virtual Campus

Not all semantic features identifying a concept in selected documents are needed in order to create a definition for that concept. Essential features are intrinsic to that concept, in the sense that they distinguish it from another and their absence makes it indistinguishable from another.

"For example, we can describe the concept watch by identifying such characteristics as ‘having a face...’, ‘being used to tell time’, and ‘having a movement driven in any of several ways’. These are necessary characteristics but not sufficient to distinguish a watch from other timepieces, so we have to add the characteristic of ‘being designed to be worn on a wristband, pin, or chain’. The necessary and sufficient characteristics of a concept, which enable us to distinguish it from all other concepts, are referred to as essential." (DUBUC/KENNEDY 1997:39)