What is an ASSOCIATIVE field

An associative field is a set of words that has to do with the same topic or area. Unlike a word family, the associative field can contain words that are not of the same grammatical category and that do not share a root.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to teach you what is an associative field and we want to give you some examples so that you have it clearer when identifying or using it in your texts.

An associative field is a linguistic concept what has to do with the semantics, that is, with The meaning of the words. It is made up of a set of words that share something in common: its theme in reality. For example, if we are talking about soccer and we want to determine which is its associative field, we have to search words that are related to this topic such as: ball, ball, goal, scoreboard, player, shoes, trophy, etc.

Words found within an associative field they do not have why be the same grammatical category. Therefore, we can mix nouns, adjectives or verbs that have in common the theme we are talking about. Continuing with the example of soccer, other words that could be within the same associative field could be play, defense or passionate.

Also, if you notice, none of them share a common root, but they are words from different families that only share meaning with football. Then we can determine that, in reality, there is no correct and incorrect associative field, but it will depend largely on the writer's subjectivity. That is why the exciting word for one person will be linked to the associative field of football and for another not.

The associative field of a given topic will increase the more information and more knowledge you have about it. topic that you will address. A child in the schoolyard will not use the same words to talk about football as a sportscaster broadcasting a game.

Associative fields are used to order the language in a different way than the purely technical one used with grammar or lexicon. It's a way of putting the words together by concepts and putting a lot of weight on people's interpretation. Each word has a network of words that connect to each other to create infinite webs of associations of ideas.

It is important to determine that each of the words that make up an associative field have a common meaning, but also one very specific particular. For example: ball and goal can be in the same associative field called soccer, but they have a well differentiated meaning as independent elements.

Charles Bally, a Swiss linguist, used this word for the first time in history in the structuralist school. A school that tried to structure language in a purely technical way, completely forgetting about meaning of the words and the impact they had on people.

Charles compared the words to stars within constellations. Each of the stars in a constellation is related to those around it to create a joint meaning. This is the same as associative fields do: they match different words to form a much broader joint meaning than treating words as individuals disconnected from others.

An associative field can serve for many things, for example to develop children's imaginations by giving them a specific topic and letting their imaginations wander. It is also used by the actors before going out to improvise on stage so that ideas flow freely.

In the world of literature, on the other hand, associative fields are very useful for writers before you start writing your text. If you know that you are going to write about soccer, it is good that you can make a list with all the words that come to mind on this subject. In this way, once you put the pen on the paper, ideas will emerge much faster.

What's more, when you feel stagnant and you do not know where to direct your text, you can choose one of the words that you have not used yet and start investigating about that topic. In this way, as a writer, you will have much more material before you start creating a text.

The associative fields are very free word sets They are created using the imagination and experiences of the person who is writing. That is why an associative field will never be the same for two people. There are some features that define these associative fields and give them a certain structure:

• They have a structure that varies constantly and is not stable in any moment. For example: sneakers and agile are from the same associative field of football, but they have nothing to do with their roots, their grammatical category, or their primitive meaning. That is why an associative field is changing and becoming unstable with each word that is added to it.
• It is totally subjective. There are quite common things in each of the associative fields, such as, for example, if we continue with football, we can all agree that whistle or flag are words that would be included in that associative field, however, words such as exciting, funny or wonderful, would subjectively enter the associative field of some people, but not of other
• They don't have any kind of norm on which it is possible to determine whether it is correct or not to add a word to an associative field. Words can be added because they are synonymous, such as ball and ball. Words can be added because they are always linked, such as sock and foot. Words can be joined depending on the writer's experience, such as hobby and family.

The writer's imagination he can fly by relating words and create a structure that may seem totally absurd and abstract to others, but has a totally logical meaning to him.

Next we are going to show you some examples of associative fields so that you can see the relationship that exists between each of the words and at the same time you can identify the lack of structure that exists in each of the groups.

1. Associative field of home: home, room, bathroom, family, fire, freedom, welcomed, sister, quarrel, love, lentils, good smell, clean, mother, etc.
2. Associative field of sports: soccer, basketball, volleyball, ball, racket, agile, fast, tired, public, strategy, sweat, shower, freedom, friends, field, injury, etc.
3. Associative field of animals: dog, cat, rabbit, cockroach, pet, house, love, hair, bark, scratch, bird, freedom, affectionate, care, food, cleaning, etc.
4. Associative field of trip: Beach, sun, suitcase, plane, heat, cold, sleep, jet lag, friends, family, Norway, fun, learn, freedom, mountain, boots, swimsuit, etc.
5. Associative field of school: Read, books, teacher, encyclopedia, computer, internet, friends, playground, learning, boredom, weekend, exam, math, etc.

If you have noticed, these associative fields are closely related to the person who wrote them and they could be infinite. Like a spider web that builds as words come out of your mouth and that has no end.

The best way to determine if a new concept or idea that you have learned has been correctly internalized by your brain, the best thing you can do is put it to the test with some exercise. Here we leave you with some exercises so that you know if you have understood this lesson on associative fields well.

You can find the solutions to these exercises in the next section.

Exercise 1

In this exercise we suggest that you can indicate the associative field suggested to you by the list of words that we will write for you below. We put the first as an example so that you can understand it well:

1. Ball, ball, hobby, championship, trophy, winner, sport, sweat, socks, sneakers, grass: Soccer
2. Rabbit, snake, chicken, cow, ostrich, fish, dog, cat, hamster, love, bull, horse, whale: ________
3. Cockroach, fly, mosquito, ant, fear, disgust, basement, fleas, breadcrumbs, field, tree: ________
4. Dress, skirt, shoes, panties, socks, stockings, pretty, morning, get ready, jacket, decision: ____
5. Grandfather, mother, love, affection, father, siblings, Christmas, togetherness, home, sing, fun, visit, father-in-law: ____

Exercise 2

In this exercise, what we propose is that you give us the associative field that you think is necessary for each of the words that we propose. Write at least 10 words from each category to make sure you get off the topic and look a little deeper in your mind. We put the first as an example so that you can understand it well:

1. flowers: scents, roses, petunias, field, freshness, running, freedom, bouquet, petal, love, gift, wedding, etc.
2. University:
3. Music:
4. Computing:
5. Social networks:

Exercise 3

For this exercise you will need a friend. You can practice associative fields in the form of a game When you're having a good time with your friends The game consists of thinking about an associative field and beginning to say all the words that come to mind as quickly as you can. The first friend to discover which associative field you are talking about wins. Let your friends do it and try to guess which associative field they refer to in each of the rounds.

These are the solutions to exercises that we have proposed in the previous point. We recommend that you do not look at the answer without first trying to do it yourself.

Exercise 1

These are the answers from exercise 1:

1. Soccer
2. Animals
3. Insects
4. Clothing
5. Family

Exercise 2

These are some possible answers from exercise 2. Remember that, with associative fields, all the answers are correct if they make sense to you:

1. flowers: scents, roses, petunias, field, freshness, running, freedom, bouquet, petal, love, gift, wedding, etc.
2. University: Freedom, studies, books, friends, party, profession, exam, stress, teacher, classroom, etc.
3. Music: Sound, song, violin, joy, sadness, love, profession, guitarist, concert, Bruno Mars, etc.
4. Computing: Computer, software, program, mouse, study, university, room, help, etc.
5. Social networks: Instagram, Facebook, bondage, photographs, beauty, entertainment, vice, Saturday, etc.

Now you know what is an associative field and you've seen quite a few examples. If you are interested in continuing to learn about this topic or another related one, do not hesitate to consult the writing section.