Linguistic Differentiations

Linguistic differentiations provide a source of semantic variations that constitute a web of related phenomena and meanings.

In order to find the source of linguistic differentiations we ask: What words or notions are closely related to the phenomenon that we study? What are the semantic fields? Which terms are nested within each other? Which terms are opposites? and so forth.

For example, in the study of secrecy we find that related phenomena are designated with the terms privacy, reserve, lying. The phenomenon of inwardness seems closely associated with the experience of secrecy. But how is the experience of confession related to the experience of sharing a secret? How is the notion of inner life involved in confession as compared to sharing a secret?