The word field theory is a sub-theory introduced by German linguist Jost Trier in 1931 within the word semantics. The theory assumes that words within a particular word field get their specific meaning due to their relationship to other words within the same word field. This follows that different words within a word field fit into a kind of "mosaic" and the meaning of one word is automatically restricted when the meaning of the other is expanded.
Meaning of just a single word in this way immediately brings a radical change to the structure of the entire word field. Trier further assumes that the word fields have the character of a closed set without gaps or mutual overlaps. The word field theory of Trier has not been widely accepted and has been changed several times since its introduction. Literature
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