Componential analysis (CA) in the broadest sense, also known as ‘lexical decomposition’, is any attempt to formalize and standardize procedures for the analysis of word meanings. CA often aspires to represent the cognitive or psychological reality of the speakers, and to shed light on correlations between language and culture. For expository purposes, methods in CA may be described under the four headings of structuralist tradition, linguistic anthropology, generative and typological studies and natural semantic metalanguage.