ABSTRACT
First introduced in generative semantics to describe causative verbs, semantic primitives are the smallest (possibly universal) basic terms whose relations (i.e. the semantic restrictions on their use) can be described in terms of meaning postulates (e.g. kill=make-becomenot-alive). The idea of describing the meaning of linguistic expressions by means of semantic primitives has lead to various controversies. ( also lexical decomposition)
References
generative semantics
1 Cover term for all relations that exist between the meanings of expressions (words, sentences) in natural languages. Such relations of meaning concern either (a) syntagmatic wellformedness, i.e. semantic agreement between the subject and the finite verb, e.g. *The rock is fleeing (ungrammatical in its literal meaning) ( compatibility, selection
e.g. Chicago is a big town/city (town and city are in the semantic relation of synonymy). The most important semantic relations are antonymy, hyperonymy, hyponymy, incompatibility, complementarity, conversion, paraphrase, and inference. The semantic relations of individual expressions to (all) other expressions and, subsequently, the semantic structure of the vocabulary of a whole language can be described with the aid of the logical operations of equivalence, implication, and negation. The descriptive methods and the languages involved in such a description depend upon the particular theory that is used; consider, for example, the use of semantic features in the componential analysis of structural semantics or the introduction of basic expressions ( semantic primitives) and meaning postulates in the framework of generative semantics. An even greater precision and independence from phenomena found in individual languages has been achieved in more recent approaches that attempt to describe semantic relations within the framework of an artificial language, such as Montague grammar. ( also intensional logic)
References
Cruse, D.A. 1986. Lexical semantics. Cambridge. Lipka, L. 1990. An outline of English lexicology (2nd edn 1992). Tübingen. Lutzeier, P.R. 1983. The relevance of semantic relations between words for the notion of lexical
field. TL 10.147-78. Lyons, J. 1968. Introduction to theoretical linguistics. Cambridge. ——1977. Semantics, 2 vols. Cambridge. Schnelle, H. 1974. Meaning constraints. Synthese 26.13-37. Ullmann, S. 1957. The principles of semantics, 2nd edn. Oxford. (Orig. 1951.)
semantics 2 case grammar
