Generative lexicon (GL) is a theory of
linguistic semantics which focuses on the distributed nature of
compositionality
In semantics, mathematical logic and related disciplines, the principle of compositionality is the principle that the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituent expressions and the rules used to combine them. ...
in
natural language
In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...
. The first major work outlining the framework is
James Pustejovsky
James Pustejovsky (born 1956) is an American computer scientist. He is the TJX Feldberg professor of computer science at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. His expertise includes theoretical and computational modeling o ...
's 1991 article "The Generative Lexicon".
Subsequent important developments are presented in
Pustejovsky and Boguraev (1993), Bouillon (1997), and Busa (1996). The first unified treatment of GL was given in Pustejovsky (1995). Unlike purely verb-based approaches to compositionality, generative lexicon attempts to spread the semantic load across all constituents of the utterance. Central to the philosophical perspective of GL are two major lines of inquiry: (1) How is it that we are able to deploy a finite number of words in our language in an unbounded number of
contexts? (2) Is lexical information and the representations used in composing meanings separable from our commonsense knowledge?
Motivation
GL was initially developed as a theoretical framework for encoding selectional knowledge in natural language. This in turn required making some changes in the formal rules of representation and composition. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of GL has been the manner in which
lexically encoded knowledge is exploited in the construction of interpretations for linguistic
utterances
In spoken language analysis, an utterance is a continuous piece of speech, often beginning and ending with a clear pause. In the case of oral languages, it is generally, but not always, bounded by silence. Utterances do not exist in written langu ...
. The computational resources available to a lexical item within this
theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...
consist of the following four levels:
#Lexical typing structure: giving an explicit type for a word positioned within a type system for the language;
#
Argument structure: specifying the number and nature of the arguments to a predicate;
#
Event structure In mathematics and computer science, an event structure represents a set of events, some of which can only be performed after another (there is a ''dependency'' between the events) and some of which might not be performed together (there is a ''c ...
: defining the event type of the expression and any subeventual structure it may have; with subevents;
#Qualia structure: a structural differentiation of the predicative force for a lexical item.
Qualia structure
The
qualia
In philosophy of mind, qualia ( or ; singular form: quale) are defined as individual instances of subjective, conscious experience. The term ''qualia'' derives from the Latin neuter plural form (''qualia'') of the Latin adjective '' quālis'' () ...
structure, inspired by Moravcsik's (1975) interpretation of the
''aitia'' of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
, are defined by Pustejovsky as the modes of explanation associated with a word or phrase in the language, and are defined as follows:
#''Formal'': the basic category of which distinguishes the meaning of a word within a larger domain;
#''Constitutive'': the relation between an object and its constituent parts;
#''Telic'': the purpose or function of the object, if there is one;
#''Agentive'': the factors involved in the object's origins or ''coming into being''.
References
{{Reflist
Sources
*Bouillon, P. 1997. "Polymorphie et sémantique lexicale: le cas des adjectifs", Ph.D., Paris VII. Paris.
*Busa, F. 1996. Compositionality and the Semantics of Nominals, Ph.D. Dissertation, Brandeis University.
*Moravcsik, J. M. 1975.
Aitia as Generative Factor in Aristotle's Philosophy', Dialogue, 14:622-36.
*Pustejovsky, J. and B. Boguraev. (1993).
Lexical Knowledge Representation and Natural Language Processing', in Artificial Intelligence, 63:193-223.
Lexical semantics
Computational linguistics