Generative lexicon (GL) is a theory of
linguistic semantics which focuses on the distributed nature of
compositionality in
natural language
A natural language or ordinary language is a language that occurs naturally in a human community by a process of use, repetition, and change. It can take different forms, typically either a spoken language or a sign language. Natural languages ...
. The first major work outlining the framework is
James Pustejovsky'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. The computational resources available to a lexical item within this
theory
A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...
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
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
: 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 (; singular: quale ) are defined as instances of subjective, conscious experience. The term ''qualia'' derives from the Latin neuter plural form (''qualia'') of the Latin adjective '' quālis'' () meaning "of what ...
structure, inspired by Moravcsik's (1975) interpretation of the
''aitia'' of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
, 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