20 ISSN 1648-2824 KALBŲ STUDIJOS. 2006. 8 NR. * STUDIES ABOUT LANGUAGES. 2006. NO. 8 From the Lexicon to the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary Anna Ginter Abstract. The Meaning-Text approach is viewed as ‘an outgrowth and natural continuation of the generative- transformational approach’ since the most immediate foundations of the Meaning-Text Theory are to be found in Chomsky’s theory (Mel’čuk 1981, p. 56; Gladkij, Mel’čuk 1969, p. 7). As a matter of fact, the Meaning-Text Theory adopted the fundamental assumptions and terminology of the standard theory by Chomsky, in its search for more developed model of language functioning. It is obvious, however, that the Meaning-Text Theory as influenced by other works, theories and studies (for example, observations referred to the Machine Translation and works of Soviet semanticists) must differ in many points from Chomsky’s approach. The most significant difference is connected with the fact that the Meaning-Text Theory develops the idea of language-independent semantic representation and provides examples of semantic decomposition of lexical meanings. What is more, contrary to the standard theory, Mel’čuk, Zolkovsky and Apresjan proposed the principle of using highly involved syntax in Semantic Representation. For the reasons presented above, the main goal of my paper is to show the main assumptions of the two theories taking into consideration components that seem parallel in the approaches proposed by Chomsky and Mel’čuk. Both the lexicon in the standard theory and the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary in the Meaning-Text Model refer directly to semantic aspects of the two linguistic descriptions. The lexicon consists of an unordered set of lexical entries and certain redundancy rules, while the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary is to comprise all the semantic and combinatorial data concerning the relationships of a given word to other words. It would be worth analysing the two elements from the point of view of their design, rules, foundations and value for the further scientific explorations – which is the objective of the paper. Key words: generative grammar, Meaning-Text model, semantics, Chomsky, Melchuk, lexicon, Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary. Introduction ‘There is no aspect of linguistic study more subject to confusion and more in need of clear and careful formulation than that which deals with the points of connection between syntax and semantics’ – says Chomsky in his Syntactic Structures (1972, p. 93). Indeed, in their studies and observations, the early American linguists (Boas, Sapir, Bloomfield, Harris) neglected the area of meaning. They made any positive contribution whatsoever to the theory or practice of semantics. Moreover, semantics was frequently defined to be outside linguistics proper (compare: Lyons 1970, p. 33). Semantic considerations were strictly subordinated to the task of identifying the units of phonology and syntax. Consequently, this part of the grammar was to be independent of semantics. Noam Chomsky was among the first linguists who included semantics as an integral part of the grammatical analysis of languages. His Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (published in 1965) present a model of transformational grammar designed for the analysis of natural languages, which tries to explain correspondences between the syntactic structures and their meaning. Some ideas of Chomsky’s approach were widely discussed and criticised as being of ‘any direct relevance to the description of natural language’ (Lyons 1970, p. 109). However, there is no doubt that his investigation of language should be treated as revolutionary, and as such attracted the attention of not only linguists, but also psychologists and philosophers. The most successful theory that can be described as a continuation of the generative-transformational approach was demonstrated in the Meaning-Text Model prepared by Mel’čuk and Zholkovsky. Some of its terminology as well as its foundations can be found in Chomsky’s theory. What is more, the Meaning-Text theory formulates the more radical point of view on semantics, which is the idea of language-independent semantic representation. For the reasons shown above, the main objective of the study is to find these aspects of the lexicon that found their further development and exploration in the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary. To achieve this aim we should accomplish the following tasks: 1) to present the lexicon, an element of Chomsky’s approach being a basis of semantic theory in generative grammar; 2) to present the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary – a core component of the Meaning-Text Model as a continuation and a final stage in the investigation of language functioning; 3) to single out these aspects of the lexicon that were adopted and developed in the Meaning- Text Theory; and finally: 4) to describe the applications of the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary. It must be underlined, however, that the following discussion does not aim at comparing the two theories – the problem of such comparison is too complex and too wide to be studied here. The research methods involve analysis of the selected semantic aspects of the theories by Chomsky and Mel'čuk