Semantic Structures

Semantic Structures is a large-scale study of conceptual structure and its lexical and syntactic expression in English that builds on the theory of conceptual semantics described in Ray Jackendoff’s earlier books Semantics and Cognition and Consciousness and the Computational Mind . Jackendoff begins by summarizing the relevant arguments in his two previous books, setting out the basic parameters for the formalization of meaning, and comparing his mentalistic approach with Fodor’s language of thought hypothesis. He then takes up the problem of meaning, extending the range of semantic fields encompassed by the conceptual semantics formalism, and the problem of correspondence, formalizing the relation between semantic and synactic structure. Jackendoff extends and deepens the theory to come to grips with such crucial issues as delta-roles and delta-marking; arguments, modifiers, and adjuncts; binding and control; and the thematic linking hierarchy.