Abstract
In this chapter, the lexeme is characterized as an entry in a relational database defined in terms of four attributes: FORM, SYNTAX, SEMANTICS, and a LEXEMIC INDEX, which functions as a kind of database key. The SEMANTICS (SEM) attribute defines basic meaning in terms of ontological classes of events, things, properties, and relations. The FORM attribute defines the inflected word forms of a lexeme. The SYNTAX (SYN) attribute includes an argument structure representation which includes a ‘semantic function role’: the E (Event) for role for verbs, the R (Referent) role for nouns, and an innovation, the A* role, which mediates the grammatical function of attributive modifier. It is argued that the semantic function roles can replace traditional syntactic category labels ‘N’, ‘V’, ‘A’, and that this will provide a way of solving notorious problems with ‘mixed categories’.
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