The use of qualia structures for the semantic description of proprial units of language

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Generative Lexicon theory for the representation of knowledge about proper names. The relevance is determined by the absence of a solution to the problem of formalizing the semantics of onyms. The purpose of the article is to elucidate the possibilities of Generative Lexicon theory for the semantic description of onyms. The method of distributive analysis of cases of natural languages is used in the paper. The findings show that in most contexts at the semantic level the proper name Galya is associated with two types of events: the establishment of contact with a uniqualized person and the naming act which are incorporated into the semantic architecture of the proper name. The formal qualia which conveys information about the taxonomy of the object Galya is dual: these are the types «proper name» and «uniqualized object with who the contact is established». It is found out that the cognitively significant elements of the constitutive qualia of Galya are formally and meaningfully associated as «part-whole» relations within the proper name Galya and the uniqualized object, which finds it’s realization at the level of grammatical structure: countability/uncountability, definiteness/ indefiniteness. A telic qualia which conveys information about the purpose and/or function of the object is implemented in systematic contexts where the proper name is discussed as a way to establish contact, as well as the contexts of the name-giving act. It is determined that from the point of view of the agentive qualia Galya belongs to natural objects though processed in socio-cultural conditions of its functioning. The further research can concern the use of the Generative Lexicon theory for the representation of proprial knowledge for various classes of names in the semantic lexicon.