Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1970, Page 281

lookingfor the key. This differential extendability may be part of
the formal basis for our persistent intuitions about a ‘class
meaning’ of the major categories.
Is logic an adequate model of the semantics of natural
language ? If such things as semantic extension rules exist, as
I have claimed they do, the answer must be no. It is an
important characteristic of artificial languages, includinglogic,
that their semantic rules preserve invariance, in the sense that
the meaning of an expression in them is determined solely
by the meanings of the terms in it and the rules of combination
which fix the relationship between the terms without changing
their meaning. I have claimed that this is not the case in
natural languages. These have meaning rules whose opera-
tion is rather analogous to the operation of morphophonemic
rules, though that analogy should not be pushed beyond the
point where it ceases to be enlightening (which is what has
sometimes been done to the phonology-semantics comparison).
The functions which such semantic rules serve in natural
languages—metaphor, politeness, taboo, humor, variety of
expression—are functions which are not required in artificial
languages.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chomsky, Noam. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Mass., 1965.
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Jackendoff, R. S. An Interpretive Theory of Pronouns and Reference. M. I.T.
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Katz, Jerrold J„ and Paul M. Postal. An Integrated Theory of Linguistic
Descriptions. Cambridge, Mass., 1964.
McCawley, James D. The Role of Semantics in a Grammar. Universals in
Linguistic Theory. Edited by Emmon Bach/Robert T. Harms. 125—169.
New York 1968.
Perlmutter, David M. Deep and Surface Structure Constraints. M.I.T.
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Ross, John R. Auxiliaries as Main Verbs. M.I.T. Cambridge, Mass., 1967.
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