The Female-moneme in English: Semantic Considerations in Testing Moneme-ldentity

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to explore the possibility of testing hypotheses for moneme identity by using an additional criterion of adequation with respect to semantic factors: a criterion concerning the assumption of recoverability of denotations of complex pleremes from the denotations of their constituents. I have taken the position that, in the final analysis, a particular complex plereme is a combination of two or more monemes holds on condition that the overall denotation of the complex in question is recoverable from the denotations of its constituents, plus, of course, from having a relatively clear (though necessarily rather approximate) idea of the semantic role played by the constructional relation between these constituents.