PREDICTING SYNTAX FROM SEMANTICS 511structure of the lexical representations will be the same as in the Dowty sys
tem, preserving the argument positions which define thematic relations; the
decomposed representations will fill the slots occuppied by the primitive
state and activity predicates.
As a first approximation, we can represent the achievement sense of
remember as BECOME think.again (x) about something.be.in.mind.
from.before (y).^1 Following the Dowty system, the representation of the
activity version of remember is the same as the one above minus BECOME.
It is not entirely clear which of the two versions is basic, but the fact that the
full range of complement types is compatible only with the achievement
reading suggests strongly that it is the more basic of the two. The decision
regarding basicness does not affect the present analysis. Think (of/about) is
one of the semantic primitives argued for in Wierzbicka (1972,1980a). We
can use the fact that remember is hyponymically related to think to justify
its inclusion in the decomposed semantic structure. For all uses of
remember it is also possible to use think, but not vice versa, e.g. he remem
bered his mother entails he thought about his mother, but he thought about
the solution to the problem does not entail that he remembered the solution
to the problem. Remember is thus a semantically more specified form of
think and hence contains think as an element of its semantic structure.
One way in which remember is more specified is that it requires the
again component: it is logically inconsistent to say that one is remembering
something if one is thinking about it for the first time. A further crucial fea
ture is the set of semantic conditions that it imposes on the second argu
ment, y. The variable must be filled by something that had been in the
(conscious) mind at some previous time. The from.before element in the
semantic structure relating to y complements the again which modifies
think. Note that this fits with the use of "come back" in the fixed phrase it s
coming back to /her, which is often used to describe acts of remember
ing. The something.be.in.the.mind element is the key to the various
interpretations that remember is involved in. All acts of remembering entail
calling something up in the mind so that it can be actively contemplated.
The nature of this something constrains the interpretation of remember.
When it is knowledge or belief(s) that a person has in their mind from
before, then remember receives a cognition or propositional attitute read
ing, as in he remembered the solution, he remembers that two plus two equal
four. When it is an intention or a disposition to act, the result is a psych-
action interpretation, e.g. he remembered his keys, he remembered to bring