A semantic frame in the structure of human mental lexicon (through the example of the «human» semantic frame)

The article considers the possibility of using Ch. Fillmore's frame semantics as a way of structuring and analysing human mental lexicon. A semantic frame is experience schematized at the conceptual level and kept in a human's memory. The distinctive feature of frame semantics is the connection between the meaning and extralinguistic context. The application of the «frame» term to research on mental lexicon needs to be clarified. Taking into consideration the specific character of this sphere, six main characteristics of the frame were distinguished: 1) a semantic frame organises lexical data based on the principle of catego­risation; 2) lexical data is organized according to the hierarchical principle; 3) the structure of a frame and meaning of linguistic units are determined by extralinguistic factors; 4) while analysing a semantic frame, context conditions must be taken into consideration; 5) a semantic frame is a dynamic structure; 6) the struc­ture of a frame is based on the probabilistic principle. As an example the article provides short analysis of the semantic frame «Human» in mental lexicon of Russian and Chinese students.