Glossary
Molecular Sememe
A synthetic order of signs which exists momentarily at any marked moment of choice in the generation of a discourse. Its contents are all the signs which could, given the coerciveness of the discourse up to the point, be chosen at that moment. It should be noted that this sememe is both a taxeme and a lexeme, though at the moment of its creation, these functions are not yet distinguished. Both the grammatical value of the expression chosen and the its meaning belong to the molecule as a whole, as marked by the chosen expression.
Molecule
Short for a Molecular Sememe. The term "molecule" is meant to emphasis that the synthetic order of words or signs or contents found here is not a simple order or a single entity, but rather a complex order of signs brought into a synthetic unity by the purposiveness of the discourse.
Sememe
I use the word "sememe" to imply that the molecular sememe is the unit of meaning in discourse. This meaning is not confined to any particular definition of meaning. It is not a lexeme or a taxeme, but rather exists in a prototypical sense prior to the point at which it is possible to separate lexical and syntactic meanings. Its meaning is not definitional, and does not depend on formal logic. It is not defined by truth conditions or Universal Grammar and does not assume the existence of a Universal Lexicon. It refers, rather, to the total range of meaning and implication of any word or sign or content as it is created by discourse, at the moment of its utterance.
MSES
The MSES, or the Molecule Selection-and-Execution Structure, is the basic unit of discourse. Discourse consists of a sequential and hierarchical order of MSES's. The MSES consists of two important parts, separable for the purpose of discussion only: the Molecule Selection Structure, and the Molecule Execution Structure. A sentence consists of one or more MSES's.
Molecule Selection Structure
The Molecule Selection Structure is an aspect of an MSES. It is that aspect within which the given elements of a discourse are able to coerce or select what comes next. Thus, the possible contents of a molecule are dictated by the elements of discourse which precede them, and which stand in mutual presupposition to them.
For example, in the sentence, "Tomorrow, I think I'll paint the room { }," the possible contents of the molecule, at this moment of decision, are limited to the color terms which would be meaningful in context--that is to say, given the presuppositional scope of whatever came earlier in the discourse. The richer that context, obviously, the more particularly the contents of the molecule will be determined.
Molecule-Execution Structure
The Molecule-Execution Structure is a function of an MSES. It is that operation within which the possible elements of a molecule are recognized, sorted, and negotiated. At the end of this negotiation (all performed quickly and unconsciously), one sign is chosen. This choice "executes" the molecule. At this point, our listener will probably assign a meaning to the chosen term which really belongs to the molecule as a whole (as she construes it).