The term semantic prime is normally used in reference to unanalyzable concepts; here I use it in a rather sense, to refer to a very limited set of binary oppositions; any concept can then be defined in terms of plus and minus (and perhaps null) values for these oppositions, in much the same way some phonological units can be defined in terms of plus and minus values for Jakobsonian distinctive features.
- Bickerton (1981), a pag.246