The paper examines the theoretical merit of “semantic molecules” in Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). Although semantic molecules are said to trace semantic dependence and necessity, compress complexity, and to account for what I call its productivity, that doesn't appear to be the case. This can be illustrated on the basis of a comparison of two explications for the same complex meaning—one containing a molecule and the other its decomposed elements. Counterfactual considerations suggest that the latter is not semantically dependent on the lexicalized molecule and that it is, in turn, not necessary. The other side of the comparison cements the point. This leaves the issue of compression, complexity, and productivity—none of which are helped by semantic molecules, as they appear to do little more than conceal complexity. Meanwhile, they are not required to account for productivity. It seems that molecules may need to be rethought.

本文研究了自然语义元语言（NSM）中“语义分子”的理论价值。尽管据说语义分子跟踪语义的依赖关系和必要性，压缩复杂性并解释我所谓的生产率，但事实并非如此。这可以在比较两个具有相同复杂含义的解释的基础上加以说明-一个包含一个分子，另一个包含其分解的元素。反事实因素表明，后者在语义上不依赖于词汇化的分子，因此，它不是必需的。比较的另一面巩固了这一点。这就留下了压缩，复杂性和生产率的问题-语义分子对它们没有任何帮助，因为它们似乎只不过掩盖了复杂性而已。与此同时，他们不需要考虑生产力。似乎可能需要重新考虑分子。