Chapter 18 Lexical Functions: Description of Lexical Relations in a ...

—Chapter 18. Lexical Functions— 15
A linguistic expression that constitutes an element of the value {L´i} of an LF f when
applied to L (f(L) = {L´ i }) can be, generally speaking, of one of the five types, that is, L´ can be:
— a lexical unit
1) a lexeme : Magn(smoker) = heavy [smoker]
2) a phraseme (including
collocations) : Magn(smokeV) = [smoke] klike a chimneyl
Magn(rainV) = [rain] kcats and dogsl 4
— a morphological element
3) a compounding stem : Magn(smoker) = chain-[smoker]
4) a derivational affix : S 1(smokeV) = [smok]+er
— a free phrase
5) : Magn(smokeV) = [smoke] more than a battalion of firefighters,
without stopping, lighting up a cigarette from
the other, ...
(Cf. Her marriage is as DEAD as the remains of some Wooly Mammoth unearthed by researchers
in Siberia, or some such place; the underscored free phrase intensifies the adjective DEAD.)
Now the two relevant definitions can be formulated: Lexical Functions and Standard
Lexical Functions.
2.2. Definition of Lexical Function
As was already stated, a Lexical Functions f is a correspondence between lexical expres-
sions (of language L) that is associated with a meaning (f) and a (deep-)syntactic role. According
to this characterization, f is applicable or not applicable to LUs of particular semantic/
syntactic classes. The notion of applicability of an LF f to an LU L is based on semantic compati-
bility of f and L—that is, on the compatibility of the meanings (f) and (L). Formally, the applicabi-
lity must be explicitly specified for each f by indication of the semantic class of the correspond-
ing LUs—i.e., LUs that can be arguments of f. If f is applicable to L, we will say that f is
defined for L.