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

—Chapter 18. Lexical Functions— 17
• at least some of its elements cannot be specified without a direct reference to L as an indivi-
dual LU.
A degenerate LF specifies for L a lexical expression L´ that appears, generally speaking,
with no other LU, because L´’s meaning includes the meaning of L ((L´) ⊃ (L)).
Comments on Definition 18.3
1. The value of an LF f for the LU L—f(L)—is, generally speaking, a SET of linguistic expres-
sions {L´i}. An element of f(L) can be, as we have seen, an LU (a lexeme or a phraseme), a
morphological sign (a compounding stem or an affix), or else a free phrase. The elements of the
value f(L) need not be strictly synonymous: they must be only more or less synonymous—shar-
ing an important semantic component (f), which is associated with f (for more details, see 5.1.1, p.
00).
2. Condition A1 guarantees the homogeneity of f(L): for any two keywords, the semantic
and/or syntactic relationships between any element of f’s value and the keyword remains approxi-
mately the same. The researcher is free to determine himself how approximate this may be—
according to the task he sets himself. The identity of the semantic relationship between L and an
element of the value f(L) is relative: it depends on the degree of granularity chosen by the resear-
cher as well as on the level of analysis. Consider two collocations: The PREDICTION comes true [=
‘begins to be reality’] and The FILM opens [= ‘begins to be screened’]; both underscored express-
ions are elements of the value of the LF IncepFact 0 for the respective keywords (in small caps).
Of course the semantic relationships between, on the one hand, come true and prediction and, on
the other hand, open and film are not literally the same. They can, however, be considered the
same on a more abstract level: in both cases, the entity denoted by the keyword ‘does what it is
expected to do’: thus, a prediction is expected to become reality, and a film, to be screened. The
lexicographic definitions of the LUs PREDICTION and FILM must include the corresponding
components.
3. Condition A2 establishes the saturated character of f(L): f is maximal in that it returns ALL
possible elements of any given value for any LU. Thus, any intensifier of L must belong to the
value f(L) of f that covers the intensifiers—this f is the LF Magn (see below). An L´ that does not
belong to Magn(L) cannot be an intensifier of L.
4. Condition A3 ensures the phraseological character of f(L). Conditions A1 and A2 characte-
rize f as a potential LF: they require only the existence of the proportion L´1 : L1 = L´2 : L2
and the inclusion of all appropriate elements in the value. Condition A3, on the other hand,