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

—Chapter 18. Lexical Functions— 65
Obstr 2(speech) = //[NY] stutters, stammers, Obstr(saliva) = //[NY’s] mouth is dry, [NY’s]
mumbles tongue sticks to the roof of [NY’s] mouth
Obstr(negotiations) = are stalled Obstr(economy) = stagnates
62. Stop [Lat. *stuppāre (stop up, plug)] = cessative
Stop is a verb meaning (stop functioning).
Examples
Stop 2(breath) = [NY] loses [NY’s ~] Stop(voice) = breaks
Stop(heart1) = stops Stop(heart2) = breaks
63. Excess [Lat. *excessus] = excessive
Excess is a verb meaning (function in an excessive way).
Examples
Excess 2 (heart1) = [NX] has palpitations Excess(engine) = races
Excess(sweat) = rolls down across [NX’s] Excess motor
2
forehead, trickles down the back of
(teeth) = [NX] grinds [NX’s ~]
[NX’s] head, pours off [NX’s] brow Excess motor
2 (sweat) = [NX] is bathed [in ~]
[For the superscript motor , see below, 5.1.3.]
64. Sympt [Lat. *symptoma] = symptom
L´ = Sympt(L) is a verbal expression meaning (symptom of); more precisely, Sympt denotes
a bodily reaction that is a symptom of an emotional or physical state L. Sympt takes three
DSyntAs, the actantial subscripts being distributed as follows:
itself;
—the subscript ‘ 1’ corresponds to the body part in which the symptom in question manifests
—the subscript ‘ 2’ corresponds to the person who ‘owns’ the body part involved and who is
the Experiencer of the emotion or physical state L;
—and the subscript ‘ 3’, to the emotional or physical state L.
In accordance with our technique of expressing syntactic conversion (= the permutation of
DSynt-Actants), the order of actantial subscripts specifies the SSynt-role of the actants: the sub-
script placed as first corresponds to the SSynt-Subject of the verbal expression which is the value
of Sympt; the second subscript corresponds to its Main Object; and the last subscript, to its
Secondary Object. The LF Sympt is used, as a general rule, together with Obstr, Stop and
Excess (as well as with some non-standard LFs), forming with one of them the configurations of
the form F—Sympt, where Sympt specifies that state (L) whose symptoms interest us, and the LF