Introduction

This issue, devoted to lexical freezing, aims to be innovative because it approaches this question from the perspective of the three primary functions. As this type of function is not yet known in the linguistic literature, we will present it after recalling the role that freezing plays in the general economy of linguistic systems and showing the relevance of the intersection of the notion of freezing with that of primary functions. After this presentation, we will try to identify the theoretical issues that are implicit in the contributions of this issue.

At present fixity plays an important role in linguistic research because of its determining role in recognition systems. In this article we present ongoing research on fixity, in particular on creation of a database whose objective is to list all the frozen expressions, basing on formal criteria. Taking adverbial phrases as an example, we shall specify the criteria allowing us to point to absolute fixity before tackling the question of its relative aspect.

Any linguistic unit is described in the theoretical and methodological frame of the laboratory LDI — Lexique, Dictionnaires, Informatique (Lexicon, Dictionaries, Computing) according to one of three primary functions, namely predicate, argument or actualizer. The description of the syntactic-semantic functioning of these lexical items will be undertaken with the aid of a corpus of free sequences and motionless sequences. In this article we look into a sample of complex support verbs considered as motionless actualizers of the nominal predicates.

In Polish, as well as in French, determination falls within the scope of phraseology as determinants may be fossilized (od groma, na pęczki) or constitute an element of an idiom (Jedna jaskółka wiosny nie czyni). The following article mainly tackles complex determination. We will first describe the morphosyntactic properties of different determinants within the nominal group. Then,
we will consider the extent of fossilization of these constructions. Our research is based on a Polish-French corpus.

By using the basic notions developed in the LDI, the study of lexical units throws doubts on word combination in the sentence which is considered the minimal unit of analysis and brings into the foreground many usage specificities. Some adjectival collocations called ‘metaphoric’ can, according to their usage, have two primary functions, namely predicate or actualizer. In fact, this study shows that every multi-lexical unit must be treated in terms of its internal complexity and according to its arguments schema.

The theory of object classes holds that every elementary sentence is inevitably constituted by elements which make this sentence acceptable. Each element has a function called a primary function. There are three such functions: predicate, argument and actualizer. These three functions can be realized by all the simple and compound, free and fixed syntactical categories. In this article we will show that the fixed adverbial sequences much as other syntactic categories can have primary
functions.

Our objective is to deal with the question of polysemy and synonymy of fixed verbal sequences from the perspective of the three primary functions. Assuming that the elementary phrase is a minimal unit of analysis, the verb to give, which is a focal point of our study, can function as a predicate of the phrase, an actualizer of a nominal predicate or an element of a fixed sequence. The notion of usage will help us to demonstrate that the meaning of some verbal phrases changes according to their
phrasal context, which shows that polysemy is not exclusive to mono-lexical units. Moreover, the representation of the different meanings of a multi-lexical unit is expressed by a vast synonymy and paraphrase network. The current study is in line with an Automatic Language Processing perspective that aims for recognition fixed sequences, for the generation of automatic phrases and for automatic translation. We shall present, firstly, our methodological framework. Secondly, we shall focus on the polysemy of multi-lexical predicates to demonstrate the characteristics they share and the differences between them and mono-lexical predicates. Finally, we shall put forward a methodology of treating the polysemy and synonymy of fixed sequences.

The present paper asks the question whether conjunctive and prepositional locutions are multilexical units, as it could be gathered from the word “locution”. These units introduce incidental propositions and are equivalent to simple conjunctions. A conjunctive expression bears the same relation to a conjunction as a complex word to a simple word: the only difference lying in multilexicality. We shall rely on the syntactic-semantic description of certain conjunctive expressions coding a hypothetical or conditional relation to show that they can undergo many modifications. As these units correspond to the Prep Det N X structure, e.g. à condition que, we shall see that we can actualize the noun which appears there, that its actualization is very rich and that it can shed light on the categorization of this relation in the language.

This paper calls for an analysis of the notion of “shared knowledge” through its role in inference. First of all, selection restrictions have to be excluded from the domain of shared knowledge because they are not inferred; rather, they are the ground of every possible inference. Secondly, in the field of shared knowledge, real cognitive models must be kept apart from idiomatic prejudices: the former produce inferences which can be defined as “free”, while the latter produce inferences which can be defined as “frozen” or “fixed”. This separation raises a problem on the bounds of the notion of stereotype.

A frozen sequence is a lexical creation. It draws its specificity from the construction of the text. We have tried to demonstrate how an “anti-process”, i.e. de-freezing would undo the language rules. We also establish a typological scheme of different processes of de-freezing and different influences brought to textual creativity. We try to illustrate these two linguistic processes with appropriate examples.

The article is devoted to the problem of metonymy in automatic translation. The author focuses on possible difficulties that can arise in the process of automatic translation of metonymic structures. The analysis of the problem is largely based on the examples taken from corpus material, which has been collected by the author, referring to the parts of the body and analysed according to the object oriented approach proposed by W. Banyś, as well as on the examples taken from the doctoral dissertation by T. Massoussi, which is devoted to a very thorough classification of various metonymic uses. The author shows how the adopted method of analysing language items can serve as a tool in solving problems that may appear in the process of translating the structures in question.

This article examines the French adjective farouche with the aim of disambiguating all its meanings. The methodology of this study is based on the object-oriented approach proposed by W. Banyś. The author seeks to find all the Polish equivalents of the word analyzed. The choice of equivalents is determined by the configuration of the object classes qualified by farouche and, possibly, by the frames in which the adjective in question appears. The results of the analysis are presented in the syntactic-semantic schemes with the contexts found in different databases (monolingual dictionaries, the Internet) and in the summary table. Finally, the author discusses the problem of the proper nouns qualified by farouche.

The aim of this article is to analyze the notion of movement in the conceptualizations of some altered states of consciousness, such as: sleeping (sonno), dreaming (sogno), meditation (meditazione) and hypnosis (ipnosi) in the Italian language. The research presented is based on the following theories: thematic proto-roles by D. Dowty (1991) and Kinesthetic Image Schemas by G. L akoff (1987), which are a basis for Idealized Cognitive Models (G. Lakoff, 1987). In order to carry out the analysis I took into consideration: the proto-role of the experiencer, the existence or lack of the boundaries in the visions of the states examined and the directions of the metaphoric movement of the state and of its experiencer, both during the very state and as a shift in the consciousness level occurs. I also verified the correlations between these elements and the part of the source — path — goal image schema emphasized in each conceptualization. The conclusions of my study indicate the similarities and differences in the vision of movement in the analyzed concepts.

The article deals with the role and the place of axiological elements in contemporary linguistic theories, in particular in cognitive linguistics. With reference to theories underpinning this approach such as pre-conceptual scheme, conceptualisation and categorisation, the author attempts to highlight the presence of values at the experiential level (with this in mind, she suggests analysis of four pre-conceptual schemes: container, part-whole, force and connections), and of further analysis at the level of conceptualisation and categorisation, taking into account social and cultural factors influencing opinion shaping.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the types of global organisation of information structures in discourse. Information structures are defined as hierarchically organized thematic-rhematic structures and, in their thematic part, the author distinguishes three levels represented by: global theme, theme of a group of sentences and sentence theme. The author focuses her attention on two highest levels of information structure and describes the models of global information structure.

The present contribution is an attempt to shed light on how the human body (it. corpo umano) is conceptualized in persuasive discourse, especially that addressed to women. The paper shows how the contemporary culture deifies the human body (corpo umano) which has become a cult object. Therefore the human body (corpo umano) becomes a body that is visualized, reproduced a number of times, often in an obsessive way, by the mass media. The contemporary cultural models consider the human body (corpo umano) a plastic substance, ready to be modelled, like a machine, treated in an instrumental or mechanic way, or as a complex system that is made of independent parts, which provokes an effect of splitting and multiplication. Although these models appear, they are definitely inappropriate with reference to most people’s body image.

The Italian "periodo ipotetico" (a conditional clause or hypothetical phrase) is a structure composed of two clauses. The main one is introduced chiefly by se and it indicates the condition (or supposition) on which something else is dependent (the other clause). Many canonical grammar books assert that there are three types of hypothesis/consequence situations: real, unlikely and no longer possible. The aim of this article is to disprove this traditional thesis. With a couple of examples, it is shown that there are in fact only two types of "periodo ipotetico".

The aim of this article is to describe a cognitive model for text analysis proposed by E. Tabakowska, as well as its implications for translation theory and practice. The model uses the aspects of conventional imagery in cognitive grammar (perspective, prominence, ground, iconicity, etc.) to evaluate the fit between a translation with the original text. The author tries to illustrate the importance of scene construal in translation practice by analyzing a Portuguese translation of one of the W. Szymborska’s works Terrorysta, on patrzy. This presentation of a cognitive approach to translation theory is complete with a brief sketch of the main assumptions of K. Hejwowsky’s cognitive communicative theory of translation. A secondary aim is to promote the Polish school of translation studies.

The aim of this paper is to discuss one of the methods applicable in description of the representation of the world in language, that is object modeling. The author emphasizes the notion of the Hierarchical Semantic Network proposed by A.M. Collin and M.R. Quillian in the 1960’s which constitutes an example of the way of representing knowledge in the memorization process. These networks will be described in parallel with a class of structures of the data easily applicable to computer processing. This analysis is a starting point for elaborating on the notion of the class of objects. Its specificities, content and relations with others groups of the same type, the property of the semantic inheritance will show to what extent the notion is useful word sense disambiguation according to W. Banyś and also in the learning process.

In this paper the author analyzes situational structures of discourse which are defined as a sequence of experiential frames (E. Goffman, 1991). Each frame makes it possible to conceptualize one event as forming a part of information introduced in discourse. Analyzing the possible relations between frames in discourse, the author aims to indicate their role in discourse comprehension — a process which implicates creation of discourse representation.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the evolution of the semantic-based grammar of Stanisław Karolak. The main attention is focused on the three fundamental concepts of the theory: predicate-argument structures, elementary sentences and thematic-rhematic structures. The author also attempts to prove that, despite multiple modifications, the general idea of the theory has never radically changed.