Forthcoming: Lexical Functions: The Naked Truth

This book is a systematic and pedagogical presentation of the system of lexical functions proposed within the framework of the Meaning-Text linguistic theory to account for paradigmatic (i.e., derivational) and syntagmatic (i.e., combinatorial) relations between lexical units. Chapter 1 is a brief introduction to the aims and organization of the book. Chapter 2 introduces some basic lexicological, semantic and syntactic notions whose knowledge is a prerequisite for the assimilation of lexical functions. Chapter 3 is an in-depth discussion of the notion of lexical function. Chapter 4 presents, in a logical order, all paradigmatic simple standard lexical functions. Chapter 5 does the same for syntagmatic simple standard lexical functions. Finally, Chapter 6 concludes the book with the discussion of the central role played by lexical functions in the structuring of natural language lexicons as lexical networks.
The presentation of individual lexical functions (Chapters 4 and 5) follows a well-specified template, with special attention paid to providing information required for active learning, where readers can not only understand what a given lexical function is, but also develop the ability to use it in various contexts (lexicographic work, language teaching, etc.). To take into consideration the cross-linguistic relevance of lexical functions, our illustrations in the presentation of lexical functions are systematically done in English, French and Russian – the two latter being the mother tongues of the authors.