3. Operational structures
There are three sets of coupled states brought from the operations: the derivative coupled states, the initial ones or both derivative and initial states. We will call the relationship of operational states in one or more information units an operational structure . Formed from the operations, the coupled states constitute primary operational structures. Each primary structure attached to an information unit characterizes its relationship to one of the universal word class (see further).
If all the states forming the operations (that is, the structure of initial and derivative states) are used with an information unit, they characterize it as information of a verb (any verb: action verbs, stative, physical, mental, modal, linking or others with respective denotata, which we will call process anyway) and correspond to the parameters of real processes. Note that the parameters of phenomena perceived as process characterize it by a duration including previous moments provided that each previous moment is substituted by a following one. Now, let us analyze the properties of the operational structure so formed.
This structure can be represented as follows:
(2) e 0q 0,
EQ ,
(q 0<Q )(e 0E )
(the symbol < means the relation ʻis includedʼ, and → means the relation ʻis substitutedʼ). In the structure, each of the elective states in coupling with the respective quantitative state determines a succeeding moment of the lasting process: The substituted state determines a preceding moment and the substituting state determines a following moment; the quantitative states in coupling with the elective states determine an included quantity of time – duration. Both initial and derivative states form a structure of coupled sequences, which represents an inclusion determining an extended duration, and a substitution that determines a sequence of moments. So coupling quantitative and elective states sequences determines the double-natured character of verb information (VeI), which recognizes the temporal process as duration and as a sequence of moments.
If only the derivative states are used with an information unit, they characterize it as the information of a noun (spatial or temporal, concrete or abstract, common or proper, denoting objects or matter, which we will call object anyway) but correspond only to the parameters of objects. One can identify a spatial object only by separating it with a boundary from another object or space environment (see the example of a spatial object, section 2). The identified object can be of any form but implies some internal content, a quantity even if the object itself is an extended boundary (for instance, a boundary of light and shadow). The noun information (NoI) structure can be represented as follows:
(3) EQ ,
> (q 0),
where EQ are coupled derivative states; the symbol > means the relation ʻincludesʼ and implies an included non-coupled stateq 0.
If the initial states are used with an information unit, they characterize it as the information of an interjection. Coupling initial states leaves the operational structure unformed: The initial quantitative state of the formed structure, being coupled, can have no relationship with a derivative quantitative state of any other structure because the latter already includes an initial but not coupled state. So the interjection structure doesn’t let characterize its relationship to one or another word class. The interjection hence doesn’t fulfill itsown function in the sentence. The result could be that the interjection doesn’t enter in the sentence structure11See, for instance, Wharton (2003: 3): “These views can still be found in the contemporary literature: Quirk, Greenbaum et al. [Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, J. Leech & J. Svartik (eds.). 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman: 853] describe interjections as ʻpurely emotive words which do not enter into syntactic relationsʼ; Trask [Trask, R. L. 1993. A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. London: Routledge: 144] describes an interjection as ʻa lexical item or phrase which serves to express emotion and which typically fails to enter into any syntactic structures at allʼ…”. and becomes tantamount to a proposal content, is contained within a larger predicative structure22See, for example Шведова (1957). or assumes a function resulting from the sentence structure33See, for example Германович (1941).. The interjection information (InI) structure can be represented as follows:
(4) q 0e 0 (ore 0q 0).
The coupled initial states represent the result of interlocutor’s “perceiving” its internal information which representsexpressible mental information: Any verbalized information, if its mental-linguistic processing has been performed, serves to express certain content (whether it is feelings, emotions, sensations, states of mind or a formed thought).
So, there are three primary structures (cited in Тер-Авакян 2011a, 2011b) to characterize word class information. The other operational structures used in information units are formed by representing the noun structure or with a supplement of the noun and the verb structures to characterize word form information. The relationship between information unit structures is implemented by one of the two types of operational information. A relation between an included and an including states is implemented in case there is no relation of substitution between the elective states. A relation between a substituted and a substituting states is implemented in case there is no relation of inclusion between the quantitative states. In other words, an asymmetric relationship between quantitative states is set when a symmetric relation is implemented between elective states, namely, when an elective state isunified with another:E 1 ⊥ E 2. And an asymmetric relationship between elective states is set when a symmetric relation is implemented between quantitative states, namely, when a quantitative state is equivalent to another:Q 1 = Q 2 (the term “equivalent” and the symbol = just mean that there is no inclusion between two states). The method we use in our approach consists in detecting elective and quantitative relations which exist between information units to find out how their parametric characteristics, which are operational structures, interact and thereby participate in forming resulting sentence information. So the decomposition of meanings as well as their semantics are outside of the scope of this research.
Thus, operational structures allow revealing – without recourse to forms – the links between information units which remain unnoticed by other methods and which, as we will show further, form complex operational structures characterizing sentence grammar information. The formation of complex operational structures is provided by six relations (4 asymmetric and 2 symmetric ones) between the states of simpler structures.