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 0→E )
(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 > (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.