"The Theoretical Ideas Presented Here"

Fontaine (2017: 15):

The view of lexis as most local context, where the lexeme (or lemma) is seen as a resource, or meaning potential, allows us to reconcile SFL with corpus-based approaches to lexico-grammar. As Hunston and Francis have suggested, it may be worth exploring what it would look like if “each bundle of system choices should end, not in a lexical item per se but in a ‘unit of meaning’” (2000:28). The problem is, of course, determining where such a choice point should be within the system network and whether or not this would ultimately require a stratal distinction. The implementation of the theoretical ideas presented here is a work in progress and a concrete proposal is not yet ready for publication.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, unknown to Fontaine, her "new" theoretical idea, that the lexical item can be viewed as potential ("lexeme/lemma") as well as instance, is already part of SFL Theory. It therefore adds nothing to the reconciliation of SFL Theory with corpus-based approaches to lexicogrammar that was not already present.

[2] To be clear, Fontaine has nowhere explained why she equates the lexical item as potential with 'most local context', nor explained what she means by 'most local' in this regard. In SFL Theory, 'context' refers to the culture as semiotic system, not to language as a semiotic system wherein lexis is located.

[3] As previously demonstrated here, Hunston and Francis misunderstand the SFL model of lexis as most delicate grammar. Each bundle of system choices does not end in a lexical item; each bundle is realised by a lexical item. The features and the lexical item are modelled as different levels of symbolic abstraction, with lexical item as Token of feature bundle as Value. Moreover, in the absence of metaphor, wording and meaning are in agreement (congruent), so that the meaning realised by a lexical item is in agreement with the bundle of features at the level of wording (lexicogrammar).

[4] To be clear, these are not problems in SFL Theory, because (i) lexical items are not choice points in a system network, and (ii) lexical items are located on the stratum of lexicogammar.

"The Meaning Potential Of A Lexeme Is Construed"

Fontaine (2017: 14-5): 

Lexis can be seen, rather than most delicate grammar, as most local context. Perhaps in some respects this is saying the same thing. As Halliday (1991:274) states, “the context for the meaning potential – for language as a system – is the context of culture. How do you construe this potential, and how do you use it when you’ve got it? You build it up, and you act it out, in the form of text”. The meaning potential of a lexeme is construed, it is built up by its use and more specifically by its use in context. The meaning of a lexical item comes from its local context (lexeme), its collocations and the constructions or patterns (lexico-grammar) in which it appears.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, in no respects is this saying the same thing. 'Lexis as most delicate grammar' means that lexical items are the synthetic realisations of the most delicate lexicogrammatical systems. Fontaine's 'lexis as most local context' is her misunderstanding of the instantiation relation between potential and instance.

[2] To be clear, Halliday (1991: 274) is concerned with the construal of higher level context by lower level language in the instantiation of language during logogenesis.

	potential		instance
context	culture	instantiated as	situation
	construed by		construed by
language	system	instantiated as	text

[3] To be clear, in SFL Theory, lexical item as potential (Fontaine's "lexeme") and lexical item as instance are not two different things; they are the same thing seen from different points of view. That is, as potential or instance, a lexical item is the synthetic realisation of the most delicate lexicogrammatical features, just as the phoneme /k/, as potential or instance, is the synthetic realisation of the features [voiceless, velar, stop].

Fontaine's description of the lexical item as potential ("the meaning potential of a lexeme") misunderstands the preceding Halliday quote, and misapplies it to lexis, confusing stratification ("construed") with instantiation ("use"):

potential		instance
lexeme
	construed by
		lexical item

It can be seen that this misunderstanding locates the lexeme and lexical item on different strata.

Fontaine's description of the lexical item, as instance, attributes the meaning it realises to

• its local context (lexeme),
• its collocations, and
• the constructions or patterns (lexico-grammar) in which it appears.

That is, the meaning of lexical item, as instance, is said to derive from 

• its potential (inexplicably termed its 'local context'),
• its syntagmatic relations, and
• the grammatical function of the word as rank scale unit.

By introducing all these misunderstandings in the final section termed 'Concluding remarks', Fontaine gives the false impression that these bare assertions have been supported by reasoned argumentation in the body of the paper.

"Even Though SFL Has An Integrated Lexico-grammar It Does Not Mean That There Is No Word Meaning"

Fontaine (2017: 14):

Even though SFL has an integrated lexico-grammar, it does not mean that there is no word meaning. As I have shown here, word meaning operates only in context and by introducing meaning potential at the lexical level, i.e. a mental lexicon, we open up the model to developments in lexicology both in terms of contributing and benefitting from research. 

This conceptualisation brings with it assumptions that must be tested but it does create an opportunity for building bridges with other theoretical approaches since it may be reasonable to talk about lexical meaning potential and how ‘a meaning’ is activated and how we can allow a more formal account of lexis into SFL theory. 

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, in SFL Theory, wording (lexicogrammar) realises meaning (semantics), and so lexical items (lexicogrammar) realise meaning (semantics).

[2] This is misleading. On the one hand, Fontaine has not demonstrated in this paper that "word meaning operates only in context"; that is, no argument has been presented on the matter. On the other hand, the contextualisation of language, including word meaning, is modelled in SFL Theory by the stratification hierarchy. Here Fontaine is taking credit for Halliday's model.

[3] This is misleading. Fontaine has not introduced "meaning potential at the lexical level". In SFL Theory, the instantiation relation applies to all strata, including the lexical items of lexicogrammar. Again, Fontaine is taking credit for Halliday's model.

[4] To be clear, the SFL notion of lexical item as potential is not equivalent to the cognitive linguistics notion of a mental lexicon. Moreover, as previously explained, the notion of lexical representations in a mental lexicon is inconsistent with SFL Theory and 'the known facts of human biology and brain science' (Edelman 1989: 228).

[5] To be clear, it is not possible to "build bridges" between theoretical approaches that differ in their fundamental assumptions, and mode of inquiry, without creating theoretical inconsistencies.

[6] To be clear, in SFL Theory, the activation of meaning is the process of instantiation: the selection of features and the activation of realisation statements during logogenesis (the unfolding of text).

[7] To be clear, on the one hand, the formalism of SFL Theory is the system network, and this is the means of accounting for lexis, since each lexical item is the synthetic realisation of a bundle of the most delicate features of lexicogrammatical systems. On the other hand, a formal account of lexis, rather than a functional account, is inconsistent with the theoretical assumptions and mode of inquiry of Systemic Functional Theory.

"It Is Not Yet Clear That System Networks Are Appropriate For The Analyst Or The Understander"

Fontaine (2017: 14):

There is often a conflict for the analyst when trying to determine what the speaker has done with language and how the model used by the analyst can fit the instances of language being analysed. The speaker is generating language, while the analyst is parsing language, and doing so for very different reasons. In psycholinguistics, the problem of viewing these two processes (production vs understanding) as separate process is referred to by Pickering and Garrod (2013:347) as “the ‘cognitive sandwich’, a perspective that is incompatible both with the demands of communication and with extensive data indicating that production and comprehension are tightly interwoven”. Reconciling the role of language producer and language understander is important for many reasons, not least of which is the development of a better tool for text analysis. Since it is not yet clear that the system networks are appropriate for the analyst or for the understander, as noted by Tucker (2009:424) above, this development is needed for those using the framework for analysis.

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, this passage is irrelevant and unconnected to all that has been previously written in this paper.

[1] To be clear, there is no conflict here, because the theory is a model of the language that is used in both speaking and analysing. The different purposes of the speaker and analyst have no impact on the language of the speaker that the analyst is "parsing".

[2] To be clear, in SFL Theory, system networks are as "appropriate" for the "understander" and the analyst as they are for the speaker. In logogenesis, the speaker produces an instance of the system, a text, and the "understander" and the analyst relate the instance to the system. Halliday (2008: 192):

The system and the text are not two different phenomena: what we call the “system” of a language is equivalent to its “text potential”. Analysing discourse means, first and foremost, relating the text to the potential that lies behind it.

Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 384):

If we look at logogenesis from the point of view of the system (rather than from the point of view of each instance), we can see that logogenesis builds up a version of the system that is particular to the text being generated: the speaker/writer uses this changing system as a resource in creating the text; and the listener/reader has to reconstruct something like that system in the process of interpreting the text — with the changing system as a resource for the process of interpretation. We can call this an instantial system.

[3] Trivially, this was not noted above.

Lexis As Most Local Context

Fontaine (2017: 13):

At this point it is useful to return to the concepts discussed above in relation to context. The question now is whether lexis can be said to be distributed within the SFL model in a similar way to context. If we accept that the meaning potential is construed by systems of language choice; the instance is construed by patterns of language use, then we might be willing to consider that the lexical item (instance) is construed by patterns of use and that the lexeme (meaning potential) is construed by systems of lexico-grammar. This does not imply that lexis is separate from lexico-grammar. The idea of meaning potential in terms of the lexeme is not far from Halliday and Matthiessen’s view of items: “[t]he class of an item indicates in a general way its potential range of grammatical functions” (2014:76). If we are willing to entertain this idea as a proposal then it would suggest that rather than thinking of lexis only as most delicate grammar, we can think of lexis as most local context. This suggestion is illustrated in Fig. 3 below, which includes Halliday’s (1991) diagram of language and context. The dotted line in the figure indicates that the proposal here concerns primarily the horizontal relation of instantiation but it is unclear at this point how this can be integrated into the vertical relation of realisation, especially in terms of the lexico-grammar systems.

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, this paragraph and diagram constitute the theoretical proposal of this paper.

[1] To be clear, context is not "distributed within the SFL model". Context is the culture modelled as a semiotic system and constitutes one stratum in the theoretical architecture. It would appear that  by "distributed", Fontaine means the cline of instantiation on this stratum. But since instantiation applies to all strata, singling out context suggests that Fontaine does not understand that instantiation applies to language as well as context — despite the representations in Figures 2 and 3.

[2] To be clear, the wording "if we accept that" presents the application of instantiation to language (that follows) as if it were Fontaine's idea, established in this paper, rather than a dimension of SFL Theory devised by Halliday.

[3] To be clear, this is a very confused rendering of instantiation. Systems of language choice are the theoretical means of representing language as meaning potential. Patterns of language use do not "construe" the instance; patterns of language use are patterns of instances, and so represent a move up the cline of instantiation from the instance pole (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 659).

[4] To be clear, the wording "we might be willing to consider that" presents the application of instantiation to lexis (that follows) as if it were Fontaine's idea, established in this paper, rather than a dimension of SFL Theory devised by Halliday.

[5] To be clear, this is a very confused rendering of instantiation as applied to lexis. Patterns of use do not "construe" the lexical item as instance; patterns of use are patterns of instances, and so represent a move up the cline of instantiation from the instance pole. Systems of lexicogrammar are the theoretical means of representing the lexical item as potential, since a lexical item is the synthetic realisation of a bundle of the most delicate features of the system.

[6] This is true, and could not be otherwise.

[7] To be clear, Halliday and Matthiessen (2014: 76) are concerned with the grammatical classes of the word as rank scale unit, not with lexical items:

The class of an item indicates in a general way its potential range of grammatical functions. Hence words can be assigned to classes in a dictionary, as part of their decontextualised definition. But the class label does not show what part the item is playing in any actual structure. For that we have to indicate its function. The functional categories provide an interpretation of grammatical structure in terms of the overall meaning potential of the language.

Again, the implication is that the application of instantiation to lexis is Fontaine's idea, established in this paper, rather than a dimension of SFL Theory devised by Halliday.

[8] Here Fontaine explicitly claims the application of instantiation to lexis as her own idea, established in this paper, rather than a dimension of SFL Theory devised by Halliday.

[9] To be clear, this is a non-sequitur. The instantiation relation between lexical item as potential and instance does not relocate lexis from lexicogrammar to context, local or otherwise. This non-sequitur is the theoretical proposal of this paper.

[10] To be clear, Fig. 3 does not illustrate the notion of lexis as most local context, since it locates lexeme and lexical item in language, not context, and does not represent a dimension of 'locality'.

[11] As was also the case for Fig. 2, this diagram misrepresents Halliday's model, since it locates different perspectives on the same point on the cline of instantiation — for context (cultural domain/situation type) and language (register/text type) — as different points on the cline.

[12] To be clear, Fig. 3 misrepresents 'lexeme' as sub-potential instead of potential, and 'lexical item' as instance type rather than instance.

[13] To be clear, lexical items, as both potential and instance, are located on the stratum of lexicogrammar.

"Some Issues That Need To Be Resolved"

Fontaine (2017: 10):

There are some issues that need to be resolved if we want to claim as Hasan does that realisation mediates between networks and structures (Hasan, 1996:74) since as concerns lexis, this suggests that a single lexical item is “the expression of a set of choices made in the system network” (Halliday, 1972/2013:8). The close connection of delicacy and paradigmatic arrangement can only take us so far; e.g. if lexical meaning is in part at least in its collocational associations or frames, it is difficult to think of lexical meaning as having paradigmatic relations. Even the definition of word and lexical item or the distinction between lexical/content words and grammatical/function words are areas which are not yet fully explained in terms of lexical representation.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, there are no theoretical "issues that need to be resolved" here. As will be seen below, the "issues" only arise from Fontaine's lack of familiarity with SFL Theory.

[2] To be clear, this is not merely Hasan's claim, but a statement of the architecture of SFL Theory. The relation between the paradigmatic axis (system) and the syntagmatic axis (structure) is realisation; that is, they are different levels of symbolic abstraction: structure (Token) realises system (Value).

[3] To be clear, the Hasan quote on grammar does not "suggest" the Halliday quote on lexis. Hasan is concerned with the realisation relation between grammatical systems and grammatical structures, such as those of clause rank, whereas Halliday is concerned with the realisation relation between the most delicate grammatical systems and lexical items (which are not structures).

[4] To be clear, the "close connection of delicacy and paradigmatic arrangement" is that delicacy is the ordering principle of paradigmatic order (system); see Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 20).

[5] To be clear, collocation is the syntagmatic dimension of lexical items, whereas paradigmatically, lexical items function in sets. Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 61):

Paradigmatically, lexical items function in sets having shared semantic features and common patterns of collocation. … Typically, the semantic features that link the members of a lexical set are those of synonymy or antonymy, hyponymy and meronymy;

[6] To be clear, in addition to the paradigmatic relations between lexical items — synonymy etc. — each lexical item is specified by a bundle of paradigmatic features, just as, on the phonological stratum, the phoneme /k/ is specified by the feature bundle [voiceless, velar, stop].

[7] To be clear, these aspects "are not yet fully explained in terms of lexical representation" because the notion of lexical representation in a mental lexicon is inconsistent with SFL Theory and, according to Edelman (1989: 228), with 'the known facts of human biology and brain science'.

However, within SFL Theory, the distinction between word as grammatical unit and word as lexical item is clearly defined (see the previous quote from Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 568-9), as is the distinction between 'grammatical/function' words, and 'lexical/content' words. Unlike 'lexical' words, 'grammatical' words are those that 'function as the direct realisation of terms in grammatical systems' (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 64).

Fontaine's Argument Against Lexis As Most Delicate Grammar

Fontaine (2017: 9-10):

As mentioned above, Martin points out the backgrounding of lexis in SFL, suggesting that this is related to an account of lexis as most delicate grammar. This view of lexis brings with it some degree of risk since it could result in treating lexis as taxonomically organised and this could lead to prioritising homophonous lexical relations rather than semantic ones. The reason for this is that if we take as a starting point Halliday's (1972/2013:8) view that “the output of any path through the network of systems is a structure”, the ‘most’ delicate system will lead directly to a lexical item (cf criticisms by Hunston and Francis, 2000 and Groom, 2005). This is a view of lexical representation which would be very difficult to accept for most lexicologists as it would predict that a lexeme with polysemes would need to be available at the terminal point of a variety of systems.

Blogger Comments:

[1] This misunderstands Martin's claim. To be clear, Martin claims that what has been backgrounded is Halliday's distinction between grammatical words and lexical items and a syntagmatic perspective on lexical items. Martin (2016:45):

Firth's interest in collocation (‘the company words keep’) has been developed in corpus linguistic research – chiefly by Sinclair and his colleagues (e.g. 1966; 1991) but less so in SFL where Halliday's early acknowledgement of the distinction between words and lexical items and the need for a syntagmatic perspective on expectancy relations among lexical items has tended to be backgrounded in relation to an interest in lexis as delicate grammar (the ‘grammarian's dream’, pursued by Hasan, and others).

See here for the misunderstandings in Martin's claim.

[2] To be clear, in SFL Theory, paradigmatically, relations between lexical items can be represented as hyponymic and meronymic taxonomies. It is just such relations that are exploited in lexical cohesion.

[3] This is misleading, because it is untrue. To classify lexical items in terms of how they are realised in phonology ("homophonous') is to take the view 'from below', which is the direct opposite of SFL Theory, which takes the view 'from above' (the meaning being realised in wording).

[4] This is a non-sequitur. The specification of grammatical structures and lexical items by lexicogrammatical systems does not entail classifying lexical items according to how they are realised in phonology.

[5] See here for the misunderstandings of Hunston and Francis (2000). (Fontaine does not outline the criticisms of Groom (2005).)

[6] To be clear, as [3] demonstrates, this is a view that is not consistent with SFL Theory, and as [4] demonstrates, this is a view that is not validated by Fontaine's argument. Moreover, the acceptability judgements of lexicologists are irrelevant to SFL Theory, unless they uncover inconsistency in the architecture of SFL Theory, or inabilities of the theory to account for data.

[7] This is misleading, because it is untrue. On the one hand, Fontaine again takes the view 'from below', identifying lexemes as expressions of many meanings ("polysemes"), instead of the SFL view 'from above', where a lexeme is identified as the meaning that is expressed. On the other hand, the conclusion does not follow from the argument presented, as [3] and [4] demonstrate.

Hunston and Francis Misunderstanding 'Lexis As Most Delicate Grammar'

Fontaine (2017: 8):

One interpretation of lexis as most delicate grammar is that they are somehow the end point of a bundle of system choices, which leads to a single lexical option. Hunston and Francis (2000:28) argue against this view:

If words have their typical phraseologies, such that words are not selected in isolation but in variable phrases, then it is unsatisfactory to propose that each lexical item is the end-point of an individual bundle of systemic choices. The best compromise that could be reached would be to propose that each bundle of system choices should end, not in a lexical item per se but in a ‘unit of meaning’. As units of meaning are, by their nature, indeterminate in extent, however, such an interpretation would involve system-choices leading to fuzzy-edged and overlapping units, at best.

Blogger Comments:

[1] This is a serious misunderstanding of SFL Theory. To be clear, the specification of lexical items by bundles of the most delicate lexicogrammatical features does not entail that words are selected in isolation. Grammatically, words serve as functions in group and phrase structures, and so they are selected with other words in those structures. Lexically, words have co-occurrence tendencies, and these collocations are modelled in SFL Theory as serving a cohesive function.

[2] Again, this is a serious misunderstanding of SFL Theory. To be clear,  in SFL Theory, lexicogrammar (wording) is modelled in terms of the meaning it realises. That is, the lexicogrammatical features that specify lexical items are modelled in terms of meaning.

[3] To be clear, from the perspective of SFL Theory, units of meaning are not "by their very nature, indeterminate in extent". For example, the "units" of ideational meaning are the three types of phenomenon: sequence, figure, and element, which are congruently realised in wording as clause complex, clause and group/phrase, respectively (Halliday & Matthiessen 1999: 49). Their realisation in wording delimits, and so determines, the extent of each unit of meaning.

"The Question About Where The Lexical Items Are"

Fontaine (2017: 7-8):

It is often assumed that as the system networks become more delicate in terms of systemic choice, we find lexis in the most delicate systems. However, this is problematic in a number of ways. It is difficult to see how a lexeme could be represented as a choice in the system networks (although see Fawcett, 1994). The term ‘lexeme’ is used here in contrast to ‘lexical item’ in order to distinguish between an abstract entry in the mental lexicon (lexeme) and an instance of a lexeme in use (lexical item). However, the question is whether SFL needs to model lexemes or not. Questions of lexical representation have not been explicitly explored in detail, although Tucker’s work (1996, 1998, 2006, 2009) comes very close. The position of lexis in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is, theoretically, fully integrated into the grammar if we accept the theory’s assumption that “there is no need to postulate a separate ‘lexicon’ as a pre-existing entity on which the grammar is made to operate” (Halliday and Matthiessen, 1999: 199). If this is the case, it leaves open the question about where the lexical items are. One interpretation of lexis as most delicate grammar is that they are somehow the end point of a bundle of system choices, which leads to a single lexical option.

Blogger Comments:

[1] This unsourced assumption is misleading. To be clear, in SFL Theory, we do not "find lexis in the most delicate systems" and a lexical item is not "a choice in the system networks". Instead, different bundles of features of the most delicate systems specify different lexical items. That is, a lexical item and the features that specify it are different levels of symbolic abstraction: with lexical item as Token and its features as Value.

[2] This confirms that Fontaine assumes a mental lexicon of lexical representations, which, as previously explained, is inconsistent with both SFL Theory and the known facts of human biology and brain science.

[3] This interpretation (by Hunston & Francis 2000) is misleading. To be clear, lexical items are not "the end point of a bundle of system choices which leads to a single lexical option"; see [1] above. The "end points" in systems are the features that are conjointly realised by lexical items.

The Multiple Dimensions Of The Lexeme

Fontaine (2017: 2, 3):

As we move forward in this discussion, I propose another metaphor for the study of lexis, that of the Tardis from the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. The Tardis is remarkable, not only because it can travel through time and space but precisely because it is bigger on the inside. We find, with the lexeme, multiple dimensions which challenge our linguistic notions of size and relativity. Halliday has developed not only a multi-functional approach to language but also a multi-dimensional one. Halliday and Matthiessen (2014:20) identify five dimensions: structure or syntagmatic order (rank); system or paradigmatic order (delicacy); stratification (realisation); instantiation; and metafunction. Figure 1 illustrates how instantiation and delicacy can be represented as distinct dimensions.

 

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, in SFL Theory, these are the dimensions of language, not of 'lexemes' — which Fontaine later defines as 'lexical items as potential, rather than as instance. Each lexical item, on the other hand, as potential or instance, is the synthetic realisation of the most delicate features of lexicogrammatical systems, analogous to the phoneme /b/ being the synthetic realisation of the features [voiced, bilabial, stop]. Halliday and Matthiessen (2014: 20) locate lexis within the dimensional architecture of SFL Theory:

[2] To be clear, Figure 1 is potentially misleading. To counter this, the reader may wish to imagine the following:

• the removal of the terms: 'stratification', 'metafunction', 'realisation', 'specificity' and 'structure'; and 
• the relocation of the system network, and the term 'delicacy', so as to be under the term 'system'.

Compare the distinction of delicacy and instantiation for ideational semantics in Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 14):

Delicacy

Fontaine (2017: 1):

For Halliday (1961:272), delicacy is “the scale of differentiation, or depth in detail” and it is clear from Hasan (1996) and also Martin (1992) that lexis as most delicate grammar is pursued along this dimension, which runs through the lexicogrammatical stratum and is generally represented as a system network of options. As Martin (1992:278) explains, “looked at from the perspective of grammar lexis is not different in kind but simply different in generality.” The least delicate options are extended in increasing differentiation within the network to the most delicate options.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, delicacy is the ordering principle of a system network: the arrangement of features from the most general to the most fine.

[2] To be clear, the Martin quote is invalid on two grounds. Firstly, it confuses delicacy with lexis. The difference in generality is the scale of delicacy of feature choices in system networks. Each lexical item, on the other hand, is the synthetic realisation of the most delicate features in the lexicogrammatical system — just as the phoneme /b/ is the synthetic realisation of the phonological features [voiced, bilabial, stop].

Secondly, grammar and lexis do differ in kind, both syntagmatically and paradigmatically; see Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 58-66). For example, Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 59, 64):

On either of these two axes we can establish relationships of a lexical kind (collocations and sets) and of a grammatical kind (structures and systems). …