Find in Library

An « instructional » definition of linguistic units based upon Claude Vandeloise’s notion of « functional relation » (1986) is put forward in this paper. It is assumed that the schematic form of a unit may be expressed by an instruction of meaning construction given to the sentence by the very unit when it is perceived. The meaning of a sentence thus corresponds to the coalescence and the interaction of the instructional schematic forms given by its units. This kind of gestaltist compositional approach yields new insights into the distinction between particle and preposition in the case of the English language.