Primary Functional Elements and Linguistics

A primary functional element has the following basic format A description of the ability to perform an action in relation to something. A few examples are  

The first two have the same action, prevent , as do the last two, move , and we could consider classifying primary elements according to the action involved. If that is sensible remains to be seen on the one hand a) and b) would appear to be very different elements. On the other hand any element concerned with preventing something from happening would be characterised by how often the something would happen if there was no prevention, in what fraction of events the prevention was successful, etc. 

in the above examples, the actions were simple, in the sense of being expressed by a single verb. In general there could be a set of actions, such as doing A, then B, and then C to something, while at the same time doing D to something else . In other words, a primary element can be a system of (smaller) primary elements. 

Finally, a real FE will have parameters describing how well the action is to be carried out. Typical parameters would be how fast, how reliably, how cost-effectively, etc. the action is to be carried out. That is, we have the parameters themselves, such as speed, reUabiUty, and cost-effectiveness, and then their required values (or ranges of values). This is what we alluded to earlier a real FE is a system of imaginary elements, each one describing an aspect of the functionality. What we caU the basic function of a real functional element is the bare primary element, stripped of its associated secondary elements. 

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