On the contrary, "though sensory stimulation lays the foundation and provides the raw material for the construction of our conceptual world, often we do not attend to it ..." (Langacker, 1987: 112). So conception is different from affection and perception.
Grammatically, while perception and affection processes can have actions as the objects of consciousness (Halliday, 1994: 115), it seems that the cognition processes cannot. For example:
Perception:
(1) I heard the water lapping on the crag.
(2) I saw the boats turning.
Affection:
(3) I don't like your talking to me like that.
(4) Most students enjoy asking questions in English.
Another reason to distinguish the three processes into two is theory-oriented. Theoretically, the distinction can help us understand better how language works. While sensuous processes can serve as the source domains of metaphorical mappings, mental processes usually cannot.
In the sensuous processes, the animate participant is the Senser, and the other participant which is sensed is the Phenomenon. Sensuous processes all involve two participants and are usually incorporated into SVO pattern. For example:
(5) Jane saw the stars.
(6) She could hear his voice.
(7) Mary liked that present.
(8) The gift pleased Mary.
(9) The cat doesn't like the milk.
All these sentences are in the sensuous processes. They are encoded to express the sensing of animate entities. The Sensers of (5), (6), (7) and (8) are human beings, and that of (9) is an animal. They are all expressed in SVO pattern.
However, this does not mean that both participants must always be present in the clause. Either can be absent, but "it is particularly the Phenomenon that may be omitted: omission of the Senser tends to occur in more restricted context" (Thompson, 1996: 86). For instance:
(10) Jill can't see.
(11) He only does it to annoy.
In (10), the Phenomenon is omitted. What Jill can't see is not expressed. It may be a blackboard, a screen, or even anything if, for example, she loses her eyesight. In (11), however, the Senser is absent. The implicit Senser is simply people".
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