represent-v; 5 Senses

Sense Number 1: symbolize, serve as an example of

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1 REPRESENT NP2

Examples:
Letters of the alphabet represent sounds.
The bald eagle represents the United States.
This book represents ten years of thought and research.
This sum represents my entire income for a year.
It represented months of study and discussion.
Fugue represents the compositional style of this era.
This period is represented by Beethoven.
The museum had paintings representing the artist's early style.
Such actions represent a gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: represent.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

Sense Number 2: speak or act on behalf of a person, a constituency, or a group

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1 REPRESENT NP2
NOTE: NP1 representative, NP2 constituency, group, or person

Examples:
Who will represent us in the conference?
I represent the silent majority.
Mr. Smith will represent the defendant.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: represent.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4, 8

Sense Number 3: depict or portray in art, words, or model

Commentary:
NOTE: compare carefully to sense 1. In sense 1, the symbol and the item represented are separate 'entities'; in this sense, the representing item shows the represented item in particular form. (The "young girl" is actually the "wife" at an earlier time, the content of the "report" is the "current situation" (abstract) in a written (concrete) form.)

Examples:
The painter represented his wife as a young girl.
The statue represents St George killing the dragon.
This new report represents the current situation in our schools.
This cognitive model represents verbal, visual and spatial working memories.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: represent.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 9, 12, 15

Sense Number 4: depict somebody on stage, play the role of

Examples:
He represents himself as an expert, but he knows nothing.
In this production, a single actor represents all the characters.
The Spanish actor represented the role of a priest.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: Communicate_categorization
PropBank: represent.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 10, 11

Sense Number 5: draw attention or point out

Examples:
Our parents represented to us the need for greater caution.
We cannot represent this knowledge.
We represented this problem to the higher officials, but nothing fruitful has happened.

Mappings:
VerbNet: characterize-29.2-1-1
FrameNet: Communicate_categorization
PropBank: NM
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 13, 14