Roleset touch.01 Verbnet Class: 1 "be or come in(to) contact with":

Roles:

Arg0:causal agent


Arg1:thing touched


Arg2:touched with, if separate from agent

Examples:

person: ns tense: past aspect: ns voice: active form: full


whack (-)
Mary touched John lightly with a sledgehammer.
Arg0:	Mary
REL:	touched
Arg1:	John
Argm-MNR:	lightly
Arg2-with:	a sledgehammer

person: third tense: past aspect: ns voice: passive form: participle


emotional touch (-)
John was deeply touched *trace* by Mary's kind gesture.
Argm-MNR:	deeply
REL:	touched
Arg1:	*trace* -> John
Arg0-by:	Mary's kind gesture

Note that the instrument should ONLY be used when there is also an agent stated in the sentence--otherwise it gets too difficult to distinguish agent and instrument. person: third tense: present aspect: ns voice: active form: full


be in contact (-)
John's eyebrows touch in the center of his forehead.
Arg1:	John's eyebrows
REL:	touch
Argm-LOC:	in the center of his forehead

Roleset touch.07 Verbnet Class: NONE "cause an effect by touching":

Roles:

Arg0:causer


Arg1:start state, thing touched


Arg2:end state

Examples:

person: ns tense: ns aspect: ns voice: ns form: ns


certainly unusual reading (-)
[*-1] Reaching for an old clay pot , relic of pioneer days , he tore the envelope in pieces , [*-1] dropping them into it , touching the little pyre to flame , watching it curl , the red sealing wax melting and bubbling in the feathery ash .
Arg0:	[*-1] -> he
REL:	touching
Arg1:	the little pyre
Arg3-to:	to flame

Roleset touch.02 Verbnet Class: NONE "touch off: start":

Roles:

Arg0:Agent


Arg1:thing starting


Arg2:Instrument


Arg3:secondary predication

Examples:

person: ns tense: ns aspect: ns voice: ns form: infinitive


the only example in subcorpus (-)
Nor do analysts expect the Sansui deal to touch off a fresh wave of foreign purchases.
Arg0:	the Sansui deal
REL:	[ touch] [ off]
Arg1:	a fresh wave of foreign purchases

Cf. 'start' or 'begin' for additional examples.

Roleset touch.06 Verbnet Class: NONE "touch off: ignite":

Roles:

Arg0:starter of fire


Arg1:(in)flammable substance

Examples:

person: ns tense: past aspect: perfect voice: passive form: participle


automatically generated (-)
A sizable supply of powder had been touched [*-1] off .
REL:	[ touched] [ off]
Arg1:	[*-1] -> A sizable supply of powder

Roleset touch.03 Verbnet Class: NONE "touch up: repair":

Roles:

Arg0:repairer


Arg1:thing repaired


Arg2:instrument

Examples:

person: ns tense: past aspect: ns voice: active form: full


just transitive (-)
John touched up his makeup.
Arg0:	John
REL:	touched up
Arg1:	his makeup

Roleset touch.04 Verbnet Class: NONE "touch on: be/get involved with":

Roles:

Arg0:focus


Arg1:topic

Examples:

person: ns tense: past aspect: ns voice: active form: full


don't touch me there! (-)
The interview did not touch on Singapore's domestic affairs.
Arg0:	The interview
Argm-NEG:	not
REL:	touch on
Arg1:	Singapore's domestic affairs

Roleset touch.05 Verbnet Class: NONE "touch upon: same as touch on":

Roles:

Arg0:focus


Arg1:topic

Examples:

person: ns tense: ns aspect: ns voice: active form: full


silly English particles (-)
And so I would only touch upon it now ( much as I have long wanted [*-1] to write a book about it ) .
ArgM-DIS:	And so
Arg0:	I
ArgM-MOD:	would
ArgM-ADV:	only
REL:	[ touch] [ upon]
Arg1:	it
ArgM-TMP:	now
ArgM-ADV:	much as I have long wanted [*-1] to write a book about it