A generalization of the theory of causal relations based on transmission of force; Talmy's extended theory of causation (Talmy 1988/2000; Croft 2012); the interactions between the participants in an event, interactions that are prototypically causal, but in a sense of causation that has to be extended to include spatial and possessive relations.
The sequence of participants linked by the force-dynamic (transmission of force) relationships that hold among them; generally construed as asymmetrical and nonbranching. One of the dimensions of the three-dimensional representation of event structure; the meanings of argument structure construction; the complexity of real world interactions among participants is reduced to a causal chain when expressed as a single clause.
A verb plus a construction; a combination of subject, object and/or oblique phrases dependent on a single predicate; may be polysemous, as specialized meanings emerge when argument structure constructions are combined with a different class of verbs.
A category subsuming all aspectual types, including states and processes. Synonymous with 'situation' and 'eventuality' as used in other traditions.
A representation of the semantic structure of events that is relevant to syntax (Levin and Rappaport Hovav 2005).
A domain of grammar for the lexical and grammatical realization of how events unfold over time (Comrie 1976), a characterization of the states and changes of state that take place over the time interval in which the event occurs.
A construal of an event as having a particular aspectual shape.
The time dimension or t-dimension is one of the three dimensions of the representation of event structure, for the time course of the event. Corresponds to the temporal profile of a process, as the latter is defined in Cognitive Grammar (Langacker 1997, 2008).
Qualitative or q-dimension is the dimension the represents the construal of the qualitative states that an event passes through as it unfolds over time. One of the dimensions of the three-dimensional representation of event structure. Corresponds roughly to the verbal root.
The representation of event structure as possessing three independent dimensions: the qualitative dimension, the time dimension, and the causal chain.
A formalization of decompositional event structure based on an interval calculus for both the temporal dimension and the qualitative dimension (Allen 1984; Mani and Pustejovsky 2012) and the commonsense knowledge axioms of Gordon and Hobbs (2017).
An event characterized by the absence of an external cause, as in The paint spilled onto the floor.
Define cause
An external volitional cause with a distinct instrument, as in I painted the wall with a roller.
An event characterized by an external cause with a physical force transmission relation, as in The baseball shattered the window.
An event characterized by the absence of external cause in which the theme argument brings about an action volitionally, as in Wanda ran out of the room.
A type of causation described by Talmy (1976) in which an agent volitionally acts on a physical entity leading to some sort of change of this entity with no distinct instrument being mentioned, as in I painted the wall.
An image schema which denotes a mereological theme change of putting (possibly incrementally) a figure entity on or in a ground entity, as in She wiped polish onto the table. This image schema includes putting, inserting, combining and mixing, differences which are encoded by the verb, not by the force dynamics.
An internal change in an entity that can be defined as a (possibly incremental) change of a scalar property of that entity.
An image schema which denotes a mereological theme change describing an incrementally covering or filling of a ground entity with a figure entity, as in He sprayed the wall with paint.
Involves what we call a "design" theme, namely an entity whose identity is created or formed out of something existing.
An alternative construal to location in which the internal activity is construed as happening to the ground object (The garden was swarming with bees), following the analysis in Dowty (2000, 2001).
A non-prototypical force-dynamic image schema denoting contact or force exertion based on a model of causal interactions in Talmy (1988) in which the transmitter of force (the Antagonist) has a tendency towards change while the receiver of force (the Agonist) has a tendency towards stasis, with the outcome in these cases being stasis, as in He tapped the windowpane.
A type of internal change that does not involve a change of a scalar property of an entity, including nontranslational motion and oscillation. These do not involve a change in relationship to another entity, such as a change in the figure-ground relationship found in (translational) motion and mereological changes.
A type of internal change that is described as located (A fire was raging in the Manzanos; Bees swarmed in the garden), in which case there is a static figure-ground relationship.
Change of a figure on a path with respect to a ground, even if the ground is implicit (the speech act situation for deictically-defined motion, or the world for directional forms, defined by compass points, up/down, and/or topographic features).
The reverse of the apply image schema that includes separating, as in She wiped the dust off the table.
The reverse of the cover image schema that includes uncovering or emptying as in I stripped the trees of bark.
A presence of another entity, stimulus, affects the mental or emotional state of a human participant, e.g. "That movie bored me silly."
Engage describes a relation between a participant and their subevent. In the Engage relation, the participant is engaged in the subevent, e.g. "I love to write."
An event in which a volitionally-acting agent carries out an action with the intention to attain an entity or goal, e.g. "I was hunting game." (previously Purpose)
Refrain describes a relation between a participant and their subevent. In the Refrain relation, the participant is not engaged in the subevent, e.g. "He refrained from eating."
XPR is used in argument structure constructions in which a body part is syntactically expressed as distinct from the event participant, e.g. "Paula swatted Deidre on the back."
A volitionally-acting agent attends to another entity. The verb describing this event may be mental, e.g. "He peered at the baby", or physical, e.g. "He hit at the door."
An event in which a human participant is in a stative experiential relation with some other entity, phenomenon, or event, e.g. "He doesn’t care that she comes."
Define experience*
A volitionally acting agent evaluates, or through other inspection, comes to perceive an attribute, such as value, of an entity, e.g. "The dealer valued the book at $200."
An event construed as involving an instantaneous change of state and reverting back to the rest state; also referred to as 'semelfactive'.
A directed change that is construed as instantaneous and therefore Q-bounded.
An activity which is construed as involving incremental change in a single direction on Q. Often called 'degree achievement'.
An event construed as durative and T-bounded, ending in a result state, and having incremental progress along the qualitative dimension toward the result state. Also referred to as 'accomplishment' by Vendler; must be distinguished clearly from a nonincremental accomplishment.
A permanent state that is construed as inherent in the individual and therefore lasts the individual's entire lifetime.
An event construed as durative and T-bounded, ending in a result state, but lacking incremental progress along the qualitative dimension toward the result state. Called 'runup achievement' in Croft (1998, 2009) and 'progressive achievement' in other work.
A state that lasts for a finite period of time (point or interval).
An activity in which the change does not progress incrementally in a direction.