تسجيل الدخول

تسجيل

Primary-A types

المؤلف:  R.M.W. Dixon

المصدر:  A Semantic approach to English grammar

الجزء والصفحة:  348-10

2023-04-15

1619

Primary-A types

. MOTION type. Agent-nom’s are available for most verbs; exceptions being the non-volitionals in MOTION-g (fall, capsize, etc.) and verbs denoting an activity which is scarcely likely to be habitual (approach, cross, pass). There are a few Inst-nom’s—garments associated with MOTION-a verbs (swimmers) and vehicles associated with MOTION-c (transporter, cart).

 

Many verbs have both Unit-nom (run, throw) and Activity-nom (running, throwing). Some have just a Unit-nom (arrival) and some just an Activity-nom (carrying). There are scarcely any Result-nom’s or Object-nom’s (spray and burden are two). There are Locus-nom’s based on some verbs in MOTION-b and MOTION-d.

 

. REST type. Agent-nom’s are largely confined to REST-b (resident, settler), REST-c (arranger, installer) and REST-e (handler, catcher). There are just a few Inst-nom’s, including kneeler, planter, opener and closer.

 

There are a fair number of Unit-nom’s, across all subtypes—attendance, desertion, grab, and so on—but rather few Activity-nom’s—opening, closing (and one often sees signs saying The dumping of rubbish is prohibited). Verbs in REST-c form Result-nom’s which also function as Unit-nom’s (arrangement, installation), and there is plant, an Object-nom. Locus-nom’s are formed from verbs in REST-b/c/d/e.

 

. AFFECT type. Virtually all verbs may form Agent-nom’s (killer, pruner, roofer, destroyer) and many also have an Inst-nom (polisher, freezer, (nut) cracker). There is a set of Inst-nom’s with the same form as the verb. For plaster, grease, roof, veil and butter, the noun is older, having been later extended to function as a verb (but for paint and cover the verb is older).

 

Many AFFECT verbs have a Unit-nom (cut, pinch) and a good many have an Activity-nom (cutting, pinching). Many also have a Result-nom (slice, mark, break, wreckage) or a Result-nom which is also a Unit-nom (extension). There are also some forms which double as Object-nom and as Unit-nom (try) or as Object-nom and Activity-nom (building).

 

. GIVING type. Many have an Agent-nom (donor, lender, receiver, owner); I know of just one Inst-nom ( feeder). There are many nominalizations which function both as Object-nom and Unit-nom (payment, possession, contribution, delivery) and some as Result-nom and Unit-nom (loss). Servery, a place where food or drink is served, is an unusual Locus-nom.

 

. CORPOREAL type. Virtually all verbs have (or could have) an Agent-nom (for example, smoker, drunkard, murderer), and there are a few Inst-nom’s (sleeper, diner). A number of verbs have a nominalization which functions as Object-nom and as Unit-nom (drink, smell, laugh), while others just have an Object-nom (spittle). Some couple Result-nom with Unit-nom (vomit, growth, cure, wound). And there are many Activity-nom’s (sucking, comforting).

 

. WEATHER type. Generally, Activity-nom’s involve the addition of -storm (for example, thunderstorm, hailstorm). There are Result-nom’s snow and rain; for example, It snowed all yesterday and now the snow is thick on the ground.

 

. COMPETITION type. All verbs describe an activity which can be habitual and all form an Agent-nom (even lose, which in normal circumstances is not volitional). Some also have Unit-nom’s (race, fight, win, loss, competition).

 

. SOCIAL CONTRACT type. There are some Agent-nom’s (employer, prosecutor, applicant) and a handful of Object-nom’s (employee, convert), together with many Unit-nom’s (appointment, employment, dismissal).

 

. USING type. All refer to volitional actions, which can be performed habitually, and almost all form Agent-nom’s (for example, user, operator). There are also some Activity-nom’s, such as manipulation, operation, use.

 

. OBEYING type. There are some Agent-nom’s (executor, processor, performer) and also some Unit-nom’s (refusal, performance, processing).