[B-Greek] A new stab at voice
dddwight1234 at sbcglobal.net
Wed Oct 17 13:03:17 EDT 2007
Request elaboration on the rule in part 3)
On 10/15/2007 9:39PM Kimmo Huovila wrote:
> 3) The subject of the active voice can be in almost any semantic role of the
> verb frame. However, it is not lower in the following hierarchy than the rest
> of the roles of the verb frame (agent>author>instrument>patient). Note that
> PASCW hUPO is not a counter-example, as the subject is an experiencer. This
> rule could probably be elaborated to cover more ground.
a. Is the rule the hierarchy?
b. What is the rationale for this hierarchy?
c. Do agent, author, instrument, and patient correspond to nominative,
genitive, dative, and accusative case only for the active voice?
d. Do agent, author, instrument, and patient correspond to some activity
or aspect of the verb regardless of voice?
e. Do agent, author, instrument, and patient correspond to agent cause,
material cause, end cause, and formal cause?
f. Does an experiencer take on one or more of these four hierarchical
roles, or some other semantic role such as the beneficiary, observer,
narrator, or perhaps even the reader or listener?
g. Does the role of beneficiary in the subject of the verb frame for the
middle voice correspond to the role of the instrument in the predicate
of the verb frame for the active voice, that is, as the acceptor of the
action of the verb, but not as the receiver (patient) of the action?
h. Does the role of author include the role of principal, or is the
sense of author "source material"?
i. Does the role of agent include the role of principal when the role of
instrument is one of agency?
Donald D. Dwight
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