Transcript Frame semantics

35 years of Cognitive Linguistics
Session 6: Frame semantics
Martin Hilpert
your questions
semantic valence
valency
• Verbs typically impose restrictions on the
kinds of structures that can occur with them:
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John devoured the pizza.
* John devoured.
John handed Bob a muffin.
* John handed Bob. / * John handed.
John admitted his mistake to Bob.
* John admitted. / * John admitted to Bob.
semantic valency
• What participants are evoked by a verb?
– devour: eater, something eaten
– hand: giver, taker, something that is given
– admit: admitter, something admitted, listener
syntactic valency
• Which participants have to be expressed?
– devour: subject, object
– hand: subject, indirect object, direct object
– admit: subject, direct object, (oblique object)
• Sometimes semantic valency ≠ syntactic
valency
– John admitted his mistake.
– John ate and ate.
case frames
case frames
• characteristic of a verb, pairing of syntactic and
semantic valency
• an example: open
– the AGENT who performs the opening action,
expressed as subject
– the PATIENT who undergoes the opening action,
expressed as direct object
– the INSTRUMENT with which the opening action is
performed, expressed as an oblique object
• verbs may have several different case frames
case frames
• case frames often occur with groups of
semantically related verbs
– AGENT, THEME, LOCATION
• put: I put the book on the shelf.
• kick: Mary kicked the ball into the goal.
• sweep: John swept the crumbs into the corner.
– AGENT, RECIPIENT, THEME
• give: John gave Mary the book.
• promise: You promised me a horse.
• send: They sent us an email.
case grammar
case grammar
• ‘normal’ definition of case: morphological marking on
nominal elements, indicating distinctions such as subject
and object
• case in case grammar: the semantic role of a nominal in a
sentence (agent, patient, theme, instrument, ...),
sometimes called ‘deep case’
• central claim of case grammar: every verb projects a set
of participants that have a particular role (a case frame)
• knowledge of verbal case frames allows you to
understand ‘who did what to whom’ when you hear a
sentence
case grammar
• initial ideas of ‘Case Grammar’:
– a limited number of ‘deep cases’ (Agent, Patient,
Recipient, etc.) as an inventory of semantic roles
– a limited number of case frames (transitive,
ditransitive, causative, etc.)
• later development of this idea:
– verb-specific roles (‘giver’ for the verb ‘give’,
‘hitter’ for ‘hit’, etc.), generalizations over those
roles
– We’ll get to this when we talk about CxG
What do frame semantics and
prototype theory have in common?
frame semantics and prototype theory
• both reject ‘checklist’ theories of meaning
– no necessary and sufficient features
• both stress the experiential basis of meaning
– your experience with the world influences your
understanding of what a given word means
• frames are prototypes of common situations
– breakfast
– marriage
– a university lecture
What are ‘the framing words’ in a text?
Are there non-framing words?
frame-evoking elements
• elements that you cannot understand without
reference to a frame
– penalty shot >> soccer
– divorce >> marriage
– thumb >> hand
– hypotenuse >> right-angled triangle
• Are there elements that do NOT depend on
frames or do NOT evoke frames?
non-frame-evoking elements
• items with very general grammatical meanings
– that: I know that.
– to: I’d like to see that movie.
• items that resonate with a frame that is
already active
– We went to the chicken house to collect the eggs.
– We’ll have a BBQ and make a few burgers.
What about that carpenter?
• In particular, certain scholars insist on a
distinction between purely semantic information
about words and encyclopedic information about
the designata of words. Somebody holding this
view might expect to be able to justify certain
characteristics of carpenters (or the concept
carpenter) as belonging to the semantic category
of the noun, other distinct characteristics of
carpenters as simply being true of the individuals
who satisfy the criteria associated with the
category.
semantic vs. encyclopedic information
• dictionaries:
– the most economic description that allows you to
understand a concept
• encyclopedias:
– a rich array of information, not limited to what is
strictly necessary
• Frame semantics assumes that human
knowledge of word meaning is encyclopedic,
rather than dictionary-like
How has frame semantics evolved
since its development, and how
‘popular’ is it nowadays?
frame semantics
Defining word meanings:
the “essential features” approach
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MAN
WOMAN
BOY
GIRL
[+human]
[+adult]
[+male]
[+human]
[+adult]
[–male]
[+human]
[–adult]
[+male]
[+human]
[–adult]
[–male]
“Checklist” theory of word meaning
Word meaning is defined by a set of semantic features
These features are necessary and sufficient
As long as all features are present, every instance of the
category is equally representative
define game
• What are the defining features
of a game?
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opponents
played for fun
winners and losers
you need luck, skills
define lie
• Someone says something
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that is false
that the speaker believes to be false
in order to deceive someone else
OED: “a false statement made with intent to deceive”
• Is this a lie?
– Mary is leaving the house to buy John’s Christmas present:
• J: Mary, where are you going?
• M: We’re out of milk. (They actually are out of milk.)
– not false
– speaker does not believe it to be false
– yet the speech act is deliberately misleading
a solution: prototypes
a persistent problem
• In talking about prototypes, we still work with
‘features’ that can be present or absent.
– The prototype has all of the typical features,
peripheral members do not have all of the features.
• Many everyday words are very hard to define in
terms of bundles of features.
• Rather, definitions of those words need to make
reference to situations in which those words are
used – so-called frames.
define discount
define discount
• When a seller allows a buyer to buy goods at a
reduced price, the difference between the
normal price and the new price is called the
discount.
define discount
• When a seller allows a buyer to buy goods at a
reduced price, the difference between the
normal price and the new price is called the
discount.
define discount
• When a seller allows a buyer to buy goods at a
reduced price, the difference between the
normal price and the new price is called the
discount.
• The COMMERCIAL SCENARIO frame
define discount
• When a seller allows a buyer to buy goods at a
reduced price, the difference between the
normal price and the new price is called the
discount.
• The word discount can only be understood
against the background of a commercial
exchange of money and goods.
• If you don’t have the frame, you don’t
understand the word!
• Test cricket is a game that spans over two innings.
This means that one team needs to bowl the
other team out twice and score more runs then
them to win the match. In test cricket there is no
limit to the innings length. Whereas in one day
cricket & Twenty20 cricket there are a certain
amount of overs per innings. Before the game
begins an official will toss a coin. The captain who
guesses the correct side of the coin will then
choose if they want to bat or field first.
• Test cricket is a game that spans over two innings.
This means that one team needs to bowl the
other team out twice and score more runs then
them to win the match. In test cricket there is no
limit to the innings length. Whereas in one day
cricket & Twenty20 cricket there are a certain
amount of overs per innings. Before the game
begins an official will toss a coin. The captain who
guesses the correct side of the coin will then
choose if they want to bat or field first.
Semantic frames
• The meaning of many linguistic forms is impossible to
define on the basis of features, however conceived.
• Frame Semantics is an approach to the study of
meaning that characterizes the meaning of words as
relative to a semantic frame.
• Frames are recurrent events or situations, pieces of
procedural cultural knowledge (what happens when)
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commercial exchange
going to a restaurant
working a day job
football
How do words get their meanings?
They denote parts of frames.
Word meanings denote parts of frames
• The meaning of Friday is a part of the frame week, which is a
part of the frame Roman Calendar system.
– In the Roman Calendar system, the passage of time is divided into
seven-day intervals, the fifth day of these intervals is called Friday.
• The meaning of vacation is a part of the frame work life.
– In work life, people carry out activities for which they are paid. They
have the right to interrupt these activities for some time of the year
and often use this time for travel to another place, commonly with
friends and family.
• The meaning of penalty shot is a part of the frame football
– In football, an offence may be penalized by giving the opponent team the
possibility to aim a shot at the goal from a certain distance. For that shot, the
time of the game is stopped and until the shot is carried out only the
goalkeeper may defend the goal.
Frame semantics – a semantics of
understanding
• What do hearers have to know in order to
understand a word or a sentence?
– Understanding vacation necessitates some familiarity with
the concept of work life
– Understanding hypotenuse is impossible without
knowledge of what a right-angled triangle is.
– Understanding what it means to bowl out the other team
requires you to know how cricket is played.
Words evoke frames
• Julia will open her presents after she has blown out
the candles.
• Frame: birthday
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a person has a date of birth
this date is celebrated each year, usually with family and friends
the person receives presents
the person receives a cake
there are candles on birthday cakes, the number of which often
corresponds to the number of years the person has lived
– the person is entitled to blowing out those candles
Words evoke frames
• I corrected the exams on the train.
– … that took me where I wanted to go
– … not on a train that was being stationed on a spare track!
(Cf. I corrected the exams sitting in a train)
• Frame: public transport
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people use means of public transport to get to places
they pay money to receive a ticket which entitles them to a seat
there are stops where people may get on and off
while using those means of public transport people can engage in
recreational or professional activities
Knowledge of frames allows people to
understand words
frame-dependent words
• the frame of football
– goal, offside, penalty shot, referee, goalie, corner, foul
• the frame of marriage
– wedding, bride, best man, engagement, divorce, alimony,
widow, gay marriage
• the frame of hand
– knuckle, thumb, index, palm, pinkie
frames and their elements (FEs)
– going to a restaurant
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customer
waiter
food and drink
check
exchange of money
tip
– commercial transaction
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seller
buyer
goods
exchange of money
frames and their elements
• What are the frame elements of cure?
frames and their elements
• What are the frame elements of cure?
– patient
– disease
– (healer)
– (treatment)
• Doctor Smith cured Frank of his depression
with acupuncture.
frames and their elements
• What are the frame elements of smuggle?
frames and their elements
• What are the frame elements of smuggle?
– perpetrator
– goods
– goal
– (source)
– (path)
• Frank smuggled drugs into the prison.
highlighting different parts of frames
• What are the frame elements of smuggle?
– perpetrator
– goods
– goal
– (source)
– (path)
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Frank smuggled drugs into the prison.
More and more drugs are smuggled out of
Brazil.
The drugs were smuggled through a narrow
tunnel.
The tunnel was used for smuggling.
Frames impose a perspective on an
event
frames and perspectivization
• The same event may be presented in ways that
incorporates a different perspective on it:
• John sold the book to Mary for $100.
• Mary bought the book from John for $100.
• Mary paid John $100 for the book.
• John collected $100 for the book from Mary.
frames and perspectivization
• The verbs buy and sell evoke the same frame
(commercial transaction), but they differ in their
portrayal of the participants:
– buy: the buyer is the AGENT, i.e. active and controlling the event
– sell: the seller is the AGENT, i.e. active and controlling the event
frames and perspectivization
• Compare:
– In ten minutes we will reach the coast.
– In ten minutes we will reach the shore.
– That day Captain Miller stayed on land.
– That day Captain Miller stayed on the ground.
• Imagine that Switzerland is preparing for the
outbreak of an unusual disease, which is
expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative
programs to combat the disease have been
proposed. The exact scientific estimates of the
consequences of the programs are as follows.
• Program A: 200 people will be saved
• Program B: There is a 1/3 probability that 600
people will be saved, and a 2/3 probability
that no people will be saved.
• Imagine that Switzerland is preparing for the
outbreak of an unusual disease, which is
expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative
programs to combat the disease have been
proposed. The exact scientific estimates of the
consequences of the programs are as follows.
• Program A: 200 people will be saved 80%
• Program B: There is a 1/3 probability that 600
people will be saved, and a 2/3 probability
that no people will be saved.
20%
• Imagine that Switzerland is preparing for the
outbreak of an unusual disease, which is
expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative
programs to combat the disease have been
proposed. The exact scientific estimates of the
consequences of the programs are as follows.
• Program A: 400 people will die.
• Program B: There is a 1/3 probability that
nobody will die, and a 2/3 probability that 600
people will die.
• Imagine that Switzerland is preparing for the
outbreak of an unusual disease, which is
expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative
programs to combat the disease have been
proposed. The exact scientific estimates of the
consequences of the programs are as follows.
• Program A: 400 people will die.
20%
• Program B: There is a 1/3 probability that
nobody will die, and a 2/3 probability that 600
people will die.
80%
• Program A: 200 people
will be saved
• Program A: 400 people
will die.
• Program B: There is a
1/3 probability that 600
people will be saved,
and a 2/3 probability
that no people will be
saved.
• Program B: There is a
1/3 probability that
nobody will die, and a
2/3 probability that 600
people will die.
The saving frame
Priority: if you can save at least
some of the people, do that
The death frame
Priority: if there is a chance
to avoid deaths, take it
Frames reflect cultural practices
Frames and cultural practices
• The recurrent situations that shape our daily lives
are pieces of our cultural environment
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marriage
football vs. baseball
work life
using public transportation
going to a restaurant
taking out liability insurance
Frames and cultural practices
• identity theft
Frames and cultural practices
• identity theft
– a victim: a person whose identity is assumed by a
perpetrator
– a perpetrator: a person who assumes another
person’s identity by presenting a means of
identification, usually to obtain assets
– a means of identification: an identifying number,
such as social security number, credit card
number, etc.
– assets: money and goods belonging to the victim
Basic syntactic patterns reflect basic
semantic frames
Frames and grammatical constructions
• Some sentence patterns of English reflect basic
semantic frames
• Example: the ditransitive construction
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SUBJ VERB OBJ1 OBJ2
John gave Mary a cookie
John taught Mary French
John faxed Mary the news
John bequeathed Mary a gold watch
• Evidence: ditransitives with new verbs
– Grandma crutched Mary the ball
Frames are culturally contested
Frames are culturally contested
• How do politicians talk about taxation?
• ‘tax relief’
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tax is a burden
there is a protagonist (the taxpayer) who carries that burden
politicians have the power to make the burden lighter
politicians give the protagonist relief
anyone trying to stop the politician from reducing taxes is acting
against the protagonist
• elements of taxation that are not represented in the frame:
– benefits that come from taxation (universities, roads, …)
– taxes as investments into future well-being
Summary
1. Words evoke frames, denote parts of frames
– bride denotes an important participant of marriage
2. Knowledge of frames allows us to understand words –
words get their meanings from frames
– hypotenuse does not make any sense without knowledge of triangle
3. Frames impose a particular perspective on a situation
– In ten minutes we’ll reach the shore / the coast.
4. Frames often reflect cultural practices
– marriage, football, the Roman calendar
5. Basic sentence patterns of English reflect semantic
frames
– the ditransitive construction
6. Frames are culturally contested
–
tax relief
next time: usage-based linguistics
How does your daily experience with language
shape your knowledge of language?
Grammar is grammar
and usage is usage
From usage to grammar:
the mind’s response to repetition
See you next time!
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