Magnitude of the force involved (Talmy 1988).
- zero : ForceLevel
No force component, as in states.
- low : ForceLevel
- moderate : ForceLevel
- high : ForceLevel
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
Docs / Semantics / Root / Content
Root content
import Linglib.Semantics.Root.Content · namespace ArgumentStructure.Root
What a root says about the action, its result, and the patient, the fine,
within-class half of a root's meaning; the coarse half, which templatic
components it entails, is Root.Kinds. Each dimension is a region of a finite
scale rather than a point, since a verb is compatible with a range of force
levels, patient materials, or result geometries. Spalek and McNally separate
English tear from Spanish rasgar, two roots of one kind, by patient
robustness, force direction, and compatibility with careful action;
Majid, Boster and Bowerman vary the instrument and the object's rigidity and
dimensionality across their cutting and breaking events. A described situation,
Root.Content.Situation, is a point of the product of the dimensions, and a
Root.Content is a box in that space, one region per dimension, univ where a root
says nothing; two contents overlap when the boxes meet, which is when some situation
lies in both (Root.Content.overlaps_iff_exists_mem).
Main declarations
Root.Content.ForceLevel,ForceDirection,InstrumentType,AgentControl— dimensions of the action;ResultGeometryof the result;Robustness,ObjectDimensionalityof the patientRoot.Content.Situation— a value on every dimensionRoot.Content— a region per dimension, containing situationsRoot.Content.Overlaps— the regions meet on every dimension
References
- Spalek & McNally 2026, The anatomy of a verb formalized
- Majid et al. 2008, The cross-linguistic categorization of everyday events: A study of cutting and breaking formalized
- Talmy 1988, Force dynamics in language and cognition
- Levin 1993, English Verb Classes and Alternations: A Preliminary Investigation formalized
Dimensions
Spatial pattern of the force applied (Talmy 2000), contrary directions for tear and a single direction for rasgar (Spalek & McNally 2026).
- undirected : ForceDirection
- unidirectional : ForceDirection
- bidirectional : ForceDirection
- omnidirectional : ForceDirection
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
Material substantiality of the patient, on which rasgar is restricted to flimsy patients and tear is not (Spalek & McNally 2026).
- insubstantial : Robustness
- flimsy : Robustness
- moderate : Robustness
- robust : Robustness
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
The physical change produced, after the class descriptions of Levin 1993 (§45.1 break, §45.2 bend, §44 destroy, §21.1 cut) and Hale & Keyser 1987's separation in material integrity.
- separation : ResultGeometry
Loss of integrity by pulling apart (tear).
- surfaceBreach : ResultGeometry
Damage to a surface (rasgar, cut).
- fracture : ResultGeometry
Breakage along stress lines (crack, break).
- fragmentation : ResultGeometry
Complete structural failure (shatter, smash).
- deformation : ResultGeometry
Change of shape with integrity preserved (bend, fold).
- totalDestruction : ResultGeometry
The entity ceases to exist as such (destroy).
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
The instrument effecting a separation, which together with the object and the manner of action determines how predictable the locus of separation is (Majid et al. 2008).
- sharpBlade : InstrumentType
- bluntImpact : InstrumentType
- hands : InstrumentType
- other : InstrumentType
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
Dimensionality of the patient, the twig that snaps, the cloth that tears, or the pot that smashes (Majid et al. 2008).
- oneD : ObjectDimensionality
- twoD : ObjectDimensionality
- threeD : ObjectDimensionality
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
Compatibility with careful, controlled action, which tear has and rasgar lacks (Spalek & McNally 2026).
- incompatible : AgentControl
- neutral : AgentControl
- compatible : AgentControl
Derives DecidableEq, Fintype, Repr.
Used by Content.Situation, Content
A described situation, a point of the content space: a value on every dimension.
- force : ForceLevel
- forceDirection : ForceDirection
- instrument : InstrumentType
- agentControl : AgentControl
- resultGeometry : ResultGeometry
- patientRobustness : Robustness
- patientDimensionality : ObjectDimensionality
Derives DecidableEq, Repr.
Built from , , , , , ,
Used by Content.instMembershipSituation, Content.mem_iff, Content.instDecidableMemSituation
Used in SpalekMcNally2026
A root's content, a region of each dimension, univ where the root says nothing.
- force : Finset ForceLevel
Magnitude of the force applied.
- forceDirection : Finset ForceDirection
Direction of the force applied.
- instrument : Finset InstrumentType
The instrument selected for.
- agentControl : Finset AgentControl
Compatibility with careful action.
- resultGeometry : Finset ResultGeometry
The physical change produced.
- patientRobustness : Finset Robustness
Robustness of the patient.
- patientDimensionality : Finset ObjectDimensionality
Dimensionality of the patient.
Derives DecidableEq.
Built from , , , , , ,
Used by Content.instMembershipSituation, Content.mem_iff, Content.instDecidableMemSituation, Content.Overlaps, Content.instDecidableOverlaps, Content.overlaps_iff_exists_mem
Used in Semantics/Root/Defs, Lucy1994, MajidBosterBowerman2008
A content contains a situation when each of its regions contains the situation's value on that dimension, so a content is a box in the space of situations.
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from ,
{c : Content} {s : Situation} :
s ∈ c ↔ s.force ∈ c.force ∧ s.forceDirection ∈ c.forceDirection ∧ s.instrument ∈ c.instrument ∧ s.agentControl ∈ c.agentControl ∧ s.resultGeometry ∈ c.resultGeometry ∧ s.patientRobustness ∈ c.patientRobustness ∧ s.patientDimensionality ∈ c.patientDimensionality
Built from ,
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from ,
Two contents overlap when their regions meet on every dimension.
The definition is too large to print here; read it in the source.
Built from
Used by Content.instDecidableOverlaps, Content.overlaps_iff_exists_mem
Used in MajidBosterBowerman2008, SpalekMcNally2026
Built from ,