Patient or Vehicle? Semantic roles in German and English descriptive verbs (revisited)

Authors

  • Mary Snell-Hornby University of Vienna

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.3.1-2.127-139

Keywords:

case grammar, semantic roles, verb-descriptivity, modificant, agent, patient, vehicle

Abstract

The paper investigates the problem of semantic roles within the concept of verb-descriptivity (Snell-Hornby 1983). Descriptive verbs are semantically complex lexical items, where the modifying components are more focal than the verbal action itself (as in bustle or strut), and where the participants, the background situation and the attitude of the speaker emerge as distinctive elements (as in grovel and waft). As against orthodox views in early case grammar, a distinction is made here between the Patient as “sufferer” of the verbal action and the Vehicle as its “conveyer”. It is argued that this differentiation is essential for the understanding, the analysis and the translation of descriptive verbs, as the semantic roles are by no means identical when compared in various languages (here English and German). This is illustrated by the comparison of lexemes in the semantic field of verbs expressing anger. The aim of the paper is to sharpen awareness of such fine distinctions, particularly in their relevance for translation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
ELOPE Vol. 3, No. 1-2 (2006)

Downloads

Published

20.06.2006

How to Cite

Snell-Hornby, M. (2006). Patient or Vehicle? Semantic roles in German and English descriptive verbs (revisited). ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries, 3(1-2), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.3.1-2.127-139

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1-2 (2006): Literary Criticism As Metacommunity: A Festschrift for Meta Grosman

Section

Language

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors are confirming that they are the authors of the submitting article, which will be published (print and online) in journal ELOPE by Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia). Author’s name will be evident in the article in journal. All decisions regarding layout and distribution of the work are in hands of the publisher.
  2. Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
  3. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.