ABSTRACT
Verbs are connectors—they link the terms for participants in events. Each verb indicates the roles carried by its associated noun phrases (the agent, location, instrument, and so on). For example, the verb seize has agent and theme roles, as in The dogAGT seized the boneTH ; the verb hear, an experiencer and theme, as in The childEXP heard the carTH , and the verb put, an agent, theme, and location, as in The boyAGT put parcelsTH on the tableLOC . Verbs also mark grammatical relations. In English, they do this through a combination of word order and inflection. They can be grouped semantically into such event types as activities, accomplishments, achievements, and states. Verbs related in meaning also tend to appear in a similar range of syntactic constructions. These factors suggest that the syntax of a newly encountered verb would be largely predictable from its meaning.
