In a message dated 8/4/1999 7:33:32 PM, steven@OLYWA.NET writes:
>Here are some questions that ought to be relevant to a number of us.
>
>Is an "agent" ALWAYS something that acts on something else?
An agent is just something that causes an action, no matter who is affected
by it
>Or can an "agent" do actions without an object, like "jump" and "skip?"
>
>If the answer to the last one is "no," then what do we call the jumper
>or
>skipper?
A jumper or skipper is an agent-patient! (If there's a nicer term, I've
forgotten it.) They are both the agent and the patient in one.
>I've heard the term "mover" used, but what about verbs that
>stand
>for things voluntarily done that don't necessarily involve movement like
>"meditate?"
That's the same thing, I think.
>In languages that don't need reflexive pronoun, what name do we give the
>subject's semantic role? (I don't think they're called "atients" or
>"pagents.")
>
>What do we call the semantic role of the subject in a clause with reciprocal
>voice in a language that needs no reciprocal pronoun?
Hmm.... you lost me here.
>Where can I find good laymen's definitions of case grammar terms?
<A HREF="http://www.sil.org/linguistics/glossary/">Linguistic Glossary</A>
(http://www.sil.org/linguistics/glossary/) You could try this.... I have it
bookmarked, but I can't connect to it right now for some reason.
>Thanks in advance to all who answer,
>
>Jim
Josh Roth
http://members.aol.com/fuscian