Re: Secret Agents or Agent Secrets?

Jim Grossmann wrote:
> Is an "agent" ALWAYS something that acts on something else?
>
> Or can an "agent" do actions without an object, like "jump" and "skip?"
No, at least I don't think so.  Agent indicates something that
volitionally acts upon something else.  Altho, of course, agent is often
compounded with other roles like subject and mover in actual languages.

> If the answer to the last one is "no," then what do we call the jumper or
> skipper?   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?"
Well, there are a lot of terms for different roles.  "S" (short for
subject) is often used as a cover term for intransitive subjects.

> 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.")
Good question.  I dunno.

> What do we call the semantic role of the subject in a clause with reciprocal
> voice in a language that needs no reciprocal pronoun?
Probably the same as the subject in reflexive.

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speke no Frenshe ... And then at last a nother sayd that he woulde haue
hadde eyren: then the goode wyf sayd that she vnderstood hym wel." --
William Caxton
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