Chapter 6 : Transition and Transfer
predicates
Presented by: Lulu Nuradilla
Syifa Qoniatunnisa
Transition
Express the going or coming from one place to another.
Predicates of transition:
1. The bus goes from Greenville to Stratford.
2. Carlo came to this country from Italy.
Others express the moving of something from one place to another.
Predicates of transfer:
3. Fenwick drives the bus from Greenville to Strarford.
4. Jane rowed the boat from one side of the river to the other.
Predicates of transfer:
Transfer includes putting and removing:
5. Squirrels are stashing nuts in that oak tree.
6. Thieves stole some money from the cash box.
And giving and taking away:
7. Ronnie gave Rosie some frlowers.
8. The accident deprived Alex of his livelihood.
Communicating something to someone through language is also a form of
transfer:
9. Mother told the children a story.
10. Agnes is writing her mother a letter.
Sentence 1 tells of the movement of an inanimate object from one place, the
source, to another place, the goal.
Argument1
Predicate
Argument2
theme
action
source
bus
go
Greenville
Argument3
goal
Stratford
Sentence 2 is similar in role structure, except that the entity moving in animate.
Argument1
Predicate
Argument2
Argument3
actor
action
goal
source
carlo
come
this country
Italy
In English the source is most often indicated by from and the goal
by to, as here, and they occur in either order.
11a He emerged from the dark cellar into the bright sunlight.
11b He plunged from the bright sunlight into the dark cellar.
A sentence may express a Path, a place or area between the
Source and Goal.
12 The bus goes from Greenville to Stratford by way of Compton.
theme
source
goal
path
13 The boat drifted over the water from one place to another.
theme
source
goal
path
To generalize, sentences with transition verbs have this argument structure:
transition verb
theme or actor
source
goal
path
The verb go in sentence one can be represented on a time frame like this:
go
Time 0
Time +
Theme at Source
Theme at Goal
14. The driveway extends from the street to the garage.
The predicate extend as they are used here, is verb of pseudo-transition.
The time frame for a predicate extend:
extend
Time
Theme at Source and Goal
15. Harrison return to his hometown from the big city.
return
Time Theme at Goal
Time 0
Theme at Source
Time +
Theme at Goal
Focus on Goal:
- Get
- Come
- Go
Focus on Manner:
- Creep
- Rotate
- Gallop
Focus on Path:
- Drift
- Float
- Fall
Focus on Cause and Purpose:
- Escape
- Emigrate
- Immigrate
Transfer
16. Fenwick drives a bus from Greenville to Stratford by way of Compton.
agent
theme source
goal
path
Fenwick
bus
Greenville Stratford
Compton
17. The King banished the rebels from his realm (to another land).
agent
affected
source
goal
These are shown on the timescales below.
Drive
Time 0
Agent and Theme at Source
Banish
Time 0
Theme at Source
Time +
Agent and Time at Goal
Time +
Theme at Goal
Acts that change location of both Agent and Theme are the
following:
Focus on Manner:
- Drive
- Convey
- Haul
- Drag
Focus on Goal:
- Bring
- Take
Focus on Aspect (involving some relation of time):
- Restore
Acts that change location of theme only are expressed in the
following verbs:
Focus on Goal:
- Push
- Pull
Focus on Path:
- Throw
- Lift
- Raise
- Drop
- Lower
Focus on Source:
- Expel
- Evict
18. We spread a red carpet from the sidewalk to the door.
(place X) (place Y)
Source
Goal
19. The court restored the property to its lawful owner (from one who was not
the lawful owner).
restore
Time Theme at Goal
Time 0
Theme at Source
Time +
Theme at Goal
20. The judge sentenced the convicted man to jail.
21. Our school awarded the trophy to Mille [awarded Millie the trophy].
The verb in sentence 21 has this argument structure, illustrated here for award:
award
agent=source
theme
goal
Here is a group of verbs that occur as predicates in sentences with this structure:
- Give
- Award
- Bequeath
- Bestow
- Contribute
- Donate
- Entrust
- Grant
- Hand
- Lend
- Lose
- Sell
- Submit
22. Millie accepted the trophy from our school.
The argument structure of verbs such as those in the number 22 is
illustrated here with accept:
accept
goal
theme
Typical verbs that fit here are:
 Get
* Collect
 Take
* Inherit
 Accept
* Obtain
 Acquire
* Receive
 Borrow
* Steal
source
23 . This gift is for you from your fellow team members.
If there is no verb-only forms of be-for introduces the goal.
for
theme
goal
source
A few predicates, most notably march and walk, occur with meanings of
transition (24a and 25a) and meanings of transfer (24b and 25b).
24a
25b
24a
25b
The platoon marched to the parade-ground.
The sergeant marched the platoon to the parade-ground.
Laura walked home.
Fred walked Laura home.
24a, 25a:
march, walk
actor
goal
platoon
Laura
24b, 25b:
parade ground
home
march, walk
agent
sergeant
Fred
actor
goal
platoon
Laura
parade-ground
home
Some transfer predicates undergo interesting changes in the way the
accompaying arguments are presented. Compare load and pack in the following.
26a
26b
27a
27b
We loaded lumber on(to) the truck.
We loaded the truck with lumber.
I packed some notes in(to) my briefcase.
I packed my briefcase with some notes.
Sentences 25a and 26a tell of putting something in a place; that ‘something’ is
affected by the action.
actor
action
affected
place
26a
27a
26b
27b
we
I
load
pack
lumber
notes
truck
briefcase
actor
action
affected
means
we
I
load
pack
truck
briefcase
lumber
notes
Summary
The thematic structure, or role structure, of a predicate is clearly
related to its meaning, and predicates with similar meanings have similar
thematic structure.
Predicates of transition have arguments in the roles of theme or actor,
source, goal, and path. Predicates of transfer have the same argument roles
plus and agent.