The Module-Attribute Representation of Verbal Semantics: From Semantic to Argument Structure

Abstract

In this paper, we set forth a theory of lexical knowledge. We propose two types of modules: event structure modules and role modules, as well as two sets of attributes: event-internal attributes and role-internal attributes, which are linked to the event structure module and role module, respectively. These module-attribute semantic representations have associated grammatical consequences. Our data is drawn from a comprehensive corpus-based study of Mandarin Chinese verbal semantics, and four particular case studies are presented.