Transition and Transfer Predicates

Created and Presented by:
Anik Matu Rosidah
Siti Nurhapipah
6B

Transition
Transition predicates are verbs which express the going
or coming from one place to another, respectively the
source and the goal.

Transition
 Example:
1. The bus goes from Greenville to Stratford.
Argument1 Predicate Argument2 Argument3
theme action source goal
The sentence above tells us the movement of an inanimate object
from one place (the source) to another place (the goal)

Transition
2. Carlo came to this country from Italy.
Argument1 Predicate Argument2 Argument3
actor action goal source
The sentence above tells us the movement of an animate object
from one place (the source) to another place (the goal)

Transition
From The Source
To The Goal

Transition
To is used to express the notion that
the goal is simply a location.
Example:
1. The bus goes from Greenville to
Stratford.
2. Carlo came to this country from
Italy.
Into is used to express the notion
that the goal is an area which
contains.
Example:
1. He emerged from the dark cellar
into the bright sunlight.
2. He plunged from the bright
sunlight into the dark cellar.

Transition
A sentence may express a path (a place or area between
the Source and Goal).
Example:
1. The bus goes from Greenville to Stratford by way of Compton.
theme source goal path
2. The boat drifted over the water from one place to another.
theme path source goal

Transition
 The path is indicated by a form that may follow one of
several prepositions: via, by way of, through, across or
over.
 The theme or actor NP is subject of the sentence.
 To generalize, sentences with transition verbs have this
argument structure:
Transition verb
theme or actor source goal path

Transition
The bus goes from Greenville to Stratford by way of Compton.
Greenville
(source)
Time 0
Compton
(path)
Stratford
(goal)
Time +

Transition
Pay attention to
the sentences
below!
1. The road goes from Greenville to Stratford by
way of Compton.
2. The driveway extends from the street to the
garage.
3. Curtains hung almost from the ceiling to the
floor.

Transition
 In those sentences, from and to introduce source and
goal, respectively, but the road, driveway and curtaints,
do not move from one to the other, and so there is no
Time Zero or Time Plus.
 The time frame for a predicate like extend, as in
sentence 15 is:
extend
Time
Theme at Source and Goal

Transition
What about this
sentence?
Harrison returned to his hometown
from the big city.

Transition
In this sentence three times are implied:
At Time Minus, which is earlier than Time Zero,
Harrison was in his hometown, at Time Zero he was in
the big city, and at Time Plus he was again in his
hometown.
return
Time –
Theme at
goal
Time 0
Theme at
source
Time +
Theme at
goal

Transition
Common Transition Predicates
Unmarked: move
Focus on Goal:
get [general]
come [goal is where speaker or addressee is or will be]
go [goal is away from speaker]
Focus on Manner:
creep [animate subject; slow movement over a surface]
rotate [wheel or globe; turns on an axis]
gallop [subject is a horse or on a horse, moving at the fastest gait]

Transition
Focus on Path:
drift [effortless movement in moving water]
float [seemingly effortless movement in water or air]
fall [source is higher than goal; involuntary movement]
Focus on Cause or Purpose:
escape [source is undesirable place]
emigrate [as above; source-oriented]
immigrate [as above; goal-oriented]

TRANSFER
 Transfer verbs are the causative equivalent of the
transition verbs
1. Fenwick drives the bus from Greenville to Stratford.
(Fenwick causes the bus to go....)
2. Jane rowed the boat from one side of the river to the
other. (Jane caused the boat to move.....)

TRANSFER
study the following sentences
 Fenwick drives a bus from Greenville to Stratford by way of Compton.
Agent theme source goal path
 The king banished the rebels from his realm ( to another land ).
Agent affected source goal

 The verb drive is a predicate of transition, and this
sentence has a causative meaning corresponding to
Sentence 1: Fenwick causes the bus to go from
Greenville, etc., and of course he moves with the bus.
 Sentence two has the same role as sentence 1 but the
king does not move with the rebels.
 Thus two verbs can be distinguish. “drive” can cause
agent move while “banish” cannot

Transfer includes:
Putting and removing
Ex:
1. Squirrels are stashing nuts in that oak tree.
2. Thieves stole some money from the cash box.
and giving and taking away.
1. Ronnie gave Rosie some flowers.
2. The accident deprived Alex of his livelihood.
Communicating something to someone through language is also a
form of transfer:
1. Mother told the children a story.
2. Agnes is writing her mother a letter.

These are shown from the timescales below:
drive
banish
Time 0
Agent and
theme at source
Time +
Agent and
theme at goal
Time 0
Theme at source
Time +
Theme at goal

Verb expressing acts that change location of both agent
and theme are the following:
Unmarked: move
Focus on maner:
drive [object=vehicle and subject=driver; or object=animal(s)
and subject is behind the animal(s)]
convey [unmarked]
haul [transfer in vehicle suggested]
drag [subject moves object over a surface, object is inert]
Focus on goal:
bring [goal is location of speaker, not necessarily at time of
speaking]
Take [goal is not location of speaker]
Focus on aspect:
restore [object was previously at goal]

Verbs expressing acts that change location of
theme are as following:
Focus on goal:
push [object is moved away from original position of agent]
pull [object is moved toward agent]
Focus on source:
Expel [agent=person of authority in source]
Evict [as above; source is dwelling, affected is a tenant]
Focus on path:
throw [object moves through air]
lift [vertical movement upward]
Raise [vertical movement upward or into upright position]
drop [vertical movement down; may be involuntary]
lower [as above; voluntary]

Study the following sentence
1. We spread a red carpet from the sidewalk to the door.
2. The court restored the property to its lawful owner (from one who
was not the lawful owner).
 Explanation
1. In sentence 1 To spread something is to cause it to be simultaneously
at Place X and Place Y, the Source and the Goal.
2. In sentence 2 To restore something is to cause it to be in the same
place or possession at Time Plus as it was at Time Minus and as it was
not at Time Zero.
restore
Time –
Theme at
goal
Time 0
Theme at
source
Time +
Theme at
goal

With certain verbs the expression of the goal is all-
important and the source is not important or is not
specified.
Examples:
1. The guard admitted us to the museum.
2. Nectar attracts bees to flowers.
3. The judge sentenced the convicted man to jail.

 With some verbs—give, award and bequeath are examples—from is
missing because the source appears as subject.
Examples:
1. The team gave a present to Harry [gave Harry a present].
2. Our school awarded the trophy to Millie [awarded Millie the trophy].
3. Mrs. Carson bequeathed her fortune to her servants.
The argument structure, illustrated here for give:
Give
Agent=source theme goal

 Here is a group of verbs that occur as predicates in
sentences with this structure:
Give [most common, least marked]
award [the object is a prize]
bequeath [the source is typically, but not necessarily, deceased; cf. inherit,
below]
bestow [the source is a person of higher social position than the goal]
Contribute [the source is one of several donors]
Donate [the transfer is considered a worthy action]
entrust [the change is temporary]
Grant [the source is a person of authority]
hand [the act is physical, the object is relatively small]
lend [the change is temporary; cf. borrow, below]
Lose [the change results from competition between source and goal]
Sell [money is involved in the act; cf. buy, below]
Submit [the goal is a person of authority; cf. grant, above]

1. Harry received a present from the team.
2. Millie accepted the trophy from our school.
3. Mrs Carson’s servants will inherit a fortune from
her.
Read the
sentence bellow

 These verbs are the converse of those in 25–7; here the
word to is missing because the subject names the goal:
Harry, Millie and Mrs Carson’s servants. Both the verbs in
25–7 and those in 28–30 are transfer verbs.
The argument structure of verbs such as those in 28–30 is
illustrated here with receive:
receive
goal theme sorce

Time frame: Time 0, theme at source; Time +, theme at goal. Goal NP is
subject, theme NP is object of the verb and the source NP is introduced
by from.
Typical verbs that fit here are:
 get [least marked]
 take [the action may be legitimate or not; that is, take can
be equivalent to accept or to steal]
 Accept [the action is legitimate]
 acquire [the circumstances of the action are vague]
 borrow [the change is temporary; cf. lend]
 Collect [the object is plural or non-countable, or the act is
habitual in other words, the act is distributed]
 inherit [the source is typically, but not necessarily, deceased]
 obtain [the action is the result of effort by the goal]
 Receive [the act results from the kindness or generosity of the
source]
 steal [illegal act]

1. This gift is for you from your fellow team members.
for
theme source goal
If there is no verb—only forms of be—for introduces the goal. In
other words, the preposition for acts as a sort of transfer predicate.

 A few predicates such as march and walk, occur with
meanings of transition (1 and 3 ) and meanings of
transfer (2 and 4).
1. The platoon marched to the parade-ground.
2. The sergeant marched the platoon to the parade
ground.
3. Laura walked home.
4. Fred walked Laura home.

The argument sstructure are as follows:
Sentence 1 and 2
March, Walk
actor goal
platoon parade – ground
laura home

 Sentence 2 and 4
march, walk
agent actor goal
sergeant platoon parade-ground
fred laura home

 Some transfer predicates undergo interesting changes
in the way the accompanying arguments are presented.
Compare load and pack in the following.
1) We loaded lumber on(to) the truck.
2) We loaded the truck with lumber.
3) I packed some notes in(to) my briefcase.
4) I packed my briefcase with some notes.

 Sentences 34a and 35a tell of putting something in a
place; that ‘something’ is affected by the action.
actor action affected place
1 We load lumber truck
2 I pack notes briefcase

Sentence 2 and 4 seem to express the affecting of a place,
and the objects in question are the means of affecting.
actor action affected means
2 We load truck lumber
4 I pack briefcase notes

Transition and Transfer Predicates

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Transition and Transfer Predicates