AFFECT items are prototypical transitive verbs (according to the criteria set out by Hopper and Thompson 1980). They involve three basic semantic roles—an Agent moves or manipulates something (referred to as the Manip role) so that it comes into contact with some thing or person (the Target role). Either the Manip or the Target (or, occasionally, both) will be physically affected by the activity.

These roles can be mapped onto syntactic relations in three distinct ways:

The most characteristic AFFECT verb construction is I, in which the Target is affected by the Manip being brought into contact with it—John swings that stick against the vase so that the vase breaks; the Manip is, in this instance of the activity, stronger than the Target. The Manip will either be an object held by the Agent (usually, in their hand) or else some body part of the Agent. The with instrumental phrase in construction I need not be stated, although it could always be supplied. (Neither A nor O can be omitted from any of the three construction types.)

Construction II is likely to be used when the Manip is less strong than the Target, so that it is the Manip which is physically affected by impact of Manip on Target—John swings that stick against the table and the stick breaks. That role which is physically affected is most salient in this instance of the activity and is coded onto O syntactic relation, this is the Target in I and the Manip in II. In II the Target is marked by a preposition—on, upon, against, etc. It is noteworthy that this prepositional phrase cannot be omitted from II. (If it were, then John hit that stick would be taken to have that stick as Target, i.e. an instance of construction I where the with phrase has been omitted. This confirms I as the unmarked construction for AFFECT verbs.)

It is also possible to say, as an alternative to I, John’s stick hit the vase (when he was swinging it to test its weight, not aware that there was a vase nearby) or just That stick hit the vase (when John swung it), as in III. To put the Manip into A (transitive subject) slot in this way may disclaim the Agent’s responsibility for the result of the activity—true, they were swinging that stick, but they did not intend to hit the vase (and wouldn’t have dreamt of swinging it if they’d known the vase was there). For III the Target must, as in I, be in O slot. The Agent has no obligatory syntactic coding in III, but it is usually hovering somewhere in the sentence, e.g. as possessor to Manip within the A NP (John’s stick) or as A within a subordinate clause (when John was swinging it). Pattern III is, like II, a marked construction for affect verbs; it is used to achieve a certain semantic effect.

(Sentences such as The falling coconut hit Mary (as she sat under the palm tree) can also be classified as III. The Manip role in this sentence, the falling coconut, is something moving due to a natural force—here, gravity.)

It will be seen that ‘patient’ and ‘instrument’ are not appropriate labels for the semantic roles associated with AFFECT verbs. That role which is affected by the hitting is the patient and is mapped onto O syntactic relation—this is the Target in I and the Manip in II. The role which engenders the affect on the patient is the instrument—this is the Manip in I; the Target could conceivably be called an instrument in II.

There are two other construction types applicable to some AFFECT verbs. The first is a variant of I, with a preposition inserted before the Target:

IV. John (Agent) kicked at the door (Target) (with his hob-nailed boots (Manip))

We will discuss the syntactic status of the door in IV—whether or not it is still in O relation.

The other construction type is also a variant of I. An adverb may replace the O NP, indicating that the activity was indulged in rather wildly (rather than being directed, in a controlled fashion, at a speciWc Target):

V. John (Agent) hit out (with that stick (Manip))

It is not possible to include the door either before or after out in V. However, at the door is acceptable, yielding a blend of IV and V, where the Agent hits out wildly, but in the direction of a Target, i.e. John hit out at the door (with that stick).

Note that there is no necessary connection between IV and V. Some verbs can take a preposition before the Target, in IV, but cannot accept an adverb, in V, e.g. He hammered at the door, but not *He hammered out. (He hammered the message out is different both syntactically—an O NP is included—and semantically.)

A number of AFFECT verbs may include an adjective after the Target NP (when this is in O function) in construction I or III describing the state in which the Target was put by the activity, e.g. Mary knocked John unconscious, Mary’s stick knocked John unconscious. As mentioned under (a), these can be treated as reductions from underlying structures of the form Mary knocked John so that he was unconscious. Note that the peripheral NP indicating Manip comes after John in Mary knocked John with her stick so that he was unconscious. However, when so that he was is omitted, knocked unconscious functions like a single compound form, and a peripheral NP must follow it, as in Mary knocked John unconscious with her stick.

AFFECT, like MOTION and REST, is a large type, involving hundreds of verbs. It can usefully be divided into eight subtypes, each of which has its special semantic and syntactic characteristics. (Note that all AFFECT verbs are transitive; verbs in some subtypes (noted below) may also function intransitively.)

AFFECT-a, the TOUCH subtype, refers to Manip minimally coming into contact with Target, with no disturbance of the Target, e.g. touch, stroke.

These verbs occur in the first three constructions, e.g. I She stroked the fur (with her left hand), II She stroked her left hand on/over the fur, III Her left hand stroked the fur (although she wasn’t aware of it). Note that feel only occurs in construction I; it is most appropriately regarded as a member of the ATTENTION type.

AFFECT-b, the HIT subtype, refers to Manip being brought through the air to impact on Target, e.g. hit, strike, punch, bump, kick, knock, tap, bash, slap, spank; whip, belt, stone, cane, hammer; shoot.

All occur in constructions I, II and III. Those like hit, strike, punch, kick, which refer to some vigorous activity that can be done quite wildly (just moving the Manip without controlled focus on a particular Target), also occur in V and in IV. Verbs such as knock, tap, bash, slap and spank carry an implication that Manip should make contact with a specific Target—they occur in I, II and III, and also in IV, e.g. He knocked on/at/against the door (with his stick), but not in V. Then there are verbs derived from nouns—such as whip, belt, stone, hammer—which have more restricted syntactic possibilities (as verbs derived from nouns often do have). They may all occur in I, just whip in III (The rope which John swung whipped my face) and just hammer in IV. The meanings of these verbs include specification of an arche-typical Manip (e.g. the central meaning of hammer is ‘hit with a hammer’) and because of this it would be implausible for the Manip to be in O slot in II. (Note, though, that these verbs may be used with a non-cognate Manip, which can be O in II, e.g. He hammered his fists upon the door.)

Shoot is an unusual verb in that there are effectively two Manips—the Agent operates a gun or bow (Manip1) which sends on its way a projectile (Manip2) that impacts on the Target. Either ‘gun’ or ‘projectile’ may fill the Manip slot in I/IV and III, with the ‘other Manip’ being introduced in I/IV by using; thus: I/IV John shot (at) the pig with pellets using his shotgun/with his shotgun using pellets, and III John’s shotgun/pellets accidentally shot the pig. The ‘gun’, however, is unlikely to occur in O slot in II, simply because use of the verb shoot implies a gun as Manip—we may say John shot pellets at the pig using his shotgun, a II construction with the ‘projectile’ in O slot, but scarcely *John shot his shotgun at the pig using pellets.

Some verbs from the HIT subtype may include an adjective after the Target role when it is in O function, describing a state engendered by the action, e.g. kick/punch/knock unconscious, shoot dead.

AFFECT-C, the STAB subtype, refers to a pointed or bladed Manip penetrating below the surface of the Target, e.g. pierce, prick, stab, dig, sting, knife, spear; cut, prune, mow, saw, slice, chop, hack.

All of these verbs occur in constructions I and III (although it is not terribly common for something to slice or chop or—especially—to saw or prune accidentally, in III). Construction II, with the Manip as O, is more marginal for most STAB verbs simply because their meanings focus on the affect on the Target, which should thus be in O slot (however, it is possible to say He stabbed his dagger into the ground, with focus on the dagger, since here the Target, the ground, is not critically affected by the activity). Construction II is least likely with spear and knife, verbs derived from nouns, since the meaning of the verb includes specification of an archetypical Manip; however, the Manip can be in O slot when it is not cognate with the verb, e.g. She speared the garden fork through her foot.

AFFECT-d, the RUB subtype, refers to the Manip being manipulated to affect the surface of the Target, e.g. rub, wipe, scrape, scratch, mark; sweep, brush, shave, rake; polish; lick. Wash has a slightly different meaning, referring to the effect on the Target (‘make clean using liquid’) but can be regarded as a divergent member of this subtype.

Rub, the prototypical member of the subtype, can occur in constructions I, e.g. He rubbed the table with that cloth, and II, e.g. He rubbed that cloth over/on the table. Construction III is just possible: His trousers rubbed the table (as he squeezed by). Construction IV is also plausible (He rubbed at the table with a clean cloth) but not V.

We also get variants of I where the head of the O NP refers to something on a surface, whose relationship to the surface is affected by the activity:

Ia. John rubbed [the polish into the table] (with that cloth)

Ib. John rubbed [the mark (off the table)] (with that cloth)

It is interesting to note that, although prepositional NPs can usually occur in any order after a verb, with that cloth could not felicitously intrude between the polish and into the table in Ia, or between the mark and off the table in Ib.

Note that instead of off in Ib we could have on, describing just where the mark is, rather than where it should go. On must be used when at is inserted before the O NP, giving:

IVb. John rubbed [at the mark on the table] with that cloth

Wipe, scrape and scratch may—like rub—be used in I–IV and Ia, Ib, IVb. Sweep, brush, shave and rake all have meanings that focus on the Target— they occur in I, Ib, IV and IVb, less convincingly in III, and scarcely in II, where the Target is not in O function. Polish is even more limited, being effectively restricted to I and IV; since the meaning of the verb includes reference to the substance rubbed into a surface, the Target can only be the surface (i.e. the table in I, and not the polish in Ia). Lick occurs in I, Ib, IV and IVb but is scarcely plausible in II (?The possum licked its tongue over the leaf)—because the meaning of the verb includes specification of the Manip (a tongue), which is unlikely to be focused on and placed in O slot—or III—because tongues do not lick things accidentally (although, in one metaphorical sense of the verb, flames do).

Verbs from the RUB subtype may typically take an adjective after the Target when it is in O slot, e.g. rub/wipe/scrape/brush/lick clean.

AFFECT-e, the WRAP subtype, refers to the Manip moving into juxtaposition with the Target, e.g. wrap; cover; butter, roof, veil, clothe, dress, grease; plaster, paint, coat; surround, frame; put NP on.

Wrap, the key member of this subtype, occurs in:

1. John (Agent) wrapped the box (Target) in/with the paper (Manip)
2. John (Agent) wrapped the paper (Manip) around the box (Target)

That role which is specifically focused upon is in O slot. Construction II talks about a piece of paper and what was done with it—the paper was wrapped around the box (no matter that perhaps it didn’t cover all six sides). Construction I describes what was done to the box—it was well and truly wrapped in the paper (ready for mailing).

Cover, another verb from this subtype, occurs in I John (Agent) covered the box (Target) with leaves (Manip), and in III Leaves (Manip) covered the box (Target), but not in II (one would scarcely say *John covered leaves over the box). Interestingly, wrap is not used in a straightforward III construction, simply because it is not possible for ‘the paper wrapped the box’ to happen without an Agent intervening; there is, however, That sheet of newspaper (Manip), blown by the wind, wrapped (itself) around my legs (Target).

There are a number of hyponyms of cover and wrap (mostly derived from nouns) which occur only in construction I—butter, roof, veil, clothe, dress, grease. For these the Target is the focus of attention (in O slot) with the general nature of Manip being specified as part of the meaning of the verb. (Verbs derived from nouns typically have a rather specific meaning and, as a consequence, more restricted grammatical properties than non-derived verbs.)

Paint can be noun and verb but the Verb class membership is diachronically and synchronically prior; it may occur in I He painted the door with emulsion, and II He painted emulsion onto the door. Plaster and coat were historically verbs derived from nouns but in the present-day language they function as full members of the WRAP subtype, occurring in I He plastered his bread with butter, II He plastered butter on his bread, and even III Mud plastered everything after the flood, Dust coated the window-sills.

Surround involves intersection of the CONTAIN subtype of REST (Those hills surround the waterhole) and WRAP, appearing in I The general (Agent) surrounded the city (Target) with his army (Manip) and III The army/flood-water (Manip) surrounded the city (Target). Frame has a similar meaning with primary membership of WRAP, and perhaps a metaphorical extension to CONTAIN (The clouds and hills frame the sunset tonight).

Only PAINT, from this subtype, commonly takes an adjective after the Target in O slot, e.g. paint the door red.

There is a set of verbs describing an action which is the reverse of WRAP; this includes un- derivatives of some WRAP verbs, e.g. unwrap, uncover, unroof, undress, as well as take NP off and its hyponyms peel ‘take peel off’ and shell ‘take shell off’. They are virtually restricted to a single construction, which is similar to Ib for RUB, e.g. He took the lid off the pan with his left hand.

AFFECTSTRETCH-f, the STRETCH subtype, refers to the Agent using a Manip to change the shape or state of a Target, e.g. stretch, extend, compress, bend, curl, fold, coil; twist, pinch, squeeze; vaporise, liquefy, solidify, melt; dissolve; freeze, cool (down), warm (up), heat (up), burn, singe.

The first set of verbs refer to changing the shape of a Target—in one dimension (stretch, extend, compress), in two dimensions (bend, curl, fold, coil), or in three dimensions (twist, pinch, squeeze). These focus on the change in the Target, which must be in O slot. Thus, construction II is not available, only I (III is implausible, since such changes are unlikely to be accidentally engendered). The Manip used to effect the change can be stated (e.g. stretch it on a rack, curl them with a curling iron, squeeze it with pincers, twist it with his bare hands) but need not be.

All these verbs are transitive. The one-dimensional and two-dimensional items (and perhaps twist of the three-dimensional) may also be used intransitively, with the Target as S, e.g. Leaves curl in late summer, That patch of desert extends further each year.

Related to change-of-shape verbs are those describing a change of state—vaporise, liquefy, solidify (all derived from nouns), melt—and a change of temperature—freeze (which may also involve change of state), cool (down), warm (up), heat (up). These occur in constructions I and III (She froze the mixture with solid carbon dioxide, John’s bar heater/the hot weather melted the butter), and may also be used intransitively, with O = S (The butter melted).

Burn and singe belong in this subtype. They can be used intransitively (The fire/house is burning) and transitively in I Mary burned John with that hot poker, III That hot poker burned John, and Ib Mary burned the paint off the door with a blowtorch.

Some STRETCH verbs may take a state adjective or an adverb after the Target role when in O relation, or after the verb used intransitively with Target in S relation, e.g. John froze it solid, It froze solid; and bend double, fold over.

AFFECT-g, the BUILD subtype, refers to manufacture and cooking. These verbs involve an Agent manipulating Manip so as to create something (called the Product role), e.g. build, knit, tie, make, weave, sew, shape, form, stir, mix, knead; fry, bake, cook.

The roles can be mapped onto syntactic relations in two ways:

That role out of Manip and Product which is the focus of attention is placed in O relation. Construction VI directs attention to ‘those bricks’, which may have been left over from another job so that Mary wondered what to do with them—then she hit upon the idea of building them into a wall. Construction VII is concerned with ‘a wall’, which was perhaps badly needed; it is likely that sufficient bricks were purchased to build it.

Knit behaves in a similar way: VI Mary (Agent) knitted the wool (Manip) into a jumper (Product); and VII Mary knitted a jumper from/with the wool. The verb tie combines the syntactic possibilities of knit and of the WRAP subtype—thus VI Mary (Agent) tied the string (Manip) into a knot (Product); VII Mary tied a knot (Product) with the string (Manip); and I Mary tied the box (Target) with the string (Manip); II Mary tied the string (Manip) around the box (Target).

Besides make (in the sense ‘bake’ or ‘build’, a different lexeme from the Secondary-C verb in John made Mary eat it), weave, sew, shape (with sculptor as Agent), form, and so on, this subtype also contains stir and mix (e.g. She mixed the flour and water into a paste, She mixed a paste from the flour and water).

Many cooking verbs have quite simple syntax, with Manip in O relation, e.g. She fried a steak; there is no special name for the product here, just fried steak. With bake it is possible to have a simple list of ingredients (the Manip) in O slot, as an alternative to the Product, e.g. She baked the flour (Manip) into a damper (Product), She baked a damper with the flour. But generally it is the Product role that is syntactic O, e.g. She baked a chocolate cake (with/using flour, sugar, cocoa, milk, eggs, butter and vanilla essence). We mentioned that in She built those bricks into a wall the focus is on those bricks—what is to be done with them. It would be implausible to focus in the same way on a complex list of cake ingredients, which is why this is not found in O slot, i.e. ?She baked the flour, sugar, cocoa, milk, eggs, butter and vanilla essence into a chocolate cake sounds very odd.

Two other sets of verbs can be assigned to the BUILD subtype—mend, repair; and draw, write, sign, forge. Both sets focus on the product and are confined to construction VII, e.g. John mended the radio with some tape, Timmie drew a horse with the crayons you sent.

AFFECT-h, the BREAK subtype, involves an Agent causing some object (the Breaking role) to lose its physical unity, e.g. break, crush, squash, destroy, damage, wreck, collapse; tear, split, chip, crack, smash, crash; burst, explode, blow NP up, let NP off, erupt.

It is useful to compare BREAK with HIT. HIT describes a type of action, a Manip being brought into contact with a Target; there often is, but need not be, damage to either Manip or Target—we can say John hit the vase with that stick but it didn’t even chip, or John hit that stick on the table but it didn’t break. In contrast, break describes the resultant effect of some action on an object (the Breaking).

BREAK verbs occur in constructions I, II and III (but not IV or V). The Breaking role is focused on (as part of the meaning of these verbs) and must be in O slot; it can be identified with either Target or Manip:

1. John (Agent) broke the vase (Target = Breaking) (with that stick (Manip))
2. John (Agent) broke that stick (Manip = Breaking) (on the table (Target))
3. John’s stick (Manip) broke the vase (Target = Breaking)

Like such verbs as bend or burn, from the STRETCH subtype, break may also be used intransitively (with Breaking as S), either to describe something which appears to happen spontaneously (It just broke) or to describe the effect of a HIT activity. Sentences I, II and III above could be rephrased John hit the vase (Target) with that stick and the vase (Breaking) broke; John hit that stick (Manip) on the table and that stick (Breaking) broke; John’s stick hit the vase (Target) and the vase (Breaking) broke.

Breaking may also be identified with roles from other types, e.g. with Moving from the THROW subtype of MOTION, as in John (Causer) threw the vase (Moving) down and it (Breaking) broke, which could be restated with break as transitive verb in the first clause, John broke the vase (Breaking) by throwing it (Moving) down.

Crush, squash and destroy all describe a massive disintegration of physical form, which can only be achieved if Breaking is Target (not Manip); they are not used intransitively and only in transitive constructions I and III. Damage and wreck occur in I, II and III but are not used intransitively, since there must be some identifiable agent for the effects referred to by these verbs. Tear, split, chip, crack and smash are like break in occurring in I, II and III and in an intransitive construction. Burst shows similar possibilities—John burst the balloon with a pin (i.e. he moved the pin to the balloon), John burst the balloon on a nail (he moved the balloon to the nail), A nail burst the balloon (when the balloon happened to touch it) or just The balloon burst. Explode and blow up occur in I and also intransitively; let off has a meaning similar to the transitive sense of explode, and is confined to I. Erupt only occurs intransitively, simply because people have not yet found a way of causing volcanoes to erupt.

Chip and tear also occur in construction IV (with at before the Target), indicating that something is done bit by bit until a result is achieved, e.g. He kept tearing at the wrapping paper until it was all removed.

Native speakers have clear intuitions that break and smash are primarily transitive verbs, which can also be used intransitively, but that explode and burst are basically intransitive, with the transitive constructions being causative (e.g. The bomb exploded, The army disposal squad exploded the bomb).

Some BREAK verbs may have an adjective inserted after the Breaking role in O relation, or after the verb when used intransitively with Breaking in S slot, e.g. He broke it open, It broke open, She squashed it flat.