biao3 shi4 表示 2 corresponding to express is in Encoding frame which includes core frame elements Speaker, and Message; biao3 shi4 表示 3 corresponding to represent
4. Case study of the motion verb ZOU (走)
4.1 Frame-based Sense identification
According to the model proposed in this paper, by the first step, most examples of ZOU 走 from Sinica Corpus can be tentatively classified into four major groups based on their different collocations with core arguments. Adopting the Chinese-English translations in the BOW online dictionary, these four groups can be related to various senses in English corresponding to Chinese: sense 1 as ‘walking’
zoulu (走路), sense 2 as ‘moving’ yidong (移動), sense 3 as ‘visiting’ canfang (參訪),
and sense 4 as ‘leaving’ likai (離開). The distribution percentage for each sense is presented in the table below.(8) Percentage of 200 Entries of ZOU
Percentage (%)
Sense 1: walking 49.5 Sense 2: moving 13.5 Sense 3: visiting 5 Sense 4: leaving 32
As can be seen, sense 1 ‘walking’ occurs most frequently (as shown in Table (8))
and denotes a specific physical action so that it is assumed to be cognitively salient and prototypical. The other senses, according to Fillmore’s Frame Semantics (1992), are transferred from the SELF-MOTION domain (Frame) to other domains (Frames).
The process of how to transfer from one source domain to the target domain is not discussed in this paper. It is more important to investigate how the different frames with their varying basic patterns consisting of core frame elements can help distinguish senses.
In this investigation, each sense of ZOU 走 did relate to different frames with core argument collocations corresponding to various basic patterns with core frame elements in FrameNet3. For example, sense 1 ‘walking’ is contained in SELF-MOTION frame, sense 2 ‘moving’ is in MOTION frame, sense 3 ‘visiting’ is included in ARRIVING frame, and sense 4 ‘leaving’ is in the DEPARTING frame.
The classification of ZOU 走 depending on basic patterns with core frame elements is shown in Table (9) –(12).
(9) Basic Patterns with Core Frame Elements of Sense 1 ‘Walking’
Sense Frame and
Frame Elements
Frame Elements
No. Basic Pattern with Core Frame Elements and Examples
3 In Mandarin, VerbNet is the only Frame-based searching engine, but it is still under construction.
Therefore, in this paper sense identification is via FrameNet through Chinese-English translations
4 The asterisk ｀*＇represents the target verb of each case study.
Sense Frame and
Frame Elements
Frame Elements
No. Basic Pattern with Core Frame Elements and Examples
(%)
BP3 Self-mover < Direction < *
… 一 個 酒 鬼 ， 他 [Self-mover] 半 醒 半 睡 地 往 上
BP6 Self-mover< * < Goal
…[Self-mover]再走著就到了遊塞納河的遊船碼 頭PontdeL [Gaol]…
3.77
BP7 Self-mover < * < Direction
七人[Self-mover]這時所走的方向[Direction]，早 到了小敏的家 (CNI: co-referential Null identity)
2.83
BP10 Self-mover < Path < *
我[Self-mover]..挑了僻靜的街道[Path]慢慢地走。
BP11 Self-mover < Path < Goal
如果從倫敦清晨出發，[Self-mover]走Ｍ１Ａ１公 路[Path]下午３點左右便可抵達愛丁堡[Goal]。
0.9
(10) Basic Patterns with Core Frame Elements of Sense 2 ‘Moving’
No. Basic Pattern with Core Frame Elements and Examples
BP14 Theme < Direction < *
…整個時代[Theme]要往哪裡[Direction]走才有希 望…
25
BP16 Theme < Source < Goal <*
車隊[Theme]從臺北[Source]往宜蘭[Goal]走…
(11) Basic Patterns with Core Frame Elements of Sense 3 ‘Visiting’
Sense Frame and
Frame Elements
Frame Elements
No. Basic Pattern with Core Frame Elements and Examples
BP18 Area < Self-mover < *
塔克金溪縱谷與司馬庫斯部落[Area]遙遙相望。
我[Self-mover]希望下次有機會去走一趟。
20
(12) Basic Patterns with Core Frame Elements of Sense 4 ‘Leaving’
No. Basic Pattern with Core Frame Elements and Examples
BP19 Source < * < Self-mover
確實，幾年前香港[Source]移民走了一批高級職員
BP20 Self-mover < * < Area
回頭一望家三遠，[CNI/Self-mover]不知何事走他 鄉[Area]
1.6
As shown in Table (9)-(12), sense 1 ‘walking’ is defined by the basic patterns in the SELF-MOTION frame: Self-mover < * < Path, Self-mover < *, Self-mover <
Direction < *, Self-mover < path < *, Self-mover < * < Area, Self-mover < * < Goal, Self-mover < * < Direction, Self-mover < Area < *, Self-mover < * < Duration, Self-mover < Path < *, and Self-mover < Path < Goal; sense 2 ‘moving’ is identified by the basic patterns in the MOTION frame: Theme < *, Theme < path <*, and Theme < Direction < *, Theme < Source < Goal < *, and Theme < Area < Path < *;
the meaning of ‘visiting’(sense 3) is determined by the basic patterns in the ARRIVING frame: Area <Self-mover < *, Self-mover < Area < *, and Self-mover <
* < Area; sense 4 linked to the meaning of ‘leaving’, is according to the basic patterns in the DEPARTING frame: Self-mover＜*, Source < *< Self-mover and Self-mover
< * < Area .
However, Table (9)-(12) also show the problem that some cases cannot be disambiguated by frame-based distinction. That is, it is found that different frames may have similar basic patterns with core frame elements. For illustration, the following instances are presented:
(13) a. 我[Self-mover]在 紅樹林 裡[Area]走 (Sense 1 ‘walking’)
wo zai hong shu lin li zou
I in the mangrove inside walk
‘I walked in the mangrove’
b. 他[Self-mover]到 紅樹林[Area]走一趟 (Sense 3 ‘visiting’) ta dao hong shu lin zou yi tang
he goes to the mangrove walk once
‘He visited the mangrove.’
(14) a. 我[Self-mover]走在 大安森林 公園[Area] (Sense 1 ‘walking’)
wo zou zai da an sen lin gong yuan
I walk in Da An forest park
‘I walked in Da An forest park.’
b. 我[Self-mover]走 一趟 大安森林 公園[Area] (Sense 3 ‘visiting’) wo zou yitang da an sen lin gong yuan
I go once Da An forest park
‘I visited at Da An forest park’
(15) a. 我腳 好痠，我[Self-mover]沒辦法 走了(Sense 1 ‘walking’) wo jiao hao suan, wo mei ban fa zou le
my feet so limp, I cannot walk LE
‘My feet are so limp that I can not walk anymore.’
b.火車早就開走了，我們[Self-mover]沒辦法走了(Sense 4 ‘leaving’) huo che zao jiu kai zou le, wo men mei ban fa zou le
train already drive away LE we cannot walk LE
‘The train has already driven away, and we can't leave.’
As can be seen in examples (13a) and (13b), sense 1 ‘walking’ and sense 3
‘visiting’ share the same pattern: Self-mover < Area < * and in example (14) they
share the same pattern: Self-mover < * < Area5. In examples (15a) and (15b) sense1
‘walking’ and sense 4 ‘leaving’ show the similar problem that they share the pattern:
Self-mover < * .
Why would different senses belonging to different Frames share the same basic pattern? The reason is that in frame semantics, ambiguity is caused by the transfer of one domain to another domain, but these two domains may not have totally different sets of core frame elements. That is, there might be some basic elements which are shared in various domains. As a consequence, in the realization of core frame elements, relative frames may have similar expressions. In such a situation, determining how to distinguish the different senses carrying similar basic patterns needs to be further explained. The next section provides a solution to solve this problem.