review : cook : case grammar applied walter a . cook . s . j . ( 1998 ) " case grammar applied " a publication of the summer institute of linguistics and the university of texas at arlington , 1998 , 271 pages reviewed by tania avgustinova , university of saarland . synopsis the book is intended as a companion volume to " case grammar theory " ( 1989 ) by the same author , and is devoted to the application of the model developed in this earlier publication to english text analysis . this in particular means that the main stress of the present work is on methodological issues , which are presented on an extended textual analysis of hamingway 's " the old man and the sea " . the actual goal of the discussed monograph is twofold : for the grammar - to present a method for sentence semantics which describes the meaning underlying each simple sentence ; for the lexicon - to present a method for further defining each sense of each verb / predicate in terms of semantic classes ( case-frame - based typology ) . each clause in its underlying structure is reduced to a kernel sentence which is defined as a simple complete active-voice affirmative statement . all texts are reduced to a sequence of kernel sentences the model used is the case grammar matrix model . it presents a clear predicate-argument structure , builds a lexicon which distinguishes various verb senses , and not only describes arguments occurring in the text , but through covert roles , describes implicit arguments . this model is supplemented by the use of conceptual graphs , following sowa ( 1984 ) . each verb type has a generalised conceptual graph to indicate the predicate-argument structure ; and each example in the text contains the canonical graph of that sentence using the verb and nouns as concepts , and case labels as the verb-to - noun relations . the book is organised in the following way . chapter 1 ( pp . 1-54 ) presents the case grammar matrix model in summary form and introduces conceptual graph representation . the next four chapters treat verbs / predicates in four distinguished semantic domains . chapter 2 ( pp . 55-90 ) deals with the basic domain that includes all state , process , and action verbs which use only the agent and object cases . chapter 3 ( pp . 91-126 ) deals with the experiential domain , the domain of sensation , emotion , cognition , and communication . it involves state , process , and action verbs which include an experiencer case in their descriptions . chapter 4 ( pp . 127-42 ) deals with the benefactive domain , the domain of possession and transfer of property , and describes state , process , and action verbs that include a benefactive case . chapter 5 ( pp . 143-82 ) deals with the locative domain , the domain of physical location and movement , and describes state , process , and action verbs that include a locative case . chapter 6 ( pp . 182-220 ) deals with other elements involved in the logical representation of sentences , including tense , aspect , modals , performatives , and negatives , showing how these elements may be included in the logical structure , and ending with a sample sentence parse using case grammar . chapter 7 ( pp . 221-46 ) summarises the analysis of more than 500 examples in chapters 2 through 5 and demonstrates the verbal hierarchy expressed by the twelve cells of the case grammar matrix , organised by verbal domain , verb type , and argument structure . each of the verb types is described together with its conceptual graph , its frequency of occurrence , its subtype , and its defining characteristics . the appendix to the text contains an alphabetical lexicon , listing all of the verbs / predicates in the examples together with their case frames ( pp . 247-52 ) , and a case lexicon , with the verbs sorted by case frame together with references for each verb to the pages where the use of the verb is exemplified ( pp . 253-60 ) . finally , there is a list of references ( pp . 261 - 6 ) , and an index ( pp . 267-71 ) . critical evaluation case grammar ( cg ) works with labelled predicate-argument structure , and thus , in its core , belongs to the dependency grammar paradigm . cg develops a semantic valence system that describes the logical form of a sentence in terms of a central predicate ( usually and typically a lexical verb , but also a predicate adjective , a predicate noun , or a predicate adverb ) and a series of case-labelled arguments ( nominal , adverbial ) required by the meaning of that predicate . so , the type of case considered in the book is ' governed case ' , and in fact , nothing is said about the way cg model would treat ' concordial case ' - cf . , e . g . , blake ( 1994 ) for a detailed discussion of these notions . there is no case concord in english and , hence , the challenges posited by ' concordial case ' are trivially out of the scope of the presented analysis ( which is based exclusively on english data ) . the ambition of the proponents of cg is to develop a semantic interpretation system that is universal across languages , and not tied to the syntax of any particular sentence . on the basis of the presented extensive data analysis it is claimed that the five case labels used in the work ( i . e . agent , object , experiencer , benefactive , and locative ) are necessary and sufficient for the description of all the verbs / predicates in the language ( in this case english ) . the possibility of creating different lists of cases is left open , whereby full translatability is theoretically expected between any consistent list of cases and the one employed in the cg matrix model . both the predicate and its arguments are viewed as concepts ( i . e . the conceptual universe is made up of verbs which describe states or events , and nouns which describe things ) , while the case role labels indicate relations ( which arguments bear to their predicates ) . cg is written in conceptual graph format by placing the concepts ( predicates , arguments ) in boxes and relations ( case roles ) in circles . the arrows in the notation point away from the predicate which is the source of the case relations . an advantage of such an approach is the possibility of defining the default position of the lexical predicate in its case frame , i . e . with respect to the arguments it governs . in the discussed book , a fairly credible ontology of predicators is achieved by hierarchically sorting them according to domain as basic , experiential , benefactive , locative , ( and possibly ) time , and within each domain as state , process , action . further sub-classification of the predicates is based on the number or the position of the arguments . the resulting hierarchical taxonomy is similar to a thesaurus in which all entities are organised into semantic domains . the organisation of the semantic domains is worked out in detail and with precision . the question of case inventory is central to cg , as well as to any theory working with the notion of case . also methodologically , a clear distinction must be made between essential cases , which are required by the meaning of the predicate , and modal case , which are mainly adverbial adjuncts . only essential cases can be used for describing predicates . despite of the lack of universal agreement on the number of case role labels or the way in which they are defined , the author gives a clear step-by step method , accompanied by various concrete tests , how to simplify in practice the case assignment . thus , the labelling is deferred until three basic questions are answered : how many arguments are required by the verb ? what verb type - state , process , or action - is in the structure ? to what semantic domain does the verb belong ? then , the naming of the arguments can be simplified by a set of principles , in combination with a set of tactics for the formation of case frames . within case frames , cases are listed left-to - right according to a subject choice hierarchy ( agent - experiencer - benefactive - object - locative ) which is merely a generalisation covering the unmarked choice . marked choices which violate the subject choice hierarchy are indicated in the lexicon by changing the order of cases in the case frame . possible variations involve " equatives " ( in copular constructions ) , regarded in this model as double - object frames in the basic domain , and rank shifts in the subject choice hierarchy . in the lexicon , predicators are classified according to case frames . the case frame is understood as a configuration of one to three cases that are required by the meaning of the verb ( or more generally , the predicate ) . let us remind , however , that , in lexical semantics research , cases are known where the frame would contain up to five slots . a famous example is the verb ' to rent ' ( russian : arendovat ' - cf . apresjan ( 1974 ) p . 134 ) involving the following arguments : ( 1 ) who , ( 2 ) what , ( 3 ) from whom , ( 4 ) for how much , ( 5 ) for how long . special attention is devoted to the possibility of lexicon organisation in terms of derivations intended both to represent linguistic generalisations and to simplify the lexicon ( sections 1 . 13 - 1 . 15 ) . however , the method followed in the work is listing each item separately and supplementing the lexicon with redundancy rules that relate these lexical entries to each other . also , each sense of each predicate is treated as a separate item with its own case frame . in order to set the guidelines for applied cg textual analysis , a concise introduction to the principles of lexical decomposition and to the interpretation of covert case roles is given . lexical decomposition is understood as the process of analysing predicates as consisting of more basic atomic predicates . with some sentences this is unavoidable for determining the actual predicate-argument structure . covert case roles , which are required by the meaning of the predicate , are sometimes ( as in the case of partially covert ( deletable ) case roles ) or always ( as in the case of totally covert ( coreferential and lexicalised ) case roles ) missing in the surface structure . since the cg analysis advocated for in this book maintains the obligatory object hypothesis , covert roles assume greater importance . in all cases where the object role can be sometimes deleted , or can be coreferential with another role , or can be lexicalised into the predicate , a deeper analysis is needed to find the obligatory object . certainly , the lexicalisation of the manifestation of propositional , essential roles is of primary interest in the context of revealing the central predicate in a sentence . the assumption that a predicate , even with covert ( hidden ) case role , has to be defined in terms of its full complement of case roles requires a clear distinction between deletable , coreferential and lexicalised roles . the author offers in this respect not only theoretical background but also concrete tests , procedures and instructions to guide and facilitate practical analysis . two methodological principles are postulated ensuring that all conceptual relations flow from the central verb , and that deletable roles are included in case descriptions . a major asset of the book is , with no doubt , the extensive textual analysis performed with precision , consistency and conformity to the postulated principles and theoretical assumptions . the limits of the approach are realistically recognised by the author , and are stated explicitly in the appropriate places throughout the presentation . the reader will find a well-developed and detailed ontology of predicates , which covers not only verbs but also predicative adjectives , predicative nouns and predicative adverbs . the most important linguistic phenomena are considered in a systematic and easy-to - follow way . this makes the book a valuable guide to a practical sentence analysis , as well as a useful reference material for research purposes and computer applications . references apresjan , jurij d . 1974 : leksicheskaja semantika . sinonimicheskie sredstva jazyka . moskva : nauka blake , barry j . 1994 : case . cambridge textbooks in linguistics . cook , walter a . , s . j . 1989 : case grammar theory . washington , d . c . : georgetown university press . sowa , john f . 1984 : conceptual graphs : information processing in mind and machine . reading , mass . : addison - wesley . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = tania avgustinova , ph . d . computational linguistics , university of saarland postfach 151150 , 66041 saarbruecken , germany tania @ coli . uni-sb . de , http : / / www . coli . uni-sb . de / ~ tania / ( + 49 ) ( 681 ) 302 . 4504 ( phone ) ( + 49 ) ( 681 ) 302 4115 ( secretary ) ( + 49 ) ( 681 ) 302 . 4700 ( fax )
