Event Semantics

Origin. Davidson (1967), Parsons, Kratzer. Events as arguments. Thematic roles. Modification explained. Foundation of neo-Davidsonian semantics.

Models. Verbs introduce event arguments. Adverbs modify events. Thematic roles link participants. Existential closure. Compositional modification.

Formalism.

Davidsonian events: "John kissed Mary" → ∃e[kiss(e) ∧ Agent(e,j) ∧ Patient(e,m)]. Event variable e. Quantified over. Modification target.

Adverbial modification: "John kissed Mary slowly" → ∃e[kiss(e) ∧ Agent(e,j) ∧ Patient(e,m) ∧ slow(e)]. Slow modifies event. Conjunction. Explains entailments.

Thematic roles: Agent, Patient, Theme, Goal, etc. Link participants to event. Decomposed predication. Role-based.

Neo-Davidsonian: Verb contributes only event type. Roles added separately. kiss: λe.kiss(e). Agent: λxλe.Agent(e,x).

Voice decomposition (Kratzer): vP introduces Agent. VP introduces event. Severed external argument. Syntactic decomposition.

Aspect: Events vs states. Telic vs atelic. Event structure. Temporal properties.

Plurality: Collective vs distributive. Event summing. Mereology of events. Plural predication.

Symbols.

Symbol	Unicode	Meaning
e	—	event variable
Agent, Patient	—	thematic roles
∃e	—	event quantification
λe	—	event abstraction

Metatheory. Event arguments. Thematic decomposition. Modification. Aspect.

Applies to. Semantics. Syntax-semantics interface. Aspect. Modification.

Limitations. Ontological commitment. Role inventory. Statives debate. Decomposition depth.