affect/effect - theft/thief/thieve/steal - speak-01 :ARG1's dual use

[uhermjakob]

A set of 3 topics which I would like to discuss with our good friends at UColorado in particular.

affect vs. effect

• From the torture chambers of the English language.
• affect-01: have an effect on
• effect.01: cause an effect, successful in creating a desired effect
• Frequently misannotated; numerous corrections by Ulf.
• Often misspelled even in the original English sentences.
• Proposal: at least make a note in the "effect" roleset regarding "affect-01"
• Proposal: consider combining "affect" and "effect" in one frameset.

theft/thief -> thieve-01 vs. steal-01

• Somewhat inconsistently annotated; corrected to majority "steal-01".
• Etymologically, "thieve" is a late 17th-century formation based on "theft/thief".
• But "thieve" is used very rarely.
• And in practical usage and semantics, "theft/thief" and "steal-01" are natural counterparts.
• Proposal: Always map theft/thief to steal-01. Make a note in "thieve" roleset.

speak-01 (in) a language

• PropBank: Arg1-PPT: subject/language
• Double use of :ARG1 for two different semantic roles is problematic.
• the candidate's first immigration policy speech in Spanish
• He talked to the audience about Manx in English.
• Proposal: Limit :ARG1 to "subject". Use :medium for language, just as for talk-01 and other frames.

[nschneid]

I think speak-01 conflates two senses:

1. manage/choose/possess the ability to communicate in a language: He speaks Spanish; He is speaking Spanish
2. talking (language is not core): We waited for him to speak; He spoke about immigration policy (in Spanish)

Cf. WordNet, which distinguishes a "use language" sense and an "express verbally" sense.

I agree that :medium makes sense for (2), but for (1) I think we should stick with core roles, and maybe split speak-01 into two senses.